Swalwell Primary School
Working together, learning together
Welcome
PE
Intent
At Swalwell Primary School, physical education (PE) is an integral part of our curriculum that is inclusive and engages all pupils. Children develop the knowledge, skills and competence to excel in a broad range of sports and physical activities, as well as understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally. Through our PE curriculum we also teach children how to cooperate and collaborate with others, as part of a team, understanding fairness and equity of play to embed life-long values.
Implementation
All children participate in a minimum of 2 hours a week of high quality PE, utilising the vast outdoor space or school hall. Our PE curriculum incorporates a variety of sports to ensure all children develop the confidence, tolerance and the appreciation of their own and others’ strengths and weaknesses. We use the ‘Power of PE’ scheme as a starting point for lessons before following children’s interests and needs. Children are taught two different physical activities or sports each half term, with these being revisit over the years to develop skills. We provide opportunities for all children to engage in extra-curricular activities before, during and after school, delivered by our teachers as well as professional coaches. We work closely with the Gateshead School Sports Partnership to participate in a range of inter and intra school competitions. Children in Year 5 have a year of swimming tuition where we aim for all children to be water confident and be able to swim at least 25 meters. Each year a small group of Year 5 and 6 children are invited to become Sports Leaders for the school. They develop into sporting role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time clubs, our annual Sports day and any other Sporting activities. This is an inclusive approach which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also well-being.
Impact
Teachers assess children’s competence in an area on the first and last lesson of a unit using a core task. Through our lessons children’s skills and understanding progress, and they also learn to take responsibility for their own health and fitness. Many of our children enjoy the success of competitive sports out of school and these are shared and celebrated as a school in our assemblies. We hope that by equipping our children with the necessary skills and a love for physical activity, they will grow up to live happy and healthy lives.
Please see the links for the schools Medium Term Plan and the School Sports Partnership website. If you would like any further information regarding our PE curriculum then please contact the school.
Inclusion
All PE lessons at Swalwell Primary School are inclusive of every child. The long term plan is mapped out to include PE topics which are accessible for everyone. For example, each year group covers an ‘Invictus’ topic. This topic allows children to have the opportunity to take part in physically adapted activities. These activities include sitting down volleyball, boccia and blindfolded boules. This opportunity gives our physically disabled children the chance to lead, demonstrate and thrive in lessons they can access just as much as the rest of their class. It also encourages all of our children to become aware of the variety of sporting events and competitions for people living with disabilities and additional needs. We spend time prior to lessons watching clips from events like The Invictus Games and The Paralympic Games to give children the opportunity to experience the events. When planning individual lessons, staff use the STEP approach to ensuring that all lessons are accessible. We adapt the space by increasing or decreasing the area in which the activity is taking place. We modify the task ensure the demands of the task are appropriate for each individual child. We may also adapt the equipment that is used and we used part of our Sport’s Premium money to purchase equipment that allows all children in our school to access every lesson. For example, we have purchased basketball nets which are much lower to the ground so our children with mobility needs have the same chance to score a point for their team as anyone else in their class. We have also invested in sound balls for our children with a visual impairment. Finally, we adapt the people involved in lessons and activities to support any SEN children. We carry out partner, individual, small group and whole class activities.
People of P.E
At Swalwell Primary School, we recognise the importance of cultural capital and how this can provide children with tools they need for the future. We strongly believe that this can be done through P.E curriculum. As a result of this we have recently added People of P.E to our curriculum. Each sport or physical activity that is taught features a key athlete. Children will explore this sports personality by learning of their sporting journey, achievements and career paths. Each athlete has been carefully mapped out to represent the diverse society that we live in. Ethnicity, gender, disability and locality have all been considered when selecting each of the athletes so our children can relate and understand differences.
PE Champions
We currently have 6 PE Champions, who support their peers, promote confidence within PE, discuss plans and ideas for the subject, share their views and help to deliver assemblies.