Physical Education - P.E.

We are pleased to announce that Westgate Primary School have achieved the School Games Gold Mark Award for the academic year 2023-2024. This is the second year we have achieved this award. The School Games Mark is a national Government-led award scheme to reward and recognise school’s engagement in the School Games and to celebrate keeping children active and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.

At Westgate Primary School all children, including SEN and disadvantaged pupils, learn the following concepts through studying different PE topics throughout the school:

Concepts

The key concepts that underpin the learning in Physical Education at Westgate are competence, performance, creativity and being healthy and active.

We achieve this through ‘Play’; activity that involves enjoyment. This may be structured or unstructured and involves being creative.
We achieve this through ‘Physical Activity’; moving our body using energy. This could be within a lesson, through active travel, active breaks and in extra-curricular activities.
We achieve this through ‘Physical Education’. Through our planned and progressive PE lessons children learn about their physical development as well their social, mental and emotional skills.
We achieve this through ‘Sport’. This could be in a game, competitions or an activity needing skill and is played according to rules.
We achieve this through ‘Active Learning’; learning through movement. This helps to stimulate the learner; to develop recall, deepen understanding and apply knowledge.
The physical concepts we develop through Physical Education are:
Space
Movement
Control
Balance
Co-ordination
Invasion
Defence
Weight

Themes

The themes we cover through Physical Education are:

Multi skills
Dance
Gymnastics
Invasion Games
Net and Wall Games
Striking and Fielding
Athletics
Outside Adventures
Being Fit and healthy
Swimming

Curriculum Overviews

British Values

By connecting our British Values through the teaching of Physical Education, we explore issues that affect us all in our lives and this helps inform decisions that will shape our future. For example, by providing opportunities to compete in sport and other activities this builds character and helps to embed British values such as fairness and respect.

The PE Curriculum

A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. Our curriculum also provides opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness

PE is a foundation subject in the National Curriculum. Our school uses the objectives from the National Curriculum as the basis for the planning in weekly PE lessons, ensuring pupils have access to 2 hours of PE a week. We use Complete PE to assist teaching, which provides key vocabulary and resources. PE is taught by individual class teachers and coaches who together take responsibility for planning, resourcing and delivering this area of the curriculum. We also use outside, specialist providers where applicable to assist in team teaching and to contribute to continuing professional development.

In EYFS, we encourage the physical development of our children in the reception class as an integral part of their work. As the reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the physical development of the children to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five years of age. We encourage the children to develop confidence and control of the way they move, and the way they handle equipment. We give all children the opportunity to undertake activities that offer appropriate physical challenge, both indoors and outdoors, using a wide range of resources to support specific skills.

As the children move into Key stage 1 the learning from EYFS is connected to the development a greater understanding of fundamental movement skills, which include balance, agility and co-ordination. This enables them to develop physical skill and an understanding of the movements of their body, particularly in the use of space, time and energy. The effect of exercise on their body is also explored. These skills are explored through the themes of dance, games, gymnastics, ball skills and health and wellbeing lessons. The children are also introduced and exposed to a range of sporting activities in which they will learn how to participate in games and are introduced to the concept of attacking and defending.

The learning from Key Stage 1 is connected with Key Stage 2, where the children use their previous learning with more control and understanding in dance and gymnastics. They develop increased tactical thinking in games (teams, invasion, throwing and striking) outdoor adventurous activities and athletics, in which they apply and develop a broader range of skills and use these with increasing confidence, control, and technique.

The concepts are connected with the importance of Physical Education on their health and the role exercise plays in contributing to healthy lifestyle and life choices. This is developed through lessons with a focus on fitness.

In addition, swimming and water safety is taught in Key Stage Two with the expectation that all children leave being able to confidently swim 25m.

Supporting the Least Able Pupils in PE

The STEP model is used in PE to make activities inclusive for all pupils to achieve.

Space - Where the activity is happening

Modifying the space by increasing or decreasing the area in which a task is to be performed or changing the distance or areas in which to score points.

Task - What is happening.

Modifying the task by changing the demands, the rules of the activity, the number of times the pupil is to repeat the task, teaching cues, direction/level/pathway of movement or length of time to complete the task.

Equipment - What is being used.

Modifying the equipment by changing the size of the target, level of equipment, amount of equipment, height of the varying equipment enabling pupils to find the best way to participate in PE.

People - adjusting who is involved in the activity.

Modifying the people involved by having children work alone, with a partner, bigger teams, smaller teams, as leader or follower, on different activities, or in a small group.

The school also works with outside agencies where appropriate to ensure pupils have the same opportunity to contribute in whole class PE sessions by working on associated skills at their own level.

Supporting EAL Pupils in PE

PE teaching includes a great deal of modelling and demonstration which helps pupils learning EAL to make progress and demonstrate achievement that is in line with their learning needs. Pupils are supported by our PE Specialist and class teachers through: -

Modelling the skills and techniques to be used in the lesson.
Using visual clues and pictures to help make the meaning clear.
Modelling the use of appropriate language in the context of the activities and repeating key points and vocabulary at different stages in the lesson.
Differentiating questions.
Building opportunities for pupils to have oral language modelled and to rehearse what they will say before they are expected to respond to the whole class.
Building in brief ‘thinking time’: allowing pupils learning EAL to reflect on the question before answering.

SMSC through PE

Spiritual

PE lessons include teamwork, self-reflection, aspirations to improve performance, rules, sportsmanship and etiquette and an appreciation of sports from all around the world. Through dance, gymnastics and games across the school, pupils are encouraged to be creative, designing and creating their own small-sided games or by expressing feelings and emotions in their dance performances. In PE lessons pupils are encouraged to delve deeper into their understanding of PE and the body and how it can be maximised to improve performance.

Moral

Throughout various games pupils make choices regarding rules, sportsmanship and choices including teams, tactics and positions. PE teaches pupils about code of conduct, rules, etiquette and fair play unwritten rules. Competitive games provide our Play Leaders and other pupils with leadership opportunities. They develop the ability to tell between right and wrong through fair play in lessons, events and participating in other competitive situations. PE encourages pupils to be understanding of the ability of others and the need to be supportive rather than critical when playing as part of a team.

Social

PE allows all pupils to develop the necessary skills to work in teams or pairs as the majority of activities are based around team games or creating sequences in groups. Giving the pupils roles such as: leaders and coaches, offers them the opportunity to develop communication, leadership and mediation skills. Problem solving skills and teamwork are fundamental to PE through creative thinking, discussion, performance of, and the explanation and presentation of ideas. Pupils are encouraged to develop their reasoning and decision making skills communicating with others and explaining concepts with each other. Through various different competitive games and competitions, pupils are encouraged to work with and socialise with a variety of other children they may not normally choose to mix with in classroom situations.

Cultural

Through participation in sporting competitions, pupils are exposed to a wider range of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds, helping them to develop their understanding and tolerance of different groups. Actively supporting charitable events, such as Sport Relief, Cancer Research UK and Young Minds, children will become more aware of the wider world they live in.

The Songwriting Charity

Our Year 4 pupils took part in a song writing workshop with The Songwriting Charity, who are linked with Dartford Football Club, creating their own Sports Themed Anthem.

During the course of the day, they wrote lyrics, composed melodies, made choices about musical sounds, designed CD covers and as a whole class they created a Westgate Primary School Team song - "We're in it, to win it!"

You can listen to their song by visiting the following link:

https://soundcloud.com/the-songwriting-charity/were-in-it-to-win-it-westgate-primary-school?in=the-songwriting-charity/sets/songwriting-charity-sports or by visiting Spotify or the Apple Store.