At Castle Primary School, we believe that a program of high-quality physical education experiences is crucial to the healthy body and mind of our children. We are committed to promoting healthy lifestyles within our school, and do this by providing the opportunity to our children, of learning and playing various sports and games. Further skills, such as teamwork and leadership, play an important role in the development of children as individuals and will enable our children to access further opportunities in the future.
It is our intention to build a curriculum that enables children to develop knowledge, skills and vocabulary in a broad range of sporting activities, as well as developing values and transferable life skills that support our school values: respect, perseverance, integrity and resilience. This will be done using a clear ‘skills and knowledge progression’ ensuring a systematic teaching and learning sequence that will build on children’s prior learning.
We want all children at Castle School to experience a wide variety of sports and physical skills which will enhance lifelong fitness and life choices. PE can challenge and promote self-esteem through the development of physical confidence and problem solving. It can teach children to cope with both success and failure in competitive, individual and team based physical activities. Furthermore, physical activity can be used as a tool to assist children in expressing their individuality in the form of creative movement.
Physical activity is crucial in the development of a healthy body and mind. We want our children to foster an active attitude to their learning and to develop a level of activity that can be continued for sustained periods, leading to the intention of all of our children to lead healthy, active lives.
PE at Castle Primary School is taught by class teachers, and on occasion, specialised qualified sports coaches. Children have an equal opportunity to participate in a range of sports and physical activities within a supportive environment where effort as well as success is recognised. Physical activity is encouraged during break and lunch times. In all out of class sessions, sports equipment is provided to support Castle’s approach. Throughout different days, various sporting equipment is provided for the children; this includes: football, basketball, tennis, hockey, and general ball skills.
PE at Castle is taught in relation to the National Curriculum intentions and is structured to provide a range of sports experiences during which every child participates to develop their skills and learning through competitive, team and individual sports. Through this provision, children can aim to flourish at sports in which they have a particular interest or flair for.
Castle provides two hours of PE a week for its children. One hour of this is dedicated to specific sports outlined in the National Curriculum. The second hour is driven by Real PE. Real PE provides a comprehensive progression of skills from Reception to Year Six, building and developing on the previous year’s skills. This structure ensures that all children learn skills at a level that is suitable for them; these skills are easily monitored using the Real PE assessment system. Real PE focuses specifically on balance, agility, coordination and fitness. These skills enable the children to access the National Curriculum lead sports efficiently.
Extra curriculum sports are encouraged at Castle School. After school clubs such as: Football and quidditch feature weekly. Furthermore, cross country running events, organised by the local sports committee, are available to children three times a term.
Our children have a secure understanding of leading healthy lifestyles. Through our extensive programme of teaching, our children have been afforded the skills to enable them to participate in sports and team games. The benefits of our PE curriculum have afforded our children with the skills to be able to work as part of a team and individually with the confidence to make decisions for both themselves and the team.
Through experiences offered to Castle children, our children have the ability to take the initiative and become excellent young leaders, organising and officiating, and evaluating what needs to be done to improve- leading to motivating and instilling excellent sporting attitudes in others.
Our children use movement and dance to demonstrate exceptional levels of originality, imagination and creativity- supporting their overall confidence and boosting self-esteem. These skills enable Castle children to have the self-belief and motivation to take the necessary steps to improve themselves as young adults, including having the resilience to be brave and take risks in life.
