Physical Education, School Sport and Activity 

Intent 

At Our Lady & St. Rose of Lima, we have designed a PE curriculum to develop motor competence, children’s knowledge of strategies and tactics and encourage healthy participation. We want all children to develop and experience their Physical Education at OLSR. Our curriculum is planned to sequentially build declarative and procedural knowledge from Nursery to Year Six. The focus in EYFS & Key Stage One is largely on the fundamental movement skills (locomotor, stability and manipulation). Children in KS2 then develop competency in a range of sports using these skills. The sports covered stay the same throughout the key stage to give children the opportunity to practise and refine their skills within each discipline. (Please see the whole school overview and progression map for more detail). The area in which our school is situated is in the most deprived 10% of the city. (Weoley and Selly Oak Ward Factsheet). As such, it is even more vital that “Through careful selection and sequencing of curriculum content that develops pupils’ competence, more pupils can believe the PE is for them and inequalities can be reduced”. (OFSTED research review series:PE). PESSPA provides a brilliant opportunity for children to develop British Values. The importance of democracy can be seen in the input of the sports council, the teaching of rules, fairness and respect underpins the rule of law, the value of individual liberty is evidenced in the acknowledgement that despite all being different we can each strive to beat our own personal best and mutual respect and tolerance is fostered through healthy competition. 

Implementation 

PE is taught on a weekly basis and our active uniform policy means that children do not waste time changing and can be more active within other lessons. Children are expected to wear a white polo shirt, black jogging bottoms or shorts and a pair of plain black trainers each day. Within each PE lesson, the learning objective and key teaching points are made clear from the outset to ensure children know what they are learning and how to improve. Key vocabulary is introduced as appropriate and children are encouraged to use this when analysing their own and others work. Each session makes links to previous lessons to help build on prior learning. Lessons use a range of explanation, modelling, questioning and practise to ensure both declarative and procedural knowledge is formed. Formative assessment is ongoing throughout the lesson and staff are expected to make modifications based on this, particularly for those with SEND. This may be done through adapting the playing area, equipment (for example use of a larger or colourful ball), changing the conditions of an activity or the number of participants. This is through using the STEP principle.  Staff give positive and specific feedback based on their observations. For pupils to receive high-quality PE teaching, staff need to have high levels of subject knowledge. In order to facilitate this, we have a programme of CPD delivered by a PE specialist. Staff who need most support (particularly ECTs) have in lesson training over the course of a half term for approximately 6 lessons.    

Due to the level of deprivation within Weoley Castle, it is even more important that we incorporate activity throughout the school day in addition to taught PE lessons. Especially when we bear in mind that “Activity levels decrease as deprivation increases, from 73% active in the least deprived areas, to 57% in the most deprived areas.”(Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England, 2021). Many of our families cannot access extra-curricular sporting opportunities and to combat this inequality we have a programme of free afterschool clubs and tournaments. These run for four days a week and, in addition, we attend a series of tournaments with other schools in our Quad. Furthermore we also have sports teams which give the children the opportunity to play sports in a competitive environment against other local schools.  

Far fewer children from lower socio-economic backgrounds report being able to swim twenty five metres. (Sport England, December 2019.) To combat this, children in Years One to Six each have a two week block of daily swimming tuition with a qualified swimming instructor and children who still need support to swim 25 meters have an additional block of booster tuition.  

Impact 

We monitor how well the children are progressing through formative assessment in lessons and using Seesaw. This brings PE in line with the other foundation subjects. Teachers use videos and pictures to showcase children’s work and assess using the aims of the national curriculum but also the specific skills taught throughout the unit.  We also assess children at the end of each unit using FFT trackers. This is based on teacher judgement and gives teachers to form a basis on who needs to be developed over after school clubs and lunchtime. This also allows us to make changes to our curriculum if it obvious that there are certain disciplines where children are not progressing at the rate we would like. We keep a register of all children who attend after school clubs and tournaments and target children who have not yet engaged as the year goes on. Microsoft Forms are used to check that SEND and disadvantaged children are being fully supported and included.  

References 

OFSTED research review series: PE - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-pe/research-review-series-pe#contents  

Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England, 2021 - Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England 2021 - NHS Digitalcopy#:~:text=Activity%20levels%20decrease%20as%20deprivation,in%20the%20most%20deprived%20areas.  

‘Active lives children and young people survey academic year 2018/19’, Sport England, December 2019