Physical Education (PE)

Intent

Our goal is to build confident, capable pupils who will embrace a lifetime of physical activity and sport. We ignite this passion and foster enjoyment in all sports right from the Early Years. Through our lessons, extensive extra-curricular activities, and sports competitions, we aim to create positive, foundational experiences that develop a sustained passion for sport.

Values

Our curriculum is designed to instill essential life values, leveraging the unique environment of physical activity and competition.

Resilience and Growth Mindset: We teach pupils that failure is a part of growth. Competitive sports provide a safe, supportive environment to experience and handle setbacks, embedding resilience and the invaluable life lesson of learning to lose with grace and determination.
Teamwork and Leadership: Pupils develop the ability to recognize and value teammates' skills and offer support. We foster strong teamwork and communication skills. Furthermore, pupils are given specific opportunities to take on leadership roles as captains, fostering organization and management skills.
Confidence and Self-Esteem: Success and participation in physical activity and competition serve as a huge boost to a pupil's self-esteem. The sense of pride and accomplishment they gain from training and competing builds lasting confidence.
Holistic Health: We promote the significant mental health and well-being benefits of an active lifestyle, alongside physical development—building healthy muscles, improving cardiovascular health, and promoting a healthy metabolism.

Knowledge

We ensure pupils gain the knowledge and understanding necessary for a healthy, active life and sustained engagement in sport.

Physical Proficiency: Pupils will develop strong fundamental motor skills and physical competence (e.g., agility, balance, coordination) that underpin all sports and physical activities, enabling them to move with control and precision.
Sporting Breadth: We ensure understanding and practical participation across a diverse range of sports and activities. Pupils will learn the rules, tactics, and conventions of various sports, promoting strategic thinking and adaptability.
Transferable Skills: Pupils are taught how to apply essential transferable skills, such as communication, cooperation, problem-solving, and tactical thinking, within the context of physical activity.

Equality

We are committed to the belief that sport is for all, regardless of ability, background, or identity. Our curriculum and activities are adapted and differentiated to ensure every child can achieve full participation and experience success. This inclusive approach ensures that pupils with physical, learning, or social needs can engage meaningfully. We promote a culture where all pupils feel comfortable and encouraged to participate in all sports, challenging gender or ability-based stereotypes and fostering mutual respect and understanding.

Experience

We provide a wide variety of positive experiences that cultivate a genuine enthusiasm and lifelong love for physical activity by offering multiple pathways for participation. During their time at WHA, children receive two hours of PE each week; have the opportunity to attend a range of diverse extra-curricular activities; take part in dedicated whole-school events such as Fitness Day and have the chance to participate in competitive sports, both internal and external.

Implementation

We are dedicated to delivering a comprehensive and engaging program for all children, meeting the statutory requirement of two hours of weekly PE for all students.

To guarantee the highest quality of instruction, we employ a Specialist PE Teacher. This expert is responsible for curriculum design, assessment, and leading a significant portion of the teaching. This specialist works in partnership with all teaching staff, providing ongoing training, co-planning activities, and monitoring delivery. This collaborative model ensures consistency and confidence across the entire school, guaranteeing every student benefits from a rich, expertly led, and challenging PE experience for the full two hours each week.

Class teachers effectively utilise the Get Set 4 PE scheme to ensure all PE learning is completely linked and sequenced year-on-year. This framework guarantees that pupils build upon their prior knowledge and skills termly, allowing them to make maximum and sustained progress across all areas of physical education.

Our carefully sequenced curriculum is designed to ensure a progressive and mastery-based approach:

Early Years and Key Stage 1 (Ages 3-7): We introduce and master fundamental movement skills (FMS). Through fun and accessible lessons, pupils build agility, balance, coordination, throwing, and kicking—the essential building blocks for all future sporting success.
Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3-4): The focus shifts to the principles of invasion games. Building directly on their FMS, pupils receive coaching in various sports like basketball, handball, tag rugby, and football to understand the basic mechanics of play.
Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5-6): Teaching centers on patterns of play (e.g., understanding attack, defense, width, and depth). This enables pupils to successfully transfer tactical knowledge across different team sports. All children are actively encouraged to join a school squad and participate in our dedicated squad training sessions, held every Thursday and Friday.

Impact

The ultimate measure of our curriculum's success is fostering lifelong participation. Our primary impact is the development of physically literate individuals. This means ensuring every pupil has the motivation, confidence, competence, knowledge, and understanding required to value and take personal responsibility for their health and physical activity.

By cultivating an enjoyable, broad, and expertly delivered PE experience, we aim to instill a genuine, sustained passion for movement and fitness. Our pupils will leave school equipped with the skills and mindset necessary to choose active, healthy lifestyles far beyond their primary years.