Being an Athlete

 

We were awarded Schools Games Mark Platinum in 2021/22

It is our intent at Barrs Court that all children should have access to two hours of curriculum time each week for school lessons to keep them active and make them have a greater understanding of the effects of exercise on their bodies.  We strive to give them other opportunities outside of curriculum time in as wide a range of sports as possible so that they have the best possible chance of finding at least one sport they can have a passion for.  We want them to understand the concept of personal best and healthy competition against themselves, in intra-school competition and in inter-school competition.  Above all else, we want them to understand the importance of fair play and respect to anyone they encounter in their sporting adventures.

 

 

PE Lessons

Intent of action - Two hours of timetabled lessons each week for every pupil, allowing pupils to develop themselves as a whole person, build a sound knowledge of basic skills, develop the values of the school’s PE ethos and to build a positive relationship with physical health.

How is it implemented - All staff have access to a bank of structured lessons with our “Real PE” scheme of work. Hall space and outside space are timetabled in order to give each class an opportunity to access PE lessons. Each lesson plan is pre-created but gives the teacher flexibility to alter elements in order to give the pupils the best learning experience. Teachers will make links to the school values where appropriate in order to enhance children’s understanding of the values associated to physical health and sport.

How will impact be measured?-  The “Real PE” scheme of work has an inbuilt assessment system to help us track how the children are progressing through the 12 fundamental movement skills across their whole school career.  Teachers will have chance in staff meetings to share feedback on effectiveness of the lessons.  We are constantly in touch with the “Real PE” education team and our own school sports partnership (CSET SSP) to ensure curriculum knowledge is up to date.

Extra-Curricular Activity

Intent of action - To offer maximum opportunity to children of all circumstances to enjoy clubs and initiatives outside of school hours - allowing pupils to develop themselves as a whole person, build a sound knowledge of basic skills and build a positive relationship with physical health.

How is it implemented - We have used some of the Sports Premium Budget to run a sports club on a Friday after school. This is free to access for pupils. We also have after-school clubs that can be paid for by the parents. The sports and age groups vary each term so that more children have the option to access them. The clubs are heavily promoted through letter distribution, email correspondence and presentations in class and assembly. We have also developed our lunch time provision to train older children to deliver games.  We also have members of staff who run sports clubs in their own time regularly throughout the whole year and organise inter-school competitions in order for children to experience healthy competition.

How is impact measured - The clubs are all run by teachers or professional sports coaches who use their own internal assessment and monitoring to ensure high-quality provision. We have an open dialogue with them in order to align our expectations. Participation is monitored in order to make sure we are offering the best clubs that are being enjoyed by the children - and we have the opportunity to stop clubs that aren’t working well and replace them with different age groups and sports.

 

Competition

Intent of action - To give children an opportunity to develop a better sense of competition - either competing against themselves, others in a recognised environment (PE lessons for example) or against an unrecognised opponent. Increased exposure to competition will allow pupils to better develop their relationship with physical health and its ability to build traits such as humility, cooperation, passion, pride and competitiveness.

How is it implemented - Through exposure to competitions during PE lessons (at the end of each unit of work children are given an opportunity to cement their learning through a structured competition). Also, children will be given the opportunity to compete in a range of “Level 1” competition (during lunch times and separate interventions throughout the year).  Children can represent their school through “Level 2” competitions - where they come off site to compete against other schools and children. We have access to the CSET School Sports Partnership competition calendar and South Gloucestershire PE Association’s competition calendar in order to timetable a list of events to attend.  We keep a detailed database of which children have competed in which sport and how many times.  This then allows us to target the children who are not accessing competition and creating competitions specifically for them and their needs.

How is impact measured - The impact will be measured by anecdotal evidence, listening to pupil and teacher feedback about pupil’s attitudes to competition throughout the year. We will also look at the results of the tournaments we attend and look to improve our results (both scores and relationship with events) throughout the year.  We are able to use our data to have a sports presentation at the end of the year with all children participating receiving a Team Barrs Court medal and a number of children receiving sport-specific awards for excellence in that area.

Extra Initiatives and plans for the future

• We are currently holders of the Platinum Games Mark for PE, an award we have held for the past three years.
• We have a range of links with outside sports clubs which allow us to have clear exit strategies for children who have started a sport in school and wish to take their learning further in more specialised surroundings.
• Our PE database allows us to track which children are competing and we continue to develop new competitions and opportunities so that everyone can compete at an appropriate level for them which will give them more confidence.
• We are champions of diverse sports and have found ways to hold such competitions as:

Equestrianism without horses.

Windsurfing and sailing without boats.

Winter Olympics without snow or ice.

Formula 1 without cars.

• We are striving to develop “Legacy” sports.  This means that we try to introduce certain sports at an earlier age in school and develop the skills through the year so that when they come to compete in an older age group, they will be in the best possible position to access it.  It is also a hope that the children who are just starting the sport will be able to look at the children further along in their learning journey with it and be inspired.
• We have developed our outside “outdoor and adventurous” resources in the school grounds to provide more suitable challenge and hope to introduce a Daily Mile/ cycle path around the perimeter of the school field.