PE and School Sport at Oakmeadow

PE and School Sport The Oakmeadow Way - A vision for Physical Education

At Oakmeadow, we believe that all children should have access to a high-quality Physical Education (PE) experience, one that has a prominent place as an integral subject within our whole-school curriculum.  Our school values the vital role that a broad and balanced PE curriculum plays in contributing to the health, wellbeing and wide skillset of all our children.  Through our teaching of the – primarily movement based focus - of the National Curriculum for PE, to:

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

our curriculum is designed with a clear progression of the knowledge pupils need to learn: to ensure that all pupils develop physical literacy and the fundamental knowledge in Early Years and Key Stage 1, to then understanding and refining skills in KS2 to know and use their body competently and efficiently to excel in a broad range of physical activities.  Our curriculum is coherently designed to give our pupils experience of a wide range of sports or physical activities, returned to as they progress through school, to allow them to apply cross-transferrable skills and knowledge.

However, our PE curriculum doesn’t just focus on physical skills or playing specific sports. We deliver a rich, diverse curriculum – one that caters to all learners, and allows pupils to find their own personal enjoyment of movement whilst facilitating learning about additional knowledge, skills and behaviours - for example, about themselves, as part of a team with others, about the equipment they use, about rules they follow, what strategies and tactics they can successfully use and about what they enjoy taking part in.

Where PE fits in the wider curriculum:

We encourage our children to think of PE, while fundamental as a subject in its own right, as also a fundamental pillar of something larger: their overall health and wellbeing as a whole.  We want to make our culture of physical activity across our school even stronger.  We wish for our children to be immersed in a diverse lifestyle of movement, from walking, with all the benefits it provides, to taking part in more vigorous and demanding activities.  We want them to find movement opportunities they love and will commit to – whether as part of a team environment, independent movement during a mindfulness exercise, learning the science of what is happening in their bodies when movement occurs, or finding joy in the leadership and team-building skills that PE can offer.  Teaching children about the benefit of PE and physical movement goes beyond the two lessons provided for each class per week.  Opportunities to develop this are provided throughout the day, through ‘Fit15’ sessions and active break and lunchtimes, extending beyond the end of school hours into extra-curricular clubs so that what we offer is inclusive and ensures that pupils of all abilities access the range of activities on offer, and where they are physically active for sustained periods of time. Carefully planned links are also made across our wider curriculum through our holistic health and wellbeing curriculum - with the subjects of Science, PSHE and Design and Technology - to encourage them to lead healthy, active lives and where links are made to understanding this holistic approach as regularly as possible.

PE beyond the curriculum:

Our high-quality PE curriculum can also inspire pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities.  We recognise that children have different levels of physical competence and skillsets.  However, we will endeavour to provide opportunities for pupils to participate in competitive sports and activities both in and beyond the curriculum regardless of ability level. This will mean that all pupils are provided the opportunity to experience competitive sport and the character building that develops from this.  We aim to use PE and school sport as a vehicle to increase cultural capital for our children as part of a carefully and holistically planned learning experience. 

Such experiences allow pupils to learn about themselves, self-expression and important social concepts such as fair play and respect. They will also contribute to the development of a range of important cognitive skills, such as decision making and analysis, and social skills such as teamwork and communication.  We want our children to be risk takers and to be resilient, confident and independent through physical and sporting opportunities; we want them to recognise that learning is not always easy but that being outside of our comfort zone, facing adversity or experiencing defeat is something we should relish as a challenge, not something that we should duck away from! 

Ultimately, we hope to instil in our children a joy of movement, an awareness of how this contributes to a healthy lifestyle, and an active desire to pursue this in all areas of life, both at our school and beyond.  We want to embed the character that our children can go forward in life and know that the benefits of a high-quality PE curriculum, delivered both during taught lessons and in the wider school day, will mean that they can cope in any situation, that they all have much to offer on an individual level; we want them to understand that PE as a subject has given them the skillset to find and pursue their physical ‘thing’, to know that they belong there, and anywhere.

  • Mr Sam Ostermeyer

    PE, School Sport and Wider Wellbeing Lead

  • Miss Emily Morris

    Physical Education and Health Development Coach
School Sports Premium Funding:
 
Statutory documents for PE, including how we utilise our sports premium funding, and steps for development in the future, can be found in the documents below.  
Our pathways show in more detail what is taught and learnt across our PE curriculum and each individual year group.  
Our PE Curriculum:
 
Our curriculum is a living document.  By this, we mean that it is reviewed annually, with the needs of our children in mind.  This year, we are delighted to be working with Complete PE to develop offer a varied and progressive PE curriculum for our children, which is designed to promote learning in the physical, cognitive and social realms which all contribute to a successful participation in sport in wider life.
 
In EYFS and KS1, the focus is on the development of fundamental skills key to achieving physical literacy.  In KS2, these skills are then developed and refined through the teaching of skills needed to play different recognised sports, alongside the teaching and understanding of tactics and strategies to be successful in competition.  We are particularly pleased to be able to include team building, problem solving, games for understanding and game sense this year and beyond this point which will help our children to develop a wider understanding required of how to achieve success in competitive games and sports.
 
Assessment of the teaching and learning of PE takes place after each taught unit using the Complete PE portal.  This assessment is then reviewed by the PE co-ordinator at the end of the year which also informs any changes for the subsequent curriculum for the next academic year.  If we feel that something requires more attention or consolidating, then we will account for this so gaps in understanding are addressed.  We have also introduced exit tasks this year, with a focus on assessing vocabulary for learning and sport specific vocabulary as children move through each unit block.

Our curriculum overview is below and is a working document.  Each half term is planned according to space and staff available so units to be taught may change order.