Inspiring, Interactive and Inclusive
Our aim is to provide a PE curriculum that focuses on the whole child, improving their social, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing through inspiring, interactive and inclusive opportunities.
Curriculum
At the Toftwood Federation, we use the realPE scheme which teaches Fundamental Movements skills (agility, balance and co-ordination) alongside personal, social, cognitive, creative, physical and health and fitness skills from year 1 through to year 6 for 1 session a week.
In EYFS, the children are given lots of opportunity to practise the skills taught in PE and their fine and gross motor skills, by accessing their outdoor areas and by using a wide variety of sports equipment, including, balance bikes, balls, beanbags, hoops and apparatus.
In KS1 and KS2, the children are given a 2nd session of PE in a wide variety of physical activities, e,g. OAA, dance, gymnastics, invasion, striking and fielding games as well as Athletics, to practice, consolidate and evidence the skills taught in realPE.
Extra-Curricular Activities
- Opportunities for inter-school competitions and festivals for all of our children to develop greater confidence, teamwork and to learn to win and lose with grace and sportsmanship.
- Cross-curricular links and opportunities e.g. BBC Super Movers, Outdoor Learning, Go Noodle
- Celebration of sporting achievements, which are recognised in celebration assembly and put on the celebrations wall.
- Lunch times and after school sports clubs.
- Whole school experience days dedicated to develop the whole child, e.g. Mindfulness.
- Being exposed to and learning about worldwide sporting events, e.g. Rugby World Cup, The Olympics, The Paralympics and Wimbledon.
- Links to local clubs in the area.
PE and sports are a proud part of pupils experience and we hope that this continues to grow in the future and will prepare our children for a life after Toftwood.
Spring Term 2024
Reception
During the spring term, Reception children have continued to develop their motor skills, working around a circuit of five stations. They have also completed a virtual Chinese New Year dance workshop with Miss Helen.
Year 1
Year 1 have been focusing on the cognitive and creative cogs during the spring term in real PE. They have developed their fundamental skills of dynamic balances and stances as well as developing their ball skills.
They have also have a term on dance using real dance and then moving onto to focusing on salsa and dancing from the 60’s which including learning the Madison line dance!
Year 2
Like Year 1, year 2 have also focused on the creative and cognitive cogs in real PE. Further developing their fundamental movement skills and challenging themselves even further with their ball skills.
In their second PE session, the children enjoyed taking part in some cricket sessions with Aaron from the Norfolk Cricket board.
On the last day of term, all of the children in reception, year 1 and year 2 enjoyed a short session from Mr Morton, an external secondary school PE teacher. They enjoyed playing 2 games including an Easter themed game involving fitness and tactics and an OAA game involving teamwork to cross a river using a range of equipment.
Year 3
In PE this half-term, we have been practising our sending and receiving skills. The children have enjoyed lessons where each week they have developed their balancing skills individually and in pairs, which has not been easy when they have also been incorporating equipment into this! Additionally, Year 3 and 4 have been very fortunate to have some excellent sixth-form students from DESA visiting as part of a 10-week placement; this has involved teaching the children many skills and engaging in a variety of activities with a focus on co-ordination, teamwork and communication. This will continue into the summer term, which the children are very keen to explore further!
Year 4
This term in PE the children have had an exciting opportunity to work with the Dereham Sixth Form students (DESA). The children have been working in small groups designed to help them develop fundamental movement skills. They have had so much fun playing exciting games and working within groups across the year group.
Reeva said, “I love it when the DESA student teach us PE, they make it really fun”.
Albert said, “Football Thursdays are the best days!”
Alongside this, the children have also been developing their throwing and striking skills through cricket. They have been working on their aim and using the cricket bats to defend their wickets.
Year 5
In PE this term, Year 5 have been lucky enough to have their learning enhanced by a Norfolk Cricket Club coach, who has delivered weekly lessons to each class. The coach has supported the children to learn and practice their throwing and striking skills. He has taught the children about accurate bowling, catching, fielding and batting. The children thoroughly enjoyed developing each skill and commented that they loved playing a whole class game. The classes have also worked hard on their teamwork skills. Well done!
Year 5 have also continued to swim in rotation at the Dereham leisure centre. They have been practicing a variety of strokes looking to complete a distance of at least 25 meters unaided. Self-rescue lessons have also provided all children with greater confidence around water and learning has been supported by trained instructors from the pool alongside school staff.
Year 6
Year 6 have been developing and enhancing their fundamental movement skills, teamwork & sportsmanship and hand eye coordination through basketball this term.
The children have learnt and practised the skills of playing offence and defence as well as dribbling, passing, rebounding and shooting. We have also created a greater understanding of the rules of the game and enjoyed specific drills and game scenarios to practice these within.
This has also been supplemented with further team games, when the weather has not allowed us to be outside, where the children have taken ownership and created class rules for challenges such as; targeted bean bag throwing, silent seated volleyball and team building activities.
Autumn Term 2023
Year 6
Year 6 have been enjoying gymnastics this term. They have been using their teamwork and communication skills to complete group and partner balances. We have also been working on rhythmical and acrobatic sequences, developing and applying all the gym skills we have been taught and cementing precious years learning within these. The children applied all their gym skills on the floor and on the large apparatus through focused skill development and sequence creation.
In our outdoor sessions we have been practicing our ball skills (including reaction and response) and using and applying these in competitive games of ‘EndBall’ (a hybrid of basketball and netball combined). The children enjoyed creating their own rules for this game and providing critical feedback (positively framed) to enable others to improve.
Year 5
During Autumn 2, Year 5 focused on gymnastics, which allowed the children to secure their knowledge from previous learning. The children carefully considered body posture and focused on slowing a movement down, so it was controlled. Year 5 particularly enjoyed using the large apparatus, where the children created their own controlled risks. During Year 5, all three classes go swimming as part of their PE curriculum. This is where they are taught how to swim 25 meters, alongside a range of different strokes and water survival skills. LW5 have now completed their block of swimming – everybody was really proud of the class for becoming more resilient around water. Well done!
Year 4
This term in PE, Year 4 have been exploring gymnastics. We have been developing and applying our balancing skills within our sequence routines. Whilst doing this, we have learnt that having a tight core is vital for success. Once successful, we moved onto ‘flight’ and ‘travel’ on the floor. We used a range of equipment such as benches, apparatus and agility tables to build on our skills. Year 4’s favourite part of gymnastics was getting the apparatus out.
YEAR 3
In Gym this half-term, the children in Year 3 have been learning, developing and applying flight and balance on the floor, on low and large apparatus. The children have been learning how to be supportive and patient with their peers during activities. We have been impressed with how hard the children worked on the challenges and how the children persevered. In Core PE, the children have been focusing on their balance through a sequence of moves using jumps and lands.
PE at TIS Autumn 2023
Reception
Reception children have been exploring the outdoor equipment in Ted’s Den, including the wobble bridge, climbing frame and monkey bars. During indoor PE sessions, they have been creating their own activities using the balls, cones, stepping stones and qoits. The children have also challenged themselves on the climbing frame and large apparatus in the hall.
In the second part of the autumn term, reception have been working around 5 stations to develop their gross motor skills. They have been encouraged to challenge themselves and supported to develop their abilities from their starting points. Activities have included using the small and large climbing apparatus in the hall as well as using the activity mats to develop skills such as balancing on one leg and throwing and catching.
Year 1
Throughout the autumn term, the year 1 children have continued to develop some of their fundamental skills of movement using RealPE. They have worked on developing their footwork, moving with control and balance transferring this skill to be able to balance on one leg. All whilst focusing on their own personal skills as their Real PE cog. In the second half of the half term they focussed on the social cog and developing their understanding of others. They focused on jumping and landing as well as a seated static balance.
Alongside these lessons, the children have also enjoyed a gymnastics lesson once a week, where they have also continued to work on the social and personal cogs through RealGym. They have been completing floor work by creating a range of shapes and travelling, and building on this to develop skills on the apparatus too.
Year 2
This term in our Real PE lessons the children have worked on footwork – following the leader and completing one legged balances with control. And they have also been focusing on balancing using a seated balance. This has meant they have had to engage their core muscles in order to display control and balance.
In our Real Gym unit the children have worked on the apparatus to create multiple different shapes. They have focused on tall shapes, small shapes and wide shapes. Some children have challenged themselves by balancing with one part of their body. The children have also been working on jumping, using different pieces of equipment, for example skipping ropes, hoops and balls.
PE Summer Term 2023
Year 3.
In the summer term, Year 3 completed some athletics activities in the lead up to Race Day. We also studied cricket and we loved learning the skills of bowling (under arm) and batting with the cricket bat whilst others in our team were fielding and gaining practice in catching the ball.
Year 4.
In PE this term, we continued to develop our core skills and put these into practice. We have learnt to play, Tennis, Cricket and Hockey. The children really enjoy applying the throwing skills they had learnt during real PE and where able to hit the wickets with developing accuracy in Cricket. They also really enjoyed learning to play team sports and this helped to develop their communication and problems solving skills.
Year 5.
During the Year 5 summer term, we focused on playing cricket as well as training for race day. Whilst playing cricket, we learnt the skills in batting, bowling and fielding. The classes enjoyed having whole-class games and were very competitive, which was great to see!
On race day, the children participated in 3 events – running, relay and hurdles. Prior to the day, the year group had lots of practice of the three activities so that they were confident on the day. The children sensibly practiced how to jump over the hurdles safely, despite some children feeling nervous for that event. We were very proud of the children’s hard work – well done!
Year 6.
During the summer term Year 6 have built upon their previous learning of cricket in year 3,4 & 5. They learnt some of the rules, how to bowl overarm, defensive and offensive batting techniques as well as fielding positions and some tactics. These skills were all utilised during the matches that were played towards the end of the year.
In preparation for their final sports day at Toftwood Junior School, the children practiced sprinting, hurdling, relay and their obstacle course. This practice paid off with some fantastic performances that also included a sibling race at the end. Well done to all.
We hope all the children continue to use the skills learnt at Toftwood Junior School on their next step in their educational journey at High school and continue to enjoy PE to ensure a happy & healthy lifestyle.