At High Wycombe Church of England School, we have planned for a diverse PE curriculum which meets the National Curriculum. Each child receives two hours of high quality PE teaching using various spaces within our school environment. All classes have one games lesson and another REAL PE lesson. Throughout the year, we are also fortunate to have some sports coaches to provide enriching sports sessions where the children are even more motivated to improve their skills and think critically about their performance.
Our curriculum has been carefully planned to provide a progression of skills and knowledge that allows each child to progress before the end of their primary education, therefore allowing them to take on their experiences and a level of confidence to their next stage in education. The children in our school have additional opportunities where they can take part in class competitions, out of school competitions and extra-curricular activities allowing them to progress these skills further and apply what they have learnt into other sporting events.
As a whole school we apply and participate in a various inter and intra sporting competitions which has contributed to us participating in the School Games Award. As a community we appreciate taking part in these competitive school events, however, also understand that others may not want to contribute in the same way. Therefore, we all support the children to carry their growth mindset where they can have a go, try their best and if they don’t succeed at first then to try again later. As a whole school, we wish to support the children having positive experiences of being physically active and we have an inclusive approach where we all value the importance of physical and mental well-being.
The children take part in a wide range of invasion, stroking and fielding, throwing and catching, net and wall games, dance, gymnastics and alternative sports. By doing so, it has allowed all children to take part in the exploration of their own creativity and imagination. We are proud of extended events we promote in the school such as ‘Healthy Heroes Week’ where all children participate in athletics events using indoor and outdoor spaces with multiple adventurous activities. All pupils are invited to take part in after school clubs and we invite multiple children to participate in competitions outside of school. In year 6, the children are invited on a residential trip whereby they will participate in a vast amount of physically activities where they will be using a multitude of skills. Consequently, these experiences have been proven to have a positive effect on children’s self-esteem and confidence levels, thereby improving their emotional health and wellbeing.
Playtimes are a fundamental time during their school day routine. Because of this, we have tried to optimise on this opportunity by offering our lunchtime supervisors and several upper key stage two children training to deliver and supervise a variety of games for the children. This has allowed the children to adopt a happy, healthy and ready to learn like approach. We have a multitude of outdoor playing environments for the children and a selection of play based equipment which the children and adults can utilise to start games, or otherwise use to promote various skills such as team building, cooperation and a philosophy to keep trying. EYFS also have various play-based areas such as the outdoor play area and an area of space that acts similar to a forest school. Both of these act as an opportunity in providing children to develop and improve fundamental skills using various body parts.
To develop some leadership skills, eight children from Year 6 can nominate themselves as sports leaders from each house team; Riders, Bikers, Surfers and Skaters. This gives the older children an opportunity to develop some of their leadership and communication skills across the school. They contribute widely to the school ethos in areas such as the sports achievement assemblies, monitoring and evaluating PE in the school, encouraging all children to participate in extra-curricular activities and promoting a positive physical and mental wellbeing. These children care carefully selected to be positive role models for the younger members of the school, helping to organise playtime games and assisting in our ‘Healthy Heroes’ week.
As well as within our PE curriculum, we are strong believers in promoting an active learning attitude in the classrooms to reduce any sedentary routines. Each class carefully monitors the active learning minutes on a log sheet as well as using a variety of online and physical resources to increase physical movements. We also encourage all children to participate in our ‘Run a Mile’ on a regular basis in accordance with the governments requirement for all children to be physically active for 60 minutes per day.