Our vision & intent
Our aim at Sunnybrow is to create a high quality, inclusive PESSPA curriculum which inspires, challenges and motivates all children. We
strive to provide a curriculum that raises our children’s aspirations and gives our children the belief that they are capable of greatness. For us, PESSPA can provide a pathway for children to exceed, in particular for those children who do not always excel in the traditionally academic sense, as it provides opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Through Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity we believe all of our children can achieve both intrinsic and extrinsic success while promoting a strong sense of self-confidence to build key life skills, build character and embed values such as fairness and respect. Skills and values that our children will then be able to fall back on when dealing with the challenges of secondary school and beyond.
Emotional wellbeing and mental health is at the centre of school life. We intend for our PESSPA curriculum to be a pivotal part of the SEMH provision we offer to children. We strive to educate children about mental health and wellbeing and how PESSPA and exercise can be used as a strategy to improve
mental health and wellbeing among our children.
We intend that there will be a clear progression in skills and a pathway for all children to challenge themselves. There should be an opportunity for every child to apply the skills they learn in our PESSPA lessons in competitive situations against other schools and each other, whether that is through festivals, competitions or leagues.
We have produced a set of ‘end-of-year’ expectations for each year. This outlines where we intend each pupil will be by the end of the academic year. To read our end-of-year expectations, click here.
Implementation
As we have mixed-age classes, our long-term plans cover a range of different sports over two-year cycles. All of our long term plans for each class can be found below. These plans have been adapted so that Classes 2, 3 and 4 follow the same sports as a theme each half term over a two year cycle, making progression of skills easier to see and assess. Class 1 follow a theme based planning structure with one theme each half term which is repeated every year. We use the scheme PE Planning to aid with medium-term planning and assessment. This ensures that all pupils are accessing consistently high-quality P.E. lessons.
PESSPA Whole School Long Term Plan
Gymnastics, Dance and Athletics are the only 3 sports which are offered every single year on both cycles A and B. The other half termly slots are made up of a balance of invasion games (predominantly during the Autumn and Spring terms), Striking and Fielding sports (Spring and Summer terms) and Net and Wall based games (Spring and Summer terms).
All classes have 2 hours of planned P.E. lessons each week. In Key Stage 2, one of these hours will be taken up with a weekly swimming lesson. This alternates between Classes 3 and 4 each term.
School Sport opportunities will take place every Wednesday/Thursday or Friday evening (after school) against other schools in cluster group. Each half term will be a different sport to cater for different ages, skill and ability levels, giving every Key Stage 2 child the opportunity to experience competitive school sport. Key Stage 1 will experience competitive sport through festivals during school times in different sports throughout the year. These festivals will also be available to Key Stage 2 children. See SLA 2022-23 overview for specific events, festivals, leagues dates, age groups and times.
School Sport will also be run during school time. At each break-time, there will be an identified member of staff in-charge of running an activity. Games such as dodgeball, football, rugby, handball will be on a weekly timetable, so there is a balance of activity across the week. The aim is to establish in school/lunchtime tournaments with mixed aged and ability teams competing against each other.
After school clubs will be run on a Monday by an external coach. Clubs will be based on children’s voice and run accordingly. We also have an active’ breakfast club, which is run by ‘Sports Kings’. The aim is to give children an active start to the day by participating in individual and team activities before breakfast!
We have produced a progression in skills document to aid with planning and assessment. Our progression of skills documents can be found here:
Whole School Progression grid PESSPA
PESSPA Small Steps by Year Group
PESSPA Progression in Vocabulary
PESSPA Whole School Long Term Plan
Class 1 (EYFS)
In Class 1 we are focusing on fine and gross motor skills and how we can move confidently in different ways through Physical Development. The three focus areas of physical development are:
- Being active, healthy and happy.
- Being strong, coordinated and balanced.
- Being precise, proficient and confident.
We do this a number of different ways including:
- Outdoor art sessions.
- Forest School sessions (at least 1 per week).
- Bikes and Trikes
- Using climbing equipment safely and responsibly.
- Funky Fingers
- Dough Disco
- Squiggle while you Wiggle.
The aim of this curriculum is to ensure by the end of Class 1 children can move freely in a range of ways including:
- Walking
- Running
- Crawling
- Slithering
- Jumping
- Skipping
- Sliding
- Hopping
We hope that by the end of Class 1 children can also run at different speeds, with different changes of direction while handling equipment effectively (including carrying, striking, throwing and bouncing different objects of different sizes). All of these basics can then be built upon as children enter a sports based curriculum from Year 1 onwards.
Class 2 (Years 1 and 2)
In Class 2 we build on the basics we learned in Class 1 by mastering them and showing that we can begin to apply these to more game based situations. This is why our curriculum from Class 2 onwards is based around specific sports. We use these sports as a theme and practice our key skills within them. Our long term plan for Class 2 is:
By the end of Class 2 and after covering these sports we aim to:
- Be able to move into a space or jump to stop, catch or strike a ball.
- Be a competent mover so they can avoid others while maintaining their balance.
- Control and make decisions when playing with balls of various sizes and shapes.
- Roll and throw underarm and overarm to a partner.
- Receive balls of various shapes and sizes from a partner.
- Bounce and catch on the spot and on the move.
- Hit the ball with some form of bat when playing with a partner.
- Master basic movements (running, jumping, throwing, catching).
- Perform dances using simple movement patterns.
- Balance on a range of different apparatus in different ways showing agility and co-ordination.
After achieving these targets we then aim to become more independent and build on our tactical and physical skills in Class 3.
Class 3 (Years 3 and 4)
In Class 3 we build on the skills from Class 1 and 2 while trying to become quicker, more accurate and more consistent. We begin to suggest adaptations to team games and apply tactics to improve performances. We begin to evaluate our performances and reflect on what we can improve.
By taking part in these sessions we are aiming to achieving the following targets:
- Being able to run smoothly at different speeds.
- Be able to warm up themselves safely.
- Throw and catch with greater accuracy/control in combination with different movement (running, jumping) with a partner or larger group.
- Perform a gymnastic sequence with clear changes of speed, 3 different balances and 3 ways of travelling.
- Consistently hit a target with a range of striking equipment/implements.
- Be able to run, jump, throw and catch in isolation and in combination.
- Play competitive, modified games (basketball, dodgeball, handball, cricket, netball, football, hockey, tennis) and apply the above skills successfully.
- Perform combination of jumps (hop, step, jump).
- Take part in outdoor adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team.
- Perform dances using a range of movement patterns.
In Class 3 we also begin to have the opportunity to take part in different festivals and leagues (Football and Handball), where we can apply the skills we learn in out PESSPA sessions to competitive situations and represent our school.
Class 4 (Years 5 and 6)
In Class 4 we look to master all of the skills mentioned above while also taking on leadership roles within teams, independently applying tactics, demonstrating the values of fair play and sportsmanship and leading warmups.
Through these sports we are aiming to achieve these targets:
- Being able to sustain pace, while running, over longer distances – 2 minutes.
- Throw with greater accuracy, control and efficiency or movement and different equipment.
- Create longer, challenging dance phrases.
- Create a gymnastic sequence of upto 8 elements (shapes, balances, rolls, changes of direction, mirroring, jumping).
- Organise small groups to safely take turns when throwing and retrieving equipment.
- Demonstrate a range of jumps showing control and consistency when taking off and landing.
- Play competitive games, modified where appropriate.
- Use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and combination.
- Take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges individually and as part of a team.
- Perform dances using a range of movements patterns.
We also have the opportunity to represent the school in competitive festivals, competitions and leagues throughout the year.
Festivals 24 -25
Throughout the Year Classes 2-4 will be taking part in the following festivals:
Competitions 24-25
Throughout the year Classes 3-4 will be taking part in the following competitions:
Competitions Overview ’24 – ’25
Leagues 24-25
Throughout the year children from Classes 3-4 will be taking part in the following leagues after school:
Impact
Elements of PESSPA should be integrated throughout the whole school curriculum where possible. Instead of showing progress through books, the aim of PESSPA is to improve the personal, social and mental health of children across our school. Children should be healthy,
happy and prepared mentally to complete tasks across other subjects. You will see regular monitoring of PESSPA through learning walks, lesson observations and close analysis of data (specifically PE assessment data and attendance in after school clubs and representing the
school at central venue leagues).
With regards to specific PE skills, you will see children being assessed by their teacher or PE lead using a working document, which is marked at working at or working below their target, at the end of each unit of PE. Children are marked against the key skills and progression statements (some of which are listed above) as a guide to where they should, be at the end of each class and year. Any children who achieve their target across all the elements on the assessment documents will be labelled as greater depth and placed on the gifted and talented register and chosen for gifted and talented sport sessions being ran at a local secondary school. This provides a clear pathway based on sporting ability.
The impact of our PESSPA curriculum is measured through participation in after school clubs, central venue leagues participation, ongoing PE assessment and the personal, social and mental health of our children measured through pupil voice questionnaires. You will
see more children representing the school in school sport and children who are more engaged, happy and focused around school and in the classroom because of a high quality PESSPA curriculum.
Pupil feedback shows that most children throughout the school enjoy PE with a lot of the children suggesting that it is, ‘fun and enjoyable’ with the older children stating that it ‘cannot be improved’.
You will see elements of our PESSPA curriculum embedded throughout our wider school curriculum, with a focus on the ‘Physical Activity’ element, getting children up and active in their lessons where possible, keeping them active and stimulating their minds so they are engaged and focus on their learning. Learning through PE will show children how to keep healthy, look after their bodies and minds and develop social skills. The School Sport element allows children to apply their skill, develop transferable communication and
teamwork skills while learning how to deal with success and disappointment. All of which are vital life skills to prepare them for secondary education and their adult life.
PESSPA School Sport Premium Allocations:
To see our PESSPA School Sport Premium Allocation please see the ‘Premiums’ section on our website.
