Physical Education plays a very important role within the life of Loanends Primary School.
We believe that a high-quality Physical Education curriculum should inspire and challenge all pupils to experience the joy of movement, to enable them to succeed and excel in healthy competitive sport and to equip them with skills to undertake other physically demanding activities. We believe that Physical Education should provide opportunities for all pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. We also believe that opportunities to compete in sport build character and help to embed values such as fairness, sportsmanship and respect.
Teachers provide pupils with a balance of experiences across the activity areas of:
- Athletics;
- Dance;
- Games;
- Gymnastics; and
- Swimming (KS2 only).
All activities are taught within a safe environment and children are made aware of safe practice at all times.
At Loanends P.S., our pupils participate in Physical Education sessions at least twice per week. We enjoy the benefit of having large extensive grounds to avail of for our PE lessons with an outdoor sports pitch used for hockey, netball, basketball and cricket, a large grass pitch used for football and rugby and of course our school hall for occasions when it is just not possible to do PE outside. We are very fortunate at Loanends P.S. to have a well-equipped PE department to always ensure top quality experiences for all of our children. The children also have the privilege of a variety of coaches who come to school to teach them lots of new and exciting skills within the area of PE ranging from Hockey, Cricket, Rugby and Football.
At Key Stage 2, pupils have the opportunity to represent our school at external competitions, as part of the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council's Primary School Challenge. They compete against pupils from neighbouring schools in events such as Cross-County, Triathlon, Sportshall Athletics, Orienteering, Swimming and Cheerleading.
Our senior pupils also participate in a number of Kwik Cricket tournaments organised by two local clubs, namely Muckamore Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club and Templepatrick Cricket Club. In recent years, our teams have qualified for NI Finals held at Stormont Cricket Grounds.
