Physical Education

At Marion Richardson Primary School we recognise the importance of physical education and the role it has to play in promoting long term, healthy lifestyles. It is our vision for every pupil to succeed and achieve their potential as well as to lead physically active lifestyles. We aim to deliver high quality teaching that encourages and promotes a love for physical exercise. We strive to inspire our pupils through fun and engaging PE lessons and extracurricular opportunities that are enjoyable, challenging and accessible to all. Through our teaching of PE, we will provide opportunities for pupils to develop transferrable life skills such as collaboration, respect and resilience. We are committed to equipping our pupils with the skills and attitudes that will support them with making informed decisions about their health and fitness. We understand that a structured PE curriculum contributes to not only good physical health but also good mental health and well-being

Essential characteristics of physically active students

The ability to acquire new knowledge and skills exceptionally well and develop an in-depth understanding of PE.
The willingness to practise skills in a wide range of different activities to achieve exceptionally high levels of performance.
High levels of physical fitness.
A healthy lifestyle, achieved by eating sensibly, avoiding smoking, drugs and alcohol and exercising regularly.
The ability to remain physically active for sustained periods of time and an understanding of the importance of this in promoting long-term health and well-being.
The ability to take initiative and become excellent young leaders, organising and officiating and evaluating what needs to be done to improve, and motivating and instilling excellent sporting attitudes in others.
Exceptional levels of originality, imagination and creativity in their technique, tactics and choreography, knowledge of how to improve their own and others’ performance and the ability to work independently for extended periods of time without the need of guidance and support.
A keen interest in PE. A willingness to participate eagerly in every lesson, highly positive attitudes and the ability to make informed choices about engaging fully in extra-curricular sport.
The ability to swim at least 25 metres before the end of Year 6 and knowledge of how to remain safe in and around water.

Physical Education Curriculum Overview 2024-2025

Physical Education in the Early Years Foundation Stage

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, Physical Education (PE) forms part of the learning children acquire under the ‘Understanding the World' branch of the Foundation Stage curriculum.

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. For example, children who practise and succeed in filling containers in the water tray will handle drinks more successfully and have the confidence to, for example, pour out their own drinks.

There are some language objectives in PE lessons, too. Teachers will introduce words for negotiation and co-operation, such as ‘share’, ‘wait’, ‘take turns’, ‘before‘ and ‘after’.

Physical Education in Key Stage 1 and 2

The breadth of the Physical Education National Curriculum in Key Stage 1 and 2

Key Stage 1

Key Stage 2

Pupils should develop fundamental movement skills, become increasingly competent and confident and access a broad range of opportunities to extend their agility, balance and coordination, individually and with others. They should be able to engage in competitive (both against self and against others) and co-operative physical activities, in a range of increasingly challenging situations.

Pupils should be taught to:

master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and begin to apply these in a range of activities
participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending
perform dances using simple movement patterns.

Pupils should continue to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. They should enjoy communicating, collaborating and competing with each other. They should develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

Pupils should be taught to:

use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination
play competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders and tennis], and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example, through athletics and gymnastics]
perform dances using a range of movement patterns
take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team
compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.

At Marion Richardson we:

Provide challenging and enjoyable learning through a range of sporting activities including; invasion games, net & wall games, strike and field games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and outdoor & orienteering.
Support children with acquiring and developing skills that they perform with increasing physical competence and confidence in a range of physical activities and contexts.
Include two PE a lessons a week to our class timetable, covering two sporting disciplines every half term.
Develop skilful and intelligent performers.
Teach children how to select and apply skills, tactics and compositional ideas to suit activities.
Ensure that after school sport clubs take place weekly.
Support children with understanding the importance of exercise and provide them with the information required to live a healthy life.
Develop positive attitudes to participation in physical activity.
Ensure that children within the Early Years are provided with repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with develop their gross and fine motor skills daily. As well as a weekly PE lesson that develops core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility.

Learning Journeys

Learning Journeys detail the overall outcomes for each unit.
Learning Journeys detail the small steps that children will take to achieve the overall outcomes for each unit.
They show how the unit builds on prior learning
They show what children will learn in the future linked to what they are learning now.
Learning Journeys are available on the school website – on the year group page or on the subject page
They include key vocabulary for the unit
They include details of the key content to be covered

If you would like printed copies of any journeys please let us know.