Ofsted PE Inspection
Blog Series Part Two
Skills Progression
Skills progression is a key area of any Ofsted ‘Deep Dive’ into your PE curriculum. Your skill progressions will ultimately show that your curriculum is hitting all the national curriculum outcomes and objectives. However please do not limit progression to just skills. Progression should also relate to subject knowledge as well.
Imagine your curriculum is a journey, right from the start of EYFS until the end of Key Stage 2 when children move into high school. The skills & knowledge taught, right there in EYFS is a fundamental aspect that will provide the building blocks for learning in Key Stage 1 and then in Key Stage 2.
When planning your curriculum, you should have an endpoint in mind for each Key Stage. Ask yourself as a PE Co-Ordinator, what do you want children in EYFS to know and be able to do before they start Key Stage 1. Once you have that in place, this is your starting point to plan for how a child will flow through Key Stage 1 years following the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum.
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Creating a skills progression document (a medium-term plan) is a necessity and if your school doesn’t have one, this should be a high priority on your subject action plan. Having a skills progression sheet will enable you to show how a child travels through their school life and the skills/knowledge they will learn throughout the way. The document will show at the start of each academic year, where a child has come from and where they are aiming to get to.
A skills progression document also allows a child who can’t access a specific unit because the challenge is too high, the opportunity to further develop their skills from prior learning.
During an OFSTED deep dive, OFSTED will ask for evidence of your progressive curriculum, and whilst you are not expected to know each unit off by heart, if you have a skills progression document, you can show the journey a child will take right from EYFS up to Key Stage 2. For example, in an area such as Athletics, you will start in EYFS will Fundamental Movements and moving in space safely before eventually progressing to children learning baton changeovers in Year 6 where they must be able to judge spaces effectively.
Document how broad, balanced, and progressive your curriculum is, and feel proud to be able to talk that through with either your SLT, Governors, or OFSTED.
Written by Ryan Bardsley, LSC PE Specialist, coach mentor, and extended schools lead.
Ryan went through a PE Ofsted inspection in March 2022 as the PE Lead to which the content provided above were found to be key areas from Ofsted.
Read Ryan's part one of his blog series on SEND provision 👉👉