Physical Education at Stratford-sub-Castle Primary School aims to engage children with being physically active and living a healthy lifestyle for now, and in the future. Children are taught about the benefit of exercise, including physical and mental health, but the emphasis is put on having fun and creating that life-long love for physical activity. Children develop an eagerness to participate and demonstrate highly positive attitudes to skill acquisition and development, competitive situations and leading and organising within lessons. A focus on inclusion for all is seen across the entire school and children are taught from an early age to be resilient and to work together as a team, regardless of who is in it. All year groups learn and practise relevant and transferrable skills across a range of different sports and build on these skills as they journey through the school. 

The concepts for Physical Education at Stratford-sub-Castle CE Primary School are:

Physical skills – pupils learn, practise and perform various skills at progressive levels throughout the school. In KS2 the skills that are learnt are also implemented through the teaching centred around a wide variety of sports.

Personal skills – pupils learn to be resilient and how to deal with the emotions felt when in competitive situations. They learn to work as part of a team. They also learn that self-belief, perseverance and determination play a vital role in sports, performance, and life.

Cognitive skills – pupils learn to problem solve through physical performance and activity as well as evaluating performance and thinking about how to improve.

Creative skills – pupils are given the opportunity to be leaders and to take responsibility for the performance or game. They are taught the skills to help them to come up with ways to make games more or less challenging.

Health and fitness – pupils are taught the short and long term benefits of regular physical activity and the effect that this has on the body and the mind. They are taught to strive for success and improvement, but ultimately to find a love of exercise.