This content introduced the Curriculum Planning tool included with our Classic PE Hub platform, which is no longer available to new subscribers. For an overview of the Curriculum Planning tool available to new subscribers, please click here.
A PE curriculum map is a way of recording and tracking what you are teaching and when. A curriculum plan should be a working document which ensures the content is suitable for each stage of a pupils learning journey.
Creating a good PE curriculum plan
By taking time out to forward plan, you can improve the quality of the pupils learning journey in several ways;
- Checking overlaps/repeats in content
- Ensure there are no gaps in activity areas or progression of units
- Avoid mistakes; organising so many classes and several facility areas, timetabling errors can easily be made
- Identify opportunities
- Help build on previous learning and embed progress
Communication and collaboration
If you are the PE Lead writing your PE curriculum plan, it is helpful to liaise with others, both senior management and your classroom colleagues. Classroom teachers will help you understand the previous learning their pupils have undertaken so you can plan for progress. Senior management will know about facility availability and any interruptions in curriculum time such as trips. You can also use the school calendar to help schedule the best use of activity and facility. Areas to consider when discussing your PE curriculum plan might include;
- What have you been teaching? What were the pupil outcomes? Was good progress made, or are there areas that need to be revisited?
- Do you have specialist coaches in to help teach an activity area? How can you maximise this opportunity through your planning? For example, teach the same activity the following half term to build on what the children have learnt or provide and extra-curricular opportunity.
- What is being taught in other areas of the curriculum? Where appropriate you can make meaningful cross-curricular links.
- What's happening outside of school that you can bring into learning? For example, if the athletics world cup is happening in May, can you teach an athletics unit at the same time and draw links?
Analysing your PE curriculum
The new Ofsted inspection framework will be homing in on the curriculum schools have in place. Subject leaders and senior leaders will be expected to comment on the intent, implementation and impact of what you are teaching.
Intent - is based on the content that the school or senior leaders expect the pupils to learn. Intent will also look at the link between teaching across a time frame. This is where your curriculum plan comes into its own. The question being, if you're teaching Year 3 Badminton in Autumn term 1 and Gymnastics in Autumn term 2, why? Can you show what you expect the pupils to learn in that time?
Implementation - how are the lessons within your curriculum being taught? What are the similarities or differences between the teaching, for example, numeracy to PE and why? How do these different approaches help children learn? Are there any commonalities across the school’s teaching that pupils will expect in every lesson no matter what the subject area is?
Lastly, impact, which will focus less on assessment models and spreadsheets and more teachers’ ability to explain how they know their children are making progress. To be able to answers these questions your curriculum and lesson intent should be crystal clear so you can tie pupil outcomes to learning intentions. For example, "the majority of the class were able to incorporate three or more rolls in a final performance piece after being taught a variety of rolls in isolation."
So before you even pick up a pen or click a button, what is your intent for you PE curriculum and who is going to help you shape what’s taught, how will it be implemented and how will your teachers’ confidently demonstrate impact?