At Marlborough Road Academy we believe that a high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities. It provides opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness, as well as opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.
At Marlborough Road Academy, we strive to create a culture both around school and the wider community, that aims to inspire an active generation to enjoy PE, encourage each other and achieve. As a school, we provide a safe and supportive environment for children to flourish in a range of different physical activities which is essential in supporting their physical, emotional, social and moral development. We have implemented a high-quality, inclusive curriculum that inspires all pupils to succeed and excel across all areas of physical education, competitive sport, and other physically demanding activities. It is rich, varied, imaginative and ambitious and meets the needs of individual learners but can easily be adapted for pupils with additional needs. Tasks are matched to the ability of each child through scaffolded activities, providing a level of challenge that is stimulating for pupils.
Our approach to the Physical Education Curriculum is that it is specifically timetabled into our school day to ensure depth and rigour of the key vertical concepts. As a school, we have outlined the progression of all children throughout their time within primary education and the further development when the children progress into secondary education by identifying and implementing the links to Key Stage 3. The key concepts, principles and themes from the National Curriculum have been developed into a range of progressive skills through which the children are helped to grow and develop to succeed within both school and the outside world. This skill-based curriculum allows a creative way of teaching and learning, enabling us to deliver a more practical and engaging curriculum, which meets both the academic and pastoral needs of all our pupils.
At Marlborough Road Academy, we have developed an all-inclusive range of sporting opportunities, in school and in extra-curricular groups such as: football, netball, cross country, that offer the children a wide-variety opportunities of to access sports that they may not have access to outside of school time. The PE curriculum provides children with a relevant, coherent, progressive knowledge of the fundamental movements, skills and the further links to health and well-being. These are explored through the lenses of our school’s ‘vertical concepts’:
- Sport: Dance, Gymnastics, Outdoor Games ( including athletics)
- Health: Body parts and their function, mental and physical wellbeing, hygiene, diet, relationships
- Fitness: Core Strength, stamina, balance and coordination
- Swimming: Pupils in Y4 swim for the whole school year to ensure they become as confident and competent as possible
Children are taught regularly by a combination of their class teachers and an external sports coach, who is qualified to deliver the highest quality physical education curriculum.
The PE curriculum is further enhanced by the dedication to a comprehensive lunchtime programme, after school clubs and the idea of creating links and further implementation sporting tournaments with other schools and sporting partners in the area.
Pupils in Y5 and Y6 have the opportunity to become ‘Sports Captains’, whereby they deliver sports activities at lunchtime, across the school.
We follow the guidelines set by the national curriculum to ensure we offer a range of PE activities that allow each child to feel challenged and offer opportunities to progress further. Our Physical Education Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If pupils are keeping up with the curriculum, we know that they are making progress.
The national curriculum for physical education aims to ensure that 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.