“My child loves being in Nursery. He would love to do PE everyday, as he gets disappointed when he hasn’t done it. We say: We also wish we could have Mr Steadman doing PE with us everyday, but we have to share him with the rest of the school!“
Parent, Four Dwellings Primary Academy, Birmingham
Science has proven that children who are involved in structured fundamental movement and physical activity programmes from an early age are more likely to be high achievers at school, more likely to participate in sport and physical activity throughout throughout their lives, have higher levels of confidence, well-being and good behaviour.
We work extensively with schools, pre-schools, nurseries and Children’s Centres to provide our EYFS and Key Stage 1 programme focusing on establishing, developing and nurturing the key fundamental movement skills whilst taking the children on an exciting and imaginative learning journey that enhances physical, personal, social and emotional development.
Our EYFS and Key Stage FUNdamental Movement programme is not a sports coaching programme – linked in to all areas of the EYFS Framework, it has been specifically developed by professionals for pre-school, EYFS and Key Stage 1 children and is a physical, creative and movement development programme that uses a broad range of fun and interactive games to engage the children in physical activity.
The flexibility of this programme enables it to be delivered within school, as part of curriculum time, or in a range of community settings either as stand-alone or co-ordinated programmes, including parental/carer supported programmes such as ‘stay and play’. Indeed, we recognise the importance of engaging parents and carers with their children through physical activity. An example of this is the involvement of parents and carers in the physical activity sessions and the supply of targets for the children to complete away from the sessions, supported by their parents and carers.
“Richard has taught PE to the Nursery Class at Four Dwellings Primary Academy since May 2013 and I have never seen children so excited and enthusiastic about PE! Each week, the children have looked forward to and enjoyed well-planned activities that are excellently resourced, enabling them to develop their physical skills and gross motor control. The activities are always very child-centred, full of imagination and provide a good level of challenge for 3 and 4 year olds. Here are some of the exciting activities we have done…We have played the ‘Jungle Fruit Game’ where the children practised different ways of travelling, avoiding the ‘Sleepy Giant’ (Mr Steadman!) and responding to hearing the whistle by running to a fruit tree and standing still. We went on holiday to the ‘Jolly Olly Soccer Island’ and practised basic football skills by imagining that we were controlling cars (footballs) with steering wheels (our feet!). We used small kicks to make sure we didn’t lose control of our cars. Other skills that the children have learned have included hurdling, throwing using foam javelins and tag rugby. In Nursery – AMAZING! Richard has a lovely, gentle, fun nature with the children and they all think he is wonderful! He is committed to inclusion and ensures that ALL children have fun and begin to develop a life-long love of physical activity.“
Pippa Hibbard, Nursery Teacher, Four Dwellings Primary Academy, Birmingham