St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School

St Thomas of Canterbury
Catholic Primary School "Jesus is at the heart of everything we think, do and say"

Physical Education

Intent 

At St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, PE is facilitated by The Elms Sport in Schools (ESS). ESS covers a wide range of key elements in the Physical Education programme through a vast amount of sports and activities. Our high quality overview inspires pupils to development and enhance skills in sport and other physically demanding activities. Children should feel confident in their physical attributes which leads to improved mental and emotional welfare. This in turn will develop character through the highs and lows of sport. 

Implementation

In Key Stage 1, it is important to set the foundations for children to flourish in Key Stage 2. Our extensive programme is designed to allow Key Stage 1 pupils to develop core skills such as agility, balance and coordination as well as motor skills which include running, jumping, throwing, catching and hitting. These core skills are developed regularly throughout the year using different methods of progression.

In Key Stage 2 ESS can deliver up to nine topics throughout an academic year, all for a period of four - six weeks. This allows children to develop skills in many activities using what they have learnt in one sport and being able to cross reference and call upon the skill and technique in another sport. It is important that children are given the opportunity to play a wide range of sports and school is the place where this can be achieved. ESS's plans for Key Stage 2 encourage coaches to progress and differentiate individuals and groups so their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing is continually developed. Having resources at the school will allow children to reach their full potential.

Impact

ESS assess all children in each skill and topic. This extensive ongoing assessment allows coaches to plan and adapt future lessons and for teachers to note where individuals are with their physical development. In Key Stage 1 we repeat core lessons throughout the year with progressions and differentiation so when children begin to focus on more individual sports in Key Stage 2 they have the core fundamental skills to excel.
 
As an example of our assessments for Key Stage 2, Invasion games (football, rugby, basketball, netball) should be taught in schools. We know there is usually a huge difference between the level of effort and attainment by the majority of children in all disciplines, hence the reason why we assess each sport rather than the general topic. This way of assessment following the delivery of a sport allows coaches, teachers and parents to recognise what their child enjoys and excels at, as well as areas of development to work on.
 
Each sport and topic for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 comes with a success criteria which clearly outlines the current level of effort and attainment a child is working out.  This helps teachers and parents understand the terminology behind the grading.