Free practical guidance · Schools & PE Leads
Primary PE curriculum: is the learning clear in your plans?
A full timetable of sports can still leave you unsure what pupils are getting better at. Start with one part of your existing curriculum and check the learning, the sequence and what teachers need to use it.
Read the practical guideDIY toolkit or APEX helpChoose one thread to follow
Take a familiar area, such as sending and receiving, balance or dance. Put the plans for two adjacent year groups side by side. Underline what pupils should learn rather than the name of each activity.
Can you explain what the later learning builds on? Repeating an activity can be useful when pupils practise and apply learning more securely. Changing the sport each term does not, on its own, show progression.
For example: sending and receiving
A sequence might move from sending accurately to a stationary partner, to receiving while moving, then choosing when and where to pass in a simple game. The next task should respond to what pupils can already do.
Check whether the plan explains the teaching points, gives enough practice and shows how to adjust the challenge. This is an example to test against your pupils and curriculum, not a fixed sequence for particular year groups.
Check coverage without adding another planning system
Use the DfE PE programmes of study for England to check coverage across each key stage, including swimming and water safety. These set statutory content for maintained schools; academies must provide a broad and balanced curriculum.
Mark where that learning is taught in your existing overview. Then check the detail in a sample of units. A labelled box on the overview is not enough if the lesson plans do not actually teach it.
Can a teacher use the plan tomorrow?
- Is the intended learning specific enough to teach and check?
- Does the teacher know what to demonstrate and what common difficulty to look for?
- Is there a practical adjustment for pupils who need support or greater challenge?
- Will the space, equipment and time available make the plan workable?
Ask a colleague to talk through one lesson. If they need several other documents just to understand it, simplify the information around that lesson before rewriting the whole scheme.
Make the first change small enough to finish
Choose one unclear sequence or one planning problem that affects teaching repeatedly. Agree the change, try it in lessons and review what pupils learned. Keep the useful parts of your current scheme.
Ofsted’s PE subject report provides context on curriculum quality and sequencing. It does not require schools to use an APEX map or template.
The checks and examples here are APEX practical recommendations. They are not prescribed documents or an Ofsted checklist.
Prefer to do it yourself?
Guided PE Curriculum Mapper
Build a clearer curriculum map across year groups, activity areas and terms.
£29 · existing DIY toolkit
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If the learning is clear but the records are not useful, review assessment and progress alongside the plans.
If teachers find the plans difficult to teach, use staff feedback to identify the support they need.