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At St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School we want every child to have left our school with:

  • Excellent knowledge, skills and understanding of sport and physical activity.
  • The chance to experience a wide range of different activities and sports in PE lessons
  • The opportunity to take part in competition in and outside of school
  • A good understanding of the importance and how to apply the School Games Values to school life and the wider world (determination, respect honesty, passion, self-belief and teamwork)
  • The engagement of pupils in regular physical activity-to kick start healthy active lifestyles.

Curriculum Intent            

The PE curriculum promotes curiosity and a love and thirst for learning. It is ambitious and empowers our children to become independent and resilient – like all curriculum areas. 

We want to equip them with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the physical education National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. In Year 6 children have the opportunity to apply their OAA skills to a contrasting locality in (Wales) and take on a number of team challenges including dam building, orienteering over longer distances and shelter building. We also endeavour to promote mindful approach to health. In the Spring Term, we offer children a ‘Mindfulness Day’ in order to expose children to activities such as meditation, yoga and orienteering within the school grounds. To further demonstrate our commitment to providing broader experiences of a range of sports and activities, we offer a range of extra-curricular clubs including traditional sports alongside new Inclusion Clubs (offering Boccia, New Age Kurling and Seated Volleyball) and a Multisports Club (which offers a new sporting activity each week to targeted pupils). Each year, we try to engage children in new sports by hosting exciting themed weeks and explosing the children to activities such as Quiddich, Dodgeball, Speedstacking and Fencing.

We want our children to use the vibrancy of our great city to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a strong SMSC curriculum, with British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the PE curriculum. For example, we have attended a ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ event at Anfield which was hosted by Liverpool F.C. In the autumn term, Year 6 were inspired by former Royal Marine and Amputee Record Holder Andrew Grant (a former pupil) and Paralympic athlete Beth Munroe, helping our children to understand both the importance of determination and resilience and to understand the barriers overcome by those with disabilities.

Curriculum Implementation

Our curriculum is designed to provide children with essential fundamental movement skills and the experience of a range of activities activities which are revisited year on year. The 6 main areas are:

  • Fundamentals in Years 1, 2 and 3 which underpin all sports and activities and prepares them not only for future PE units but for movement in life.
  • Games which moves from introductory units and ball skills in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 into a range of sports in Key Stage 2 such as football, hockey, dodgeball and tennis. This is to prepare them for the opportunities and experiences of competitive sport across classes, year groups and in our South Sefton Sports Partnership and Merseyside competitions.
  • Gymnastics to build on fundamental movement skills and also provide opportunities that would be normally out of reach as few of our children have the opportunity to attend gymnastics clubs outside of school.
  • Athletics to build on fundamental movement skills and provide children with a clear application of their fitness skills alongside games units as well as being a discipline in its own right which is celebrated by every child each summer in our Sports Week.
  • Dance to teach children that not all PE is set in rules but can be expressive and personal and can support mental and physical well-being alongside other areas of activity.
  • Team Building in Key Stage 1 leading to OAA in Key Stage 2 to teach children determination and resilience and prepare them for the experiences of later life when working with others as part of team to solve problems.

Across the key stages we also made the decision to embed two new units: Fitness and Yoga. This choice was made to provide our children as many different mental and physical challenges as possible. Fitness is an essential component in PE and we believe children should understand their own fitness and its importance to their mental and physical health. It is now a dedicated unit as well as being referenced in each PE lesson. We also intend to promote a mindful approach to PE. Through our Mindfulness Week and Yoga units we will encourage children to understand the importance of a slow, mindful approach to health alongside traditional sports.

Physical Education’s subject specific characteristics, which we expect the children to demonstrate, have been developed and shared with all stakeholders. These characteristics underpin all work in PE and form a focal point for display areas and provide a common subject specific vocabulary for staff and pupils. These characteristics are:

Our planning utilises the Getset4PE website to which we have a long term subscription. The planning was trialled and approved by the South Sefton co-ordinator and school PE coordinator. Lesson plans are well structured to maximise activity levels and have inbuilt progression from week to week and assessment focuses as well as including adaptations for AGT and SEN pupils to ensure all children make progress at their level. Staff are encouraged to use their own judgement with regard to lessons (when to move forward/when to repeat a lesson) rather than following the plans to the letter. The children are always our guide when planning week to week.

Our staff  teach PE twice a week. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to PE and that PE subject matter can be revisited frequently. We believe that by crafting our curriculum this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught, to alter their long-term memory and thus improve the rates of progress they make. 

Curriculum Impact

We use ongoing formative assessment within every PE lesson using key questions and success criteria which has been carefully organised into our planning. Staff use this formative assessment to inform their short-term planning and feedback to pupils. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the SEND and the more able children to help them reach their personal best.

These formative assessments lead to a summative assessment of each PE unit on a half-termly basis. These assessments are placed on the Getset4PE website under each class file. This supports teachers in future planning. For example when they revisit a similar unit in games they can look back at the assessments and adapt planning and teaching accordingly.

Assessment markers for each unit of teaching have been carefully mapped out and further broken down for each year group on a progression of skills document. This means that skills in PE are progressive and build year on year. These judgements are collated and support staff making a PE judgement at the end of the year for pupils, parents and future teachers. 

A review of assessment information across the school is part of a monitoring cycle which is developed at the beginning of each academic year. This process provides an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in PE.

Monitoring in PE includes:

  • Lesson observations/learning walks for select year groups (this will be done annually from the 2021/22 year with dates decided within the observation cycle under the advice of SLT)
  • Pupil Voice
  • Staff Voice ( In line with Autumn CPD Staff Meeting)
  • Online assessment review

All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly.

Fundamental Skills

The St Elizabeths Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) Programme is part of a wider and established culture in the South Sefton Partnership that promotes the building of a solid base of fundamental movement skills from which to build an understanding and love of physical activity and sport. Our expectation is that every child will benefit from quality PE provision, leaving our school with basics firmly in place in order to feel confident applying their skills in PE and Sport activities in secondary school and beyond.

At St Elizabeths we invest in the PE and School Sport Provision, applying it to all areas of school life and seeing it as an important part of our school culture and ethos to ‘Live, Love, Learn’. The research and evidence is clear, School Sport develops the ‘whole person’ and helps us to build a culture of personal and collective success within our school community

Committed to maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle

St Elizabeths is committed to championing the health and wellbeing of its pupils and staff through physical activity.We strive to maximise opportunities for children and all associated with the school to be physically active by promoting all avenues for activity (not just in PE lessons and through competitive sport opportunities). This includes within our curriculum, within our extra-curricular offer, across our school environment and through links with the wider community.

 * UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines:

  • Under-fives: 180 minutes (three hours) each day, once a child is able to walk.
  • Children and young people (5-18 year olds): 60 minutes and up to several hours every day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. Three days a week should include vigorous intensity activities that strengthen muscle and bone.

For more information, click on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-physical-activity-guidelines

Sports Premium

Over the course of the 2022-23 school year we have used our School Sports Premium Funding to:

  • Student Voice: Use Student Voice and School Games Council to engage children and give them ownership of how funding is spent this year (including underspend) on playground games and activities to encourage children to be active for a minimum of 30 minutes a day in school (alongside active curriculum time).
  • Half-termly challenges: Embed half-termly challenges to make sure children continue to strive for their Personal Best.
  • Raising Aspirations/tackling barriers: Continue to fund visits from inspiring individuals to raise children’s aspirations and help them to understand the barriers faced by athletes, how they overcome them and how these lessons can be applied to their own lives in a post-COVID society.
  • Forest School: Give every child in the school from EYFS Department-Y6 six sessions of Forest School spread throughout the year to strengthen OAA programme and improve children’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.
  • Reading and PE: To enhance links between literacy (specifically reading) and PE by: funding extra books for class libraries linked to PE and School Sport; funding visits from Sports linked authors (e.g- Dan Freedman) and funding workshops which make links between literacy, movement and creativity (e.g- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Dance Workshops in World Book Week) in order to raise profile of both reading and PE. 
  • Targeted Groups: To specifically target vulnerable, least active and those children with anxiety/confidence issues and provide with extra-curricular places and trips in order to improve health, wellbeing, attendance and confidence. 
  • Mental Health: To take part in the South Sefton Mental Health Champions Programme in order to improve the health and wellbeing of specific target groups this year under the supervision of our Pastoral Teacher and the Mini-Dukes Award with our PSHE Lead.
  • CPD: Offer a wide range of professional development courses and new resources for teaching and welfare staff to ensure high quality PE is delivered in all year groups following Staff Voice Audit. 
  • Funded Clubs: To provide additional coaches for school clubs or fund teachers delivering clubs in Autumn and Summer in order to help pupils build on their love of PE and School Sport in an extra-curricular setting. 
  • Funded Trips: To provide all classes in the school with the chance to visit Formby Pine Woods this year to build on Forest School experience in school and have a PE linked trip in school this year within the local area. 
  • Yoga and Mindfulness: Embed Yoga within the PE Curriculum Map in 2021-2 following whole school training and continue to make clear links between mental and physical health inside and outside of lessons through the ‘Whole Child’ objectives on Getset4PE alongside yoga, mindfulness and PSHE resources available on the platform.
  • Competition and Festivals: To fund opportunities to re-engage with face-to-face competition and festivals through our South Sefton School Sports Partnership membership and covering the costs of supply and travel to ensure we can attend as many competitions as possible during the school year. 
  • School Games Values: To strengthen the focus on our children achieving their own ‘personal best’ and striving to embody the School Games Values with half termly awards focused on these areas and publish children’s awards on Twitter and the School website. 
  • Swimming: Fund additional top-up swimming lessons for Year 6, additional adults poolside (if available) to support swimming and CPD of staff in order to improve the percentage of children leaving our school reaching National Curriculum expectations.