Physical Education

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PE is seen as a high priority in our Trust schools. We understand the importance of children enjoying an active life and how vital it is that children are exposed to different activities at an early stage in their education.

Our high-quality physical education curriculum gives an opportunity to all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities. It provides opportunities for pupils 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.

Through the National Curriculum for Physical Education we aim to ensure that all pupils 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 and lead healthy, active lives. By adopting a holistic approach, we help to develop children’s physical literacy, emotional and thinking skills. We strive to develop key abilities that children need to be successful within PE and Sport and across the curriculum.

Our staff are well-trained, and several have additional qualifications in PE (NPECTS) which allows them to add to the expertise and teach PE lessons.

We pride ourselves in providing a good PE curriculum which includes gymnastics, dance, games, swimming and instils an enthusiasm and love of P.E. Each school enables the children to access local and regional competitions (such as gymnastics, athletics and high-fives netball).

Overall aims

The National Curriculum for physical education aims to ensure that all pupils:

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

P.E. teaching

P.E. is a compulsory subject and forms an important part of the National Curriculum.

Our staff are well trained in the teaching of P.E. and several of our teaching assistants have additional qualifications in PE teaching (NPETCS) which allows them to add to the expertise and take some PE lessons. We also bring in external coaches to broaden the curriculum that we can provide. All external coaches are fully qualified in the areas they teach and members of our staff are always present throughout these sessions.

Whilst there is no longer a set number of hours for P.E. teaching, we aim to provide two sessions per week from KS1 onwards in P.E. or the equivalent teaching time for two sessions. At certain times of the year this is more challenging to timetable, however, when for example, the hall is out of action at Christmas for safety reasons, we will provide an alternative physical activity, or move the lesson outside.

Health and Safety

We take the safety of the children seriously when P.E. lessons are taught. We follow the Norfolk and Association of P.E. guidance on health and safety in all areas of P.E. including dress, equipment usage and content of lessons.

To that end children must:

be dressed appropriately in properly fitted clothing for all P.E. including footwear.
be free of jewellery – this includes removing all earrings (no studs and no tape).

P.E. is taught both indoors and outdoors depending on the activity and weather conditions. Where possible we will teach P.E. outdoors as much as possible and this is often dependent upon children having appropriate clothing.

The Curriculum

EYFS:

Physical development is one of the three prime areas within the EYFS. Each prime area is divided into Early Learning Goals, for physical development these are:

Moving and handling - skills enabling children to show good control and coordination in large and small Children are able to handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
Health and self care - children knowing the importance of good health which includes physical exercise and a healthy Children are able to manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.

KS1:

Pupils should be 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
participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending
perform dances using simple movement

KS2:

Pupils should be taught to:

use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination
play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
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.

To achieve this we have developed a curriculum for the trust which focuses on skills and activity
rather than individual sports. This enables the teachers to provide a wide range of sporting
contexts for the children in each unit of work.

The six half termly units are:

Moving and Travelling
Sending and Receiving
Balancing and Performing
Attacking and Defending
Co-ordinating and Controlling
Challenging and Competing

Swimming

Swimming can be provided in either Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2. The following aims are for the end of KS2.

Pupils should be taught to:

swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

All swimming lessons are taught by qualified swimming instructors at Norfolk approved
swimming pools.

Manor Field Infant and Nursery School

In the 2019 parent surveys, 100% of parents who responded: said that their child enjoyed being at school, is making progress and the school is attractive and welcoming.

Physical Education