PE Curriculum Intent

At Gilmour Junior 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 aspire for children to adopt a positive Growth Mindset and believe that anything can be achieved with determination and resilience.  We aim to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education and in developing life skills such as being safe in water and being able to swim. Through our teaching of PE, we want to teach children how to cooperate and collaborate with others as part of an effective team and provide opportunities for pupils to develop values and transferable life skills such as fairness and respect. Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children at Gilmour Juniors, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines PE promotes as we aim to fulfil our mission statement “Learning together, growing together.”

PE Curriculum Implementation 

• PE at Gilmour Juniors provides challenging and enjoyable learning through a range of sporting activities including; invasion games, throwing and catching games, hitting and striking games, gymnastics, dance, swimming and athletics.
• The long term plan sets out the PE units which are to be taught throughout the year and ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are fully met.
• Pupils participate in two high quality PE lessons each week, covering two sporting disciplines every half term. In addition, children are encouraged to participate in the varied range of extra-curricular activities, with the school running at least one sports club each evening after school voluntarily by school staff.
• Children are invited to attend competitive sporting events within the local area. This is an inclusive approach which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also mental well-being. These events also develop teamwork and leadership skills and are very much enjoyed by the children.
• Each year all children in school are given the chance to represent their House teams (Victory, Mayflower, Endeavour and Discovery). Each House team has a captain and vice captain from our current Year 6 cohort who are viewed as sporting role models for the younger children and help assist with sports competitions and sports day.
• Children have had a variety of assemblies giving information and covering a variety of sports throughout the year. For example, prior to covid restrictions we have had assemblies and/or workshops run by well known sports people such as: former Commonwealth games and Olympic medalist Beth Tweddle and current Premier League official Ian Hussin discuss their role in sport and potential future career paths.
• Prior to Covid we also had local sports clubs such as Liverpool Collegiate Rugby Club and Mossley Hill Hockey club visit school and deliver both assemblies and after school clubs for the children at Gilmour. We will be looking to strengthen these links and create new partnerships with sports clubs in the near future when we have the opportunity (covid restrictions dependent).
• Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 all have the opportunity to swim as part of the School Improvement Liverpool Swimming Programme.
• We have previously implemented the daily mile as part of our school timetable, however, due to covid restrictions we have not been able to continue this due to the potential contact of separate bubbles. However, as a school we will revisit and consider bringing this back depending on covid guidance and timetabling.  

PE Curriculum Impact 

At Gilmour Juniors, we ensure that our PE curriculum is progressive and allows children to develop fundamental skills and apply them to a variety of sports and activities. All children are provided with the necessary skills and given opportunities to demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best. We aspire for children to enjoy PE and develop a love of sport and physical activity which hopefully becomes part of their life outside of primary school and their future. Children at Gilmour Juniors have the opportunity to take part in extracurricular activities and demonstrate their new skills in intra and inter sports competitions. All children also have the opportunity in the summer term to take part in a sports day.

Swimming at Gilmour

Swimming is an important skill and can encourage a healthy and active lifestyle. All Local Authority schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. The programme of study for PE sets out the expectation that pupils should be taught to: 

- swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres. 

- use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.

- perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

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