Intent

PE and School Sport provision and St James is underpinned by the five key indicators identified by the Association for Physical Education. Our aim is to further develop, embed and sustain these indicators across the whole school so that physical education, physical activity and sport have a positive and lasting impact on every child.

We strive to provide a bespoke PE curriculum that is broad, balanced and inclusive, offering a wide range of activities and opportunities. This curriculum is enhanced through a rich extra-curricular school sports programme, ensuring that all pupils can find activities they enjoy and feel confident participating in.

We are committed to engaging all pupils in regular physical activity for at least two hours per week, in line with national expectations. PE and school sport are used as tools for whole-school improvement, promoting physical health, mental wellbeing, confidence and positive attitudes to learning.

We currently work in partnership with Premier Education to deliver our PE curriculum. Premier Education staff are highly qualified, experienced and passionate about physical education and school sport. They bring a wealth of expertise across a wide range of sports and physical activities, ensuring that lessons are engaging, well-structured and inclusive for all pupils.

Through this partnership, children benefit from specialist coaching that develops fundamental movement skills, sport-specific techniques and a love of being active. Sessions are carefully planned to match the Primary PE National Curriculum, ensuring progression in skills, confidence and understanding as children move through the school.

Premier Education staff also work closely alongside school staff, providing valuable support and modelling high-quality teaching practice. This partnership contributes to ongoing professional development for teachers, helping them to increase their confidence, subject knowledge and ability to deliver outstanding PE lessons independently in the future.

We aim to continue increasing participation in competitive sport, ensuring that competition is inclusive and accessible so that every child has the opportunity to represent their school and experience the excitement of sporting events. Competitive sport helps pupils to learn important life skills such as teamwork, communication, leadership, respect and fair play. Children learn how to cope with both winning and losing, developing emotional resilience and positive attitudes towards challenge. They also build pride in representing their school and understand the importance of commitment, effort and sportsmanship.

Implementation

• Children participate in two high-quality PE lessons per week, with a balance of indoor and outdoor activities. Lessons are planned to develop fundamental movement skills, agility, balance, coordination, teamwork and resilience.

• Pupils are encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities at lunchtimes and after school, offering a wide range of clubs and sports to suit different interests and abilities.

• Long-term planning ensures progression of skills across year groups and links closely to the National Curriculum. Planning also aligns with local fixtures, festivals and competitions to give learning real purpose and context.

• Year 5 pupils take part in swimming lessons to ensure they meet the national expectation of being able to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres.

• We use the Travel Tracker website to support the Active 60 initiative, encouraging pupils to be physically active for at least 60 minutes every day. This strengthens the link between school and home, encouraging active lifestyles beyond the school day.

• We plan to introduce a Year 6 Sports Leaders programme, where pupils will help run lunchtime clubs, lead playground activities and support the organisation of sports days and events, allowing them to develop confidence, responsibility and leadership skills. 

• As a member of the BPSSA (Bedworth Primary Schools Sport Association), children take part in inclusive competitive sporting events within the local area. These events promote teamwork, leadership, resilience and positive mental health, allowing children to thrive both socially and emotionally.

Impact

We believe that PE provision should provide an inspiring, challenging and positive environment for each participating pupil, which will have a positive impact on a pupil’s health and well-being for life. Our expectation is that all children engage and learn through active participation and that sports must encompass and be delivered in a fun and positive learning environment for all. Our PE Specialist will provide bespoke services to develop and deliver the teaching and learning practices in the PE Curriculum, to promote participation in the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, to create good PE links by working with other schools and good practice guidelines via a mentoring service and CPD opportunities. We believe that pupils will make excellent progress in PE and will have the opportunity for becoming PE and Sports ambassadors. This will enable each pupil at St James to develop their independence, leadership and confidence but they will also develop in terms of their individuality and aspirations for the future.