Physical Education

In Physical Education all children follow the National Curriculum, which promotes a healthy lifestyle, co-operation and opportunities for individual practice and team work. 

Aims

At St. Joseph's, we aim to ensure that all pupils:

• develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
• are physically active for sustained periods of time
• engage in competitive sports and activities
• lead healthy, active lives.

P.E. lessons comprise of dance, gymnastics, games, net & wall, striking & fielding, athletics and outdoor activities, along with swimming for pupils in year 2/3.  A range of age appropriate and ability appropriate resources are used to support teaching and learning in P.E ensuring all children are able to access lessons successfully and progress their skill.

The school has access to grassed areas, which are used for sports, particularly in the summer term.  We have also benefited from a wide variety of outside tuition in sports from professional coaches purchased through the sports funding for schools.  These have allowed pupils to participate in a variety of exciting activities not just traditional sports, and it has also allowed for staff to develop their own subject knowledge.

At St. Joseph's, we believe that a high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. We aim for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness and that opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.  A competitive element can be seen in most of the physical education lessons delivered throughout the school.

Using our sports funding we have bought into Fylde and Wyre School Sports Partnership, along with other independent agencies and coaches, which have allowed us to provide the following opportunities:

• Dance
• Tag Rugby
• Football 
• Cricket 
• Tennis
• Schools Competitions
• Gymnastics
• Multiskills
• Zumba
• Gifted and Talented sessions
• Additional swimming lessons for year 5 pupils
• A wide variety of extra-curricular activities
• Training and CPD for staff

This is in addition to activities we already provide, including:

• Two PE sessions for each child per week
• Years 2/3 receive a weekly swimming lesson for two consecutive years throughout the Autumn Term (Including water safety)
• A physically active curriculum; where physical activity and movement is woven into other areas of the curriculum to maximise time spent being physically active. 
• Outdoor learning embedded in EYFS to promote and improve physical development
• Annual sports day (competitive)
• 'Traditional sports' extra curricular activities
•  Inclusive extra curricular activities
• Intra- School competitions
• Inter-School competitions

Mrs Wyke is the Subject Lead for PE

PE Curriculum 2021-2022

Here at St Joseph's, we are committed to ensuring all children receive two hours high quality PE each week (in addition to 60 minutes of physical activity per day). We use the Lancashire PE Passport App to help support our delivery of the PE curriculum and ensure that children are accessing a broad, balanced and progressive curriculum, starting with fundamental movement skills in EYFS & KS1. The curriculum is based around the Lancashire skills and knowledge progression document which  enables staff delivering PE to see where the children have come from and where they are going next.  

Children in Years 2 and 3 attend Ribby Hall for their swimming lessons, in order to reach the required level of competency for swimming and water safety.  Years 5 & 6 have attended additional water safety sessions to fully ensure they are competent in meeting the required water safety goals.  Additional swimming lessons have been offered to those children not meeting the required standard. 

This year our 5 & 6 pupils will visit Tower Wood for three days and our year 3 & 4 pupils will be staying over at Bowrick hall for the night.  Whilst having the time of their lives, they will also be focusing on key skills; becoming more independent, developing a sense of resilience, taking risks and stepping out into the unknown. 

Regular C.P.D. opportunities are planned for all staff to continue developing their knowledge and understanding of different physical activities offered to EYFS, KS1 and KS2 children.  This year our staff have completed training in KS2 gymnastics, KS1 fundamental movement skills and trust, trails and challenges for EYFS & KS1.

EYFS

Physical Education can be seen across all areas of learning in our Early Years setting here at St Joseph's.  Children are encouraged continuously throughout the day to be physically active and work on achieving the fundamental movement skills.  However, the most relevant statements for PE are taken from the following areas of learning: 

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development 
• Expressive Arts and Design 
•  

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the aim of PE is to improve skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement, much of it taking place through free or lightly structured activity. 

Children develop large motor skills through jumping, hopping, skipping, climbing and running, and also through playing with pedal and push-and-pull toys. Children participate freely in these kinds of activities both indoors and outdoors.  Fine motor skills are acquired by filling a container with sand, doing a puzzle or stringing beads. Children need these skills to do up buttons or laces and to hold a pen or pencil to write correctly. 

Here at St Joseph's, EYFS follow the Lancashire P.E. scheme of work in-line wit the rest of the school. This offers well planned sequences of learning, fulfilling every aspect of the National Curriculum, offering regular assessment opportunities and building in core sporting values such as resilience and respect. EYFS focus on the fundamental movement skills and develop the fine and gross motor skills of the children, so they are ready to begin accessing the different parts of the P.E. curriculum from Year 1. 

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Head to Toe Project

We are excited to be taking part in a new collaborative project, 'Head To Toe' , over the next two years (September 2021- August 2023), working with Blue Moose Dance Company and a small cluster of schools.

A word from Blue Moose about the project;
'Working with KS2, we will use creativity, dance and movement to explore different learning strategies for memory and recall, which go beyond the traditional forms and look into how the body and environment can play its part.  We will encourage pupils to better understand their own learning styles and preferences, to be inquisitive and creative.  The project will be shaped to meet the needs of the school and the pupils.  We will be working with an evaluator to build a continuous flow of feedback and thoughts, putting the young person's voice at the heart of the project'.