Furness Primary School

Whole school approach to PE,

Physical Activity, School Sport, Health and Well-Being

Intent

A high-quality physical education curriculum which inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect. Children at Furness explore and learn a variety of skills and sports covering different areas: Invasion Sports, Gymanstics & Dance, Net/wall games, Sticking & Fielding, Outdoor activities, Swimming and Athletics. The delivery of PE is carefully crafted to meet the needs of all the children and this is achieved through:

Planning – Challenges are adapted to the needs of the children and are structured from simple to complex. No matter what level children are at, they will always be challenged appropriately so they can progress at a pace that is right for them. Planning can be accessed by teachers on the website, Each year group has their own PE page with content, resourses and a scheme of work.

PE equipment – Furness Primary school is a very resourceful school and the variety and specificity of the equipment gives children a much more enriched experience providing children with a huge variety of experiences but also it offers better support when achieving the most demanding challenges which produce the most difficult skills.

Space available - Irrespespective of the weather conditions, Furness children have appropriate space for PE both indoor and outdoor. Having two playgrounds with games areas and two indoor halls, gives children the chance to explore they physical capabilities without interruptions and access to multiple year groups to use them concurrently

Quality Teaching – Teachers and Subject leaders relentlessly aim to maximise the children’s potential by constantly challenge them and inspire them in a safe and positive learning environment. Learning always take place in every second of each lesson. This is possible because of our understanding of children’s capabilities through intense observations, which allows us to guide them to their next step. This balance between knowing the programme of study and the children’s abilities, creates a perfect environment for children to succeed. It's one of the reasons PE doesn’t follow a standard scheme of work for KS2 children but instead planning fits the specific conditions of our children, school and skills needed while following the National Curriculum.

At Furness we aim to ensure that:

• Children develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities.
• Children are physically active for sustained periods of time.
• Children engage in competitive sports and activities.
• Children lead healthy, active lives.

EYFS

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to the national curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas. This document demonstrates which statements from the 2020 Development Matters are prerequisite skills for PE within the national curriculum. The bullet points below outline the most relevant statements taken from the ELG (Early Learning Goals) in the EYFS statutory framework and the Development Matters age ranges for Three and FourYear-Olds as well as Reception which all synchs with the programme of study for PE.

• Continue to develop their movement, balancing, riding (scooters, trikes and bikes) and ball skills.
• Go up steps and stairs, or climb up apparatus, using alternate feet.
• Skip, hop, stand on one leg and hold a pose for a game like musical statues.
• Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and make marks.
• Start taking part in some group activities which they make up for themselves, or in teams.
• Increasingly able to use and remember sequences and patterns of music that are related to music and rhythm.
• Match their developing physical skills to tasks and activities in the setting. For example, they decide whether to crawl, walk or run across a plank, depending on its length and width.
• Choose the right resources to carry out their own plan. For example, choosing a spade to enlarge a small hole they dug with a trowel.
• Collaborate with others to manage large items, such as moving a long plank safely, carrying large hollow blocks.
• Show a preference for a dominant hand.
• Be increasingly independent as they get dressed and undressed. For example, putting coats on and doing up zips.
• Revise and refine the fundamental movement skills they have already acquired:

- rolling - running - crawling - hopping - walking - skipping - jumping – climbing

• Progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace.
• Develop overall body-strength, balance, coordination and agility needed to engage successfully with future physical education sessions and other physical disciplines, including dance, gymnastics, sport and swimming.
• Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor. • Combine different movements with ease and fluency.
• Confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outdoors, alone and in a group.
• Develop overall body strength, balance, coordination and agility.

KS1

Pupils should develop fundamental movement skills, become increasingly competent and confident and access a broad range of opportunities to extend their agility, balance and coordination, individually and with others. They should be able to engage in competitive (both against self and against others) and co-operative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations.

Pupils should be taught to:

• Master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and begin to apply these in a range of activities
• Participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending
• Perform dances using simple movement patterns. 

KS2

Pupils should continue to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. They should enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They should develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

Pupils should be taught to:

• Use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination
• Play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
• Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
• Perform dances using a range of movement patterns
• Take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team
• Compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.
• Swimming and water safety
• Swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
• Use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
• Perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Implementation

• PE lessons follow the 6Es approach in delivering outstanding quality teaching. Children start to explore as part of the warm up, which can be a general warm up or more specifically linked with each topic in PE. After this, in the explain, part, children discuss parts of the topic, aims of the lesson and how to achieve and meet the targets. Examples is next where we put the ideas discussed into action, and demonstrations are shown. Children then expand on the level of difficulty by adding other variables and skills. Enrich happens when they apply these learnt concepts into small games situations. Finally, they evaluate when they reflect on the learning, talk to each other and discuss the best strategies.
• Children also follow the PRIDE rules in PE and each letter of the PRIDE acronym is linked to the PE environment. This builds character, makes children more understanding, improves resilience, tolerance, respect and makes the learning environment more conducive.
• During lockdown, children took part in weekly remote PE lessons. Lessons were split into two parts: Theory and practice. During the theory part, children would learn about topics, concepts through quizzes, tasks and activities. In this part of the lesson, children had the chance to explore the rules of the game, equipment used, skills for each topic taught and its history. The second part was a practical component where the focus was on Health and Fitness. Children would take part in a Fitness workouts aimed at improving the components of Fitness (Speed, Stamina, Strength, Balance, Flexibility, coordination  and muscular resistance).
• Nursery follows the new framework, both PE and EYFS lead work together to insure children explore their physical development. They take part in the daily mile every week and they have specific time in their timetable dedicated to physical exploration both indoor with games and movement as well as outdoor with ball games and gymnastics equipment where children can explore the fundamental movement skills.
• Throughout the year and more specifically at the end of each term, children will engage in various Level 1 competitions across the different sports depending on what children are learning each term, within the same year group. At the end of Autumn 1, KS1 and KS2 children take part in a Football Tournament. In Autumn 2, KS2 children aim to produce a Gymnastics routine. In the spring term, KS2 children take part in Badminton tournament. In the Summer term, everyone takes part in Sports Day.
• Level 1, Balance bike, and Level 2 bikeability training for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 will be run throughout the academic year giving children the opportunity to learn and improve a lifelong skill as well as creating healthy and active habits for life. We aim to provide every single child with several bike session during their school life.
• Each year group has a follows a particular rota while in the playground giving children the opportunity to engage in active breaks and to further develop their sporting skills through play activities using a more informal format. Children have constant access to a range of ball games: Basketball, Football, and Table Tennis.
• Furness Primary school has a partnership with a local secondary school and council which offers children extra-curricular sessions during the day delivered by external sports coaches.
• Throughout the year, children take part in reading and writing activities, when they self-assess or compare their performances with previous ones or against that of their peers. They also have the chance to improve their reading and writing skills through observations, fact files for different sports, assess the lesson and the creation of posters linked to topics such as cycling, the environment, and Sports Day.
• The Bike It Crew promotes active travel by monitoring the number of scooters and bikes in school every day and they help run the healthy travel card scheme where children get their card stamped when travelling to school by scooter or bike. They get prizes when they reach 20 stumps. This increases punctuality and attendance as more children strive to be on time.
• Young leaders / Sports Captains help supervise and run some of the activities for younger year groups in the playground, they monitor equipment use. Their level of responsibility improves purpose, satisfaction and they become very engaged members of the school in very positive roles.
• KS2 children swimming once a week from Year 3 to Year 6, this is part of the school’s long-term commitment towards swimming and making Furness stand out from other schools. We definitely offer more (every week for 4 years) than the average school (one term in most schools) and we are very proud of that. This high level of provision equips our children with skills for life.
• There are three Football training sessions per week for Year 5 and 6 children. These sessions are part of the Level 2 competitions and will spring board the most talented children to an even higher level of achievement in sports. It also promotes attendance and punctuality as students have to come to school early to train.
• Throughout the year, children take part in several events linked to being active and leading healthy lives, it starts in September with Bike to school week with emphasis on safety and the need to be seen as evenings get darker. In Masrch we also take part in the annual nationwide competition called “the big pedal” where we compete against school acroos the country
• This academic year we have implemented DEAM (drop everything and move) where classes stop what they do and exercise for a few minutes to boost blood circulation to the brain. This has been proven to improve academic results and brain function.
• Every class engages in weekly Daily Mile sessions as well to improve the levels of physical fitness, these are fun, non competitive sessions where children try to achieve a high number of laps by walking, jogging or running. 

Impact

• A high quality delivery of physical education will have a positive impact on young people’s physical, social and cognitive development, their well-being and their overall level of achievement not only in PE but across other areas of study.
• School Sport experiences such as Level 1 and 2 competitions give students an opportunity to further improve their sporting skills, strengthens their social connections, improves confidence and builds character.
• Having structured play in the playground at break and lunch time gives more children the opportunity to practice their sporting skills and this impacts their behaviour and levels of engagement in a more positive way and it also promotes our PRIDE rules. Having more stimulating activities during breaks increases their physical activity and strengthens positive social links.
• Extra curricular activities such as those delivered by Sports Coaches (Cycling and Cricket) have a great impact on the children’s lifelong skills, it promotes good habits for life as well as equipping children with new skills. Children will benefit greatly from being exposed to a wider variety of experiences in their school life, this is very enriching and inspiring.
• The impact of swimming can be seen on the increased percentage of students meeting the national swimming requirement (25m swim) compared to standard provision by the time they leave primary school. In 2019 (latest data) 54% of children could swim 25 and more and we hope that changes made 2 years ago in year 5 and 6 from 30 minutes to 45 minutes will increase the percentage further.

No data is available from last year due to School closure. According to Swim England (Swimming Governing Body in England):

• "Only 42 per cent of children and young people with a low family affluence score can swim 25 metres unaided".
• "Only 45 per cent of children and young people going to school in the most deprived areas of the country can swim 25 metres".

We are please to say that Furness is above the average due to the amount of investment in swimming.

All Students have received training on water confidence as well as how to swim effectively on three different strokes: Frontcrawl, Backstroke and Breastroke (body positioning, stroke development, full stroke and breathing)

All Year 6 students have been been trained on water safety skills including:

Treading water for 1 minute 

Swimming with clothes on

Performing rescues and safe jumps into the water.