To view our P.E. framework click here
Intent
At The Mendip School, our aim is to make sure all students can enjoy and be engaged in physical activity and sport. Our PE Curriculum is based around the Real PE Framework and the National Curriculum but also includes additional areas such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, ASDAN Sport and Fitness and Rebound Therapy.
Physical Education is an integral part of school life and the future well-being of our student’s. It is therefore our intent to provide an inclusive, broad and balanced PE curriculum that ensures ALL students will benefit, whether through enhancing existing skills, learning new skills or being introduced to outside clubs, teams or organisations. We will provide opportunities for all students to become physically confident in a way that will support their health and fitness, now and for life.
Through Physical Education, we aim to develop the students’ knowledge, skills and understanding, so that they are able to perform a range of physical activities. We aim to ensure that the student’s experience of Physical Education and Sport is positive and motivating and that the students have fun whilst they are learning life long skills.
Implementation
The PE curriculum at The Mendip School is taught through the Real PE Framework and the National Curriculum. This is used to aid teaching staff in their subject knowledge. Teachers are able to adjust and change lessons to suit the needs of their classes but the scheme provides a strong basis of what is expected. Real PE gives EVERY student the physical literacy, emotional and thinking skills to achieve in PE, Sport and life. Each class has access to at least one session a week. These are either taught by a PE Specialist, class teachers or specialist coaches.
All classes are given ample opportunities to develop their fundamental movement skills and extend their agility, balance and coordination. They engage in competitive, non-competitive and cooperative physical activities through games, running, jumping, throwing and catching, dance and gymnastics.
We offer swimming sessions for all Key Stages, throughout the year. These lessons will teach our students water confidence and safety and develop stroke technique. Swimming is not only a great form of exercise it will also benefit the mind and improve mood and self-esteem.
Students in KS1 and KS2 have the opportunity to attend Horse Riding sessions and take part in Sensory Sport.
In KS3 and KS4 we offer students the opportunity to take part in two widely recognised qualifications. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which enables students to broaden their horizons and develop skills and attributes such as self-management, team working, confidence and a positive attitude to work. The ASDAN qualification in Sport and Fitness, empowers students through personalised learning and choice. Students develop core skills in teamwork, communication, problem solving, research and self-management.
In addition to PE in curriculum time, we also strive to provide opportunities for students to access extracurricular physical activity, either at break, lunch or after school. We offer a wide range of sporting and active clubs such as: multi sports, gymnastics, table cricket and football. We also encourage active playtimes through the use of inspired playground and the active mile.
Assessments are based on continuous teacher assessments and are recorded on Evidence for Learning. Students are also given time to reflect on their learning and take part in self, peer and group feedback within the lesson, if appropriate. This directly effects challenging and appropriate planning from teachers and coaches.
Impact
The aim is for our extensive PE curriculum to impact greatly on our student’s ability to acquire the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to make appropriate choices about their physical and mental health. The curriculum will develop positive self-awareness in students as they become physically competent. They will also demonstrate a healthy attitude to competition, showing respect for individuals, teams, officials and coaches.
Festivals and competitions ensure all of our students have the opportunity to take part in a range of sports both in and outside of school whether that be at a competitive or non-competitive level.
Please take your time to see examples of our PE curriculum in action in the photos and videos on this page. Here you will see how PE is embedded into many areas of our school life and how the students are actively encouraged to see physical activity as a positive part of their daily lives and wellbeing.
All schools are required to publish how they spend their Sports Premium Funding in the form of an impact statement. The Impact Statement for The Mendip School can be found here
Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a challenging programme of activities designed for young people aged between 14 – 25. It is designed to be enjoyable and rewarding while also promoting personal development, self-reliance and leadership skills. It consists of a balanced, non-competitive programme of voluntary activities, which encourages personal discovery and growth, self-reliance, perseverance, responsibility to themselves and service to the community. In order to gain an award a student must show improvement through persistence and achievement.
The Award operates at three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold); the higher the level, the more time and effort is required. Completion of the Award is voluntary, as students commit some of their own time to undertake activities which they have selected.
At The Mendip School, students are offered the chance to participate in the Bronze Level once in KS4 classes and can go on to complete their Silver either later on in KS4 or in Post 16. At present, we do not offer the Gold Award but this is something we would like to explore in the future. Students who do complete the Gold Award, are invited to a ceremony at St James’ Palace, London, where their certificate is presented to them by a member of the Royal Family.
Each level of the award has four sections to complete, Volunteering, Skill, Physical and Expedition. There is an additional section for Gold participants to complete, which is a five day residential.
Expeditions are undertaken under the supervision of appropriately qualified professionals, in a variety of areas.
At The Mendip School, we offer the Award as part of the options block once in KS4. Although, we can facilitate some of the Award in curriculum time, students are expected to complete sections outside of school as well. Therefore, we would need family to be supporting and facilitating students throughout the course of the D of E Award. Each student will have a member of staff as their D of E Leader, and this would be the main point of contact for both student and parent/carers.
BRONZE DofE AWARD
Timescale:
The Physical, Skills and Volunteering sections must be undertaken once a week, with two of these sections to be completed over three months, and one over six months. Although students will be assisted in selecting appropriate activities and monitored throughout the delivery of the Award, completion of these sections will primarily be the responsibility of the students taking part.
SILVER DofE AWARD
Timescale:
The Physical, Skills and Volunteering sections must be undertaken once a week, with two of these sections to be completed over 6 months, and one over 3 months.
If your child did not complete their Bronze Award, they are required to do an extra 6 months either volunteering, or whichever of the Physical or Skills section they did for 6 months. To summarise, if they have not done Bronze, they will do one section for 12 months, another for 6 months and the remaining one for 3 months.
In order to evidence what you do towards completing the award you will need to download the edofe app. It is available for free from the App Store and Google Play.
FURTHER INFORMATION AND USEFUL LINKS
You can find useful information on the DofE website or on the edofe website, or here: https://www.youtube.com/user/theDofEUK.