At St Francis we believe that physical education, experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is a unique and vital contributor to a pupil’s physical development and well-
St Francis Catholic Primary School provides all pupils with at least 2 hours of high quality PE & school sport, through the curriculum, extra-
In St Francis we teach Real PE, a programme that gives all children the physical literacy, emotional and thinking skills to achieve in PE, sport and life.
We are members of The London PE & School Sport Network. Our partnership’s mission is to inspire a generation to choose physical education and sport for life. The London PE & School Sport Network tries to achieve this through developing, delivering and leading high quality projects across the Borough, that we are invited to participate in.
PE is a fundamental part of life at St Francis RC Primary School, which promotes and nourishes healthy minds and bodies. In turn this creates an environment where pupils are connected with their well-being. We believe a sense of well-being is integral for children to feel loved, grow and achieve their potential. PE is firmly embedded in the curriculum, although this is not limited to PE lessons. We immerse the children in a range of physical activities and provide opportunities for the pupils to explore nutrition and mindfulness. As a result, when they leave St Francis we are confident they are independent individuals, who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We embrace friendly competition through a variety of sports for all abilities, enabling the Catholic Gospel Values of our school to flourish.
As a school a substantial amount of our Sports Premium fund is allocated to being part of The PE and School Sports Network. The network has a team of highly skilled PE coaches that have delivered whole staff INSET days and have worked closely with teachers. This has included team teaching/coaching sessions in order to ensure that pupils receive high quality PE lessons.
Teachers use the REAL PE and LPESSN schemes of work from the network and adapt planning where necessary for the needs in their class. The learning objectives ensure pupils are learning transferable skills and they link to the National Curriculum programme of study.
All year groups in the school have two, one-hour lessons of PE a week. One indoor and one outdoor session. Years 4 and 5 also visit the local swimming pool for weekly lessons, as part of their PE provision.
Pupils are assessed via ongoing formative assessment; progress and attainment are recorded on an assessment pro-forma, provided by The PE and Sport Network. This proves to be a useful tool as it is clear where greater challenge needs to be provided and where skills need further development. Teachers then effectively plan for this and deliver the lesson according to the amendments made to ensure all pupils achieve their potential.
Moreover, The PE and School Sports Network arranges a broad range of out of school competitions that pupils of all ages, needs and abilities have attended. Such as Cross Country, football and cricket competitions. They also organise inter-school competitions for SEND children, which our children have also participated in, tournaments such as Boccia and Bowling.
In addition, the pupils have the opportunity to participate in after school sports clubs that are carried out by trained and qualified sports coaches and subsidised by the Sports Premium funding.
Due to the numerous, wide range of physical activities available and the high standard of PE lessons pupils are motivated, engaged and eager to learn new skills.
It is intended that when pupils leave St Francis they will have met the attainment targets in the PE programme of study.
