"Sport and health are so important to our nation that they deserve to be right at the front of people's minds."

- Daley Thompson

Intent

At Emmaus Primary School it is our intent to teach children life skills that will positively impact their future. We aim to develop pupils who will be physically active and can flourish in arange of different physical activities. It is our belief that a healthy body is essential for a healthy mind and this is especially relevant in an area where there is statistically poor health. In order to provide a range of opportunities for our children as successful learners with high expectations our PE curriculum is linked to our whole school drivers: Gospel Values, Cultural Capital, Diversity, Independence and High Expectations.

In line with all areas of our curriculum, we have high expectations for all children to achieve their potential in PE, regardless of their starting points. The PE curriculum and assessment system at Emmaus is developed to ensure that we motivate pupils, monitor progress and achieve consistently high standards. Our commitment to this is evident in the provision of, on average, two hours Physical Education each week for all pupils. We aim to deliver high-quality physical activity and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in all aspects of physical education. We want to teach children how to cooperate and collaborate with others, as part of a team, understanding fairness and equity of play to embed life-long values. Our gospel values at Emmaus allow children to make links to social, emotional and thinking skills within their PE lessons. Children will take part in competitions, developing competence, gaining independence and finding enjoyment in these activities. Our children are offered a range of experiences that build their cultural capital both within and beyond our PE curriculum. Competition is valued at Emmaus and children are offered opportunities to develop their cultural capital in competitions and additional clubs.

Children are encouraged to be active for sustained periods of time. We use strategies to ensure maximum participation while the long-term benefits of regular exercise and a healthy diet are reinforced throughout. Our pupils at Emmaus are able to develop independence throughout the PE curriculum, learning to work without full guidance and support. We encourage our children to take initiatives to become excellent young leaders, organizing and officiating games throughout our PALS programme and evaluating theirs and others performance in PE, whilst instilling excellent sporting attitudes across the school.

Implementation

Pupils at Emmaus participate in weekly high quality PE and sporting activities. Our PE programme incorporates a variety of sports to ensure all children develop the confidence, tolerance and the appreciation of their own and others’strengths and weaknesses. We provide opportunities for all children to engage in extra-curricular activities before, during and after school, in addition to competitive sporting events. This is an inclusive approach which endeavors to encourage not only physical development but also well-being. We are part of the Liverpool Schools Sport Partnership (LSSP)and work closely with specialist PE staff who offer support with the delivery of sport in curriculum time, after school clubs and entry into a sporting competitions calendar. At Emmaus we enter into the Spirit of the Games Values of honesty, teamwork, respect, self-belief, passion and determination and encourage children to develop a range of qualities, and inter-personal skills based on sporting experiences and attitudes.

Impact

Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children at Emmaus, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines PE promotes. Within our lessons, children are taught about self-belief and self-discipline. They know that to be successful they take ownership and responsibility of their own health and fitness, then they will continue to have a physically active life. Our impact is therefore to motivate children to utilise these underpinning skills in an independent and effective way in order to live happy and healthy lives. A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all children to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. At Emmaus, we provide opportunities for children 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.