Physical Education, School Sport, and Physical Activity at St Piers School
The Physical Education department believes that physical education, physical activity, and sport, experienced in a safe and supportive environment, is a unique and vital contributor to a student’s physical development and well-being.
Opportunities for all students to succeed and develop positive attitudes towards being active are a priority. We provide students with a platform from which they can build physical competences, improve aspects of fitness, and develop personal and interpersonal skills and attributes. We believe it will have a motivational impact on our students, increasing their self-esteem and general wellbeing.
Students are encouraged to develop essential social skills such as concentration, self-discipline and co-operation whilst being aware of the need to think of others. We encourage students to respect diversity and listen to and value opinions, and to actively integrate with others.
Physical Education
Our broad, balanced, relevant, innovative, inclusive, and ambitious curriculum aims to give all students the knowledge, skills, and experiences to motivate them to lead healthy active lives. The curriculum intends to provide appropriate challenge with acceptable risk. We promote student learning about risk management, and their responsibility in this, for them to participate as independently as possible in physical activity later in life.
Students participate in outdoor activities, trampoline, gymnastics , games, athletics, swimming, fundamental movement skills, MATP and health related exercise/fitness. Our extensive outdoor programme includes paddle sports, boating, sailabilty, hiking, cycling, team building, archery, orienteering and outdoor activity centres.
We pride ourselves in our inclusive model where every student has equality of access. Personalised learning experiences are designed and differentiated to meet the needs of all students. All students have equal opportunity in terms of curriculum balance, curriculum time, use of resources and facilities. We have at our disposal excellent resources and facilities, which allows the delivery of some fantastic inclusive learning opportunities and experiences for all our students.
Through using a range of onsite and offsite leisure facilities, students are learning functional life skills in community settings. This strategy will prepare students for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of life outside and after they have left St Piers School.
School Sport
We provide a range of enrichment and competitive opportunities for both learning and enjoyment. Our extensive programme includes activity weeks and attending several intra/inter school events through school links and the Surrey school games programme. Additionally, we collaborate with local and national sporting organisations to both host and attend a variety of disability sport events.
Representing the school these events give the students an identity and a sense of belonging, whilst also further increasing integration opportunities. It is also important, in terms of increasing the range of activities and competitive sport opportunities available to our students. We also believe that having a broad range of experiences will promote aspects of the student’s spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development.
Physical Activity
We are supporting the development of a wider active curriculum and using this as a tool to drive whole school improvement. Through the introduction of innovation programmes and national initiatives, we are aiming to increase physical activity levels for all, whilst supporting staff to embed these into the curriculum
We strive to introduce our students to the concept of physical activity as an integral component of daily life. Ensuring that our students have access to sufficient daily activity will have wider benefits, such as improving behaviour as well as enhancing academic achievement. Physical activity has numerous benefits for physical health, as well as mental wellbeing (increasing self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and lowering anxiety and depression), and students who are physically active are happier, more resilient, and more trusting of their peers.
Our students are enjoying healthy active lifestyles and are becoming more resilient, confident and independent whilst being supported to understand how to keep physically and emotionally healthy.