Physical Education (PE)

A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

At Launton Primary School, we believe it is paramount to provide opportunity for children to become physically confident to help promote their health, fitness and wellbeing. We intend to deliver high quality PE teaching that will inspire children to succeed in their physical development as well as providing them with skills for life. These skills include being taught how to swim and water safety techniques. We intend to do this in a safe and supportive environment that will provide all children with equal opportunities to thrive in physical education and school sports. Our curriculum will combine the physical skills needed to play sport as well as learning how to collaborate and cooperate with one another as these skills are vital in all areas of life inside and outside of school. We believe that quality PE lessons will set the children up for a healthy and wholesome life.

• All key stage 2 children will participate in swimming lessons during Key Stage 2
• We will provide inclusive and challenging learning through a range of sporting activities including; fitness activities, invasion games, strike and field games, net and ball games, outdoor adventure, yoga, dance and gymnastics
• Over the year, all children will have the opportunity to participate in both intra and inter school competitions/festivals
• We have implemented ‘Launton laps’, which is 15 minutes of daily running, for all Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 year groups to improve stamina and pace
• The long -term plan sets out the PE units which are to be taught throughout the year and ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are fully met
• Each week, children participate in two PE lessons and are encouraged to join one of our extra-curricular activities; this includes lunch time games provided by the Youth Activators
• A coach from Ignite sport teaches PE lessons for Years 3 and 6 and an after-school club to develop gymnastic and dance skills
• Each week children participate in an active maths lesson
• We have a program for the Year 5 children to become Sports Leaders for the school, developing into sporting role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time clubs, our annual sports day and other sporting activities

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives7. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Physical Development

Gross Motor Skills

Children at the expected level of development will:

Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and
others;
Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.

Fine Motor Skills

Children at the expected level of development will:

Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip
in almost all cases;
Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

Cross Country

On Wednesday 27th September, Key Stage 2 attended the Cross Country event at The Bicester School. The children had a fantastic time and showed great stamina and determination. As a school we had 10 children who finished in the top 20 which is a fantastic achievement as there were upwards of 80 children per race!

We would like to give a special mention to Alife Pickering who finished 2nd in his race, followed by Elliot Hill who finished in 3rd place. Well done!

Youth Activators 

During our first term, the Youth Activators have been visiting year 6 to work with them on the importance of mental health. They focus on different aspects of understanding how being active can have a positive impact on our mental health. They finish off their sessions with active games outside. 

9.11.23 - Girls Football Tournament 

The year 5 and 6 girls were invited to The Cooper School to take part in a football tournament. The girls worked really hard, showed excellent teamwork and never gave up! They showed great sportsmanship and were really supportive of each other. Well done Girls. 

16.11.23 - Lacrosse lesson

Mr Brown from The Cooper School came to introduce the Year 6 students to Lacrosse. They had a wonderful time, learnt new skills and a new sport!

“In Year 6 this morning we played lacrosse. In lacrosse you try to
catch the ball in your net. The net is on the end of a metal pole.
We learnt a ‘shovel pass’ and an ‘over the shoulder pass’. Our
coach was Mr Brown from The Cooper School. It was really good
fun and we learnt a lot. We played a match. It also helped with our
throwing and catching at different angles.” Report by Poppy, Kiera
and Jasmine.

17.11.23 - Orienteering for Children in Need

To help raise money for Children in Need, the whole school took part in a Pudsey Bear orienteering day. Each class went out to the field to find all 10 of the different Pudsey Bears hidden around the grounds. The children had such a fun time trying to locate them and were very excited once they had found all 10 and received their completion stickers!

23.11.23 - Year 2 Multiskills 

30.11.23 - Girls Active Festival 

During terms 1,2 and 3,  the children have been having lots of fun during a Thursday lunchtime with the Youth Activators. They have been learning lots of different active games that they have continued to play at break time and during PE warm ups. The children have really enjoyed learning new skills through sport. They have also been working with some classes doing PE.

During Term 5 they have been doing Early Years Sessions with Reception.

We kicked off sports week with orienteering. Each class were able to go around the school field and find the 10 famous sportsmen and women. Each person represented a different sport and provided information on their greatest achievements. The children not only enjoyed being able to move around the field to find the posters but also enjoyed finding out about sports stars they may not be familiar with. 

On Wednesday we transformed the school field into an obstacle course. We used the trim trail as a starting point and added extra obstacles to make it into a circular course. Each new obstacle had a different sign to explain what they had to do; go backwards, bunny hops etc. They children all completed the course and some even timed themselves to see if they could go around quicker the second time.

On Thursday the school was very busy with a lot of different sporting activities. The year 5 and 6s went swimming in the afternoon where they practised their different strokes and learnt some water safety. Some of the other year groups had PE as usual and others opted to participate in some team building activities. 

Lastly, on Friday we ended National School Sports Week with our school Sports Day. KS1 started off in the morning, followed by KS2 in the afternoon. All the children participated and had a fantastic day. We saw so many acts of good sportsmanship and everyone tried their absolute best. Throughout the day, the children were gaining points for their new house team. This year, with 125 points, The Forest of Dean were the winning house! 

A special thank you to our year 5 and 6 sports leaders and Ignite Sport who were fantastic helpers all day. 

Today our netball team took part in our first friendly match against Langford Village School. Both teams were incredibly fast and tactical which made for a very exciting game. The players showed great determination and stamina (especially in the heat) and Launton came away with their first every win! Well done to all involved.

Year 3 and Year 4 went to Cooper School to take part in a Quad Kids competition. There were four events: a 50m sprint, a 400m long run, a standing long jump and, last of all, a howler throw. Everybody tried their best and showed courage in every single event.

Before the event, we had some training with a sports coach, learning how to throw a howler.  Of course, we have been running ‘Launton Laps’ all year, which really helped us during the 400m.

When we got the results, we discovered that one of the Launton teams had been placed 3^rd overall. We all received a certificate for participation and some of us were also awarded certificates for determination.

The Y5 and Y6 football team were tournament champions in Grendon Underwood with 4 teams from local village schools. The teams played each other and were awarded points according to the results. The 2 teams with the most points qualified for the main final for 1^st and 2^nd place and the 2 other teams played a separate final for 3^rd and 4^th place.

The Launton Team lost their first game 1-0, won their 2^nd game 6-0 and 3^rd game they drew 0-0 which put them into the final; the whole team played brilliantly. The final was against the team that they had lost to in the first game of the tournament. The final finished 0-0 so penalties were taken to decide the winner: the winner would be the first team to score 3 penalties. The Launton Team scored all 3 penalties (Clarence, Elliot and Austin) with Jake making some fantastic saves in goal to prevent the other team scoring. A triumph of resilience and teamwork.

Some of the children took part in the mini marathon. They showed great determination and stamina and combined completed a massive 1,450 laps which equates to 207 miles! That is the same as running 7.9 marathons!

Individual class totals

During the week of 20^th March, the children took part in The Big Walk and Wheel. This is a national event that encourages children to walk, scooter, cycle or wheelchair etc to school as a way of keeping active and promoting a healthy lifestyle. We had a good level of participation and some children that are unable to come to school in an active way used their breaktime to walk around the field as a way of taking part.

Today the children that qualified at The Bicester School cross country event went to Sibford school to compete. They all showed excellent determination and stamina and we are very proud of them all.

The year 3/4 boys team finished in 4th place overall and the year 5/6 boys team finished in 2nd place! Well done everyone. 

To celebrate children in need each class took part in a Pudsey orienteering event. The children had to explore the school grounds to find the 10 different Pudsey bears. They then used the orienteering stamps to stamp their card to show which Pudsey bears they had found. 

The children really enjoyed it and showed great enthusiasm throughout. 

Today, children from KS2 competed in a cross country competition at The Bicester School. They all showed excellent determination and stamina and were fantastic ambassadors for our school. 

All the children finished their races and as a school we placed 3rd overall! 

A special mention to the year 3/4 boys team and the year 5/6 boys team who finished in 3rd place overall. 

Well done all.

We held our annual School Cross Country Competition today, with children competing against their classes on a course on the field throughout the day. Each year since daily running was introduced through Launton Laps, the children’s speed and stamina has improved. They did fantastically well.

As part of National School Sports Week the children have had the opportunity to take part in an introduction to golf lesson. Andy from Kirtlington golf club came on Monday to get the children excited about golf. The children had great fun learning how to hold the clubs properly and playing some fantastic accuracy games.

Today, Mrs Kirkwood from The Cooper School came to help with our school throwing competition. All classes took part and threw some impressive distances. The year 5 children did a fantastic job of helping Mrs Kirkwood to ensure that each throw was measured accurately. Well done everyone!

A flavour of the Tokyo Games came to the school field on Friday:

Layla shared, "I liked doing the speed jump in the hall. I felt good getting my medals." Tabitha said, "I felt proud when I got my medal." "I won a gold medal and I felt happy," stated Millie. "I got some stickers when it was sports day," said Elsie. Miles was proud and said, "I got a sticker because I won a couple of races."

Sports day Determination, self-belief and passion were demonstrated throughout the day on Tuesday as all the pupils competed in our final instalment of sports day events. Pupils enthusiastically participated in events including, a tricky obstacle course, sack races and skipping races.

 Rowan Class Reporter “In the egg and spoon race, my egg didn’t even come off.” reports Sophia. “I only fell over once in the sack race.” said Evelyn very proudly. “ Football dribbling was the best bit.” said Toby. “My hat came off only once: we were wearing them because it was sunny.” explained Tabitha.

All the children in key stage two have been working with a cricket coach. “Charlotte from All Stars will be teaching us cricket this term and so far it has been fun. We aim to be cricket pro’s by the end of this term. (Sophia) “We had fun with Charlotte. She is going to be teaching us cricket. Today we practised our catching skills and by the end of term we will know how to play cricket properly.” (Leah)

The children took part in orienteering to raise money for Children in Need. The children needed to find the 10 different Pudsey bears hidden around the playground and field then use the stampers to correctly stamp the right Pudsey on their record cards. The children really enjoyed finding out how each Pudsey was dressed!