PE & Sport

How PE is taught and what it looks like at OJS

In PE we explicitly teach, develop and assess the fundamental movement skills (e.g. throwing, running, jumping, catching, balancing, etc) that are key to successful physical activity. Alongside these, we teach a range of multi-abilities that develop children’s personal, social and cognitive skills. A variety of sport specific skills are also taught, which reference fundamental movement skills and multi-abilities. There is clear skill progression through the lower and upper school year groups. An emphasis is placed on pupils enjoying being physically active through personal challenge and achievement. Competition is provided through personal bests, as well as competition with peers. We strive to create new ambition for every child. Our holistic approach also encompasses enrichment activities, close links with clubs and their specialist coaches, as well as home challenges. PE is taught twice each week, with further opportunities for short bursts of physical activity during curriculum time on non-PE days - sometimes taken in the form of the Daily Mile.

To further the broad range of activities we offer in our PE curriculum, we work closely with specialist coaches and local clubs. The specialist coaches work alongside class teachers to deliver PE lessons and/or run extra-curricular clubs. Local clubs are used to foster strong club links, so our children feel inspired and confident to attend the clubs we work with. This helps children remain physically active outside of school hours. We work closely with Harrogate Racquets Club, who deliver badminton lessons to Year 4 children, table tennis to Year 5 and tennis lessons to all Year 3, 4 and 5 classes. Other clubs and governing bodies we work with include Harrogate Town, the Yorkshire Cricket Board, Harrogate Squash and Fitness Club, Harrogate Rugby Club and Harrogate Hockey Club. Every year, we work with more clubs to offer new and exciting opportunities for our children.

In Year 4, all classes have one swimming lesson once a week for a full term. We also run Bikeability for our Year 5 children, which is the government's national cycle training programme. This ensures our children have the skills and confidence to cycle safely on today's roads, which removes barriers for active travel and physical activity.

We run two residentials a year, so our children experience Outdoor Adventurous Activity and Outdoor Education. Year 6 go on a 5-day residential to Mount Cook and Year 4 go on a 3-day residential to Robinwood. The Year 6 outdoor adventurous activities offer more challenge and progression, which allows our children to build on their skills learned in Year 4. Over the course of these residentials, we focus on improving key skills such as teamwork, leadership, problem solving, and communication.