PE

Physical Education at St Clare’s Catholic Primary School

Our PE Curriculum

After-School Sport and Extra-Curricular Opportunities

Our commitment to physical activity extends beyond the school day. Throughout the year, we offer a range of after-school clubs led by staff and trained coaches. These clubs support pupils in exploring new sports, developing their skills and enjoying time being active with friends. Opportunities run across the year and are open to pupils of all abilities.

PESSPA Participation, Competitions and Leagues

St Clare’s is an active member of the local PESSPA network. We regularly enter leagues, festivals and competitions, providing pupils with meaningful opportunities to represent the school, develop teamwork and experience healthy competition. We aim to ensure that children of all abilities feel confident taking part and experiencing success in different forms. Our continued commitment to participation and physical activity has contributed to St Clare’s achieving the School Games Platinum Award for the 2024/25 academic year.

School Games Ethos

Our School Games ethos is rooted in our belief that every child is created in the image of God and deserves the chance to shine. We promote enjoyment, respect and fair play, encouraging pupils to support one another, celebrate effort and persevere during challenges. Whether taking part in friendly fixtures or competitive events, children learn to work as a team, respond with grace in both victory and defeat, and build character through sport. Through the School Games programme, we aim to inspire a lifelong love of physical activity and help every child grow in confidence, character and faith.

Sports Council Autumn Meeting – October 2025 Summary

In our autumn meeting, we spent time discussing how we can continue to improve sport and active play across the school. One of our first ideas was to look into new football kits. We agreed that it would be great to approach local companies for sponsorship, as long as their values match the caring, Christ-centred ethos of St Clare’s. We want our teams to feel proud when they represent the school, so we’ll explore options that are good quality, sustainable and affordable.

We were excited to move on to plans for the new mindfulness zone on the school field. We want this to be a peaceful area where pupils can sit, reflect and enjoy quiet time. To make this possible, we will look at quotes for wooden benches and seating that fit naturally into the space. We also agreed that a whole-school competition would be a brilliant way to involve everyone in the final design. We’ll launch this soon so pupils can share drawings, layouts and creative ideas for what the zone should look like.

We reviewed the new MUGA timetable and discussed how we can make playtimes fair, active and enjoyable for all year groups. We suggested different activity zones around the playground, such as ball-skills stations, skipping areas and space for small-sided games. We also offered to help run some of these activities ourselves, especially at lunchtime, to encourage more children to join in and feel confident trying something new.

Finally, we talked about making better use of the outdoor table tennis equipment. We thought a school table tennis tournament would be a fun way to get pupils involved, build confidence and add a bit of friendly competition. We’ll look at how we can organise sign-ups, match timings and maybe even small prizes to celebrate effort and enthusiasm.

Overall, we left the meeting feeling enthusiastic about the year ahead and eager to help make sport and play at St Clare’s even better for everyone.

PE and Sport Premium Funding

Since 2013, the Government’s PE and Sport Premium funding has helped primary schools develop and strengthen their PE and school sport provision. At St Clare’s, we use this funding to broaden opportunities, build staff confidence through professional development and enhance the experiences available to pupils. Our approach focuses on:

• ensuring all children benefit, regardless of starting point or sporting ability

• providing pathways for pupils to take part in competitions and festivals

• supporting staff through training and development

• planning improvements that will continue to make a difference in future years

Further details about the grant can be found on the Department for Education website.

An outline of how the funding is allocated and used can be found in our PE and Sport Premium Funding 2020/21 document, which is updated throughout the school year.

Percentage of Year 6 pupils who could swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres when they left our primary school at the end of last academic year (July 2025)?

86%

Percentage of your Year 6 pupils who could use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke] when they left our primary school at the end of last academic year (July 2025)?

86%

What percentage of your Year 6 pupils could perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations when they left your primary school at the end of last academic year (July 2025)?

86%

Useful Links

Below are some links that you may find useful – from the PE national curriculum to how to lead an active and healthy lifestyle.

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-physical-education-programmes-of-study

• https://www.leaguewebsite.co.uk/prestonschoolsports 

• https://www.gonoodle.com/

• https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-children-and-young-people/ 

• https://www.nhs.uk/change4life

• https://health.act.gov.au/about-our-health-system/healthy-living/kids-play-active-play/early-childhood-educators/fundamental

• https://ccea.org.uk/learning-resources/developing-fundamental-movement-skills

Club Links

St. Clare’s children also benefit from our close links with a variety of clubs. Here are the links if you are interested in exploring additional coaching outside school.

Local Football Clubs

• Cadley FC http://www.cadleyfc.com

• Longsands Lynx http://www.longsandslynx.co.uk

Useful Websites

• Preston School Sport http://m.leaguewebsite.com/prestonschoolsports/Home/landing_page

• Lancashire Schools FA http://www.lancashireschoolsfa.org.uk

• Lancashire FA http://www.lancashirefa.com

• Preston North End http://www.pnefc.net/

• Lancashire Post http://www.lep.co.uk

Other Sports

• Broughton Tennis Club http://www.broughtonanddistrictclub.co.uk

• Fulwood & Broughton Cricket Club http://cricket-fulwood.co.uk

• Preston Grasshoppers RFC https://www.pgrfc.co.uk

• City of Preston Gymnastics Club http://www.copgc.org

• Preston Netball Club http://www.prestonnetballclub.co.uk

• Preston Pride Basketball http://www.prestonpride.co.uk

• Preston Golf Club http://www.prestongolfclub.com

• Preston Harriers Athletics http://prestonharriers.co.uk