PE at Hartford 2026
OUR INTENT - What We Teach In PE
Physical Education and Sport is highly valued at Hartford Primary School. Our whole-school values and those from the My Personal Best document (written by the Youth Sport Trust) are a fundamental part of the PE curriculum and are also used across the school to promote responsibility, respect, aspiration and pride in our children.
Through the teaching of Physical Education at Hartford Primary School, we aim to develop the children’s processes of collaboration, coordination, spatial awareness, physical skill, fitness and wellbeing. We intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education and in developing life skills. The ultimate goal of PE is to enable all children, regardless of ability, to make informed choices about physical activity throughout their lives and to promote physical positive attitudes towards hygiene, fitness and health.
By the end of Key stage 1 all children will have mastered basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching as well as developing balance, agility and co-ordination, and begin to apply these in a range of activities. All children have the opportunity to participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending and perform dances using simple movement patterns.
By the end of Key Stage 2 children will have continued to apply and develop a broader range of skills, learning how to use them in different ways and to link them to make actions and sequences of movement. They will communicate, collaborate and compete with each other. They will develop an understanding of how to improve in different physical activities and sports and learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.
Pupils are taught to:
use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination.
play competitive games and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending.
develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance through athletics and gymnastics.
perform dances using a range of movement patterns.
take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team.
compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.
OUR IMPLEMENTATION - How We Teach PE
At Hartford, children receive two hours of high-quality PE each week. One of these is taught by the class teacher and the other is taught by Mr. Cairns, a PE specialist and the PE coordinator. Lessons are planned using The PE Hub website which ensures a balance of activities for children as they move through school and progression in these activities.
Membership of the Vale Royal School Sport Partnership (VRSSP) ensures that there are regular opportunities for staff training. External training is provided for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 staff. Mr. Cairns and staff from the local high school PE department regularly teach alongside Hartford staff to develop their PE pedagogy.
Children at Hartford go swimming at the local pool as part of the Y4 PE curriculum. Children in Y5 and 6 are given top-up swimming to ensure they leave primary school with the essential skill of swimming confidently.
Well-resourced and well-maintained equipment ensures every child has access to what they need to develop skills in each lesson. New sports such as lacrosse and tri-golf are added each year to ensure the children experience a range of activities in the PE curriculum as well as during after-school clubs.
Clubs are run by teachers and external providers and sports such as fencing, yoga, judo and football ensure children have a range of choices. PE and Sport Premium funding ensures all children have access to these clubs.
Competition is an important part of PE and sport at Hartford. We offer a range of activities and children of all abilities are given the opportunity to compete. Intra-school competitions allow children from different classes and age-groups to compete at lunch times. All children also have the chance to compete in inter-school competitions at the local high school against other schools. Our most able children regularly compete in regional and county finals against schools across the region. They have extra coaching to prepare them for these competitions.
Children in Y5 are taught to be Phys Kids leaders as part of their PE lessons. This ensures that when they enter Y6 they are ready to run lunch time activities for our younger children. This develops leadership skills in our older pupils and aids the fitness and skill development of our younger pupils in a fun environment.
Y6 children can apply to be part of the School Sport Organising Crew (SSOC). They work alongside Mr. Cairns to gather pupil voice, run intra-school competitions, deliver assemblies discussing, for example, healthy eating, fitness and up-coming sporting events and generally promote PE and sport around school.
Hartford Primary School is a very active place. We promote active travel to and from school by providing a bike shed, scooter pods and taking part in The Big Pedal. Our lessons are active as teachers regularly use 5-a-day fitness, GoNoodle, Cosmic Kids Yoga and Super Movers as a fitness break. Children also take part in the Golden Mile every week. Our play times are very active and resource are provided to ensure children always have access to equipment to aid thid. This all helps towards our goal of children being active for at least 30 minutes during every school day.
We teach PE lessons so that children:
Have fun and experience success in sport.
Have the opportunity to participate in P.E at their own level of development.
Secure and build on a range of skills.
Develop good sporting attitudes.
Understand basic rules.
Experience positive competition.
Have a foundation for lifelong physical activity, leaving primary school as physically active. We continually review and evaluate the quality of the PE curriculum, ensuring it is implemented well as part of our annual schedule. This supports leaders in setting up new subject leader action plans, linking to school improvement priorities.
OUR IMPACT - What Our Children Learn In PE
Hartford applies for the School Games Mark each year and has been awarded the highest level, Platinum, since 2016/17. This validates the impact of everything we are trying to achieve through PE and sport:
There is a positive attitude towards PE and sport across the whole school.
Values from the PE curriculum are used to impact the behaviour of pupils.
Lessons show progress in skill development within and across year groups.
Children of all abilities are challenged and have the opportunity to achieve their goals.
Pupil voice highlights a positive attitude to learning in this subject area
The SSOC lead aspects of sporting activities across the whole school.
Staff feedback shows that they have a positive attitude and increased confidence in the delivery of the PE curriculum after highly effective CPD.
The majority of children are active for at least 30 minutes during each school day.
The Curriculum Lead for PE is Tom Cairns.