PE | Branston Church of England Infant School

Intent

At Branston C of E Infant Academy, it is our intention to develop a lifelong love of exercise, sport and PE in all children. Through our inclusive PE curriculum, we encourage and model a positive and healthy lifestyle, highlighting the importance of both physical and mental health. Within each PE lesson, we strive to give every child the opportunity to revise and refine their skills. The children will develop their Physical Literacy and essential, transferrable and lifelong skills like leadership, teamwork and resilience. It is our intention that all children take part in two PE lessons a week, one with their class teacher (Tuesdays) and one with our brilliant Sports Coach (Thursdays) with the support of our Sports and Wellbeing Apprentice.

The children will have opportunities throughout the school year to represent Branston C of E Infant Academy and compete against other local schools. It is our intention that 100% of children will represent the school in a sporting event. We have achieved this for two years running and we strive to achieve the same this year.

Implementation

Class teachers are equipped with the subject knowledge and relevant resources required to deliver modern, high-quality PE lessons, regardless of their main areas of expertise. The PE subject leader for the school is committed to strengthening and broadening the PE skills of the staff further. At Branston C of E Infant Academy, we are looking forward to working with Premier Education from September 2023. We are excited about the new opportunities that Premier Education can bring, for example, there will be 6 Enrichment Days throughout the year for all children to get involved in. PE lessons will be planned alongside Premier Education to ensure that the children are given the opportunity to practise and build on their skills. Interwoven into the teaching sequence will be opportunities for self, peer and teacher assessment.

Impact

We are proud to be a sport-loving, active school. All children at Branston C of E Infant Academy access a broad range of experiences in PE lessons. PE lessons are fun which results in a higher level of engagement and understanding.

We are continuing to raise the profile of PE in various different ways:

Academic year 2023-24 will be our third year of having a Sports and Wellbeing Apprentice. Our Sports and Wellbeing Apprentices are always full of enthusiasm for sport and fitness and support across all PE lessons during the week. They also promote physical activity at break and lunch times so that we can achieve our Active30.
Parents can see our passion through the celebration of sporting events in Celebration Worship each Friday.
We have our own ‘Sports Crew’ made up of 16 children (there are 4 in each class in Key Stage One and 4 across EYFS). They wear a special Sports Crew t-shirt, provided by the school, on PE days so that they can be easily identified. These children raise the profile of PE within their class and they are special helpers during PE lessons.

EYFS

Little Owls also take part in two PE lessons each week. In addition to this, a huge part of their everyday provision promotes physical development. Little Owls follow the Early Years Statutory Framework, provided by the Department for Education (DFE): Physical development is one of the prime areas of learning. By providing play opportunities for both indoors and outdoors (they love spending time outdoors!), adults support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination and early literacy.

Extra Curricular Clubs

We are proud to offer a ‘Rainbow of Opportunity’ for lunch time and after school clubs. For example, during academic year 2022-23, the children were able to take part in: multi-sports club, football club, cricket club, martial arts fitness club, and yoga club. In addition 100% of Y2 children went swimming at Branston Community Academy.

Festivals and Competitions

We are incredibly proud of our children and how well they represent our school when they participate in external festivals and competitions. They embrace our school values, especially perseverance and respect, as they challenge themselves to be 'the best they can be'. As a school we encourage ALL children to try new sports and raise their aspirations by giving them new experiences and exposing them to experts in the field of sport.

In 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23, 100% of our children represented the school in one or more sports festivals and competitions. This includes all of our EYFS children and pupils with SEND.

Celebrating Success

We are proud of all our sporting success and commitment to ensuring physical activity is a high priority for all children who attend our school. In recognition of this, and our further commitment to our wider community of families, we were delighted to be nominated and make the final of the Active Lincolnshire Sport & Physical Activity Award in the Active School category. We continue to encourage a high level of engagement in physical activity through our PE lessons, extra-curricular activities, sports events, the daily mile and through our weekly swimming lessons.