IMG_5247

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

We believe that being active and healthy is an essential part of what we offer and promote at Rownhams. This academic year we have had to make some changes to how we organise our PE but it is our hope that this is also an opportunity to further raise the profile and quality of what we do - and get even more children active, healthy - and competitive!

This year we have had a re-focus on how we approach the teaching of PE in school. In previous years we have had the benefit of working with Personal Best Education (PBed) – who offer a great service – but we have been forced to make a change due to a narrowing school budget.  However, we aim to make the most of the challenge that this has presented. 

This year, we have reorganised how we manage our teacher’s Preparation Planning and Assessment time (PPA) and made use of the expertise of  Mr Brown and Mrs Brown (not related!) to cover our teachers and prioritise high quality PE as part of this time. ({Please note here that Mr and Mrs Brown are not just PE teachers and do enjoy teaching a wide range of subjects when they teach your children!)

We have also invested in new planning materials to support our teachers in delivering PE and will continue to support our teachers’ development so that the quality of our PE lessons remains high across the week. 

Miss Ramsdale has taken our PE from strength to strength in the last three years and as a result we have been awarded the Gold Mark three  years running – and hopefully a fourth. Miss Ramsdale has also been responsible for mapping out how we will spend our Sports Premium, which we have been receiving from the government each year.

This year, though, this responsibility has been passed to Mr Brown and he is keen to continue to develop our curriculum, including extra-curricular activities and our participation in competitions (when we are allowed to). We have always strived to be inclusive so that all children can take part and also offer a wide range of competitive sport. This balance can be difficult to find but we believe both are equally important. We want all children to have the opportunities and feel confident about having a go and we believe that learning to win and lose can both provide valuable experience and develop life-skills.

This is an exciting time for PE in our school as we take a new tact and try to raise the quality and the profile further still.  We will continue to work with PBed for training support, special events and after-school clubs. We would like to thank the PBed  team for the excellent provision they have given to our school in recent years. 

We really believe in encouraging healthy bodies and healthy minds – and plan to make these high priority, especially in these challenging times. To that end, Miss Ramsdale will take on an overarching responsibility for this area as part of her acting role on our senior leadership team.

You can read all about the government’s Sports Premium here and find our Sports Premium plan from the last academic year here.

Share this post