At The Sherwood School, we believe that Physical Education is essential to the health and wellbeing of all pupils. We intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education and in developing life skills. As a school we want children to be able to self-rescue, use a range of strokes and swim 25m by the end of Year 6. Our well-planned curriculum aims to improve the fitness and wellbeing of all children at The Sherwood through skills development, teamwork, leadership and growth mindset.

We are proud of our Healthy Schools Silver status and Gold Games Mark. These achievements confirms our commitment that all pupils should actively engage in sporting activity, that pupils are given the opportunity to participate in competitions, that we develop and train our sports leaders and that we create and develop links with local clubs and establishments.

Article 24 (health and health services) Every child has the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and well-being so that children can stay healthy. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

Implementation

In line with the National Curriculum, all children receive 2 hours a week of quality Physical Education lessons. We recognise that children have different physical abilities and our provision ensure that all pupils’ needs are catered for. We work closely with Merton School Sport Partnership to deliver some parts of the curriculum with a focus on the key skills that children need to succeed and progress in that sport.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, activities that support the Prime Area of Physical Development are planned for carefully, so that children are able to develop and hone their fine and gross motor skills through independent play as well as through adult-led activities.

In the Early Years, activities that support the Prime Area of Physical Development are planned for carefully, so that children are able to develop and hone their fine and gross motor skills through independent play as well as through adult-led activities.

 In Key Stage 1, pupils are encouraged develop their physical ability by learning to master fundamental movement skills such as balance, agility, coordination, running, turning, jumping throwing and catching. This is achieved by providing pupils with the opportunity to work both individually and in small groups, utilising a mixture of simple cooperative, competitive and non-competitive activities.

In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to develop and refine their fundamental movement skills and are encouraged to perform these skills in isolation and where appropriate in conjunction with each other to provide a sequence of movements that is pleasing to the eye. Pupils will also take part in more games based activities, (for example, basketball, hockey, football, tennis & rounders), as well as dance and gymnastics to further their learning. Pupils will learn to compare and evaluate their own learning and performance in PE.

Pupils in Year 4 are provided with swimming lessons to ensure that they are taught vital life skills. These lessons focus on children becoming confident swimmers with an understanding of water safety.

Children are invited to attend a range of competitive sporting events within the local area. This is an inclusive approach where we aim to give each child the opportunity to develop teamwork and communication skills within a competitive environment.

Each year, we deliver leadership training to Year 5 pupils. The aim is for these pupils to become Sports Leaders for the school and develop into positive role models for younger pupils. Sports Leaders at The Sherwood assist with lunchtime clubs, our annual Sports Day and other sporting activities where needed.

We also liaise with different outside providers to engage our pupils with a wide variety of sports during the year. This includes archery, dancing, outdoor adventure and cricket and the aim is to not only develop a new skill but to also create some curiosity in trying a different sport.

Impact

Using a mixture of peer and teacher lead assessment, progress is constantly monitored in the PE lesson. At the end of each unit an assessment of each child’s progress is made which will contribute to their end of year assessment report. The PE leader monitors assessment closely to ensure opportunities for the more able pupils are provided and that areas for development are identified.