At Raynham, we want our children to be fit, healthy individuals who enjoy participating in sports and who recognise the value of keeping fit for life.

We believe that physical education, experienced in a safe and supportive environment, contributes to a pupil’s physical development and well-being.

We teach to the National Curriculum for PE, which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities

• Are physically active for sustained periods of time

• Engage in competitive sports and activities

• Lead healthy, active lives

To enable our children to develop the necessary motor skills for full engagement in PE and sports, the PE curriculum must provide well-designed opportunities for children to learn and practise these skills progressively throughout school, starting in the Early Years. Each year group’s curriculum builds on the learning from previous years, recognising that, without specific skills in place and regular practice, new skills cannot be learned and embedded effectively. By the end of year 6, we want our children to have developed skills, high levels of fitness and genuine enjoyment of sports and exercise that will stand them in good stead for secondary school and beyond.

We had been following the Enfield syllabus for PE, but this school year, we have moved to the PE Planning syllabus for the majority of our curriculum, with some specific topics still provided by Enfield, which affords us the opportunity to choose the most appropriate material from a broad range of sources. 

A key part of our PE curriculum is building cultural capital for our children. Opportunities to play competitively as part of a team are given through regular sessions, on sports days and in competitions against other schools within the Local Authority. In addition, we allow our children to visit a range of sports grounds and bring sporting professionals into Raynham as part of our broader PE curriculum.

Keeping physically active for sustained periods is key to improving fitness levels and reducing obesity, a significant problem for children in Edmonton compared to national figures. We aim to provide many opportunities for children to be as active as possible throughout the school day and not just in the 2 hours of taught PE each week. For example, we promote active lunchtimes so that all children can be engaged in some activity. We are eager to embrace programmes run by local community groups to support our pupils to improve their fitness, such as ‘Wake up and Shake up’.