Our Intent

Our mission, ‘Guided by God to be the best that we can be’ is at the core of everything we do. As a school, we are passionate about ensuring that every child has the opportunity to shine and use sport and activity as a vehicle to actively promote this. We intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that inspire all children to succeed in physical education and in developing life skills. We place a high focus on sport and activity to promote the benefits on both physical health and mental well-being. Physical education is a powerful tool to give children skills for life, improving self-confidence, perseverance, team spirit, cooperation, positive competitiveness and organisation. Physical education is an integral part of school practices, and our aim is that all children in the school gain a sense of achievement and develop positive attitudes towards themselves and others.

Physical Education at St. John’s provides challenging and enjoyable learning through a range of sporting activities including; invasion games, athletics, gymnastics, dance and swimming. Staff are actively encouraged to model active lifestyles to the children, further elevating the importance of healthy lifestyles within school. 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. Pupils participate in two quality PE lessons each week, covering at least one sporting discipline every half term. In addition, children are encouraged to participate in the varied range of extra-curricular activities. Lunch time sports activities are available each day and children can attend after school sport clubs. Participation is tracked to ensure we are as inclusive as possible. Each year, Year 5 and 6 children are invited to become Young Leaders for the school.

They develop into sporting role models for the younger children, assisting with lunch-time clubs, our annual sports day and any other sporting activities. Children also participate in workshops covering a variety of sports throughout the year. All children in Key Stage 2 participate in a weekly ‘Park Run,’ which contributes to raising the daily rate of activity in line with government expectations. Children are invited to attend competitive sporting events within the local area, organised by the Darlington School Sport Partnership, with whom we maintain close links. We take a fully inclusive approach to competition, which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also mental well-being. These events also develop teamwork and leadership skills and are very much enjoyed by the children. We place a real focus on, ‘Being the best you can be,’ and extend this beyond competition to also include sportsmanship.