Physical Education
At Courthill Infant School we are committed to supporting all children to achieve and thrive through the development of a healthy and active lifestyle. We offer a variety of opportunities which promote a life-long understanding of how to stay healthy by incorporating fitness, movement and health as an integral part of our daily curriculum as well as through explicit P.E. sessions. We want to offer experiences which will encourage sportsmanship, team work, challenge, knowledge, a sense of self-worth and perseverance. We aim to make physical and mental health, fitness and sport central to each child’s life, both in and out of school. Mental health is also supported through well-being and ‘Mindfulness’ activities.
Our aim is to provide an exciting and varied P.E. curriculum which will nourish and extend children’s abilities to practice, refine and perform skills so that all children progress well from their starting points. We provide a progressive curriculum from Early Years through to the end of Year 2, which builds on individualised learning needs and goals. Children are able to challenge themselves within our ‘Growth Mindset’ ethos and our staff have the skills to enable this to happen.
P.E. not only makes its own distinctive contribution to the school curriculum but also makes strong links to all aspects of the varied and interesting curriculum offered at Courthill Infant School. P.E. at Courthill also supports the development of other curriculum areas, including PSHE, literacy and numeracy.
Please see the long term plans and rationale below to see how P.E. is taught at Courthill. If you would like to know more about the P.E. curriculum, please take a look at the National Curriculum.
P.E. Curriculum Statement
PE Long Term Plans and Rationale
Sports Day 2022
This video above captures how much the children enjoyed the event and how we, as a school, encourage children to develop a love for sport and physical activity.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are those which require whole body movement and involve the large (core stabilising) muscles of the body to perform everyday functions, such as standing, walking, running, jumping, and sitting upright at the table. They also include eye-hand coordination skills such as ball skills (throwing, catching and kicking) as well as riding a bike or a scooter.
Why are gross motor skills important?
Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions, such as walking, running, playground skills (e.g. climbing) and sporting skills (e.g. catching, throwing and hitting a ball with a bat). However, they are also essential for everyday self-care skills, such as dressing. Gross motor abilities also have an influence on other everyday functions. For example, a child’s ability to maintain appropriate table top posture (upper body support) will affect their ability to participate in fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) and ability to sit upright in class for extended periods.
Coach Aaron has created a short video with five simple movement challenges that you can complete at home to support your child’s gross motor skills. These can be done in a safe space with no need for equipment.
Physical Activity Links
Please find below a selection of online resources that will help your children experience the recommended 1 hour of physical activity required every day.
Go Noodle
One of the children's favourite ways at Courthill to be physically active in the classroom is Go Noodle. They offer various types of exercise through dance, HIT workout sessions, yoga and many more. Find below links to their official page with some workouts for the whole family.
National Trust - 50 things to do before you are 11 ¾
A range of activities to challenge children in the great outdoors.
Super Movers
Here, you will find videos which help children move while they learn. They support curriculum subjects, including maths and English.