Wardley Primary School

We purchased Complete PE for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons was that the old curriculum we were teaching from had become dated and written by staff who were no longer at the school. This meant that staff didn’t understand at times what they were being asked to teach or lacked confidence in what was being asked of them. With Complete PE’s planning and lessons, all staff have clear objectives and outcomes for each lesson.

To measure staff confidence, a questionnaire has been sent out every year which asks staff a series of questions that measure confidence. This is usually of the whole curriculum and then individual topics. They are also asked to provide any further feedback. One of the most common bits of feedback is that we have received over the years is that staff lack confidence with dance and gymnastics. This might be because they don’t feel they have the skills themselves to demonstrate a skill or that the topic has been planned at a time when the wider curriculum was different and now the topic doesn’t make sense or fit. With the planning, key questions and videos that Complete PE provide, staff feel they have much more of an understanding of what they need to teach as well as the skills and resources to deliver it. Plus, with the suggested music for each dance topic, it makes the whole topic so much easier to plan for and deliver.

Complete PE was shown during a PE coordinators meeting. What caught our eye straight away was the videos that it offered. One of the biggest barriers to high quality teaching with PE is modelling good practice. By having the videos, regardless of staff confidence or class ability, there is always an example of how a task should be done. Also, the clear six sessions that each topic follows makes planning and fitting it into the time – table manageable which has helped keep teaching PE manageable in curriculum. The outcomes in terms of staff, was to increase confidence of the staff by giving them resources they could easily follow, the ability to differentiate when needed and have high quality examples for modelling.

In terms of the children, we have seen a massive increase in children’s enjoyment and participation in lessons. With a well-rounded curriculum that offers such a wide range of skills, children get a real enjoyment out of every topic. What has been a real revelation is some of the wellbeing sessions and fitness sessions. These sorts of topics level the playing field for the children. Those who are strong at the ‘traditional’ sports suddenly find they must really work and engage in something new that they aren’t used to.

Staff across the school feel a lot more confident since we have brought in Complete PE. The biggest impact has been the videos that are on offer for each topic and session. This has allowed staff to demonstrate skills they may not be able to or understand what the outcome of a session should be.

Every teacher in school has bought into the programme. This has meant we have consistency amongst staff and as a lot of the PE is taught by HLTA’s, they are getting to see the different topics through the different year groups. This is really helping them see the journey the children are on.

The ability to map out the curriculum and have the overview so quickly to hand has also helped build that journey and lets staff know how the school sees children progressing. It has made meeting the national curriculum requirements easy as well. Furthermore, it’s also allowed us to add more well-being based session and ‘non traditional’ sports into the curriculum. This has really helped children find something they can enjoy but also give them skills to help them in the wider school community. Especially around calming techniques and resilience.

As we are still only a year into the programme, it’s hard to see the long-term progress of the children. However, the short-term outcomes have been huge. On a recent survey the overwhelming majority of children have said they enjoy PE. Lessons are fun and every survey has said that the teacher enjoys PE – which is huge!

The impact has been massive on PE provision. As the recent surveys have shown, the feedback from the children is massively positive. The feedback and comments from staff has been massively positive and the general running of PE has been so much easier. As a subject leader, it has taken a lot of pressure and work off me. With equipment lists being provided, I know what the school needs to make sessions run. I know what is being taught and when. I know the progression, I can check the outcomes and can talk to both children and staff about their sessions and use key questions to gauge outcomes.

As mentioned, the surveys have shown overwhelming support and enjoyment from the children. Very few children say they are bored during a lesson and if they are it’s usually from children who are competent at sports feeling they are ready for more challenge. There is a really good mix of topics that children enjoy as well, which shows that the curriculum is broad and providing something for everyone.

It has also helped collect feedback at where we can improve and what more we can offer. Whether we offer that through curriculum time or extra curricula time.

The staff surveyed who teach PE using Complete PE, 100% of them fed back that they now felt more confident teaching PE after a year of using the resource.