At Highfield, we aim to develop, nurture, and grow the whole child through our Physical Education (P.E.) curriculum. We focus on a wide variety of skills and sporting knowledge that help children to develop physically, mentally, and socially. We ensure that all children are given a range of competitive and non-competitive opportunities, across a wide range of sports and activities that will build character, respect, teamwork, perseverance, communication, and responsibility. Through our unique offering of a wide range of sports, we ensure children have a full sporting experience with enjoyable opportunities to perform in game-based environments.

Our P.E. curriculum is designed to enable all children to:

• acquire the physical and mental skills and knowledge to take part in team-based sports
• explore and consolidate a solid foundation of skills and knowledge before applying them to specific sports
• acquire a wide vocabulary of sporting terminology
• have an understanding of tactics and strategy and be able to effectively communicate in a team-based situation
• express feelings and emotions through moving their body in rhythmic performances
• foster their resilience and adaptability through exposure to a variety of challenging physical activities, aiding in the development of a growth mind-set
• promote inclusivity and teamwork by encouraging students to collaborate and support one another in achieving common goals during both competitive and cooperative physical endeavours

These aims are embedded across our P.E. lessons and in the wider curriculum, where expectations of Physical Education are consistently high.

Throughout the week, outside of their P.E. lessons, children continue to develop their fitness, resilience and stamina in a daily physical activity called, ‘Marathon Kids’. In ‘Marathon Kids’, children are challenged to run/walk around the field as many times as possible in ten minutes, with the aim to improve upon their previous performances. Each individual’s laps (3 laps = 1km) are then counted towards the whole school’s tally in a combined effort to reach a pre-set destination. This daily activity not only promotes the physical and mental benefits of exercise but also ensures children are accessing a healthy and active lifestyle.

In addition to the weekly lessons and ‘Marathon Kids’, the teaching of P.E. is embedded throughout life at Highfield Primary School through such activities as:

• ‘Sports Leader’ challenges at break and lunchtime, led by our Year 6 children, which continue to promote a healthy and active lifestyle
• extra –curricular clubs across a wide range of sports, which not only expose our children to specialist sports (e.g., archery and fencing) but also lead to a vast amount of sports performance opportunities in fixtures and tournaments
• unique ‘taster session’ opportunities across a variety of sports, led by high quality coaches supplied through external clubs and organisations from our active membership of S.H.S.S.N (South Hillingdon School Sports Network)
• the fantastic sporting opportunities at our on-site facilities, led by our Professional Sports Coach who not only enriches teachers learning through C.P.D. (continuing professional development) but also provides extended opportunities for all through the provision of clubs and lessons
• outstanding sporting opportunities at off-site facilities, such as athletics days at Brunel University, football festivals at Q.P.R. (Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club) and Tag Rugby Tournament at a local Rugby Club

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (E.Y.F.S.) setting, our Physical Education provision is delivered through the three areas of:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Physical Development

Expressive Arts and Design the Specific Area: Understanding the World.

It is not only taught explicitly in the designated physical activity lessons but across the whole curriculum through a thematic approach, which enables the children to fully explore their knowledge and skills in context.

In Nursery our children are taught to:

• select and use activities and resources, with help when needed. This helps them to achieve a goal they have chosen or one which is suggested to them
• increasingly follow rules, understanding why they are important
• remember rules without needing an adult to remind them
• continue to develop their movement, balancing and ball skills
• climb up apparatus, using alternate feet
• skip, hop, stand on one leg and hold a pose for a game like musical statues
• start taking part in some group activities which they make up for themselves, or in teams
• match their developing physical skills to tasks and activities in the setting
• collaborate with others to manage large items, such as moving a long plank safely, carrying large hollow blocks
• respond to what they have heard, expressing their thoughts and feelings

In Reception our children are taught to:

• know and talk about the different factors that support overall health and wellbeing: - regular physical activity
• revise and refine the fundamental movement skills they have already acquired
• progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace
• develop overall body-strength, balance, co-ordination and agility needed to engage successfully with future physical education sessions and other physical disciplines, including dance, gymnastics, sport and swimming
• combine different movements with ease and fluency
• confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outdoors, alone and in a group
• develop overall body strength, balance, coordination and agility
• watch and talk about dance and performance art, expressing their feelings and responses
• explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups

In Key Stages One and Two our P.E. curriculum is explicitly taught through two weekly lessons. One lesson is delivered by the class teacher and the other lesson is led by our experienced, highly qualified sports coaches. This approach enables children to have a more focused and immersive experience so that knowledge can become more deeply embedded and previous knowledge recalled quickly and built upon sequentially. The curriculum is organised into six-week units of learning so that children learn two areas of expertise every half term.

These P.E. lessons are designed to positively impact upon our children’s attitudes to sport, exercise and healthy living as well as facilitating effective skill and knowledge acquisition. The lessons are inclusive for all abilities with well-planned suitable learning opportunities for our children so that challenge is provided for all.

Ultimately, our aim is to nurture in our children a love of sport and physical activity both in and out of school that will inspire them to become lifelong active people for the rest of their lives. To prepare and support our pupils towards healthy and active lifestyle choices for their future mental and physical well-being. Through our curriculum we want to develop and establish the values and transferable life skills of respect, teamwork, perseverance, communication, and responsibility, which will serve them well in all aspects of their future endeavours so that they lead a happy and fulfilled life.