PE and School Sport

At Dashwood Banbury Academy we are proud of our Physical Education curriculum which takes a skills centred approach, where the fundamental skills of agility, balance and co-ordination are taught and practised and are then applied to a range of modified sports.

We compete in many festivals and competitions, forging strong links with Wykham Park Academy and other primary schools in North Oxfordshire. We offer an extensive range of different and exciting extra-curricular clubs including HotShots basketball, martial arts and multi skills. We work closely with sporting bodies such as the Football Association, The English Cricket Board/Banbury Cricket Club and Cherwell District Council, who deliver high quality curriculum and lunchtime activator sessions during the year.

Living near the River Cherwell and with a canal that runs through our town, we are committed to ensuring that all of our pupils access swimming lessons and achieve their 25 metres. This commitment is for our pupils’ safety and an additional step to ensuring that our pupils have opportunities to lead a healthy and active life. Pupils have weekly, year round swimming lessons in Year 4 and sessions in year 5 and 6 to ensure they have every opportunity to achieve their 25 metres and beyond. Each year group also has access to taster sessions which we have found to be a particularly successful way for children to ‘enjoy’ and become familiar with the water, gain confidence and be ready to learn to swim.

In response to The Childhood Obesity Plan that was launched on the 18 August 2016, Dashwood Banbury Academy is committed to finding solutions that help ensure that our young people are moving their bodies. The report states that nearly a third of children aged 2-15 are overweight or obese. Dashwood Banbury Academy understands that tackling childhood obesity requires us to take action.

The PE Lead has developed a deep understanding of how to ensure all our pupils at Dashwood Banbury Academy leave us for secondary school as physically literate young people. Through CPD with the North Oxfordshire School Sports Partnership and working on projects with the Youth Sports Trust, Dashwood is providing a PE curriculum, School Sport and extra-curricular opportunities for all through physical literacy. This approach motivates pupils and gives them the confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding that provides our children with the movement foundation for a lifelong participation in physical activity. We understand that a healthy child will:

• perform better academically across all subjects
• be a more confident individual
• have greater employability skills
• have higher levels of self-esteem

In 2018/2019 we are committed to supporting our pupils’ mental well-being and to empower them to understand how to live healthy and active lifestyles by:

• Completing the ‘Daily Mile’ programme in Years 3 – 6 during learning time
• Brain breaks during learning term – Change 4 Life ‘Train Like A Jedi’, ‘Go Noodle’
• Continue with active learning – ‘Maths of the Day’, Active Spelling/Grammar sessions
• 100 calorie snack tuck shop – run by our Year 6 pupils, educating our pupils to purchase low -calorie snacks
• Funding support for our Breakfast Club for our most vulnerable/disadvantaged with healthy food options
• Continuation of our ‘Walk to school’ initiative
• Cycle proficiency training – staff trained in school to ensure sustainability and continuation of this programme to ensure our pupils use their bicycles safely on the roads of Banbury and beyond with the benefit of exercise

In 2019/2020 we continued this good work but due to the closure of schools, we turned to virtual engagement in School Games during the Summer Term.  Lucie Smith-Childs, Schools Games Co-ordinator, said ‘I am so impressed with the amount of opportunities you have given ALL your children to stay active!  I am therefore delighted to award you with the School Games 2020 Virtual Award badge and certificate.’

Swimming successes! 

Year 5 and 6 pupils are having continued success in the swimming pool with many children receiving their 25 metres and beyond. Well-done to Charlotte for achieving her 1600m and to Finley, Tomasz, Nathan, Daniyal, Jessica, Victor, Thiago and Freddie for all achieving their 50m! Congratulations!