A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
Physical Education (PE)
Sport and physical education provides fantastic opportunities to try new activities, improve physical and sporting abilities and to improve key skills such as team work, leadership and self-confidence. Here at STARS in our Multi Use Games Area, and at various local sporting facilities including Sutton Sports Village and Craggy Island Bouldering Centre, we are proud to be able to offer a range of sports: at STARS this year pupils have taken part in football, tennis, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, trampolining, bouldering, hockey, dodgeball, gym, cricket and rounders.
As part of the KS4 GCSE curriculum, we also offer a Level 2 in NCFE Sport. This course aims to give learners the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to prepare for employment in a sport/exercise related field and develop their confidence in physical activity. The units covered in this course give pupils the opportunity to create their own sports event, look at how human anatomy relates to physical activity, gain an understanding of the key concepts of nutrition and sport psychology and how they relate to sporting performance, as well as participate in a range of sports each week.
We encourage all pupils to participate in sport, as physical activity has so many benefits affecting all areas of life, including having a large impact on improving mental health. Whether your child enjoys individual sports or team games, ball sports or racket sports, there is something here for them.
Reintegration
Building pupils’ confidence in physical activity and sporting skills can be a big factor in improving their readiness to return to mainstream education. Close links with sports departments in local schools have enabled pupils to access sports in a mainstream setting and compete with a wider range of abilities, as part of their STARS timetable.
We also offer a Level 2 Qualification in Community Sports Leadership, for those pupils who particularly excel in NCFE Level 2 Sport. This gives pupils the opportunity to lead PE sessions for younger pupils and develop their leadership skills, as well as maturity levels, which will benefit them when moving on from STARS.
As part of our aim to build pupil confidence through sports, we encourage pupils to travel home independently after an offsite sport lesson, which helps them prepare for adult life.
Strengths
One of our strengths at STARS is that we provide organised physical activity across the school day. During period 1 every day we take pupils on a 10 minute mindfulness walk around the local park. This is a great way for pupils to get outdoors, manage stress levels, and socialise with their peers and staff. At break and lunch times we offer structured sport sessions including matches and games in various sports. Football is particularly popular but pupils also enjoy playing basketball, hockey, and cricket. We also have an outdoor gym at STARS, which gives pupils an extra option of physical activity during break and lunch times.
At STARS, we were awarded the Gold Award from Healthy Schools which was achieved in recognition of our daily walks intervention, but also because of the overall promotion of a healthy lifestyle across the whole school through physical activity and nutrition.
Pupil View
Pupils genuinely enjoy both PE and NCFE Sport which is demonstrated through high levels of effort and engagement. Pupils, as well as parents, have commented on how enjoyable sports is at STARS, with a number of pupils mentioning how they feel much more comfortable taking part in physical activity here in comparison to their previous provision. Pupils have also gone on to study Level 3 Sport at the Post-16 level, after having taken Level 2 Sport here.
Enrichment
A core aspect of our PE curriculum is taking pupils offsite for PE lessons to a number of local sports centres. In the past, we have taken pupils to Sutton Sports Village, David Weir Leisure Centre, Craggy Island Bouldering Centre, Horton Park Golf Club, and Chipstead Rugby Club. Offsite sports is a great opportunity for pupils to make use of local sports facilities, have access to different sports, work with different coaches, and develop confidence in social skills.
