Intent - What we are trying to achieve?

At Yealmpstone Farm Primary School, the intent of our curriculum and PE ethos is:

1. To develop every child's fundamental movement skills, agility, balance and co-ordination through a broad and balanced curriculum with the Cambridgeshire scheme of work as a tool for progression.
2. To develop social co-operation; positive attitudes and a greater sense of personal best so that all children can feel proud and included in PE
3. To provide equal opportunities for all children regardless of race, gender, background or ability to take part in a wide range of traditional and non-traditional sports both inside and outside of school so that all children can reach their potential and find their passion.

We believe that Physical Education (PE) is fundamental to our children’s development and learning. Not only does it engage and motivate children, but it is a great way for our children to develop life skills such as teamwork, determination and respect. Physical exercise is also essential in mental health and developing a healthy lifestyle at a young age will lead to greater wellbeing and mental resilience in later life. In essence, our PE curriculum aims to develop confident, capable learners who enjoy being physically active.

Implementation - How will we achieve this?

At Yealmpstone Farm Primary School we are committed to providing at least two hours of high quality PE per week for all our pupils. These two hours comprise of:

1. The first PE lesson of the week, children will be taught a range of sports such as: gymnastics, dance, athletics and invasion games. All teachers from foundation upwards, use the Cambridgeshire scheme to access high quality lesson plans and ensure the level of challenge is appropriate.
2. During the second lesson of the week, teachers are able to extend the previous lesson plan to embed skills and understanding children need to make appropriate progress. This can be in the form of applying skills in game situations or revisiting particular aspects of learning in order to develop skills.

In addition to our timetabled curriculum, a healthy life-style is promoted with opportunities for children to stay active and eat healthily throughout the day. For more information, please read our successful Platinum Schools Games Mark application which is available below. For one week in the summer term, Yealmpstone Farm Primary has a week designed to boost our healthy lifestyle ethos. We have a multitude of workshops such as: nutrition, mental health, wellbeing and mindfulness and yoga. We also hold a range of activities across the week such as: archery, fencing, bike rides, sporting events, running, and inter-school competitions in rounders, disc golf and quick-cricket. Lastly, having role models in sports is essential so each year we welcome an Olympic Athlete to tell us about their work and run a fitness workshop school wide. This is a fantastic opportunity for children to have face time with top athletes as an aspirational visit. Most recently, in 2019, we met Molly Caudry, an Olympic Competitor in the Pole Vault who won silver medal in the European championships and David King in 2021, an Olympic Hurdles competitor. 

Sports Council and Sports prefects are trained to lead PE in the school at a peer level. They provide feedback to staff and help ensure that break and lunch are fun, active and happy. These children also act as a school voice and help to guide and develop PE, school sport and physical activity.

Impact - What difference will this make?

The impact of our PE curriculum and ethos is clear:

1. Sports Council: At Yealmpstone Farm we have a sports council who meet with the PE Co-ordinator termly and discuss events, the curriculum and potential developments to our active school. These children act as a voice and help drive PE. Children are therefore able to voice their experience PE in our school and influence its direction.
2. Activity Tracking: Each child at YFPS has their activity levels tracked termly so that children with lower activity levels can be invited to special events and festivals. These children are also invited to Change4Life clubs and events. Following these invitations attendance rates in after school clubs have risen. We have used the strict Schools Games Mark Platinum criteria as a benchmark for engagement in clubs and monitoring activity levels. More advanced and competitive events can be targeted at children who show great talent in specific sports and this gives them a chance to excel. The impact is that more children are doing more sport, and to a higher standard.
3. Bespoke training and consultation: Our partnership with the PSSP includes termly CDP and lesson observations with PE experts who ensure that our PE lessons are being taught to the highest quality. This also runs in liaison with our PE Co-ordinator, Mr Baker. The impact is that teachers in the school have increased confidence in delivering our content and this is evidences in staff surveys, feedback following CPD and ongoing, open dialogue with Mr Baker. 
4. Following consultations with PSSP, local PE leaders, class teachers and our school sports council, The Cambridgeshire scheme of work has been implemented from 2021. We are using the progression of skills statements to collect assessment data at the end of every unit. This is compiled by class teachers and monitored by the PE coordinator to provide useful assessment for learning to enable teachers to differentiate their lesson plans accordingly.

Clubs and Partnerships

To see the clubs run at lunchtimes and after school click here

Yealmpstone Farm Primary School are part of the Plymouth Schools Sports Partnership whose vision is…

“…to create a sustainable PE, School Sport and Physical Activity system as part of the health and well being provision for all children and young people. Our MISSION is to positively impact on the lives of every child and young person attending Partnership schools and their parents/carers through the opportunities that we provide to help them achieve more in life and at school. We promote the Olympic and Paralympic VALUES of Friendship, Respect, Excellence, Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality.”

We also part of the School Games network and as such are part of a national project that aims to get more young people participating and engaged in sports and competition. For more information about the School Games please click on the hyperlink above. As part of our sports programme the PSSP run School Games events at regular intervals in the academic year to enable our young people to engage in various level of completion. For upcoming events or to read some of our blogs, please visit www.yourschoolgames.com and search for our school.

https://www.yourschoolgames.com/

http://www.plymouthssp.co.uk/

Please check out #yfpssport for all of our most recent updates.

Other useful websites

http://www.yourschoolgames.com/

http://www.youthsporttrust.org/