Physical Education
'It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold or silver'.- Mahatma Gandhi
Our vision is for all children at Furzedown Primary School to experience excellent Physical Education, school sport and physical activity leading to active lifestyles and life-long participation.
Our PE curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils develop the fundamental movement skills and competence to excel in a wide range of physical activities, by providing a broad and balanced curriculum with opportunities for all.
We encourage pupils to learn about themselves, the importance of a healthy lifestyle, self-expression and concepts such as fair play and respect. We also recognise that high-quality PE contributes to the development of a range of important cognitive skills such as decision-making and analysis, and social skills such as teamwork and communication.
Our PE curriculum is inclusive and ensures that pupils of all abilities access the range of activities we offer and that they are physically active for sustained periods of time in order to encourage them to lead healthy, active lives.
In PE we encourage children to focus on our learning behaviours: Have a Go, Aim High, Work Together and Learn from Others and Never Give Up.
Our Approach
Early Years
Physical development (PD) is one of the three prime areas within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Each prime area is divided into Early Learning Goals, for physical development these are:
- Moving and Handling – skills enabling children to show good control and coordination in large and small movements. Children are able to handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
- Health and Self-Care – children knowing the importance of good health which includes physical exercise and healthy diet. Children are able to manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.
In Nursery and Reception, children are provided gross and fine motor experiences, which start with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through play, movement with both objects and adults. We create games and provide opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, coordination and agility. By developing gross motor skills this provides a foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision provision help with hand-eye coordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practise of small tools, with feedback and support from adults, support the children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
‘The recommended level of moderate to vigorous physical activity for children under 5 is 180 minutes a day, spread through-out the day’. (UK Physical Activity Guidelines, Chief Medical Officer, 2019)
At Furzedown, Nursery and Reception children have daily opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor skills through a multitude of activities in our learning environments. We promote healthy eating and healthy self–care and regularly talk about this throughout the day.
In Reception the children have a focussed PE session a week. These help to develop a range of skills that include gymnastics, ball skills and team games.
Children create a firm foundation to ensure they are ready to transition into Year 1. These opportunities support building a foundation, igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving developmentally.
KS1 & KS2
From ages 5-11, children at Furzedown are encouraged to be active every morning by participating in Daily Physical Activity. They also enjoy a stimulating outdoors environment where they can be challenged by a multitude of activities on offer, from table tennis to miniature golf. These allocations of time, along with an indoor and outdoor PE lesson each week, allow the children to work towards the guidelines for each child to be active for at least 60 minutes per day.
Regular participation in sport and physical activity allows children the ability to improve physical fitness; help with weight management; promote good health; instil self- discipline; develop skill; improve self- confidence; reduce stress and develop lifelong learning skills.
With this in mind, we aim to deliver a high-quality Physical Education curriculum which can inspire all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities. We are keen to offer children at Furzedown opportunities to participate in intra and inter school competitions, which provide opportunities for pupils to participate in competitive sports and activities both in and beyond the curriculum.
By working with external contacts via outside agencies and clubs, we aim to help to generate positive interaction in the community.
We are pleased to be able to offer Swimming to children in Years 2-6 throughout the whole school year, enabling them to confidently reach the Government’s aim of each child being able to swim at least 25 metres by the time they leave KS2.
Extra-curricular clubs
As a school we offer a broad range of clubs after 3pm. These can be viewed here
Useful Links
Wandsworth School Games Code of Conduct