Intent
At Oaklands Junior School, we recognise the importance of PE and the role it has to play in promoting long term healthy lifestyles. Our vision is that through the PE curriculum and wider opportunities to engage in competition and other physical events such as the Daily Mile, all children will appreciate the benefits of a healthy and physically active lifestyle. The intent of our PE curriculum is to provide all children with high quality PE and sport provision that will help them reach their potential and fulfil all the aspects of the Oakland’s Mindset (ambition, independence, friendship, enjoyment, challenge, communication) and other values such as respect and fairness.
By the time pupils leave this school, they should know how to apply and develop a broad range of skills. They should be able play games where they are able to work together in teams and enjoy competing with each other. They should be able to evaluate their successes and learn how to improve in different physical activities. The pupils will also have had an opportunity to participate in swimming lessons as they go through the school.
In addition, we would like to have given as many pupils as possible the chance to participate in sporting events; whether representing the school competitively, participating in in-house competition or having a go at one of the many sports clubs on offer. We intend that all children are able to compete in our Sports day and our Inclusive sports day which cover a wide range of activities for all abilities including those with physical disabilities and special educational needs. We also intend to give the oldest pupils opportunities to help with organising and running sporting events within the school, such as sports day.
Oaklands Junior school is fortunate to be a part of the Wokingham School Games programme. It has long been our intent to become a Games Mark School and we are pleased to announce that in July 2023 we achieved the Games Mark Gold Award. Requirements for this title include: running intra-house and intra-class and year tournaments and games; training Sports Captains to lead and organise events; to have feedback from pupils in all aspects of PE; and to work at the transition ends of the school with events for Year 2 and 3 and for the PE lead to the local secondary school to see some Year 7 PE.
For more information about School Games visit: https://www.yourschoolgames.com/about/school-games-mark/
Implementation
The P.E. curriculum is taught twice a week in each class, a shorter lesson in a morning, and a slightly longer one in an afternoon.
Autumn and Spring Term: The morning tends to be indoor PE and covers things like, gymnastics, dance or circuits and the afternoon lends itself to skills/ invasion games such as Netball, Hockey, Tag-Rugby, Lacrosse and Basketball. We would aim to have two units of gymnastics during this time.
Summer Term: Both sessions tend to be outdoors and include athletics, tennis, cricket, or variations of rounders. (See Appendix II).
All children come to school on PE days in their PE kit, this worked well during Covid times and so we have decided to keep this practice. Year 3 however, keep their PE kits at school and change at school to help them learn the life-skill of getting themselves dressed and changed.
Equipment: Oaklands has a very well-equipped P.E. shed with enough balls/bats/sticks for each child in a class. Mrs Alexander, the P.E lead has recently purchased equipment for more inclusive sports such as Boccia.
Lessons in a sport/game are taught progressively by the class teacher from plans that start with learning skills and, with the upper school, progress to full games. Children’s expertise is utilised if they go to clubs and often they are called on to explain or demonstrate a skill/positions.
Staff Development
As subject leader for P.E. Sally Alexander has facilitated three staff meetings where groups of teachers from each year group have worked on making tick sheets to show progression of skills for particular games across the four years. These include Tennis, Hockey, Netball, Cricket. We have recently looked at the progression of gymnastics. The aim is to ensure the building on of skills and knowledge as the children grow. This will avoid duplication/repetition and to take the children as far on in the game as we can whilst they are with us and preparing Year 6 for secondary school games.
Following on from Covid, a staff meeting was undertaking in December 2021 to review the units for each year. (See Appendix III, Covid 19 impact and implementation).
Staff have also had practical sessions in teaching Touch Rugby, led by an ex-England touch rugby player, tennis from a coach at Crowthorne Tennis club and Gymnastics led by the head coach at Pinewood Gym. They have also had staff fun social events canoeing at Addlestone Canoe Club (of which one of our staff is a member); dragon boating at Henley; playing Touch Rugby with Thames Valley Vikings (of which two of our staff are members) and Real Tennis at Wellington.
Sports Days
Held in mid-June this event is executed to a fantastic standard. The children start off in their house colours on the playground, wearing their house colour T-shirts. Year 6 House Captains lead with banners as they parade onto the field around the Daily Mile track to the middle of the field. Gymnastic and dance numbers are shown for the parents and infants who are already seated and then the Olympic Pledge and the Oaklands Pledge are read out by Year 6 Sports Captains.
Events for Years 3/ 4 and 5/ 6 run concurrently on either side of the race track. The last events of the morning are the sprints, the long races round the whole track and the baton relay which are highlights of sports day. A picnic follows with the infants children joining in.
The infants run their sports day the same afternoon. Year 6 sports captains attend the infant’s sports afternoon to help with the smooth running of this.
Each year since 2021 we run an ‘inclusive sports’ event which consisted of 8 stations that children rotated round in groups. Games included tri-golf, boccia, skittles, curling, balloon tennis, badminton, tic-tac-toe, team table tennis. This day was a fantastic experience for the whole school. We were able to have Year 6 Sports and House Captain’s manning each station and they did an amazing job, explaining the game and encouraging the younger children. (see Appendix IV).
Playground Games
In 2022 we introduced Playground Games. A rota of Year 6s lead playground games sessions at lunch time. An area of the playground is sectioned off for this and there is a box of equipment and laminated games ideas. The Year 6 children discussed rules with Mrs Alexander in order to make this a success. Oaklands school also have an adventure playground and outside gym which can be used on a rota basis during lunch breaks.
The daily Mile Track
As part of our bid to raise health and wellbeing, a Daily Mile track was introduced around the edge of the field in April 2018. This was initially white line markings, but it was so successful that in 2019 we had an artificial grass Daily Mile track put on the field. Teachers can take their classes out at any time for 15minutes. During lockdown this was scheduled in on a rota basis. Classes gain a bronze, silver and gold certificate for 25, 50 and 75 days of Daily Mile. During lockdown we had to invent a platinum certificate for 100 days as it proved so popular.
Clubs and Fixtures
There are many different sports clubs and fixtures available to the children and many take part in these as there is something for everyone to try. Due to their being so many different sports fixtures that we are involved in, the organising and taking children to these events are shared by all staff rather than just the PE lead, as is the case in some schools. (See Appendix V)
Sports Funding Opportunities
In the summer of 2022, we used some of the sports funding grant to subsidise each class in the school to be able to spend an afternoon at Horseshoe Lake taking part in a session to learn Stand Up Paddle-boarding. We want to utilise the fantastic local facilities we have round our school to help the children to experience something new, work together to team build and to get out and about after the various lockdowns of the last two years.
In summer 2023 we visited Horseshoe Lake again, and each class took part in a kayaking session.
Impact
The Oaklands mindset is intrinsic to our PE curriculum and our pupils’ show these attributes in their sportsmanship. Our children are praised by others for always encouraging each other during games and competitions. Our children are noted for their enthusiasm in taking up the many opportunities placed before them.
At the end of Year 6, Oaklands Junior school children:
- know how to apply and develop a broad range of skills.
- are able to play games where they work together in teams and enjoy competing with each other.
- are able to evaluate their successes and learn how to improve in different physical activities.
- have participated in swimming lessons as they go through the school.
- have had the chance to participate in sporting events; whether representing the school competitively, participating in in-house competition or having a go at one of the many sports clubs on offer.
- have competed in our Sports days and our Inclusive sports day.
- have had opportunities to help with organising and running sporting events within the school, such as sports day and Inclusive sports day.
Special Educational Needs and reluctant PE participants
Children at Oaklands with Special Educational Needs and others who are reluctant to do PE, take part in sporting activities arranged by the borough to encourage an active life and enjoyment of games for all. These events include a inclusive sports festival, Tri-Golf, Boccia and New-Age Kurling. Our Oaklands Inclusive Sports day exposed SEN and other children to activities that they can access. Children with SEN are also able to access many of the events at sports day and we have taken SEN children to Cross Country on a regular basis, putting in place any added provision needed. (See Appendix I)
Monitoring and Evidence
The impact of our implementation of the PE curriculum can be monitored in a number of ways: through learning walks and lesson observations; planning scrutiny; pupil voice and teacher assessments. Staff use video evidence for assessment and training purposes.
The impact of wider events can be monitored by the number who take up these opportunities, pupil voice and photos of the events (See Appendix I)
Ofsted Inspection 2022
In April 2022, OFSTED undertook an inspection and confirmed that Oaklands Junior School continues to be a good school. One of the subjects that was chosen to be assessed was PE. We had a very positive feedback from the inspector, particularly about the game’s progression of skills tick sheets. Further to this, the school is looking to produce similar tick sheets for all foundation subjects to show progression of skills from Year 3 to Year 6.
Competitions and clubs
During their time at Oaklands Junior School, children are exposed to a plethora of opportunities to represent the school. The following is some of the evidence of the impact of these opportunities:
Football
In 2019 an outside agency came into school to offer girls a chance to play football during a lunch time club. This was the first of its kind and the legacy of this is that by the time these children were in Year 6 a significant number of these girls play for Finchampstead Football Club and represented the school at girls football fixtures. In the sporting year 2021-22 this team of girls, (now in Year 7), came top of Division 2 and won the cup. At least eight of the eleven children went to Oaklands Junior School.
Many children join outside sports clubs after participating in extra-curricular festivals or tournaments or from taking part in a taster day in school.
Cross Country
Oaklands takes part in the Thames Valley Running League where there has been a huge uptake in the number of children who want to participate showing their enthusiasm for the event. We regularly have 66 children wanting to go which exceeds the limit of 50 children. We have always taken children of any running ability or indeed, none. The children are so keen to spur each other on, whether it is a out and out winner, (and we have won many trophies and medals), or whether it is cheering on the last competitor as they are supported by the last marshal.
Badminton
Our Year 4 badminton club, run after school by a teacher, has fed into the Berkshire Smash Badminton Skills Tournament. The only requirement for children to join this club ad participate is a keenness to do so. The children’s main asset is their ability to work as a team, which helped them in 2018 to not only win the tournament but also to go on to win the Berkshire county tournament at Bisham Abbey. In 2022, Year 4 won a draw to go through to Bisham Abbey (Covid stopped the first round) They had a great time and enjoyed the experience.