P.E. & Sport

At Yardley Primary School, Physical Education is a fundamental part of the National Curriculum and we endeavour to create strong values, aiming to inspire an active school who enjoy PE, encourage one another and achieve. Our school provides a safe, fun, supportive and encouraging environment in which the children are able to flourish via a varied and fully inclusive range of physical activities. This helps to support their physical, emotional, spiritual, social and moral development.

The P.E. curriculum is designed to encourage physical activity. In P.E., pupils are taught the principles of physical activity, the precision of techniques, different topics and the rules that go with them. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped with the skills to lead healthy and active lifestyles. P.E. ensures that pupils are physically active, are given the opportunity to express themselves and can both independently and within teams. 

We aspire for our pupils to adopt ‘positive mind-sets’ and to believe that, with willpower and resilience, anything is possible. Through the primary values and disciplines PE promotes our aim is to improve the well-being and fitness of our children, not just through the sporting skills taught, but we aim to deliver high quality teaching and learning that enable all children to achieve. 

It is our vision for all pupils to prosper and achieve their best and to lead physically active lifestyles. We want our pupils to understand the benefits of physically active lifestyle. Through our delivery of PE, we will offer chances for pupils to develop values and transferrable life skills such as fairness and respect.

We aim to provide a balanced curriculum which has been carefully planned to meet the knowledge and skill requirements of the National Curriculum programme of study.  

We believe that the teaching and learning of P.E. is essential to all pupils to prepare them for life now and beyond. Pupils are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of P.E and to take that further into sporting activities outside of school. We also focus on developing the skills necessary for pupils to be able to assess their own and other’s achievements, as well as understanding how to be safe and conscious of those around them. 

  Our aims are: 

• To provide pupils with opportunities to develop their physical technique; balance, agility, speed.

• For pupils to gain confidence and enjoyment from physical activity. 

• To provide children with a breadth of topics/sports so that children have the opportunity to try new things. 

• To nurture strategy, competitiveness and determination. 

• To develop pupils’ awareness of the importance of physical activity and how it can affect everyday life.

• To develop positive mind-sets that foster a love for P.E. and a desire to do more. 

• To allow pupils to be critical and assess how they or others can improve. 

• For pupils to develop a deeper understanding of safety and knowing their own limitations.

The following outcomes are a result of our P.E. curriculum: 

• Fun, engaging, P.E. lessons that enrich learning. 

• Pupils learn the importance of how a physical lifestyle impacts our health and mental well-being.

• Pupils are provided with crucial skills and are given opportunities to improve and achieve their personal best. 

• Pupils can represent the school at local sporting events.

• All staff have an understanding of why P.E. is important and feel confident in their role to engage and motivate pupils in lessons.

• Pupils are physically active, and this has a positive impact on their learning in the classroom. 

• Pupils develop important skills which can be applied them to a variety of sports and activities. 

• Pupils develop a love of sport and physical activity which then becomes a natural part of life outside of school.

• Pupils assess their own and others abilities, developing a better understanding of tasks in hand.

• Pupils leave school with the ability to swim at least 25m and have the skills to self-rescue in the water which are key life skills.

The Foundation Stage is integral to the development of young pupils. As our Reception classes follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, we relate the P.E. curriculum to the Early Learning Goals which underpin the curriculum planning for pupils aged three to five. 

Throughout the year the pupils gain in confidence and begin to:

• Experiment with different ways of moving. 

• Eat a healthy range of foodstuffs and understands need for variety in food. 

• Jump off an object and land appropriately. 

• Negotiate space successfully when playing racing and chasing games with other children, adjusting speed or changing direction to avoid obstacles.

• Show some understanding that good practices with regard to exercise, eating, sleeping and hygiene can contribute to good health. 

• Travel with confidence and skill around, under, over and through balancing and climbing equipment. 

• Show understanding of the need for safety when tackling new challenges, and considers and manages some risks. 

• Show increasing control over an object in pushing, patting, throwing, catching or kicking it.

• Show understanding of how to transport and store equipment safely. 

• Practice some appropriate safety measures without direct supervision. 

• Show a preference for a dominant hand. 

• Show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements, moving confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. 

• Know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe.

To find out more about our early years curriculum, visit our E.Y.F.S. page here.

Every child who attends Yardley Primary School and goes through Year 4 will receive school swimming lessons.

As swimming is part of the National Curriculum, all pupils must participate in lessons.

We always take every child, regardless of their ability, to complete a block of swimming lessons in Year 4.

For further information on school swimming, visit our Swimming page here.