Our Lady of Grace Catholic Infant School

The All Saints' Trust

Physical Education

Overview 

We recognise and value the important contribution of physical education to the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of a child, as well as the role of physical education in relation to a child’s moral and cultural development.  Physical Education is a fundamental part of the curriculum to be enjoyed by all children, providing opportunities to consolidate and work on values of participation, persistence and excellence that underpin every aspect of school life.

We aim to provide a broad and balanced Physical Education curriculum to support and increase pupils’ self-confidence in relation to their capacity to manage themselves and their bodies within a variety of movements. The curriculum aim is to cater for the different strengths, needs and preferences of each child by using individual, paired and group activities through a range of different sports and movement activities. In addition to this, we know it is important that pupils develop a sense of personal achievement, fair play and teamwork. A range of activities are provided with a broad base of movement knowledge, skills and understanding, which pupils can refine and extend throughout their journey through school.

Children develop the 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 are able to engage in competitive (both against self and against others) and co-operative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations. Our children develop physical ability and self-confidence through the development of a range of fine and gross motor skills. They are aware of the different shapes and movements that can be made with the body. They develop knowledge, skills and understanding, and the ability to recall, repeat and refine their actions with increasing control and accuracy. They become aware of the benefits of healthy lifestyle by understanding the effects of exercise on the body and the importance of developing strength, endurance and flexibility. Our children appreciate the value of safe exercise. They develop the ability to work independently and communicate with, and respond appropriately towards, others using verbal and non-verbal communication. They develop a sense of fair play, decision making and problem-solving skills, with an increasing ability to select, link and apply skills, tactics and compositional ideas. Resulting in our children being able to evaluate their own performance and refine it. 

 EYFS

Children are taught to develop their gross and fine motor skills in line with the EYFS Curriculum 2021. This is taught through positive interactions with staff, continuous provision throughout the inside and outside areas and specific gross and fine motor sessions and challenges.

KS1

Children are taught specific PE sessions with our sports coaches following the KS1 National Curriculum. Children are 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. Our children participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending. They perform dances using simple movement patterns.

All children experience enrichment opportunities to develop their stamina, agility and physical fitness throughout the school day. These include break and lunch times which are facilitated by sports coaches and sports apprentices. These times are timetabled with activities to support children’s engagement in team games and activities, including frisbee. The Daily Mile led by a class teacher where children walk or run a mile a day in the school playground.  After school clubs are available for children to sign up to including multi-skills, football and gymnastics. Children experience a wealth of sporting opportunities through the School’s link with Brent Sports Partnership and Infant Schools cluster.