Curriculum Intent- What do we want children to learn?

Physical Education at Holbrook allows children to develop excellent knowledge, skills and understanding, so that they can perform with increasing competence and confidence in a range of physical activities. At Holbrook, these include dance, games, gymnastics, swimming and water safety, athletics and outdoor adventure activities e.g. orienteering. Physical Education involves thinking, selecting and applying skills, and it promotes positive attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle. This is something we highly value at Holbrook Primary School. We aim to work with our families so that every child makes healthy food choices and takes part in a good level of physical activity.

The PE curriculum is split into three key areas: 1) Motor competence: Motor competence embodies the physical aspect of PE. It helps us improve accurate movement, movement patterns, movement techniques and movement sequences, all of which are embedded into sporting activities. The PE curriculum is designed to ensure children can recall key points for success in movement and movement patterns. It allows children to demonstrate accurate, safe and efficient movement patterns within sport. Our aims: • Pupils develop a secure knowledge of fundamental movements that becoming increasingly complex throughout the year group progression. • High quality teaching with specific and purposeful feedback to ensure development of movement and patterns • Pupils develop recall of key movements which allows for accurate demonstration of safe movement. 2) Rules, strategies and tactics: To be successful in sport, it is essential to show a clear understanding of the rules which leads children to develop both their tactical awareness and strategic understanding. At Holbrook our curriculum is sequenced to build on prior learning of basic rules of games, leading to applying tactics and finally showing clear strategies in game-based situations. Applying understanding of these three areas encourages a higher level of game-based play in which children can work as a team to outwit their opponent. Our aims: • Pupils can name and demonstrate tactical awareness strategies showing context specific rules and understanding. • High quality teaching with specific and purposeful feedback to ensure development of rules, tactics and strategies. 3) Healthy Participation: A healthy, balanced lifestyle is central to our school ethos and closely aligns with areas of our ROK curriculum such as Food for Life and PSHE. The curriculum promotes safe practice, encourages active living, and highlights the long-term physical and mental benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Through a carefully sequenced approach, children deepen their understanding of balanced living and the role of exercise. They also have opportunities to apply this knowledge by practising safety in sports and reflecting on the positive outcomes of healthy participation.

Implementation- How are we going to achieve our intent?

How we put our aims into daily practice (Implementation) In all classes, children have the opportunity to participate in 2 hours of physical activity per week, with our ‘Daily Mile’, break and lunch time play equipment/ Play Leader activities, Forest School time, residential/non-residential educational visits, and extracurricular opportunities being used to supplement these active opportunities further. As required in the National Curriculum, we teach dance, games and gymnastics at Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2 we teach dance, games and gymnastics, plus two other activities: swimming/water safety, and athletics. Our Outdoor and Adventurous curriculum is fulfilled through curriculum time, Forest School sessions and during residential trips (Year 3- Sleepover at school, Year 4- Flatford Mill and Year 6- Thorpe Woodlands). Swimming and water safety lessons are delivered through Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. PE sessions develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding and encourage them to perform with increasing competence and confidence in a range of physical activities. PE promotes an important understanding of children’s own bodies in action. It involves carefully selecting and applying the skills needed to complete a task, and promotes an awareness and positive attitude towards a healthy lifestyle. With this in mind, we encourage children to make independent and informed choices about their levels of physical activity and lifestyle within their school and personal lives. Within PE sessions at Holbrook, we as teachers aim to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding through a mixture of whole class teaching and individual, pair or group activities. Teachers draw attention to good examples of individual performance as models, and encourage the children to evaluate their own work as well as the work of other children. Within lessons, we give the children the opportunity both to collaborate and to compete using a wide range of resources. In all year groups children have a wide range of physical ability, which is challenged individually within curriculum sessions. We work hard to ensure that the curriculum is adapted so that all children have access to suitable learning opportunities. Personalisation of our curriculum intentions to meet the needs of each child is achieved in the following ways: • Setting common tasks that are open-ended and can have a variety of results (e.g. timed events or small competitions) • Setting tasks of increasing levels of challenge, where not all children complete all tasks as they are tailored to each child’s ability and progress (e.g. building up their skills towards the high jump) • Grouping children by ability where necessary to develop their specific challenge needs and skills (e.g. individual challenges within an activity for specific children) • Providing a range of challenge through the provision of different resources (e.g. different gymnastics equipment)

Impact- What will it look like when we have achieved our intent? 

There are so many ways we can demonstrate the excellent impact our curriculum design has on our pupils. Here are some examples:

• 2 winning teams in the RHS Cross Country Race 2025 (1st out of 27 schools for both teams)

• 3rd place in the Ipswich Schools Dance Competition 2025

• The FA presented with a trophy for giving equal access to the girls and boys football 

• In 2024, our girls football team won the IPSSA league 

• The school offers a broad range of extra-curricular provision to support our curriculum, such as boys & girls football, running, street dance, netball, basketball, rugby, athletics, tennis to name a few!

• ‘Taster sessions’ prior to the commencement of the club promote interest.

• Intra-school competitions introduce the children to ‘competing’ against those they know, and inter-school competitions see pupils compete against other schools, at local, regional and national levels.

• As a result of these growing opportunities and strong sporting provision, we are able to boast an amazing Gold School Games Mark Award, for the first time in 2019. This is an incredible achievement and is one way we have demonstrated our commitment to sport and being active.

• With obesity growing as a serious health concern for children living in the UK, it is an inherent part of our school ethos to ensure Holbrook pupils are equipped with the strongest knowledge and tools to make healthy lifestyle choices. Alongside the other key areas of our curriculum (Forest School, Food for Life and Pupil Voice), children are encouraged and supported in making and promoting healthy lifestyle choices. For example, our Sports Committee planning a ‘Daily Mile’ which is now fully in action, a gardening club, Food for Life ambassadors, and Play Leaders. The Play Leaders have designed an activity/equipment rota to promote active play and sports at lunchtimes, which has been a great success and brought a great ‘buzz’ to the playground!

• Sport coaches leading structured games with whole year groups twice weekly

P.E and Sports Premium Report

Holbrook Primary School receives PE and Sport Premium Funding based on the number of pupils in years 1 to 6. We use this funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport we offer. This includes developing the PE and sport activities that we offer, and making improvements now that will benefit pupils joining Holbrook in future years. Please see the below Evidence and Impact document which details how we spend our funding.