Hitherfield Primary School and Children S Centre

Hitherfield Primary School and Children’s Centre

Physical Activity Policy

Date Author Review Date January 2017 Lisa Finn January 2020 INTRODUCTION

Hitherfield is committed to promoting the health and well being of its pupils and staff through physical activity. This policy outlines the organisation, teaching and management of physical activity.

The overall aim is to stimulate and maintain pupil’s interest and enjoyment in physical activity and to promote health and fitness for current and future lifestyles.

OBJECTIVES

- To promote positive attitudes towards healthy and active lifestyles

- To provide opportunities for pupils to be physically active throughout and beyond the school day

- To increase pupil’s knowledge and understanding of the importance of physical activity

- To increase pupil participation in physical activity both within and outside of curriculum time

- To provide safe and stimulating areas in which children can play and be active.

OUTLINE OF FACILITIES FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

There is an abundance of open space at Hitherfield. For the teaching of games, there is a large playground with some markings, a ball court, a large grassed playing field and two smaller playgrounds situated next to the field and the Early Years building. For the teaching of gymnastics, dance and indoor games there are two halls and a studio. Both halls are equipped with portable and fixed apparatus for gymnastics and all have a music centre to support the teachings of dance. Children in Years 2 and 4 have access to the local swimming pool at Brixton Recreational Centre.

RESOURCE PROVISION

The P.E. & Clubs School Improvement Leader conducts an annual audit of all physical education equipment, in order to prioritise any necessary expenditure for the year. Resources for dance, games, athletics and outdoor activities can be found in the sheds next to the main playground and the field.

All staff has access to the yearly overview, medium term plans and additional planning resources located on Google Drive under the Hitherfield shared space.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

All physical activity opportunities offered at Hitherfield are designed to be inclusive, and cater for different levels of ability. Support staff if necessary accompanies pupils with SEND.

Further information and guidance can be found in the school’s Equal Opportunities and Advanced Ability policy.

CURRICULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROGRAMME

The class teachers and the P.E. & Clubs School Improvement Leader, with the exception of swimming, teach the P.E. programme. Specialised swimming instructors teach swimming to pupils in Years 2 (Summer term) and Years 4 (Autumn & Spring term).

All pupils from Reception to Year 6 receive two 45 - 60 minute active P.E. lessons per week.

Planning:

In the Early Years (Nursery & Reception classes), activities are planned to support the fundamental movement skills from the ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Creative Development’ areas in the Early Learning Goals.

Gymnastics, dance, games and athletics are taught to pupils in Key Stage 1 & 2 with the addition of outdoor adventure activities for pupils in Year 6. The schemes of work are based on the progressive learning objectives outlined in the New National Curriculum. Teachers adapt their plans to suit the needs of their class.

Cross curricular links:

The school recognises P.E. as a valuable contribution to cross-curricular work. Links with subjects such as PSHE, Literacy, Numeracy, Science & ICT are integrated into the schools planning.

Assessment:

Assessment for learning is made through short term (daily/weekly) observations of the children, through discussion with the children and through their own self and peer assessment. Teachers use the level descriptors from the attainment targets in the National Curriculum for the medium term (summative) and long term (formative) assessments.

OUT OF HOURS LEARNING PROGRAMME

Break times & lunch times:

The playground has markings in order to stimulate the children and encourage physical activity at playtimes. It provides a range of energetic activities or sports such as football, basketball, netball, volleyball, king square, scooter boards, tennis, badminton, skipping, scoop ball, table tennis and stilt walking.

The woodland nature area provides opportunities for tree climbing, slope climbing, digging, exploring, chasing games, dancing and inventing games.

The wooden adventure trail has balance logs, wobbly bridges, tyre traverses, a scramble web and parallel bars for the children to travel, balance and explore on.

The field area provides opportunities for the children to do gymnastic activities, dancing, wide games, Frisbee and giant ball games. After school clubs:

We aim to encourage all pupils to take part in an afterschool club. Pupils are signposted to the clubs via the Hitherfield Herald and through the school website. Participation is monitored through the club registers. Clubs are mainly run by teaching and support staff with the exception of two football coaches and a specialised dance teacher. A range of clubs is offered; these may include gymnastics, dance, zumba, basketball, netball, football, cricket, athletics and multi-skills.

The school runs a Change 4 Life Sports club, to increase physical activity levels in less active 7-9yr olds, through multi-sport themes. Change 4 Life sports leaders (trained year 6 pupils) with the supervision of the P.E. & Clubs School Improvement Leader help deliver the club. They have an active role in encouraging and supporting children to be more active and make healthy choices.

Hitherfield is a member of the Children’s University, which is run by the Children’s University Trust. Pupils are rewarded for their attendance at extra- curricular clubs in association with London Borough Bank University.

Competitions:

Hitherfield believes in healthy competition. The first person everyone should be competitive with is themselves, in order to challenge their own personal targets. We then encourage competitiveness through intra-school competitions. Some individuals and teams will be selected to represent the school at inter- school competitions in a wide variety of sporting disciplines.

School Excursions:

The school is currently in the process of developing an outdoor education programme for all pupils. However Year 6 pupils are offered a one week UK based school journey in the Autumn Term. We book our school journey with the provider PGL who are one of the UK's leading providers of school trips and children's adventure holidays - offering outdoor education and adventures of a lifetime to children.

ACTIVE TRAVEL Please refer to the School Travel Plan for details on how we promote travel to school.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS / LINKS

The school is part of the South Lambeth School Partnership and the Lambeth and Southwark Primary Schools Football League. We are also part of the Lambeth School Games.

We have established links with the local secondary schools; Dunraven, Streatham and St Martins in the Field, Tulse Hill. We have also established links with a number of clubs including Chelsea football club academy, BIG (Besty’s Inspirational Guidance) and Harris’s football club.

STAFF ACTIVITY

The school supports staff in maintaining their health and wellbeing and a healthy lifestyle and encourages them to be positive role models. Free adult Zumba, Aerobics and Pilates classes are available to all staff afterschool. We aim to take part in physical activity whenever possible for example taking part in sporting events & charity events. Staff play games with the children during playtime and demonstrate physical activity during P.E. lessons.

HEALTH & SAFETY

Please refer to the school’s Health & Safety Policy and Risk Assessment Procedures. Use of any external personnel including sports coaches and volunteers will be in line with the schools policy on CRB/staffing checks.

MONITORING & EVALUATION The P.E. & Clubs School Improvement Leader will have the lead responsibility for the monitoring of physical activity in the school. A range of measures will be used to evaluate the impact of the policy in line with the above mentioned objectives. These measures will include staff feedback, pupil feedback, number of out-of- hours learning opportunities offered, pupil’s participation in physical activity both within and outside curriculum time and the changes made to the environment to encourage physical activity.