PHYSICAL EDUCATION -COVID RESPONSE

GUIDANCE-RESEARCH

‘Managing risk, maximising opportunity’

Whittlefield Primary School is continuing to provide support to teachers and families to ensure that young people can access the important benefits that come from play, daily physical activity, purposeful Physical Education and modified school sport: these experiences offer so much to support the process of recovery for your students as well as helping them adjust to life back at school.

30 minute daily PE lessons will take place in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The national curriculum will be adhered to along with health and fitness sessions too.

All staff members are constantly being updated with the most recent government advice and appropriate risk assessments have been completed to support the daily PE activities.

The National Curriculum outlines the expectations for Physical Education at Primary Schools.

At Whittlefield we believe a high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all children to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It provides opportunities for children to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

The national curriculum for physical education aims to ensure 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.

During their early years at Whittlefield in Early Years and Key Stage 1 children develop 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 have opportunities to engage in competitive sport and co-operative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations. Children are taught to master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and are given opportunities to apply these in a range of activities.

Children continue through Key Stage 2 to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement.

They enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success. Children are taught to:

• use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination
• play competitive games
• apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
• develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance
• perform dances using a range of movement patterns
• take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team
• compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.

During their time at Whittlefield children have swimming lessons through years 1 to 4.

Children are taught to:

• swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
• use a range of strokes effectively
• perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Primary school is where habits are formed and we believe that it is our responsibility to engage children in fun, high quality PE and sport to encourage them to adopt a healthy lifestyle – for life.

Sports Council