'Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of a dynamic and creative intellectual activity.' 

John F Kennedy 

Why we teach your child Physical Education:

P.E is an important part of a child’s education as it promotes physical activity, health, and wellbeing. We encourage children to be active for sustained periods of time, developing pupils’ competence to excel in a broad range of sports. This can also improve academic performance, cognitive function, and social skills.

Engaging in competitive sports and activities can help pupils to develop important life skills, such as teamwork, communication, and leadership, as well as promoting a sense of achievement and motivation. However, it is important that competition is balanced and inclusive, and that all pupils can participate at their own level.

We aim to support pupils to lead healthy, active lives, both now and in the future. This can have a positive impact on their overall wellbeing and quality of life.

What our curriculum looks like:

Some units of learning are led by specialist sports coaches from Chorley Sports Partnership and others by our teachers. We use the Chorley Sports Partnership curriculum materials as the starting point for all PE teaching. This allows us to deliver high quality lessons to all pupils. The sequencing of the curriculum has been carefully mapped so that pupils build upon prior learning, make connections, and confidently develop their knowledge, skills, and techniques for a range of different physical activities and sports. The curriculum is a progressive model so that by learning and practising the content, pupils will make good progress as they move through the school.

Swimming and water safety (Year 4 and 5)

All schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. At St. Joseph's, pupils in Year 4 receive swimming lessons once per week during the Spring and Summer term, every other year.

Pupils are taught to:

• swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
• use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
• perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.