The aim of our PE curriculum is to develop confident, healthy, active individuals who have a lifelong love of physical activity. This will be achieved through inspiring and challenging PE lessons and active experiences, where children value themselves and strive for individual excellence.
From the start of their time at Tidcombe, physical activity is a key part of our children’s learning. In the Early Years we have a focus on physical literacy, developing good control and coordination, and developing balancing and gross motor skills on our scooters, trikes and balance bikes. In Key Stage 1, children build on these skills in gymnastics, dance and a range of outdoor games. Dance and gymnastics is continued in KS2, and for outdoor games they apply their skills with a focus on specific sports. These change every half term and range from more traditional games such as rugby and cricket, to benchball and ultimate frizbee.
Throughout the school, children learn about the importance of being fit and active to having good health. For further information on PE at Tidcombe, see the PE and Sports Premium Grant Report, under “Key Information” on our website.
At Tidcombe we have an inclusive approach to learning, and therefore an expectation that all children access all parts of the school’s statutory curriculum.
Our practice in PE is to include every child in every lesson- for this reason we have a “no-notes” approach, common in many schools and approved by our PE advisor. If your child is unwell, then a short note describing their illness or injury will help the teacher to make reasonable adjustments to modify the lesson to ensure that the child can still take part, for example he/she might be asked to take part in isolated skills practice, or coach/umpire a game. We do not believe any child should be exempt from PE, such as sitting out to watch or going to another class during PE lessons.
If a child has a chronic illness or disability, then we would hope to work with parents and healthcare professionals to modify the curriculum (rather than just one or two lessons) to ensure that he/she can participate as fully as possible.
We hope that this explains our approach to ensuring that all children participate fully in all aspects of the national curriculum.
Here are just a few photos from sporting activities that we take part in here at Tidcombe. Children can also attend a weekly dance club, a running club, country dancing club and a lunchtime mulit-skills club. We have been lucky enough to take part in rugby tournaments at Blundell’s School and also join in with various workshops led by Tiverton High School. Our PE co-ordinator is Miss Eira Kedward.