Intent

Herne Junior School has always recognised the importance of Physical Education and believes in its vision statement: To inspire an enjoyment of physical activity and an appreciation of the importance of mental wellbeing in all children.  We aim to provide a curriculum that engages all pupils to aspire to succeed in all areas of life.  Through external competitions, inter-house competitions, PE lessons and clubs ran by the staff at lunch and after school, Herne Juniors ensure the national curriculum and our own curriculum aims are met which include:

• Giving all pupils the opportunity to experience as wide a variety of sports as is possible
• Are active for sustained periods of time
• Engage in sports that are competitive as well as fun
• Lead healthy active lives that compliment and encourage our Heart smart scheme.

Our aim is that all children are exposed to a curriculum that will enable them to develop a wide variety of knowledge, skills and vocabulary, through participating in multiple sports while also growing their values and building a range of transferable skills such as fairness and respect.

The profile of PE is raised in the school through inter-house competitions as well as clubs that offer opportunities to all pupils in an inclusive way so that every pupil is offered the same experience. Our Sports Coach has over 30 years’ experience of working with children across a wide variety of sports ensuring the whole school are exposed to opportunities they may not get elsewhere.

Herne have recently invested in the GetSet4PE scheme ensuring that the expectations of the National Curriculum are met and surpassed with clear progression across all year ages as defined by our Progression Maps.  These also ensure that our PE curriculum dovetails with our PHSE curriculum so that we encourage healthy lifestyles, living a Heart-smart life of understanding, fairness and equality with a view of embedding line-long values and beliefs.

Implementation

The PE curriculum is taught using the knowledge and expertise of our Sports Coach combined with the GetSet4PE team who have designed their scheme to be in-line with the national curriculum. All teachers have access to clear, precise instructions which aid progression weekly across all 4 year groups.  In addition, CPD provided every term allows the staff to adapt lessons to the needs of their classes.  The staff also use Herne’s Inclusion document to ensure that every pupil can be assessed in ways that are not just based on physical abilities.

Each week, every pupil has access to two hours of purposeful physical activity that includes structured PE lessons taught by the Sports Coach, lessons taught by class teachers (on rotation) and once a year swimming lessons over a term with the aim that all pupils can swim over 25m by the end of Year 6.  In addition to these, opportunities to engage with external societies such as the local Hockey Club and Tennis Club add to the variety of sports experienced.

Each lesson, children are immersed in the language of the sport while reviewing skills taught previously.  Skills are also taught to ensure they are recognised as being transferable across many disciplines.  During lessons, both the class teacher and the sports coach offer in-lesson focus groups to aid progression or to encourage gifted and talented children to progress further.

Lunch time and after school clubs run by the Teachers also offer a wide variety of opportunities.  Often, these clubs help children develop their skills so that they can represent the school at a competition, building on their life skills.

Impact

The PE curriculum at Herne aims to improve the overall fitness of the Herne community while also strengthening their mental wellbeing.  Class teachers and the sports coach work collaboratively during lessons to assess children; this aids future planning whereby staff are able to offer further support and intervention to aid skill progression and development. This is achieved through the teaching of sporting skills, reinforcing the school values, mission and vision statement as well as supporting our PSHE curriculum.  Every child has access to the same opportunities with adaptations made to ensure there are no barriers. 

At Herne, children make excellent progress in PE and all clubs are well supported throughout the year.