Intent

Higham Primary School believes that Physical Education (PE) is essential to ensure children attain optimum physical and emotional development and good health. We intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education and in developing life skills. Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children at Higham, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines that PE promotes. Our scheme of work ensures that our children have a varied and well-mapped out curriculum and provides progression across the full breadth of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the PE National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2. In KS1, the focus is very much on the development of the fundamental skills, which are then built upon in KS2 and applied to specific sports. It is our intention to develop a lifelong love of physical activity, sport and PE and ensure a positive and healthy physical outlook in the future.

Implementation

• PE at Higham Primary School provides challenging and enjoyable learning through a range of sporting activities including; invasion games, net & wall games, strike and field games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and outdoor & adventurous activities.
• The long term plan sets out the PE units (Get Set PE) which are to be taught throughout the year and ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are fully met.
• Lesson plans ensure that all teachers are equipped with the subject knowledge required to deliver high quality teaching and learning opportunities with key vocabulary, diagrams and differentiation clearly shown. Lessons are planned in a specific sequence to give the opportunity to practice existing skills and also build on these to develop new or more advanced skills.
• Pupils participate in high quality PE lessons each week, covering different disciplines every half term. PE equipment is available each day at lunchtime for children to use and Active Midday Meal Supervisors organise specific games to encourage pupils to be active and learn new skills.
• Children are invited to attend some competitive sporting events within the local area. This is an inclusive approach, which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also mental well-being. These events also develop teamwork and leadership skills and are very much enjoyed by the children.
• Each year a group of Year 6 children are invited to become Sport / Play Leaders for the school. They undertake training and develop into role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time activities and any other sporting activities such as ‘in house’ competitions.
• Children participate in workshops covering a variety of sports throughout the year. For example: archery, mini golf, fencing and skipping, again providing the children with an opportunity to develop, improve their fitness and to try new sports.
• Children swim once a week for 6 weeks during the Spring Term in Year 4 and sports premium is used to ‘top up’ for those children not meeting the National Curriculum objectives.  

Impact

At Higham, we will help children to be motivated to participate in a variety of sports through quality teaching that is engaging and fun. From our carefully designed lessons, our children learn to take responsibility for their own health and fitness, enjoy the success of competitive sport and develop detailed knowledge and skills across the full breadth of the PE curriculum. Some of our units (especially dance) are often themed with strong cross-curricular links to other subjects or topics such as Romans or robots; this helps to make the learning memorable and ultimately creating a higher level of engagement and understanding. We will equip our children with the necessary skills and a love for sport so they will hopefully grow up to live happy and healthy lives, utilising the skills and knowledge acquired through PE lessons.