Physical Education

Physical education at Bradley Barton Primary School - led by Mr. Easterbrook

Intent:

At Bradley Barton, we aim for all of the children to develop themselves socially, personally and cognitively as part of a restorative community. We wish for all children to find PE an enjoyable challenge, through which they develop physically and personally, as well as being enthused to be involved with the school community and beyond through clubs and teams. PE should make positive contributions to long-term physical and mental health as well as equip children with vital skills such as sportsmanship, communication and respect.

Implementation

Each week children access a minimum of two hours of high quality structured ‘Physical Activity’. This may be through PE lessons, swimming lessons (for some year groups) or Daily Physical Activity sessions. These are delivered fully or in part by the class teacher, our specialist PE Coach Mr. Knott or specialist swimming instructors. Sessions are as active as possible, with children clear about what they are learning both physically and through whole-child objectives such as developing sportsmanship, collaboration or communication.

Staff are supported to deliver high-quality PE in a number of ways. The use of GetSet4PE plans supports staff to ensure they focus on both the physical objectives and the 'whole-child' objectives, while providing a range of activities to show how skills can be learnt and then applied. The use of a specialist PE Coach to work alongside the class teachers supports them to develop a variety of areas of their practice, from challenging those children who require further challenge to supporting those who find some of the skills trickier to pick up. The Dartmoor School Sports Partnership also offers a range of CPD which is both sport-specific and targeted towards more general skills, allowing teachers to receive expert support in whichever areas they need.

In addition to quality-first Physical Activity teaching, there are a variety of inclusive enrichment opportunities offered all through the schools. These include outdoor learning opportunities through residential trips in years four and six, where children take part in activities such as archery, climbing and a variety of water sports. All children have the opportunity to take part in friendly and competitive sports events such as festivals delivered by the Dartmoor Schools Sports Partnership, intra-school competitions which take place at the end of each PE unit and our annual dance showcase which each class performs in as part of Sports Week. Throughout their time at Bradley Barton, children experience a wide range of sports and activities, including football, tag rugby, netball, handball, hockey, basketball, tennis, volleyball, athletics, cricket, rounders, Dartmoor 3-Ball, orienteering, gymnastics and dance.

Children are encouraged to remain active throughout the day, with a target of thirty-minutes of daily physical activity in-school and out. In school, this is tracked by the use of Moki bands, which measure the number of steps taken by children in a day as well as their number of minutes of moderate-to-high-physical-activity. This enables teachers to target children who are not as active as they could be with specific intervention, such as extra lunch clubs. Physical activity out of school is encouraged by half-termly physical activity challenges, which support children to develop their stamina, strength, balance, flexibility, speed, coordination. In addition to these, we also look to signpost children to local sports clubs where they show a particular interest or aptitude for a given sport or activity.

PE is just one part of enabling children to lead healthy lifestyles. In addition to PE, there are links with PSHE and science, where children learn about what the body needs to remain healthy, including physical activity, food choices, hygiene and mental health.

Extra-curricular activities are an important element of PE at Bradley Barton and a range of clubs are offered as after-school activities, giving the children the opportunity to try a range of sports, both new and familiar, in a secure and inclusive environment. These feed into teams, which give children the opportunity to experience inter-school competition to a high level.

Impact

Through the breadth and depth that our curriculum offers, children are equipped with the tools to live and lead a healthy lifestyle and leave Bradley Barton possessing fundamental skills of throwing, catching, jumping etc. As a result of our focus on less-active and less-engaged children, we have seen an increase in enthusiasm about PE and in physical activity levels across the school.