PE & Sports
PE
All children at Gayhurst take part in two hours of P.E. weekly. Lessons include games, gymnastics, athletics, dance and swimming (for year 3 – 6). Our LEAP PE Curriculum is planned around transferrable skills using the head, the heart and the hands (the three Hs).
We have three halls and a large playground space in school for teaching. We are fortunate to have the lido and park across the road which we use for swimming, rounders, sports days. Other activities include kayaking on the canal and sailing at West reservoir (for Key Stage 2 pupils). We regularly have specialist sports coaches in school to support and enrich the already fantastic PE offer. Sports related trips have included visits to The Olympic Stadium, Lord's Cricket Ground and a recent trip to Wembley stadium to watch England's mens team play.
We offer a range of out of school activities including tennis, football, cycling and dance. Cricket, volleyball and capoeira (among others) have been offered in the past.
Gayhurst representative teams have been highly successful in football, swimming, cycling, athletics, cross country and orienteering. As Hackney Primary School Gymnastic champions for both Key Steps 2 (KS1) and Key Steps 3 (KS2), we were invited to represent the Borough at the most recent School Games at Crystal Palace where we managed to bring home bronze medals in two of the three disciplines.
We regularly have inter LEAP federation sport tournaments including football, netball, dodgeball and table tennis.
We have recently started working with local Rugby club Hackney RFC and are lucky enough to have Middlesex County Cricket team developing children's specialist skills.
Gymnastics
At Gayhurst children are taught Gymnastics by a specialist coach who is aided by the class teachers. The children are exposed to a high level of expertise and learn many different skills through gymnastics. All the skills and elements the children learn are based on and developed from the six basic gymnastic shapes:
- Straight
- Tuck
- Star
- Pike
- Squat
- Straddle
The children then move on to learn more advanced elements such as:
- Weight bearing skills involving handstands, cartwheels, bunny jumps and wheelbarrow.
- Flight skills which consist of jumps, springboard and vault work.
- Locomotive skills incorporating forward and backward rolls.
- Partner work and balance skills where children use their partner to make a number of balances.
- Sequencing skills where the children begin to link a variety of skills into a performance piece.
- Conditioning skills which incorporate different shapes that strengthen the children’s core.
Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 also use an aerobic warm up to increase their overall fitness levels.
Dance
We have a specialist dance teacher working at Gayhurst teaching World Dance who works alongside our African Drumming specialist teacher . Each term different classes have a turn of taking part in weekly lessons, ensuring all children have access to a range of different dance styles.
Daily Mile
Gayhurst is proud to be a Daily Mile school. At Gayhurst we either run around the playground or London Fields.The aim of the Daily Mile is to improve the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of our children. Its impact can be transformational – improving not only the children’s fitness, but also their concentration levels, mood, behaviour and general wellbeing.
Research has shown that The Daily Mile can even increase attainment in primary school, and parents have reported an increased interest in health and wellbeing from their children after they have started The Daily Mile.The children are enthusiastic towards the Daily Mile and it has had a positive impact on the children already.
Cycling
Cycling has many benefits; health and wellbeing, environmental, social and economic. It is an inclusive, empowering, inexpensive activity that is accessible to everyone. “The benefits of cycling run much deeper than balance sheets or carbon footprints. It’s a crucial life skill, giving children an early road sense as they take their first steps towards independence. As well as offering easy, exhilarating exercise, it also helps young people develop what psychologists call resilience - the crucial ability to assess and navigate through risk.” http://www.dft.gov.uk/cyclingengland/encouraging-cycling/benefits-of-cycling/
At Gayhurst there are various opportunities for children to engage with cycling:
CycleTraining
Gayhurst has been a Cycling School for a number of years which means we have an in house cycle instructor who can deliver training across the school using our pool of school bikes. Our Whole School Cycling Project aims to provide opportunities for the whole school community to experience structured, useful cycling that will benefit them practically. Through the project we offer cycle training for all Key Stage 2 pupils, following the Bikeability syllabus:
Level One training for all KS2 pupils, equipping pupils with the skills necessary to ride safely off the road. Children practice using their brakes, steering and control, using gears, emergency stops, swerving, riding with one hand and looking behind while they’re riding
Level Two training for years 5 and 6, enabling pupils to ride safely on quiet roads and make decisions as to their road positions, communication with and awareness of other road users.
All training is provided by our fully accredited National Standards cycle instructor who works with an assistant instructor. We also offer cycle training (following the same structure) for all teaching and support staff.
Cycling League - race team competing
The Gayhurst Cycling Team competes in monthly races against other Hackney primary schools as part of the Hackney Primary Schools Cycle Racing League. The team train and then compete in the following disciplines: road riding, grasstrack and cyclo-cross.
For more information about the Hackney Primary Schools Cycle Racing League see: www.cyclingclubhackney.co.uk
Sainsbury's School Games Mark
For the last few years Gayhurst has been awarded the Silver Mark Award as recognition for the amount of sport that takes place in school. The School Games consists of four unique types of competition:
- Intra-School Competition (Level 1)
- Local Inter-School Competition (Level 2)
- County Final (Level 3)
- School Games National Final
The School Games, which is funded by Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, is a government led programme designed to deliver competitive school sport to all young people. A network of School Games Organisers (SGOs) and Local Organising Committees (LOCs) have worked alongside the Youth Sport Trust in delivering three distinct levels of competition since the Games' inception in 2010 - ranging from intra - inter school activity, in addition to the National Finals, which is supported by National Governing Bodies.This network currently services in excess of 20,000 registered schools who compete across School Games' competition
We are extremely proud of our Silver School Games Mark and hope to get the Gold award next year to further vindicate all the excellent sport that happens at Gayhurst.
https://www.yourschoolgames.com/
PE & Sports Funding Premium
The government provides additional funding to improve the provision of physical education (PE) and sport in primary schools. Schools must use this money to improve their PE provision and ensure each child has the opportunity to live an active healthy lifestyle. A full report of our PE and Sports Funding Premium and how we spend it can be found at the bottom of the page on our website titled Statutory Information.
