Physical Education

The Parkside Physical Education Curriculum

At Parkside, we focus on planning and delivering PE lessons which promote the development of the whole child and ensure every pupil is both supported and challenged throughout each lesson. A driver in helping us achieve this is the real PE platform. This approach focuses on the development of the fundamental movement skills (agility, balance and coordination) alongside the multi-ability cogs: personal, social, cognitive, creative, physical and health and fitness.

Key stage 1 

In key stage 1, during the autumn term, PE lessons focus on both the personal and social strands of the multi-abilities. Pupils will take part in a variety of movement activities which encourage them to keep on trying, practise safely, stay on task, encourage others and to take turns and share. 

In spring, pupils focus on the cognitive and creative aspects of the programme. Skills such as decision making and analysing performance are worked on as well responding imaginatively to different situations in the contexts of gymnastics, dance and games. 

By summer, pupils will be exploring the physical and health and fitness elements. They will focus on travelling in different ways and be able to perform skills, movements and simple sequences with some control. The health and fitness segment explores preparing for activity and investigates the level of fitness needed to be effective in different fitness activities and events. 

Lower key stage 2  

Much like key stage 1, lower key stage 2 follows a similar movement through the multi-abilities.Their outcomes and learning opportunities are differentiated to ensure progression. Each autumn term starts with the personal and social cogs. Outcomes such as being able to take control of learning and challenge oneself are established. In addition, a collaborative approach to learning is embedded and pupils experience opportunities to share ideas, listen carefully, show support and patience to peers. 

In the middle part of the academic year, pupils explore the creative and cognitive parts of the approach. Within the cognitive cog, children learn the simple tactics of attacking and defending and are able to explain successes and next steps. Within the creative cog, opportunities to develop own games and rules are facilitated. Children learn to respond differently to a variety of tasks or music and can recognise similarities and differences in movements and expression.

In the latter part of the year, it is time for pupils to hone in on the physical and health and fitness elements of the curriculum. By the end of Year 4, pupils would have explored what happens to their bodies during and after exercise and will know the importance of warming up and cooling down appropriately. Pupils will experience opportunities to perform and repeat longer sequences with clear shapes and controlled movement.

Upper key stage 2 

Like all classes at Parkside, Years 5 and 6 begin the new school year by focussing on the personal and social parts of the framework. In these areas, it is modelled to pupils how to consistently improve performances, by reacting positively to challenges and persevering with tasks. Additionally, organising and guiding others plays a significant part in the social cog in upper key stage 2: pupils are shown how to cooperate, provide useful feedback and organise roles and responsibilities in activities.

During the spring term, cognitive and creative skills are built upon. Children take part in scenarios which encourage them to judge performances, based on criteria, to identify specific parts to continue to work upon. As well as refining and changing tactics, rules or tasks to make activities more fun or challenging. 

In the summer term, the physical and health and fitness abilities are progressed. By the end of upper key stage 2, pupils working at the expected standard would be able to describe the basic fitness components and explain how often and how long they should exercise to be healthy. They would also be able to perform a variety of movements and skills with good body tension and link actions together so that they flow in running, jumping and throwing activities.

The twelve fundamentals, which are outlined in the real PE framework, are developed throughout each unit, in each year group.