PE and School Sport
Intent - What do we want for our developing sportspeople?
At Horn’s Mill, we believe that sport and play offer life-changing benefits to every child. We aim to provide a progressive, varied and purposeful physical education curriculum that builds physically adept, confident and skilled children. It is our intent to expose every child to a range of sporting activities through high-quality teaching of PE, and by offering a range of extra-curricular sporting activities and competitions.
We believe that sport offers children a place to belong, to harness their powers, and to express themselves fully. A sense of competition is encouraged, primarily with oneself, but also with others. We believe that competitiveness can act as motivation to succeed. Mistakes made and challenges overcome are celebrated as learning moments. It is our intent that children learn the skills of empathy, fairness, communication and courage alongside sporting ability. The value of play is not underestimated as a vehicle for children’s enjoyment and participation in physical activity.
Daily physical activity is vital for young people's social, emotional and physical wellbeing. We believe that physical activity should be an intrinsic part of our school day beyond scheduled PE lessons. Children’s emotional wellbeing is key, and children are explicitly taught how to be mindful and support their own mental wellbeing. We recognise that physical activity helps children to learn and focus in all lessons, and follow the Chief Medical Officer’s advice to provide at least 30 minutes of physical activity during school hours for our children.
At Horn’s Mill, we believe that all learners, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or high needs, should be challenged by an ambitious curriculum which meets their needs. We have planned a seated curriculum for differently-abled children, and a non-participatory curriculum for children with specific needs meaning they are unable to participate in our full or seated curriculum. Participation in sports and games is celebrated and shared with families and the community, building a sense of pride and confidence.
We believe that being physically active is not confined to scheduled PE lessons, competitions and clubs, but being active is encouraged when children are learning in all areas of the curriculum. Children are consulted and encouraged to suggest sporting activities they would like to be on offer for after school clubs.
As part of a transition project with our feeder high school, we planned our curriculum to maximise opportunities for children to learn the key skills and physical strengths identified as being of highest value when transitioning to high school. We think that children in key stage transition years (2 and 6) should have the opportunity to lead sports, thus building their skills, confidence and ambition.
Implementation - How is the curriculum delivered?
Our PE curriculum aims to be fully inclusive for all. Our curriculum is delivered in a way which encourages children to revisit prior learning of each strand of PE, building progression throughout year groups in particular skills. Lessons are taught with a focus on key values necessary for the area of learning. For example, our gymnastics curriculum begins in EYFS with children being introduced to apparatus and the key points of being a ‘champion gymnast’ – pointing toes and using controlled movements. The concept of a ‘champion gymnast’ is repeated in every subsequent year group. Children learn to move their bodies ‘high’, ‘low’, ‘over’ and ‘under’. Children in EYFS also learn the values of honesty, fairness and curiosity. In KS1, children revisit their learning from EYFS and are introduced to moving their bodies in ‘wide’, ‘curled’ and ‘narrow’ ways. Children are taught how to make transitions between these movements, first on the floor, and then on apparatus. Children then progress to sequencing movements and then creating their own sequences. Alongside this, children learn the values of gratitude, imagination, concentration, self-belief, empathy, courage, resilience, problem-solving, encouragement and cooperation. In lower KS2, children are introduced to symmetry and asymmetry alongside previous learning and increase the complexity of their sequences using apparatus. Bridges are taught and begin to be incorporated into sequences. The values of trust, communication, responsibility and decision-making are taught. In upper KS2 children are introduced to counter-tension and counter-balance, incorporating these into sequences, and then to matching and mirroring, before applying these skills to their sequences. The values of reflection, self-discipline, resourcefulness, integrity, self-motivation, evaluation and respect are encouraged.
Opportunities to revisit learning and re-encounter knowledge are planned into the curriculum, with pupils gradually taught to self and peer assess as they progress through the curriculum. A clear progression of vocabulary is planned for each strand of PE, and this knowledge is revisited in each year group.
Games and activities are used as a catalyst for learning across all subjects. Children take part in The Daily Mile using our purpose-built track outdoors, and regular movement breaks within the classroom environment. Daily mindful breathing practice takes place in every year group to support children’s understanding and ownership of their own mental wellbeing.
We work collaboratively with local schools to ensure our offering of tournaments and competitions is as varied as our curriculum. We offer children of every ability and level of experience the opportunity to participate in organised events to expose them to new sports or improve their skills in sports in which they already excel.
Impact - How do we know our PE curriculum is effective?
Pupil voice is an important tool is assessing how learning is sticking and how children feel about their PE lessons and participation in extra-curricular activities. It enables us to judge how well we are achieving our aims for the curriculum, and how much children are engaged in their learning.
End Points have been identified for each area of our PE curriculum that are discussed with children at the end of each unit so that children's achievements can be celebrated and next steps identified. As children move through school (usually from Year 2) they will be encouraged to record their successes and next steps against the identified PE end points in their 'Reflections and Achievements' book with growing independence in self assessment. During these discussions and reflections, children will be expected to use the key vocabularly identified in our PE curriculum.
Staff development is also important to ensure all staff are teaching high quality PE lessons, regardless of their own skill and experience in each strand of PE. CPD is delivered regularly to support teaching staff in developing their subject and pedagogical knowledge.
If you have any further enquiries relating to the PE curriculum, please email Miss Atkin on aatkin@hornsmill.cheshire.sch.uk
Sports Premium 2022/23
Please click on the documents below to see our planned spending this academic year and the impact of our funding from 22-23.
Swimming Provision
As part of the PE National Curriculum, pupils are taught to swim at least 25 metres using various strokes and perform basic lifesaving techniques.
At Horn’s Mill Primary during Key Stage 2 all pupils have access to blocks of scheduled swimming every academic year. In addition to this provision, identified pupils who would benefit from further swimming opportunities to gain confidence and skills are identified so that they can be provided with extra opportunities to develop these skills.
The percentage of children who can swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance of atleast 25metres using a range of strokes effectively (for example front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke) by the end of year 6 2023 was 75% - 20 out of 27 children.
The percentage of children who can perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations but the end of year 6 was 96% - 26 out of 27 children.
Frodsham and Villiages Sports Partnership (FAVSP)
Our cluster of local schools employs a teacher to focus entirely on school sport amongst the 11 primary and 1 high school. This includes many competitions as well as training for staff and pupils. Transport and staffing allowing, Horn's Mill enters as many of these events as we can. Lots of evidence the children's performance, effort and pride at these events can be found on our school twitter account: @HMillSchool.