Statement of Intent

At St. Oswald’s it is our intention to ensure that all children have a willingness to participate eagerly in every PE lesson, with positive attitudes, a keen interest in all they do and ultimately, be the best they can be. Throughout our Physical Education lessons, from reception to year 6, the children experience a broad and balanced curriculum where they are able to demonstrate resilience and a can-do-attitude, fair and inclusive play, kindness, acceptance and a willingness to forgive, all whilst flourishing in a range of different physical activities and sports which develop their health and fitness. 

Our physical education lessons teach the children to make informed choices about engaging in extracurricular sport, with opportunities to have rich first hand experiences, take responsibility for their own health and fitness and also play a valued role in school and the wider community. All of these factors enable the children to build character and help embed our key values of respect, friendship, service, compassion, justice and trust throughout all that they do, contributing to the totality of the educational experiences the children of St. Oswald’s have. 

Alongside maintaining high levels of physical activity, we emphasise the importance of promoting long-term health and well-being, whereby the children begin to encompass a sense of belonging where their uniqueness and ambition is celebrated – these ideas are linked closely to RSE and science curriculums in order for the children to make strong connections within their learning. 

Implementation

PE at St. Oswald’s is shaped around the National Curriculum and our key progression in skills document. These documents (alongside the long term plan) clearly mark out the expectations and skills taught and learnt at each stage throughout school and are sequenced effectively in order to enable understanding and also ensure progression from EYFS to Y6. The children at St Oswald’s have the opportunity to engage in over 35 different sports and activities throughout curriculum time and each activity is complemented by an exit pathway, whereby children and guardians are signposted to local clubs should they want to continue this activity outside of the school day. We are committed to ensuring all children are prepared for the future and want every child to discover a community club where they can continue to progress their skills. St Oswald’s staff are committed and dedicated to ensuring a balanced coverage of the National Curriculum that gives children opportunities to excel in a wide range of activities and build upon prior learning and skills in a safe and encouraging environment. 

Our Physical Education curriculum ensures a balance between independent fundamental skills based learning and competitive games lessons. Throughout both of these lesson types, children are encouraged to evaluate their own and their peers’ performance, take on the role of coaches and officials and are explicitly taught the importance of showing St Oswald’s values throughout sporting endeavours. Our long term plan highlights a range of units which cover: net and wall games, invasion games, dance, gymnastics, striking and fielding games, target games and OAA. Whilst in Y3/4 the children also attend swimming lessons at a local pool to ensure they can become confident, competent and proficient swimmers. Additional provisions are also put in place for older children who do not meet the national curriculum requirements whilst in these year groups. 

Through their time in our school, the children of St. Oswald’s not only learn how to be physically active for sustained periods of time, but they also understand the importance of why we should aim to lead healthy and active lives whilst excelling in a broad range of physical activities. We feel it is important from a young age children are encouraged to believe in themselves and use the skills taught linked to physical health to enable them to improve their wellbeing and mental health too. 

The Physical Education curriculum, like all of the subjects at St Oswald’s, are mapped out with a progression of knowledge, skills and vocabulary to ensure that learning is sequenced effectively.  .  

Impact

At the end of KS2, when the children leave St. Oswalds, they will have engaged with purposeful, relevant and inspiring lessons for two hours each week. Within the school day we also provide opportunities for active learning within the wider curriculum. At playtimes we have enhanced provisions to ensure children have additional opportunities for 30 minutes of physical activity each day, these initiatives include: a range of lunchtime clubs provided by coaches attached to professional clubs, active playground markings, rotation of adult led activities and our Enrich Education orienteering course. 

The children will have acquired independence, a sense of responsibility and social justice which will support them in their preparations for the future and their journey into Secondary education. We believe that through our Physical Education learning opportunities the children will embed the values of fairness and respect in all that they do and they are able to apply these skills in a variety of contexts and situations. 

Children are assessed against a series of ‘I can’ statements found in the Progression of Skills document. In each activity, children are assessed in three areas: physical ability (ability to perform skills in isolation and in competition), cognitive ability (ability to analyse and evaluate performance, coach others and officiate games) and behaviours (ability to show resilience and sporting behaviours throughout competition).

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

At St Oswald’s, we pride ourselves in offering children opportunities to do out of school as well as within the curriculum. Our P.E. team work closely with external agencies to offer a variety of extra-curricular opportunities, linked to different sports.

Visit our extra-curricular activities page to find out more about our current offer: