Physical Education (PE) is a central part of the curriculum at Airedale Junior School. We encourage all of our children to be physically active and to develop healthy lifestyles, which support their fitness, mental health and wellbeing.
Subject Leader: Mrs Maher
Our curriculum is skills and knowledge based, including full coverage of the National Curriculum which meets the needs of all Airedale Infants and Junior pupils. This takes into consideration the school setting, local, national and international developments.
Our pupils are offered a very wide range of experiences within the curriculum to extend their understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. The children develop skills, attitudes, and values to enable them to become lifelong learners and equip them for the future. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, concepts, and values. There should be no limits to curiosity, and we instil a thirst for new experiences and knowledge.
We actively promote British Values and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural differences. We also provide opportunities for our pupils to learn about the contribution of Britons to innovation, excellence and changes in the world.
The Curriculum has been organised into topics which are a vehicle to promote our school values and curriculum drivers, and allow for the development of skills and understanding within and across the subjects. Our curriculum topics allow the teaching of threshold concepts that are the fundamental ‘learning elements’. These concepts are built upon and developed within the year, across the year and over the course of the school experience.
Adaptive teaching (aka agile teaching) recognises: individual needs; the need for varied and additional resources; when, where and how additional support can be facilitated; and how children learn best. Teachers must plan lessons so that all pupils can study every national curriculum subject and experience success against age-appropriate expectations and/or their own bespoke personal targets.
Our children are taught and understand that, sport and physical activities, support development of the working memory and help to embed values such as fairness, respect and develop mental well-being. The links between physical and mental health support the development of greater self-esteem, self-control, and the ability to rise to a challenge through developing resilience. We have a strong partnership with ‘Elite Coaching’ where the children have the opportunity to work with qualified coaches, alongside class teachers and teaching assistants. In addition to this, our school plays a supporting role with the development of a PE Pro App, in conjunction with Sports Directory. This helps our children to raise their aspirations through working with and being positive role models and raises the profile of PE, so that they continue to be healthy and active in later life
Oracy and communication are fundamental skills that we believe equip our children to be life-long learners. PE supports this aim by children being able to respectfully discuss their performances and articulate their evaluation process with one another. Our pupils understanding that their voice is a vital tool required for supporting and developing one another’s performance, is crucial to aid success and promote the use of technical vocabulary. The vocabulary taught in PE links to many other areas of the curriculum, showcasing cross – curricular links. We encourage children to know, understand and apply this vocabulary in context.
Being independent and fostering a love for learning is crucial in our school. Through sport, P.E. and the use of our school ‘Sport Ambassadors’, our children are encouraged to build good relationships with their peers, work independently and collaboratively, supporting one another. Children are taught the skills of resilience and perseverance, which prepare them for the challenges that they are given in school, as well as the wider world. Children’s successes both in school and out of school are celebrated and they develop a sense of pride in their achievements. Our PE curriculum celebrates the success of all pupils, regardless of their physical ability showing children that these are not barriers to success and aspiration.
Lessons are planned so that children develop an understanding of the importance of health and fitness, whilst they acquire and develop key skills. Children are taught to evaluate and improve their performance and are encouraged to use their collaborative and leadership skills.
When children are in PE lessons, they are explicitly told that they are going to be active and take part in some form of physical activity. They are then reminded of the key skills that they will learn, use and develop within this subject, specifically linking to their prior learning and how this will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle. The knowledge content is carefully selected and skilfully taught alongside the key skills and concepts, which are threaded throughout the curriculum. This allows children ample opportunities to revisit, reinforce and embed skills progressively.
Ongoing assessments of the children’s knowledge and skills are observed by the class teachers, teaching assistants and sports leaders. Children’s outcomes are compared to the subject specific skills documents outlined on the PE Pro App. This is collated through three data collection points and next steps identified by the subject leader.
In addition to discrete teaching in this subject, opportunities for PE through additional enrichment and links with other subject areas, ensure that elements of the PE curriculum are accessed by children throughout the year. Our children participate in regular internal and external sports competitions. They experience a range of different sport and physical activities through the use of specialist coaches in school and are able to participate in after school enrichment activities to promote sportsmanship and their wellbeing.
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