PE

Our school values: Respect, Challenge, Excellence and Self-Belief run through our PE curriculum from nursery all the way through to Year 6 by ensuring that our children learn the importance of fair-play, respect for everyone involved and a healthy attitude to competition.

In Early Years, in addition to continuous outdoor provision, each class has a weekly structured PE lesson which aims to aid the children's physical development whilst introducing different types of games and activities.

Children in KS1 spend a lot of time working on basic core skills. It is important they can do all of this at an early age, so they can then transfer these skills into a variety of sports in later years. We work very hard doing Physical Literacy, this involves various games/activities in which the children use core skills, spatial awareness, catching, throwing, striking, partner/group work, balancing, hand-eye co-ordination, and movement through Dance and Gymnastics.

Children in KS2 take all of the skills learnt in KS1 and build on them by applying them in game type situations. Within these lessons we look to develop understanding of each particular sport and the tactics/techniques to achieve the best outcome. We also provide Outdoor Adventure Activities in Key Stage 2 with a range of therapeutic and whole class interventions which every child has the opportunity to access.

Foundation92

We are now in our second year of working in close partnership with Foundation92. As well as the existing youth academy team, based on our own playing field, we now work even closer together. Foundation92 will continue to work in school to provide children with P.E lessons throughout the year. Our sports coach is Coach Holland who works carefully with staff to ensure children are able to develop key skills, experience a wide range of sports and sporting opportunities and develop their own personal fitness. This also provides fantastic opportunities for staff members to develop their own understanding of sports and P.E lessons.

Coaches will also provide a range of sports clubs both at lunchtimes and after school. We offer a range of community clubs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 4.30pm until 6.30pm. These clubs are open to children from across the community and provide an excellent opportunity to socialise, build relationships and participate in sporting activities in a safe, welcome environment. For more information on clubs, please contact the P.E team.

Swimming

As part of our Key Stage 2 PE curriculum, Year 4 participate in swimming lessons for half the academic year to learn how to swim. The aim for our children is to be safe, competent and confident swimmers by the time they leave the school, this means they will be able to swim 25m confidently, know how to to keep safe in the water and be able to perform a competent self-rescue. We are currently working to address the challenge of every child being able to meet the minimum national curriculum requirements. As our local area has a high number of canals and other bodies of water, as a school we are very passionate about meeting these targets.

To address this and provide a consistent approach, we have a designated "swimming champion" who has a passion for young people learning how to swim. We are proud that we have Mrs Adams, one of our LSA's, who has gladly taken on this role. Mrs Adams not only helps to organise these swimming sessions, but is also associated with Eccles Amateur Swimming Association and encourages the participation of children in taking up swimming outside of school time.