Introduction

Sedentary living patterns and unhealthy dietary habits are becoming more prevalent in our society and there is strong and consistent evidence that doing regular, moderate-intensity physical activity provides a range of physical, intellectual and emotional benefits for everyone.

By participating in physical activity before, during and after school, students can gain a range of physical, social, emotional and intellectual benefits. Physical activity opportunities can be provided through health and physical education activities, sport, recreation and games.

Therefore, physical activity is an important dimension in students’ broad scope of development during their years of schooling.

It is important that children are given opportunities to participate in a range of enjoyable physical activities and good nutrition habits at an early age so they will be more likely to continue being physically active throughout the rest of their lives.

Objectives

St Winifred’s has developed this policy to provide school staff and the school community with guidelines on what is required to achieve maximum levels of student participation in physical activity.

OBJECTIVES

To provide students the best possible physical activity experiences regardless of race, age, ability or location, so as to encourage a lifelong healthy lifestyle pattern.
To provide a supportive environment for enjoyable participation in a wide variety of physical activities, through the development of skills and good codes of behaviour.
To provide the safest possible environment for all participants.
To provide for the allocation of appropriate resources and facilities.
To provide equitable opportunities for all students to participate.
To develop and apply skills in a cooperative manner using appropriate levels of experiences and/or competition as required.
To provide talented and gifted students the opportunity to reach their potential and provide an age-appropriate participation pathway.
To encourage participation in community sport and physically active recreation as well as inter and intra school competition, such as Bonus Pastors’ Indoor Sports Hall Athletics competitions.
To encourage participation of the whole school community in supporting physically active experiences.
To uphold and promote the Olympic and Paralympic values, as part of the London 2012 Olympic Legacy.
To encourage and empower those less active children to take part and enjoy physical activity through connections to Change4Life sports clubs.

PRINCIPLES
Participation in physical activities at St Winifred’s is characterized by:

Maximizing the educational opportunities of all students through an emphasis on access, diversity, equity and a supportive environment.
An emphasis on enjoyment and fun.
Use of appropriate age-related modified sport, facilities and equipment.
A suitable level of physically active experiences and/or competition according to the age, maturity and ability levels.
A safe, healthy, challenging and physically active environment that encourages a sense of personal achievement, identity and satisfaction.
The recognition of participation, development and improvement.
The valuable contribution that can be made by members of the school community (teachers, parents, students) as role models and supporters of the benefits of physical activity.SCOPE
This policy applies to all students attending St Winifred’s Catholic Primary School, regardless of race, age, ability or location and to all members of the St Winifred’s community (teachers, coaches, administrators, parents or guardians, volunteers).ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
St Winifred’s has a responsibility to ensure that every student is presented with the opportunity to participate in good quality physical activity experiences to enhance their learning and development.Coaches and teachers play a major role and other members of the school community are also encouraged to become involved in PE.The following roles and responsibilities encompass areas such as participation, competition, safety, community linkages, communication with parents/guardians, costs, equipment and behaviour.PARTICIPATION
Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to:

encourage enjoyment;
cater for varying levels of ability by providing every student with a ‘fair go’;
provide equal encouragement to all students to allow them to acquire skills and develop confidence;
ensure the program is available to all students by catering for groups with special needs such as:
students with disabilities/impairments;
students from non-English speaking backgrounds; and;
athletes with exceptional talent.
Prepare and conduct sessions based on sound coaching and teaching principles;
set realistic standards and objectives for students;
ensure a safe and productive environment;
ensure consequences of inappropriate behaviour are clearly understood and promoted;
encourage students to participate in games before, during and after school, and;
act as a good role model of sporting behaviour.

Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community who take on a coaching responsibility are also encouraged to:

become accredited with the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS) through state sporting organizations; and
keep up-to-date with coaching developments.

COMPETITION
At St Winifred’s provision is made for a healthy level of competition for all participants.
Competition occurs at the intra-school and inter-school level as well as on a less formal, social basis and is conducted at a level that is appropriate for the age and experience of the students.

Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to ensure all students participating in the sport program are aware that, although everyone likes to win, participating is equally as important.

Medals and trophies won will be celebrated and placed in prominent positions, in order to share these achievements with the whole school community.

LINKS WITH COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS :
Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE are encouraged to establish closer cooperative links with sport, recreation and community organizations by: (Already Linked to Bonus Pastor and Dalmain football club ) liaising with community groups and encouraging the use of school facilities, both during and outside of school hours; and integrating their physical education and sport program with those of local sport and recreation organizations.

SAFETY
The provision of a healthy and safe environment for students and teachers in the school is essential.

Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to ensure safety issues are addressed and follow school model taken from Safe Practice in Physical Education & Sport 2012 edition (Copy held by headteacher) and also where applicable:

Recognize the difference between student and adult physical and emotional characteristics;
Understand the short and long-term medical conditions of students (this includes previous and existing illnesses and injuries);
Ensure that the equipment and facilities are safe and in good working order; enforce the use of recommended protective equipment required for a particular game or sport;
Provide access to appropriate first aid facilities and equipment.

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS/GUARDIANS

Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to:
Inform parents or guardians of their child’s involvement with the physical activity program and give them information about the program. This information should include:
names and contact details of all teachers/coaches involved; and days, times and dates of all practices and competition games and recreational activities that involve their child.
Provide parents or guardians with a progress report of their child’s involvement in physical activity. The report should include:
general comments made by the student’s teacher; and, where appropriate specific comments by the physical education specialist on areas of identified need or ability.
Allocate time for parent-teacher interviews when the end-of-year reports are issued. A parent-teacher interview may be requested at any time during the course of the term by either the teacher or the parent
Notify parents or guardians and ask for their consent for any travel arrangements organized by the school for students participating in any physical activity including sporting events.

BEHAVIOUR
Students, coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to:
Ensure students are aware that their behaviour is expected to be consistent with behaviour expected at school or home, before, during and after any sporting event or recreational activity.
Manage students who fail to comply with the above codes of behaviour as set out in the school’s ‘Behaviour Management’ policy. We will continue to encourage and praise positive responses, hard work and resilience.

SPECTATORS
It is just as important for spectators to behave in an appropriate manner at any physical education or sporting event.
Coaches and teachers need to:
Provide guidelines/expectations of behaviour to spectators and parents and other members of the school community.

EQUIPMENT
Coaches, teachers and any other members of the school community involved in PE need to ensure all equipment used is appropriate for the age group and be in good condition, as well as educate students on how to correctly and effectively use the equipment available. Students who fail to use the equipment for its correct purposes run the risk of losing their privilege to use it at all.

UNIFORMS
Children enjoy the feeling of being part of a team, and, where possible kit should be provided. They should be clearly labelled.
Coaches and teachers need to:
Inform parents and guardians whether kit will be provided by the school or whether they will need to be supplied by the student. If students cannot afford to purchase items of a particular kit, an arrangement will be made between the school and family concerned.

St Winifred’s physical activity
This policy acknowledges that physical activity can occur in a variety of ways at school. Activity may be formal or informal, part of the school curriculum or extra-curricular, such as before/after school clubs or coached lunchtime sessions.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Health and Physical Education is a key learning area. It is an important dimension in a student’s broad scope of development during their years of schooling.
The Health and Physical Education Years 1 to 6 Curriculum states that this key learning area “offers students opportunities to develop knowledge, processes, skills and attitudes necessary for making informed decisions about:

promoting the health of individuals and communities;
developing concepts and skills for physical activity; and
enhancing personal development.”

At St Winifred’s we conduct health and physical education for each class for 2 days per week.
Activities include: Gymnastics, Dance, Games, Swimming, Outdoor and Adventurous Activities, Athletics.

INTRA SCHOOL SPORT
Intra-school activities may be house-based lunchtime or sport afternoon competitions. It is encouraged that staff and community members be involved in these events.
At St Winifred’s we offer:
Football, Gymnastics, Basketball, Dance, Athletics, Cricket, Multisport and Tennis, over the three terms.

REPRESENTATIVE SPORT
Students have the opportunity to gain representative selection in a number of sports throughout the year, through our links to Bonus Pastor, Dalmain and Glendale.

SCHOOL SPORTS DAY
School Sport days at St. Winifred consist of students participating and competing in various sporting activities in mixed aged teams.
The students are encouraged to have fun and develop their physical skills, perseverance, determination and resilience.

ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
At St Winifred’s teachers are encouraged to incorporate physical activity across their teaching and learning program.
Examples include:

Using timers and stopwatches to time Athletics
using throwing and catching to investigate measurement and evaluation;
throwing a ball and measuring the distance of each throw and why a ball curves in the air;
using the mathematical process to measure out running tracks or jump distances.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND LEADERSHIP
By participating in physical activity either through physical education, sport, or general play in the playground, students learn many leadership qualities (e.g. team work, cooperation and understanding). These opportunities for students and are offered during:
lunchtimes, school sport days, clubs, and tournaments.

ASSESSMENT

The PE Curriculum Framework will serve as a record of the broad topics covered in each activity area for subsequent teachers to refer to. In line with overall school policy, teachers should make notes of significant achievement. During swimming lessons distances achieved and National Swim Awards passed should be noted and celebrated within assemblies. However end-of-year reports should remain firmly focussed on qualitative judgements based on observation of achievement and progress made.

PE Kit at St. Winifred’s

Indoor lessons:
Students are expected to wear short sleeve white t-shirts, and dark plain coloured shorts, with either bare feet or plimsolls.

Outdoor lessons:
Students may wear long sleeve tops and dark coloured tracksuit bottoms, with socks and trainers.

Non-participation in PE lessons

Whereas students are always expected to take part in PE lessons, there may be special circumstances when they cannot. They will be expected in such rare circumstances to observe the PE lesson and complete the form shown on the next page.Physical Activity Policy

YEARs 2, 3,4, 5 and 6 NON-PARTICIPANTS IN PE – OBSERVATION SHEET

Name: _______________________________

During the PE lesson, answer the following questions by observing the activities that occur. You will need to use the back of this sheet to record some of your answers.

1. The reason I am not taking part in PE today is:

2. Where did PE take place today? (indoors/outdoors).

3. Write down the warm-up activity/activities done during the beginning of the lesson.

4. In today’s lesson we are learning about: (write down name of activity or skill being taught).

5. Does the activity seem easy to learn/play? On the back of this sheet, explain in your own words why or why not?

6. Pick one person to watch throughout the lesson. Do not identify them by name. On the back of this sheet, describe some of the things they are doing best.

7. What do you think they need to improve most? How might they achieve this?

8 Write a short paragraph about what you know about today’s activities. Tell about strategies and/or skills involved in the activity, if you have played it before, your like/dislike for the activity.