Physical Education at St John XXIII Catholic Primary School

St John XXIII Catholic Primary is dedicated to fostering a vibrant and inclusive physical education programme. Our school is committed to developing the physical health and sporting skills of all students, ensuring they receive a well-rounded education. We are proud to collaborate with excellent coaches from Let's Leap, who bring expertise and enthusiasm to our physical education curriculum. This partnership allows us to offer a diverse range of activities that cater to every child’s interests and abilities, ensuring that each student can thrive and enjoy their physical education experience.

At St John XXIII, we also focus on professional development through mentoring for Early Career Teachers (ECTs). Our experienced staff provide robust support and guidance, ensuring that our ECTs grow into skilled educators who can effectively contribute to our students' learning journeys. This commitment to mentoring not only enhances the quality of physical education instruction but also builds a strong, supportive community within our school. We believe that by investing in our teachers, we are investing in the future of our children and the broader school community.

Intent

At St John XXIII, physical education inspires children to develop confidence, fitness and wellbeing through active participation, teamwork and healthy competition. Guided by Pope Leo’s Maps of Hope, we support every child on a journey of physical development and personal growth, encouraging them to strive for excellence and enjoy a lifelong love of movement. 

Our PE curriculum is carefully sequenced so that skills build progressively from Early Years to Year 6. Children develop fundamental movement skills and then apply these to a range of sports, activities and games. Through progressive teaching, pupils develop strength, coordination, balance, agility and sporting skills, alongside the knowledge of how to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. 

We place strong emphasis on developing resilience, teamwork and fair play. PE provides opportunities for children to take on challenge, support one another, and reflect on their performance. Our approach encourages all pupils to participate, improve and succeed, regardless of starting point. 

We hold high expectations for all learners. Through inclusive teaching and appropriate challenge, every child is supported to achieve and to develop a positive attitude to physical activity. Our aim is for pupils to leave St John XXIII as confident, active and healthy individuals who understand the value of wellbeing and teamwork. 

Through PE, our pupils will: 

• Communicate with confidence and clarity, working collaboratively, supporting others and reflecting on their performance. 
• Journey as resilient learners, embracing challenge, improving through practice and showing determination. 
• Recognise their God-given dignity and potential, understanding that physical activity is for everyone and all can succeed. 
• Step forward with ambition and purpose, leading healthy lifestyles and enjoying physical activity throughout life. 

Implementation

We follow the national curriculum as the basis for our planning and assessment and have designed the Long Term plan so that lessons build on the previous years’ learning. Topics will interlink and build on skills already taught that fall into either the cognitive, social, emotional or physical. The teachers all follow the Get Set for PE scheme of work which has engaging, thorough plans that targets teachers who are looking to deliver Outstanding PE lessons as well as strong ideas for differentiation, challenge and inclusion. 

The children will learn to move effectively and efficiently in a variety of ways and those with mastery will able to transfer skills from one sport or activity to another.  

Whilst the pupils will be learning effective technique and movement in KS1 and Lower KS2 by Upper KS2 the children will be developing a strong tactical understanding within games and develop a strong understanding to make key decisions as an individual and within teams, as well as evaluating their own performances. The focus of developing cognitive aspects of learning during the later years of KS2 prepares the children for school. 

The teachers model effectively the skills required to play game effectively and allow the children to embed their techniques within shared routines, sequences or small sided games whilst then giving them the freedom to express themselves, be creative and make their own decisions testing their skills in the process. PE lessons can be strongly linked to other areas of the curriculum such as science, maths, PSHRE and English. Much of the science curriculum uses looks attitudes to healthy bodies that involve great investigations and write ups. 

The children are able to utilise their local community to use facilities like Janet Adejoke Swimming Pool, Ravenscourt Park, Play Football, Shepherd’s Bush cricket club and the Linford Christie Stadium. We also enjoy trips to QPR for workshops, tours, talks and competitions on the Football pitch. 

Children are encouraged to think about the successes within lessons and think about areas for development within the Physical, Social, Cognitive and Emotional skills within a lesson. They are also challenged with different levels of questions to stretch the children and assess them for understanding and depth. They will explore and discover together as individuals and have the share to communicate their ideas with others. As they move through the school leadership opportunities will naturally develop through PE and the children will be able to help and work with their peers to embed the learning process even further. 

Our EYFS pupils begin with introductions to PE, fundamentals as well as learning to move through gymnastics and dance. They will then experience ball skills and games which begin their journey into invasions games in KS1 and KS2. The children begin to work together, understand rules and learn to control their bodies and equipment using and developing hand eye coordination. They learn to make simple decisions and have an environment inside and outside to develop healthy minds and bodies. The children also have the chance during playtime to use the play bikes, gymnastic equipment to perform balances and also the chance to climb and jump. 

What does this look like at St John XXIII? 

• A broad and balanced curriculum that reflects the local community and backgrounds of the children 
• Teacher understand the importance of PE to the vision of the school and the development of the individual. 
• Teacher use a variety of methods, strategies and pedagogical theories to engage, stretch and include the all pupils. 
• Provide the children with targets to work on where gaps are evident. 
• Highlighting where children can attain Greater Depth across the Year in a range of skills. 
• Where children are challenged physically or technically, they are given opportunities to achieve through their emotional, cognitive and social skills. 
• Maintaining and fostering positive attitudes in PE especially to those lacking self-esteem and motivation to participate within sessions. 
• Teacher will set homework tasks (practical or written) to research, check understanding and explore ideas with adults at home. 
• All children participate in PE lessons and have the opportunities, resources and chances to succeed within lessons through suitable differentiation. 
• Making allowances for children with disabilities and medical conditions, taking into account children with special needs, through modified classroom programmes. 
• Ensure every child moving on to secondary school can swim 25m and has basic water skills. 
• Developing the fitness of the individual, by ensuring a good pace in lessons and incorporating fitness activities into physical education lessons as appropriate. 
• .Involving the community where possible - e.g. Sports Day, clubs, intra/ inter-school matches, outside coaching personnel and resources. 
• Provide enjoyable experiences, where positive attitudes of sensitivity, leadership, co-operation, competition and tolerance may develop. 
• In addition to the school curriculum our students compete in a range of Borough competitions, sports festivals and local cluster fixtures taking place at regular intervals during the appropriate season. 
• Along with the large variety of physical activity within the curriculum we also offer a range of after school clubs such as Netball, Tag Rugby, Football, Cricket,  Dance, Tennis and Athletics. 

Impact

As a result of our broad and balanced curriculum offer we envisage the children will become skillful, intelligent performers who can apply their physical, social, cognitive and emotional skills gained through PE to be effective leaders, communicators and team players in all areas of their lives. 

• They will gain and develop skills performing with increasing physical awareness. 
• They will learn how to select and apply skill, tactics and compositional ideas to suit activities that need different approaches and ways of thinking. 
• To develop ideas in different ways and show creativity and understanding of the principles of the sport/ skills learned. 
• Set targets for themselves are compete against others. 
• Understand what it takes to persevere succeed and acknowledge the success of others. 
• Respond positively to a variety of challenges being resilient and determined in the process. 
• Take initiative, lead activities and focus on improving performances. 
• Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities. 
• Lead healthy active lives 
• Develop positive attitudes to participation in physical activity 
• Engage in competitive sports and activities 
• Embed the values of fairness and respect. 
• Through pupil voice children talk enthusiastically about PE lessons and confidently talk about why PE is important. They enjoy active lessons and break and lunchtimes contributing to a healthy outlook. 
• Pupils can link skills techniques and ideas and apply them accurately and appropriately. Pupils show good control in their movements. 
• Pupils can compare and comment on skills, techniques and ideas that they and others have used, 
• People use observations to improve their work. 
• Pupils can explain important safety principles when preparing for exercise. 
• Pupils can explain what effect exercise has on their body and why it is important. 

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 

 In Class/Lesson Feedback  

We understand that feedback in linked to progress and has to be timely to make an impact. In class feedback is used to support teacher’s workload, ensure it is as immediate and timely and specific as possible, and leaves the teacher time to focus on individual identified needs. In PE, immediate feedback is provided to pupils to support them in developing their skills and knowledge within each lesson. The pupils can peer assess each other thinking about the techniques and skills they are learning within a lesson. We ask the pupils to reflect on the different aspects of the four part model and assess their successes and achievements within a lesson. Pupils enjoy using the tactics board to discuss their formations and strategies thinking about the principles of attacking and defending, knowing how to create and deny space. Actively involving them in these discussions allows them to build on these skills the following lesson and evaluate their performances as an individual as well as a collective team.  

 Corrective Teaching/Summative Assessment 

When a pupil has not met the learning objective there is timely support so they are able to continue on the learning journey with their peers. Teachers adapt their planning for the next lesson to ensure there is time to address these misconceptions. Coaches and teachers support the children with small steps to ensure progress of a skill. Teachers are aware of gaps from the previous ‘phase’ or ‘Key Stage’, will actively try to plan for these at the beginning of a Topic and continue to address and consolidate throughout the year.  Individuals and groups are catered for and challenge is provided within lessons for all learners, especially those showing mastery within parts of the subjects. Children can reflect on tactical developments within invasion games and can record the strategies they would use in a range of scenarios.  

  Interventions/ Extra sessions 

Interventions are offered to children who are entitled to the Pupil Premium Grant and children with SEND to ensure they are getting extra access to sports and lessons on healthy lifestyles.  Lunch time sessions are delivered for children in need of some fitness sessions as well as using this time to include children who would benefit from some skills sessions or those working towards a greater sense of emotional regulation. This time can be used to deliver Occupational Therapy for pupils who are recommended such session by the NHS. All pupils can also take part in daily challenges at lunch time to improve their fitness and compete for the personal best. The pupils enjoy recording their successes on the challenge board for others to compete against.  Morning fitness circuits and skill challenges are delivered to the children in ‘Breakfast Club’ encouraging leadership roles to those Upper Key Stage 2. 

 Pre teaching/ Pre Assessment 

The pupils are given a word mat before each topic that are specific words they will need for the lessons in their Key Stage. This helps them to revise necessary skills and words needed in previous phases whilst also learning new words that can help to them to express themselves, communicate with others, lead each other and make progress. The pupils complete a shared assessment after each topic which is guided with the teacher where we can draw diagrams and discuss the skills and learning they have developed during the topic as well as recoding their ideas in the written form. This allows children of all abilities to succeed in PE even if they find the physical aspects challenging.  

 Clubs  

Club are used to challenge children working above the expected standard. They work regularly together in teams to progress in groups and it is evident through their progress how they can lead each other, build on skills and collaborate a group. They are challenged to make decisions as an individual and in smaller groups and can evaluate performance through questioning and facilitating debate amongst themselves. The children use the tactics board to work together and this shows evidence of their understanding of the defensive and attacking roles required in PE.  

Partnership 

Teachers engage parents through September welcome meetings. Parents receive updates through the school newsletter on pupil achievements in PE. Partnerships with local clubs and community projects are vital to providing a broad and balanced curriculum allowing us to thrive in a range of areas of the PE curriculum. 

 School reports  

School reports are issued at the end of the school year. PE is marked as Working towards National Expectations, Meeting National Expectations or Exceeding National Expectations. 

Competition 

The pupils’ progress is evident through intra and inter mural house matches at the end of each topic. They also take part in a Borough Football and Netball league as well as indoor Athletic events. Their understanding of their roles within games is evident, applying tactics and show casing their skills using such events to thrive and learn from. We team up with local primary schools for training sessions and friendly matches to increase competition between schools, giving the children the opportunity to exhibit the skills they learn in a competitive environment.  

Physical Education Long Term Curriculum and Progression of Skills Map