The purpose for teaching Physical Education
At Ratby Primary School, we believe that physical education (P.E.), experienced in a safe and challenging way, is essential to children’s wellbeing, physical development and in developing the ‘whole child’.
We aim to provide all pupils with a variety of opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence in physical activity through lessons and activities that are inclusive and enjoyable for all children. As a school, we want children to build skills through a wide range of PE activities in both lessons and extra-curricular activities including: gymnastics, dance, ball games, outdoor education, athletics and swimming.
We understand that for children to be well-rounded, confident and successful individuals, they should be given the opportunity to consistently strive to be the best they can be. This is supported by lessons being purposeful, allowing children to develop a range of problem-solving and team-building skills, along with a variety of both competitive and collaborative extra-curricular activities, which help to embed physical activity into the school curriculum and also to gain success at external competitions, as we feel it is important to give children the opportunity to compete. We regularly field teams in a variety of sports and often gain successes in local competitions.
The teaching and learning of Physical Education
We recognise that a child’s early development of key skills such as: agility, balance and coordination, running, jumping, problem-solving, throwing and catching is fundamental to them becoming skilful and confident learners in KS2 and beyond so we explicitly teach these throughout a child’s time in EYFS and KS1. Once these skills have been developed and practised, children are taught to apply them in a range of activities and team games.
We continue to develop and build on these skills throughout KS2. These skills are then applied to team games such as: rugby, football, cricket, netball, tennis and dodgeball along with developing skill and control in dance and gymnastics. This change into team sports allows children to continue to craft their understanding of skills but within a competitive environment, where tactics and teamwork are also taught. This also gives pupils the experience of both winning and losing, which is an important skill to learn as they become a more reflective learner.
