Curriculum Intent

At Bitterne Manor, we believe that PE, when experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is essential to ensure children attain physical and emotional development as well as good health and overall fitness.  We intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education, which in turn will contribute to developing life skills.  These skills not only focus on the technical aspects but also the psychological and social skills which are needed and apply to everyday life.  We want to teach children skills to keep them safe, such as being able to swim.  We also want to teach children how to cooperate and collaborate with others as part of an effective team, understanding the fairness of play to embed life-long values.  Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning of values and disciplines that PE in our school promotes.

Curriculum Implementation

• The PE curriculum ensures that the students continually develop their fundamental skills throughout their school journey to enable them to participate in a variety of sports, not just now but in later life.  These skills are applied across different activities, such as invasion games, strike and field games, net and wall games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and outdoor and adventure.  The students are able to use either the indoor hall, playground or all-weather pitch to participate in these activities. 
• The students will use these skills to take part in team games which will allow them to develop tactics for attacking and defending, improving not only their own abilities but working as a team to solve problems.  Team games include sports such as football, hockey, basketball and tag rugby, but there are many more.
• The children also perform dances which are linked to their term topic as well as take part in gymnastics, which is progressive and develops their previously learnt skills, linked in with their fundamental movements. 
• After-school clubs ensure that children can focus on an additional area of physical activity.
• Children are invited to represent the school and attend competitive sporting events within the local area.  This is inclusive and aimed at developing the child, taking into account their physical, social and emotional wellbeing, rather than winning at all costs.
• An annual sports day when children are encouraged to achieve their personal best, which in turn enables their house team to earn points.
• Year 5 children are taught to swim with the aim that each child will be able to swim competently and proficiently over a distance of 25 metres as well as perform self rescue.  This is also an important life skill that adds to the life-long benefits of physical education.

Curriculum Impact

We ensure that our PE curriculum is progressive and allows children to develop fundamental skills and apply them across a variety of sports and activities. All children are provided with the necessary skills and given opportunities to demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best. All activities are inclusive and allow all children to take part in some form. Our pupils are physically active, and this has a positive impact on their learning in the classroom. Children understand how to lead a healthy lifestyle and understand the importance of regular exercise. We aspire for children to enjoy PE and develop a love of sport and physical activity which will become part of their future life outside primary school. Children can represent the school at sporting events within the local area which they are keen to do. Alongside this, we share sporting achievements both in and out of school in a weekly Celebration Assembly, so that we are promoting sports and activities, as well as celebrating all levels of success regardless of the level achieved. We aim for all pupils to leave school with the skills to competently swim at least 25m and have the skills to self-rescue in the water, which are key life skills.