Physical Education
Physical Education (PE) is very high on the agenda for all our pupils at Fircroft Primary. We hold a 'School Games' Silver Mark and hope to achieve a Gold Mark at the end of 2020.
From EYFS to Year 6 and beyond, we believe that we should inspire our children to lead a physically active life and become healthy, active learners. We aim to provide each pupil with a positive Physical Education learning experience within an environment where each individual feels successful.
We take full advantage of our London location and our pupils have the opportunity to play sport and take part in competitive games at amazing sports facilities on our doorstep. We are very fortunate to have 2 indoor sports halls, 2 large playgrounds and an outdoor astro-turf which makes it possible to provide all children with at least two hours of PE a week, as well as other sporting opportunities (in after school clubs, lunchtime activities or through competitions) for those that want to pursue particular sports or events.
We adopt a fundamental movement skills approach to teaching PE, ensuring that our children develop the necessary skills to become lifelong participators in physical activity. Younger years start by being introduced to basic fundamental movement skills in a variety of ways, such as jumping and balancing, while older years build towards developing more sport specific-skills, such as cricket, bowling and dribbling to beat an opponent. This allows our children to successfully participate in a wide variety of games, sports and physical activities.
Our swimming provision at Fircroft is excellent and our pupils receive a generous amount of high quality swimming tuition in Year 4 and in Year 5 to ensure they are taught the vital life skills of becoming proficient swimmers with an understanding of water safety. In addition, pupils who are at risk of not meeting national curriculum expectations in swimming are provided with 'top-up' swimming lessons in Year 6.
Our teachers make formative assessments throughout the year. Every child’s progress is measured against the National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2, which is fed back to parents at the end of the year.
School Games Values
Competition is important at Fircroft. We believe that that healthy competition is a rich learning experience which allows our pupils to be not only the best sportsperson they can be but the best person they can be as well.
We embrace the six values which form the 'Spirit of the Games': Passion, Self-belief, Respect, Honesty, Teamwork, Determination. Through embracing these values in PE and sport, we create the ideal context in which to explore personal values and conduct. Pupils learn how to handle victory and defeat with grace, how to believe in their abilities and achieve their personal best, how to respect their opponents and work with their team-mates to achieve success. PE at Fircroft enables children to develop teamwork, leadership and resilience in an alternative setting to the classroom.
