The National Curriculum states:

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.

How we meet these aims

Physical education develops children’s knowledge, skills and understanding, so that they can perform with increasing competence and confidence in a range of physical activities including representing the school in both competitive and non-competitive sport. All classes are expected to do two hours a week of curriculum PE and 30 minutes of active time.

At St Mary’s through our PE we strive to:

• Develop a positive attitude to participate in physical activity, increasing their self-confidence and self-esteem in a safe and enriching environment.
• Encourage children to work and play with others in a range of group situation.
• To develop the way children perform skills, and apply rules and conventions, for different activities.
• Set personal targets for themselves and compete against others individually and as team members, being able to evaluate their own and others performances.
• To teach children to recognise and describe how their bodies feel during exercise and the link between PE and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Daily Mile

Part of our commitment to improving the health of children is to the additional 30 minutes of active time each week.  We manage this through the use of three ten-minute active breaks across the week — mostly focusing on the Daily Mile initiative. We encourage children to run, jog or walk for 10 minutes, aiming to be able to complete a mile in this time as their strength and stamina improves as they grow through the school.

Sports Leaders