Physical Education (PE)
PE at St Gerard's
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School Games Mark
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Gold for the School Games Mark 2025/26! Mr Firkins, our Sports Coach. has worked tremendously hard to engage more and more of our children in competitive sports and increase our participation within them over the last couple of years. As a result, we have been able to engage a range of children in sports and have had great success at competitions.
A huge well done to all those involved in helping to achieve this award for our school!
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Curriculum
Our PE curriculum is designed to give pupils the opportunity to access a high quality education which inspires them to succeed and excel in both competitive sports and other physically demanding activities. We provide children with opportunities to become physically confidence and manage themselves successfully in a variety of situations. Children are provided with a balance of individual, team, cooperative and competitive activities that suit their needs and abilities. Within PE, we also support pupils to build character and develop a sense of key values including fair play, respect and sportsmanship. We also develop our children’s understanding of the importance of leading healthy, active lives, as we want them to understand the benefits that active lives has on our mental health and wellbeing. We strive for our children to be the best that they can be.
Children are provided with 1 hour (EYFS) or 2 hours (KS1/KS2) of timetabled lessons each week, allowing pupils to develop themselves as a whole person, build a sound knowledge of basic skills, develop the values of PE in our school and build a positive relationship with physical health. PE at St Gerard’s is taught by our Sports Coach, Mr Firkins. We use the Get Set 4 PE scheme as a basis to deliver high quality PE lessons to our children, however this is always developed and enhanced by Mr Firkins, who uses his specialist knowledge to ensure that the curriculum is best suited to the needs of our children. We make links to the School Games Values where appropriate in order to enhance children’s understanding of the values associated to physical health and sport. We have long term plans to support the planning of sessions and to view the overall journey for children in PE throughout the year. Children are also provided with opportunities to work with outside agencies to develop their sporting abilities and engagement within the subject. We believe that it is important for our children to be provided with opportunities by specialist providers to ensure they receive the best possible PE education at St Gerard’s.
Extra-Curricular
We offer extra-curricular sports clubs to ensure that children of all dispositions are given the opportunity to enjoy clubs and initiatives outside of school hours. This helps pupils to develop themselves as a whole person, build a sound knowledge of basic skills and build a positive relationship with their physical health. Clubs are run weekly by Mr Firkins. These can vary depending on the interests of our children but have previously included Dodgeball, Football, Cricket and Netball.
Competition
Children are provided with opportunities to participate in competitive sports both in and out of school. This may be through intra-school opportunities such as between peers within PE lessons, or in a class vs class setting. Children are also given opportunities to try out for inter-school competitions, in order for them to represent our school off site. We access the School Games calendar for Halton and attend as many competitions as possible. These are promoted to a range of children across the school, depending on the level of competition, in order for children of all abilities to be able to participate. Increasing children’s exposure to competition, whether it be intra or inter school, allows them to better develop their relationship with physical health and its ability to build traits such as cooperation, passion, pride, competitiveness, self-belief, respect, honest, determination and teamwork.
Physical Activity Throughout the Day
We want our children to be physically active for at least 15 minutes each day. We encourage children to travel to school in an active way with their families, if they are able to do so. We also encourage active play at break times and lunch times, and often participate in the Daily Mile. We have Moki watches that encourage physical activity and competition between classes and we will soon be starting our OPAL journey to enhance our playtimes.
PE Ambassadors 2026/27 - TBC
Each year, we develop a fantastic groups of PE Ambassadors. They are chosen to represent their class due to their fantastic hard work, determination and commitment to PE and sports. They will meet regularly with Miss Sanders or Mr Firkins to discuss PE and sports across the school and see what they can do to make a positive difference!