Premier Education

Why Premier Education is right for your school physical activity

Primary school teachers are dedicated to giving their pupils the best possible learning experiences and Premier Education is committed to supporting schools in that endeavour.

According to Sport England, 30 percent of children do less than an average of 30 minutes of physical activity a day, well below the recommended 60 minutes, something that can have a widespread impact on not just a child’s health but their mental wellbeing and academic performance too.

Therefore, it’s great news that primary schools now have the ability to counteract this very real problem. As the UK’s number one provider of sport and physical activity to primary school children, at Premier Education we aim to support the specific curriculum intent of our partner schools through, and in physical education, school sport and physical activity (PESSPA).

With a strong Ofsted and national focus on physical and mental wellbeing, we have been flexible and agile in our approach to supporting schools with this focus.

Children playing netball.

How does Premier Education fit with the National Curriculum?

Our PESSPA offering is synchronised with the National Curriculum purpose and aims for PE, all while supporting our partner schools’ individual goals and intentions to promote physical activity.

PESSPA also not only aligns with the Education Inspection Framework (EIF), but it builds on the wider EIF context of character education, mental health and wellbeing, and personal development

What is the aim of curricular PESSPA sessions?

Key to the overarching curriculum design, there will be a range of opportunities to support children’s development in being creative, confident, and caring. This aligns with a high-quality, inspiring PE curriculum that builds character and an understanding of fairness and respect while encouraging pupils to become more physically active.

PE doesn’t have to be about vigorous physical activity, the PESSPA curriculum aims to build character and an understanding of fairness and respect alongside the development of fundamental movement skills. The ultimate goal is to find ways to inspire and engage every single day, boosting academic development and delivering health benefits to children through physical activity in a way that is enjoyable and challenging to all pupils.

Measuring pupils’ progress

Children partaking in our PESSPA curriculum will be assessed using our bespoke ‘CARED’ model which assesses the following areas of pupil progress: competence, activeness, reflection, engagement and discipline.

  • Competence: Measured by how competent the child is at each topic & skill.
  • Active: Assessment of how active the child is throughout the PE lesson.
  • Reflective: How much of what is taught does the child understand and able to discuss/explain when asked?
  • Engaged: Is the child engaged in the lesson?
  • Discipline: What is the child’s behaviour like in the lesson? 

In many PE lessons, the assessment can become purely focused on ‘competence’, leaving some children unseen in their efforts. If a child isn’t particularly competent in a specific topic or skill, but they are active, fully engaged and can understand the meaning or purpose, this should still be recognised and rewarded. Children’s physical activity levels can vary depending on skills and abilities, that’s why it’s crucial to acknowledge and appreciate these differences.

Likewise, a child may be considered ‘competent’ in the physical aspects of performing a skill, but may not be engaged in a way that will help them continue to learn and may struggle with the ‘discipline’ part of the assessment. It’s important to discuss development areas and ensure the child is supported to become more engaged by delivering in a way that suits their learning style.

There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ model and our CARED acronym is a perfect tool for supporting all children to make good progress. Schools are provided termly reports and formal, termly review meetings on pupil progress.

5 happy boys playing dodgeball.

Top training at your fingertips

We understand that there are only so many hours in a day and only so many pounds in a budget, which means there isn’t always access to extra, specialist PE, Performing Arts or Personal Development training for teachers. That’s where we come in.

Our coaches know how to build on existing knowledge and encourage all pupils to try, discuss and construct new ideas while boosting children’s physical activity levels. This is fundamental in learning journey development.

Through partnerships with several major national governing bodies of sport, we have unprecedented access to sport-specific training and equipment. Bringing Premier Education into your schools will open your pupils up to a whole host of new sports, physical activities and experiences, enabling them to benefit from a breadth of learning they may not have previously had access to.

3 children playing tag rugby.

Unparalleled support for your school

Programmes and activities delivered by Premier Education are bespoke to your school and the needs of your pupils. From planning and delivery to progress reporting, we are hands-on every step of the way providing high-energy active learning that pupils can enjoy during the school day.

Partners can expect access to knowledge organisers for the areas being delivered and supported, a year group learning journey document showing all key areas of learning and co-curricular links within each scheme of work.

That’s in addition to thematically planned schemes of work that align with whole school topics and support any whole school areas of focus (SIDP), and a fully sequenced curriculum covering knowledge, skills, understanding, application, opportunities and experiences.

Praise from parents

Premier Education prides itself on matching the needs of every school and every child. Our coaches are experts in involving all pupils, regardless of ability levels. You don’t have to take our word for it.

Recent feedback from a parent at Alwyn Infant School is testimony to this fact:

I wanted to give you some positive feedback about Mr Smith, who I believe is one of the athletics coaches at the moment. My daughter has absolutely loved his lessons and I have noticed her confidence has really grown in athletics and in competing generally this term, under what seems to have been partly due to his encouraging influence. There was one day in particular where she ran various races and then he put her in the final against 3 boys and she won – listening to her explain how she was scared about running with the boys but then decided that ‘Mr Smith thought she could do it so she decided to try really hard’ was wonderful to hear. It was his approach that made her believe in herself, because I know she can be quite shy sometimes in front of people.

Creating memorable experiences for the children will be fundamental to our curriculum, delivery and intended outcomes for every school.

Join over 2500 schools in benefitting from our knowledge, experience and passion which has been getting primary school children active for the last 20 years.