Physical Education

“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these means, man can attain perfection.”
Plato

Intent: Our intent at St John’s is that all children in our school will have a positive relationship with physical activity which will continue as part of a healthy lifestyle into their futures. A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

Implementation: Through our carefully designed Physical Education curriculum, pupils learn increasingly intelligent movement and important knowledge that can reduce barriers to participation and inform their own healthy, active lifestyle choices. PE provides a gateway into the world of sport and physical activity.

Our curriculum is underpinned by the three pillars: motor competence; rules, strategies and tactics and healthy participation. Knowledge has been sequences to ensure pupils becoming increasingly competent and confident over time. Declarative knowledge in PE is the factual knowledge concerning movement, rules, tactics, strategies, health and participation. Procedural knowledge is the ‘know-how’ to apply declarative facts. This might include applying the tactics to a practice situation or game.

At St John’s we follow the REAL PE scheme of work which develops skills through a number of cogs which form the basis of planning. Alongside this gymnastics, dance, athletics and orienteering are taught, as well as specific sports taught from Year 2. In addition, children swim each year from Year 3 upwards.

All children have the opportunity to take part in sports festivals organised by the Partnership Sports Coordinator. Each term, children in Key Stage 2 take part in an intra-school competition and the school offers a range of opportunities for children to play competitive sport with other local schools.

Beyond PE lessons, an extra-curricular sporting offer is strategically planned to give children further opportunities to practice and apply their knowledge, as well as take part in activities that are not covered by the core curriculum. In addition, annually we hold a Health Week with a theme that relates physical activity to leading healthy lifestyles.

EYFS: Physical Education in EYFS develops movement and coordination. Children engage in activities like running, jumping, or balancing, using equipment such as balls or hoops. Outdoor play builds gross motor skills, while threading beads or cutting refines fine motor control. This aligns with ‘Physical Development’, promoting health and strength. Adults, encourage teamwork through games, fostering social skills. Children learn to follow rules, like taking turns, and explore body awareness—e.g., stretching high or low. Regular activity supports wellbeing and confidence, laying the groundwork for lifelong physical competence and an active lifestyle in future years.

Impact: A variety of types of assessment are used for children to demonstrate ‘what they know, understand and can do’. Assessment tasks are built into units of work as well as ongoing assessment opportunities to help adjust the curriculum to the needs of the children. Assessment is made against key objectives and recorded on assessment grids to inform future planning.

The school tracks and analysed children’s participation in school sport beyond PE lessons to ensure all pupils have the opportunity to take part in after-school clubs, festivals or competitions.

The school has achieved the Platinum School Games Mark.

Curriculum Plans

Click the link below to download the PE curriculum overview

PE Curriculum Overview

Click the links below to download the PE year group long term plans

EYFS PE Learning Journeys

Year 1 PE Learning Journeys

Year 2 PE Learning Journeys

Year 3 PE Learning Journeys

Year 4 PE Learning Journeys

Year 5 PE Learning Journeys

Year 6 PE Learning Journeys