Physical Education

Overview

At Rathfern, we believe PE is about more than physical activity—it’s about building confidence, resilience, and a lifelong love of movement. Our curriculum offers a broad range of opportunities for creativity, competition, and collaboration, helping every child to develop physical literacy, teamwork, and healthy habits. Through high-quality teaching, inclusive practice, and inspiring experiences, we aim to nurture active, happy learners who understand the value of physical activity for both body and mind. We are proud to hold the Gold School Games Mark, reflecting our commitment to excellence and participation in sport across the school.

Intent

At Rathfern, our Physical Education curriculum aims to inspire all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and physically demanding activities. We provide a broad and balanced programme that develops knowledge, skills, and understanding, enabling children to perform with confidence and competence across a range of physical activities.

Our intent is to:

Promote health and well-being and encourage lifelong participation in physical activity.
Offer opportunities for creativity, competition, and collaboration through individual and team challenges.
Develop positive attitudes towards maintaining active and healthy lifestyles.
Support pupils to think critically and reflectively by planning, performing, and evaluating actions to improve performance.
Foster resilience, teamwork, and respect—values that extend beyond PE and into all aspects of life.

Through high-quality teaching, pupils discover their strengths, preferences, and talents, enabling them to make informed choices about lifelong physical activity. PE at Rathfern also contributes to wider curriculum goals, supporting cognitive development, executive function skills, and emotional well-being.

Aims

Aligned with the National Curriculum for PE, we aim to ensure all pupils:

Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities.
Are physically active for sustained periods of time.
Engage in competitive sports and activities.
Lead healthy, active lives.

Our school-specific aims are to:

Deliver inclusive, high-quality PE for all pupils, valuing diversity and promoting equality.
Foster physical literacy through PE, school sport, and physical activity.
Challenge pupils physically, creatively, and tactically to help them reach their potential.
Increase participation beyond curriculum time through extracurricular clubs and community links.
Provide opportunities for competition and teach pupils to win gracefully and learn from setbacks.
Embed sporting values such as fair play, teamwork, and respect.
Help pupils understand the impact of exercise and nutrition on short- and long-term health.
Use physical activity as a means of creativity, self-expression, and stress relief.
Develop enjoyment of physical activity to encourage lifelong participation.
Support pupils to be the best they can be—mind, body, and talents (UNCRC Article 29).

Implementation

At Rathfern, PE is delivered through a broad and balanced curriculum aligned with the National Curriculum for England. Lessons follow the Complete PE scheme to ensure progression from EYFS through KS2, developing fundamental movement skills, teamwork, and confidence. Swimming lessons are provided in Year 4, with additional support for pupils who need it.

We provide at least two hours of high-quality PE each week, taught by specialist teachers and enriched by external coaches. Our approach is inclusive, ensuring all pupils, including those with SEND or additional needs, can access and succeed in PE through adapted activities and targeted support.

Beyond the curriculum, pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular clubs such as football, Dodgeball, Roller Skating and Hockey. Active playtimes, lunchtime activities/clubs, and annual events like Sports Day promote engagement and enjoyment. We also offer inspiring workshops and experiences, including visits from elite athletes and specialist coaches, and opportunities to participate in borough-wide competitions and festivals. These experiences encourage lifelong participation in physical activity and sport.

Phase Specific Implementation - Progression Overview

EYFS	KS1	KS2
Rationale
Focus on developing gross and fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and enjoyment of movement. Activities should encourage exploration, imagination, and independence while introducing basic health concepts.	Build on fundamental movement skills to develop agility, balance, coordination, and introduce simple tactics. Encourage participation in competitive and cooperative activities while fostering resilience and enjoyment.	Broaden skill application across a range of sports and activities. Develop tactical understanding, teamwork, and leadership. Introduce concepts of performance evaluation and personal improvement. Promote lifelong physical activity habits.
Expected Outcomes
Confident in fundamental movements (walking, jumping, hopping, rolling). Able to handle equipment safely and with control. Understand simple health messages (exercise makes us feel good, heartbeat changes). Begin to cooperate in simple games and sequences.	Apply basic skills (dribbling, passing, throwing, catching) in simple games. Understand and follow rules, take turns, and keep score. Create and perform simple movement sequences in dance and gymnastics. Show awareness of healthy choices and the effect of exercise on the body.	Combine and refine skills in increasingly complex games (e.g., invasion, net/wall, striking/fielding). Apply tactics for attack and defense; understand roles in team play. Create and perform sequences with control, expression, and creativity in dance and gymnastics. Demonstrate understanding of fitness components (strength, flexibility, cardio) and mindfulness techniques. Take responsibility for officiating and managing games by Year 6.

For a detailed explanation of our approach to curriculum delivery and progression, please see our PE Policy.

Impact

Assessment

We use the Complete PE Online Assessment Tool to monitor pupil progress across all strands of the curriculum. This system highlights areas of strength and where additional support is needed. Assessment is holistic, considering physical skills alongside collaboration, creativity, reflection, and understanding.

Pupils are assessed at the end of each unit, building a clear picture of attainment across Games, Dance, Gymnastics, Athletics, and Health & Fitness by the end of the academic year. Success criteria are drawn from Complete PE lesson plans and linked directly to National Curriculum expectations. Teachers annotate lessons to inform end-of-unit judgments.

Peer and self-assessment are integral to lessons, with pupils using checklists and video analysis to reflect on and improve performance. Photos and videos provide evidence of progression from the start to the end of units.

Monitoring
The PE subject leader, supported by the Headteacher and SLT, monitors standards through:

Lesson observations
Curriculum reviews and discussions
Pupil voice (including our School Sports Crew)
CPD to maintain high-quality teaching and subject knowledge

This ensures consistency, progression, and continuous improvement.

Celebrating Success
We value and celebrate achievement and effort in PE through:

Golden Assemblies
Website and newsletter features
Playground noticeboards
Certificates linked to School Games values
Performances for the school community and parents
Participation in local competitions and festivals
Displaying trophies and promoting the School Games Mark

Expected Learning Impact

If our intent is achieved, pupils will:

Demonstrate secure physical literacy and competence across a broad range of activities.
Apply tactical, creative, and evaluative thinking to improve performance.
Show resilience, teamwork, and respect in competitive and collaborative contexts.
Understand the importance of physical activity and nutrition for lifelong health and well-being.
Engage positively in physical activity beyond school, fostering habits for lifelong participation.
Use physical activity as a tool for self-expression, stress management, and emotional regulation.

School Games Mark

We are delighted to announce that we, Rathfern Primary School, have achieved the School Games Gold Mark Award for the 2024/2025 academic year. This is the forth consecutive year that Rathfern have achieved the Gold award. This year this involved an external validation process where we shared how we sucessfully utilise School Games opportunitites, keep our young people active, and offer high quality PE and sports provision for all pupils.

The School Games Mark is a government-led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Participating in this process allows schools to evaluate their PE provision and assists them in developing an action plan for future progress.

PE Curriculum Map

2025-2026 PE Curriculum Map

pe curriculum map 2025 26 pd.pdf

PE Curriculum Progression

Rathferns PE Curriculum covers all aspects of the PE National Curriculum with units of work that flow in a progressive, sequential order from EYFS to Year 6. PE lessons are planned to build upon the prior learning of children, and progression is built into the scheme at EYFS, KS1 and KS2, ensuring that children are appropriately challenged as they move through the school. The units of work have been designed to produce learning pathways that support the personal development of the whole child as well as physical and skill development.

See our PE Skills & Knowledge Progression Map

Key Vocabulary

Our key vocabulary supports pupils’ understanding of key concepts in PE, helping to develop subject knowledge and language for learning.

See our PE Key Vocabulary List

PE Policy

Rathfern's PE Policy document outlining our approach to teaching physical education, physical activity, and school sports. The policy includes our curriculum Intent (our vision for what our pupils should learn), Implementation (how it is delivered), and Impact (How we measure curriculum outcomes).

See our Rathfern PE Policy

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

We offer a wide range of extra-curricualar sports clubs (Breakfast, Lunchtime and After-school) including Football, Gymnastics, Dance, Roller-Skating, Dodgeball, Hockey, Tennis and Multi-Sports. All clubs are led by our in house PE specialists, or by fully qualified sports coaches.

See a list of our Enrichment Clubs