Physical Education (PE) and School Sports

Our Vision:

At West Town Primary Academy (WTPA), we believe that supporting the children to be happy, healthy, mindful citizens who learn how to take care of their body and mind through participating in engaging lessons, being fully involved in academy life, and making healthy choices will stand them in good stead for a healthy, active lifestyle as they move through and on from primary school.

Intent:

Our specialist PE teacher leads the Physical Education Curriculum. It is our aim to provide the children with the opportunity to develop their PE skills (physical and cognitive) through a wide variety of activities beyond the normal primary curriculum. We aim to extend the boundaries of learning with a bespoke PE curriculum that is centered around the needs of the children to ensure that they develop competence in a broad range of physical activities, are physical active for sustained periods, engage in competitive sports and activities and lead healthy, active lives.

We follow the complete PE curriculum which focuses on skills development in each individual sport and puts health and well being at the core of learning. Combined with the children’s development of agility, gross motor skills, cognitive thinking, balance, coordination, healthy competition and team work, the lessons also provide opportunities for children to develop essential life skills such as resilience, values, fairness, respect, and an appreciation of the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. Our curriculum is designed to motivate and challenge our pupils in engaging, fun PE lessons that are accessible all, and allow all of our pupils to achieve their potential.
Children are also encouraged to develop their leadership skills through PE and school sport. During lessons pupils will have opportunities to coach and lead activities for their peers and learn how to provide and respond to feedback.

To enhance our pupils learning WTPA enters teams into a range of interschool and intra school competitions, events and tournaments. We actively promote good sportsmanship. Children learn to care for their bodies both physically and mentally and are encouraged to develop a growing self-awareness, resilience, positive attitude and commitment to self-improvement through setting goals, so that they are ultimately able to influence their own quality of life. We also invite guest coaches, speakers to deliver taster sessions for the children. This gives children wider experiences of alternative sports that aren’t delivered in lessons. These have included POSH, a professional Football referee, tumbling coach, and Karate sessions.
We have a team of Playground Activity Leaders (PAL’s) These pupils are responsible for choosing playground equipment, leading playground games and ensuring children are included in activities, ensuring playtimes are a positive experience for all. They also assist with leading sporting events throughout the year and act as our pupil voice Sports Council.

The academy offers a wide range of extra curricular sports clubs which change termly, these have included Trampolining, Archery, Table |Tennis, Fencing, Rounders, Cricket, Boxercise, Gymnastics, Dodgeball, Football, Multi sports, Fitness and Athletics. External coaches deliver sports sessions at lunchtime as part of the extended curriculum, providing additional opportunities for children to be active and experience various sports. This also provides possible pathways for children into local sports clubs outside of the PE curriculum.

Implementation:

What does PE look like at WTPA?

At West Town we are committed to providing our pupils with plenty of opportunities to get their recommended amount of weekly exercise. We have a brand new purpose built sports field which is used for PE lessons where appropriate. It has a classroom on site, allowing multiple classes to access this facility simultaneously. This enables staff to maximise learning time for our pupils. We have a large playground, within it there is a trim trail, a climbing frame, thermoplastic playground markings (which include a shade sail, multi-court, games, fitness trails and an EYFS road track) A large hall, small hall and a mirrored dance studio. In addition the local swimming pool is within a 5-minute drive away.

It is our aim to offer the children skill development through a wide variety of activities beyond the normal primary curriculum. The children participate in two hours of timetabled PE each week, when it is their PE day they wear their WTPA PE kit to school which maximises learning time. The activities covered within the curriculum are Gymnastics, Games, Athletics, Multi-skills, fundamentals, Netball/Basketball, Tennis, Invasion games, Outdoor Adventurous Activities (OAA) and team building, with children going swimming in year 4.

We consistently promote good sporting behaviour and attitudes, which are reflected within WTPA’s ethos and values. The children learn how to care for their bodies both physically and mentally. They are encouraged to develop a growing self-awareness, positive attitudes, positive growth mindsets and a commitment to self-improvement through setting goals, so that they are ultimately able to influence their own quality of life. We aim to provide as wide a range of activities as possible to encourage enjoyment, greater activity and involvement, whilst promoting physical fitness, health and cognitive learning through movement, play and exploration.