PE
PE Statement
Intent
At St Michael’s we aim to create enthusiastic, resilient and supportive young athletes who hold high regard for sportsmanship and commitment. We strive to provide children with a variety of opportunities to grow and flourish while developing a range of sporting techniques.
‘The National Curriculum 2014’, outlines that all children:
- Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities.
- Are physically active for sustained periods of time.
- Engage in competitive sports and activities.
- Lead healthy, active lives.
Implementation
Physical Education is something we believe to be vital in ensuring a child is equipped with a range of life skills to allow for a holistic education. Through teaching we encourage children to develop awareness of the importance of a ‘healthy mind, healthy body’. Regardless of any child’s sporting background, we aim to provide them with fun and physically challenging lessons in a safe, stimulating environment, to encourage opportunities for trials and improvement and encourage children to develop an awareness of personal best and how to improve.
At St Michael's, children will receive two hours of curriculum dedicated to Physical Education. Throughout the year, children will progressively develop skills, building on from the previous year. Children in EYFS and KS1 will focus mainly on developing their fundamental skills and basic movements with application in a range of different activities. Children are provided with the opportunities to enjoy gymnastics, dance and games lessons. They will participate in team sports where they will begin to develop an understanding of tactics and attacking and defending principles. Children will be fortunate to have a selection of these lessons delivered by specialist sports coaches. Reception children also participate in Forest School each week as well as another year group which changes every half-term. This introduces the children to outdoor and adventurous activities in preparation for KS2.
As children move into KS2, they continue to master the skills taught in KS1 with further application in a range of sporting activities. The element of competition is introduced into modified, competitive games such as rugby, football, netball, hockey, rounders, cricket and basketball, where they prepare to represent the school in different sporting events. Children in Years 6, 5 and 4 will receive compulsory swimming lessons to ensure they are able to swim the required 25 meters by the end of Year 6. All other year groups are given the opportunity to swim through our on-site hired swimming pool, which comes once a year for a 2-week period. All children in KS2 are provided with the opportunity to attend a residential trip. During this time, they develop a range of curriculum skills. They are able to work as both part of a team and independently on outdoor and adventurous activities.
There are several additional skills children continue to work on, including communication, team work, resilience, leadership, respect, along with many others. These skills are something we as St Michael’s promote as life-long values that we as Christians aim to live out each day.
Impact
Our curriculum aims to develop the child holistically, including fitness and wellbeing. We aim for children to recognise the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle to allow them to take ownership of this. At St Michael's, we encourage children to apply the skills they have learnt to a range of real life situations and have a positive impact on motivating them to lead happy and healthy lives.
Extra curricular
Children in our school have access to two hours of curriculum P.E each week with opportunities to attend a range of different after-school clubs. Clubs are delivered by both school staff and external coaches to ensure children are provided with fun and engaging clubs whilst given support to further develop their abilities.
The following list is a brief overview of some of the clubs offered to children for them to attend:
- Football
- Cross Country
- Athletics
- Netball
- Tennis
- Rugby
- Multi-sports
- Dance
- Gymnastics
External providers
We work with specialist companies and individuals to ensure a high quality P.E including;
- LFC Foundation
- PE Teacher from the local high school – St Peter and Paul Catholic College
- Mrs Popova (Welsh gymnastic coach)
- Widnes Martial Arts – Kuk Sool Wan
Daily Mile
At St Michael’s, all KS2 children participate in a daily mile to increase levels of physical activity. This starts off each day in school and is a daily reminder of the importance of keeping healthy, whilst also preparing our minds and body for the day ahead.
We were selected as one of the leading schools in Halton to take part in the Daily Mile video to encourage others to take on board this excellent programme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mBqOFezRR0
National Curriculum link
For any further information or more specific curriculum information, please see the following link.