PE
At Sowerby Primary Academy our school ethos is to 'grow successful learners' and a vital part of this is the wealth of benefits pupils gets from participating in a variety of competitive opportunities throughout their Primary school life.
We believe especially with the pandemic and its after effect the importance of tailoring that competitive experience to suits the personal needs of the pupil is vital.
How we do this
1. A wide variety of competitive opportunities
2. Thinking of the purpose of the competition - Who will it benefit - What is the outcome? do we want the competition to have a specific learning outcome (e.g., self-belief / focus on individual improvement / teamwork / working together) /reframing competition
3. Making competition against oneself and self growth as important if not more important than competition against others and building this into the curriculum from Early years
4. Tracking competition participation so every pupil is given the opportunity to compete both against themselves to self- improve and face to face intra and inter school in key stage 1 and 2
5. Focused and targeted competition through a buy in package (part of a n area wide competition network) and through the School Games which targets pupils in specific target and focused groups
6. Embedding quick ' challenges' from EYFS in PE lessons so pupils enjoy and thrive and can quickly see progress inspiring them to continue to be motivated to participate in competition
7. In recent years we have worked hard to develop an ethos of success not being related to a medal or trophy (which can be nice) but success can come in other forms - good teamwork / overcoming adversity.
Examples of what we do -
Quick Challenges - PE lessons – self- improvement
- 5-minute run - how many laps can we do in 5 mins - record your score can you beat it?
- 2-minute skips - How many skips can you so in 2 minutes - Beat your score each time
- Speed bounces in 1 minute - beat your score each time
- Shuttles runs - How many in 30 seconds?
Working with a cluster of local schools, Sowerby Academy participates in ‘CATS’ Festivals. These events are aimed at lower Key Stage 2 to allow all children
the opportunity to partake in a variety of sports, regardless of ability. The three key principles of these festivals are enjoyment of sport, understanding the
importance of sportsmanship, teamwork, and communication, and maintaining a high level of fitness. An award is presented, weekly, to a member of each festival
who has demonstrated one or more of these three principles. We also encourage the importance of improvement upon personal best and competition against
oneself as being vitally important to self- improvement.
Sports Pathway and SGO
To ensure our children have access to a wide variety of sports competitions, we work closely with the Hambleton School Games Organiser (SGO) in the Sainsbury’s
Games Pathway. This pathway allows our children to compete in local events. In addition to the sports listed on the Games Pathway, our SGO also organises additional events, with a clear focus of inclusion for all. Through this collaborative approach with the SGO and sports pathway, we encompass the School Games values: determination, honesty, passion, respect, self-belief, and teamwork. With the Sainsbury’s Games Pathway, ‘Change 4 Life’ events and our SGO’s additional ‘inclusion; events, we ensure every child across the school has the
opportunity to represent the school - in at least one sporting event which suits them personally in each key stage.
PUPIL VOICE WHERE WE ARE NOW IMPACT - Taken from Year 3/4 5/6 2022
54% of our child rate themselves as very active – 93% semi active or active / very active
7%rate themselves as inactive
85% understand what a healthy diet is
76% have taken part in a inter school competition
100% have taken part in intra school competition
95% say most days they feel happy
73% say if they find something hard, they keep trying
20% say they would struggle to recover
