“Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading because health is worth even more than learning.” Thomas Jefferson
Rationale: Purpose of Study (taken from the National Curriculum)
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.
Intent
At Nanpean, our vision is to provide high-quality physical education and school sport that fosters enjoyment, confidence, and a lifelong positive attitude towards health and well-being. We aim to inspire all pupils—regardless of ability—to acquire and apply new skills with confidence, supporting their physical, mental, emotional, and social development.
Our PE curriculum is carefully tailored to meet the needs of our pupils and is rooted in the National Curriculum’s aims. It is designed to help children:
- Develop competence and confidence across a broad range of physical activities.
- Engage in competitive sports and challenges that build resilience and a healthy sense of competition.
- Stay physically active for sustained periods, promoting long-term healthy lifestyle habits.
- Strengthen core life skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, organisation, honesty, perseverance, and fair play.
Pupils are encouraged to work collaboratively, take responsibility for their environment, and develop a respect for shared spaces. Our curriculum also connects with the wider community, enabling pupils to explore local sporting opportunities and experience real-world physical activity beyond the school setting. This not only promotes lifelong participation but also nurtures a strong sense of belonging and community engagement.
At Nanpean, we believe that every child should leave primary school with a love of movement, the confidence to take part, and the knowledge and habits that support a healthy, active life.
Implementation
At Nanpean, we follow the full breadth of the National Curriculum programmes of study for Physical Education, ensuring all pupils experience a wide and enriching PE curriculum.
Every child takes part in two sessions of high-quality PE each week, with a range of indoor and outdoor lessons using a wide range of equipment and resources to promote active learning and enjoyment.
For one of our weekly PE sessions, we use REAL PE, a child-centred approach that focuses on developing agility, balance, coordination, healthy competition, and cooperative learning. This scheme places emphasis on inclusive challenge and support, helping every child to grow in confidence and physical competence while also developing emotional, social, and cognitive skills for life.
In our second weekly session, we use The Power of PE , a scheme that focuses on the progression of skills across a wide range of sports and activities. Lessons are designed to be active, engaging, and purposeful, encouraging children to apply their skills in increasingly challenging contexts.
Through this dual-approach, we ensure that pupils not only improve their physical ability but also develop the resilience, teamwork, and leadership skills that will serve them both within and beyond the school environment.
Extra-Curricular offer
Outside of timetabled PE lessons, there are frequent times during the week where children are physically active, including active lessons, outdoor learning, playtimes and lunchtimes, and after school clubs, of which a variety are offered. Our outdoor environment provides an excellent space for children to practise their sporting skills and foster a love of being active. We also provide our Year 5 and 6 children with an opportunity to gain a Level 1 certificate in sailing, through links with the Roseland Youth Sailing Trust and Polkerris Beach.
Children have opportunities to attend PE / Sport related events throughout the year and represent Nanpean at sporting competitions.
Impact
The impact of learning is assessed by:
- children being able to talk about their learning in PE
- children being able to show the intended skills in PE lessons and in clubs
- a higher number of children being active and attended extracurricular clubs
- participation and enjoyment in festival and competition.
British Values
At Nanpean School, British Values are promoted by the PE Curriculum in the following ways, while we also learn about British Values at other specific times, such as during Collective Worship opportunities (Assemblies).
Democracy - Children work individually and in teams to make informed choices and through this learn about different roles including being a leader and a team player. As a result, they learn about socially acceptable behaviour through PE.
Rule of Law - Children understand the need for rules (in PE games / sports), and adhere to and develop them for activities, including those which are competitive.
Individual Liberty – During PE, children are able to make judgements about their own and others’ performances. Children respect individual differences and are confident to express their opinions and respect the views of others.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance – Children know, understand and are able to articulate different styles of Dance, for example, and the historical aspects of various activities whilst avoiding stereotyping groups. Children respect PE equipment, the school facilities and other venues at off-site events. Children can access competition within and outside of the school and demonstrate appropriate behaviour and regard for rules and regulations.
SEND
Our PE Curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. We recognise that all children have diverse abilities and ensure that all lessons include scaffolding and appropriate adaptations to promote an inclusive approach, which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also wellbeing. We regularly give our children the opportunity to coach their peers and support the running of events for younger children; this gives confidence, self-belief and determination.
At Nanpean School we have three themes in PE shown in the table below:
During PE, children sometimes will comment on if decisions made by players in relation to rules in games were morally correct. Children also have frequent opportunities to develop socially through collaborative and team working activities. Children are also encouraged, when appropriate, to gain an understanding of cultures and how this can sometimes relate to physical or sporting activities.
How you can help your child at home
Why not go for a walk, bike ride, run or take part in an obstacle course or exercise session (in person or virtually) as a family? This would be social time as well as having a positive impact on both physical and mental wellbeing.
Facilitate discussions with your child in relation to their PE learning (see the Overview document which is one of the attachment links above). You could also discuss with your child the important skills they are learning in the different areas of PE, as well as famous people from different sporting areas and rules of different sports games, all of which would supplement your child’s learning.
The following websites could also be used to support your child:
https://peplanning.org.uk/7-pe-activities-that-are-easy-at-home/
https://www.youthsporttrust.org/free-resources-list/school-support-free-resources-list/primary-pe-activities (free resource can be downloaded, please ask at school if you would like a printed version of the downloadable resources)