We pride ourselves, at Hexham First School, in providing opportunities and motivation for all children to lead a healthy and active life. We have always provided active and enjoyable physical education for all our pupils, however the additional funding has enabled us to enhance our offer to ensure that all children benefit from outstanding P.E. teaching. At Hexham First we hope that our children will gain in confidence and begin to recognise the benefits of being healthy and active.

 

 

PE and Sport Premium funding is provided jointly by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport and is allocated to the school head teacher. The funding is restricted and therefore can only be spent on the provision of PE and sport in schools. The purpose of the funding is to ensure schools spend the additional funding on improving their provision of PE and sport, but they have the freedom to choose how they do this. The expectation is that pupils leaving school will be physically literate and will hold knowledge, skills and motivation to equip them for a healthy lifestyle and a natural love for sport.

 

‘Schools must spend the additional funding on improving their provision of P.E. and sport, but they will have the freedom to choose how they do this’ (DFE June 2013)

 

For the academic year 2025 - 26, Hexham First School will receive £16,865. This is allocated in two slots in the financial year.

 

 

 

At Hexham First School we provide a high-quality physical education programme to develop the competence to succeed in gymnastics, dance, games, athletics, football, tennis and swimming. 

One PE lesson a week is delivered by our highly skilled PE teacher, John Paul, every Wednesday and class teachers deliver another PE lesson.

 

Staff observe and have opportunities to team teach with John Paul. This gives teachers high quality CPD and informs their future practise. Activities are mapped out for each year group to ensure a breadth of opportunity is available to each child.

 

 

 

In Early years and Key Stage 1, lessons focus on firstly developing fundamental movement skills; ensuring children are increasingly confident and competent to extend their agility, balance and coordination. We also actively promote competitive and co-operative physical activities. As each child progresses through school, they are encouraged to develop these skills and use them in different ways.

 

In autumn term, along side our PE lessons we offer Hoopstarz across the school, from Nursery to Year 4. We have been lucky enough to work with Tracy Davison our experienced Hoola Hoop and dance teacher for many years now. We see real benefits to the children and teachers just love it! 

 

In KS2, classes focus on developing their skills in multi skills, team games, athletics, football, gymnastics, swimming and tennis. We have seen the benefits of the early input of fundamental skills in Early years and reception, as the children move through school with improved agility and coordination when applying their skills in games.

 

Years 3 and 4 will enjoy bulding their confidence in swimming all year. They really missed their swimming lessons during lock down and can't wait to get back into the pool! 

 

 

 We work closely with local sport specialists. We have developed close links with Hoopstarz. 

 

 

We offer an exciting residential trip to Robinwood which is located in the Cumbrian hills near Alston. Our children know that this is a very special opportunity where they stay away for two nights and three days. They take part in fantastic team building, orienteering and confidence boosting activities, all served in the beautiful Cumbrian hills. They grow and develop as individuals and find talents within themselves they never knew they had. In the word of our previous Robin-wooders “It was epic! I loved the giant swing and faced my fears.”

 

 

 

 

At Hexham First School we currently offer swimming lessons for all children in Year 3 and 4 all year. Children are taught by qualified swimming instructors who follow guidelines set out by the Local Authority.

 

 

There are 5 key indicators that schools should expect to see improvement:

• the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – the Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school

• the profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement

• increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport

• broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils

• increased participation in competitive sport

 

 

We have worked hard to increase the range of sports and physical education offered at Hexham First School. We offer: yoga, cricket, tennis, games, dance, gymnastics, athletics, swimming, tag rugby, football and little movers (EYFS). 

 

Children are enthusiastic and keen to participate in PE and are aware of the health benefits they gain from being active. The children understand the reasons behind making healthy choices and how they benefit from this. 

 

Active time
Every child is active during morning and afternoon break. This has improved drastically by introducing playtime equipment which engages the less active/enthusiastic children. They love to skip, hop, jump, hula, catch, throw and run. We have noticed an improvement in behaviour across the school as children are more engaged in their play. 

 

Staff are fully committed to enhancing their expertise and skill set. They observe PE lessons and have opportunity to team teach with our PE Specialist. We use a staff audit to acknowledge staff areas for development. 

 

We work together to identify areas for development and run CPD.

 

PE Spending for Covid 19

 

We have invested our carried over amount from the PE funding from last year, in some lovely new coloured coded PE equipment for break times. We have bought some lovely equipment to help keep our children active and motivated during break times.This helps keep our young people happy and active. Children are thoroughly enjoying the new equipment are taking great care of it. We even have some hula hoop challenges!

 

 

We encourage our children during afternoon break to complete as many laps as possible to achieve their daily mile. This is all part of their additional 30 minutes of daily activity. children count their laps as they go and feel very proud when they achieve their mile!