By Gemma Craker, Founder and Head of PE Solutions

Think about a typical Primary PE curriculum.

Football. Basketball. Cricket. Gymnastics. Dance. Athletics. Netball. Perhaps some badminton or tennis.

A broad and varied selection of activities, all offering opportunities for children to develop their physical skills and understanding.

But here's a question worth asking:

How much time do we actually spend intentionally developing the fundamental movement skills that underpin all of these activities?

It's something I believe deserves far more attention in Primary PE. 

I'm not suggesting we move away from teaching sport. Sport has an incredibly important place in Primary PE. It offers rich opportunities for children to develop skills, understand tactics, make decisions, work with others and experience the enjoyment of physical activity.

However, I believe we need to think more carefully about how we use sport within our curriculum.

Rather than allowing the sports and activities we teach to determine everything children learn, we should start with the physical development we want to achieve and consider how different activities can support this.

The foundations of movement

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are the building blocks of more complex physical activities.

They are commonly grouped into three broad areas.

Locomotor skills: Moving the body from one place to another. Running, hopping, skipping, jumping and galloping.

Object control skills: Controlling and manipulating objects. Throwing, catching, kicking, striking, bouncing and rolling.

Stability skills: Controlling the body while stationary or moving. Balancing, twisting, turning, bending and changing body position.

These skills might sound relatively simple, but they provide the foundations for an enormous range of physical activities.

Consider a child playing basketball. They need to run, stop, change direction, balance, jump, catch, throw and make decisions about where and when to move.

A child participating in gymnastics needs balance, coordination, body awareness, stability and the ability to control their movements.

A child playing badminton needs to move into position, change direction, coordinate their body and racket, track an object and adjust their movements in response to what is happening around them.

The sports and activities might look very different, but the underlying movement skills have considerable overlap.

This is why I believe fundamental movement skills should not be confined to a particular unit of work or a single half term within the curriculum.

They should be developed continuously.

Are we assuming children can already move?

One of the challenges with organising PE primarily around sport is that we can sometimes assume children already possess the movement skills needed to participate successfully.

We introduce football and expect children to be able to control a ball, move into space, change direction and coordinate their movements. This is something that I still struggle with to a degree!!

We introduce athletics and expect children to run, jump and throw with increasing competence.

We introduce a game and expect children to understand not only the rules but also how to move, position themselves, make decisions and interact with others.

But what happens when those foundations aren't there?

Some children quickly find success. Others struggle to coordinate movements, control equipment or understand how to position their bodies.

Their confidence can suffer, and they may begin to associate physical activity with something they aren't particularly good at.

This is where we need to think carefully about progression.

Rather than simply expecting children to develop movement skills through participation in sports, we need to intentionally teach, practise and revisit those skills.

Sport is a vehicle for learning

I think it's important to make this distinction.

Sport isn't the problem. In fact, it is a valuable context, for developing and applying movement skills.

The problem arises when teaching a sport becomes the sole focus and we overlook the broader physical development taking place, or not taking place, within the lesson.

Let's take basketball as an example.

A lesson focused on passing should certainly develop children's understanding and execution of passing. But we can also create opportunities to develop:

• Running and changing direction to move into space.

• Balancing and adjusting body position before receiving a pass.

• Catching at different heights and speeds.

• Throwing with different levels of force and accuracy.

• Tracking the movement of the ball and other players.

• Making decisions about when and where to pass.

The lesson is still "basketball". Children are still learning basketball.

But the learning is broader.

We are using the sport as a context through which children develop and apply a range of physical skills.

The same thinking can be applied across the curriculum.

Gymnastics can develop stability, balance and body control. Athletics can develop locomotor skills and object control. Dance can develop coordination, rhythm and spatial awareness. Invasion games can develop agility, movement into space and decision making.

We don't need to choose between teaching sport and developing movers. We need to make sure both are happening.

Fundamental movement skills belong in every PE lesson

I'm not suggesting that every PE lesson needs to become an isolated FMS session.

Nor am I suggesting that teachers need to explicitly teach every movement skill in every lesson.

What I am suggesting is that we become more deliberate about identifying the physical skills children are developing and providing regular opportunities to revisit and apply them.

For example, a gymnastics lesson might have a clear focus on balance, but that doesn't mean we should overlook the importance of moving between balances, controlling body position and developing coordination.

A games lesson might focus on attacking and defending, but we should still consider the locomotor and object control skills that allow children to participate successfully.

The key is to look beyond the activity title and understand the learning taking place within it.

Repetition doesn't mean repeating the same activity

Children need repeated opportunities to develop movement competence. However, that doesn't mean they need to repeat exactly the same activity every week.

We can provide variety through changes in:

• Space and direction.

• Speed and levels.

• Equipment and objects.

• Individual, partner and group challenges.

• Rules and movement restrictions.

• Environmental conditions.

For example, a jumping skill can be developed through jumping for distance, jumping for height, jumping over obstacles, jumping into spaces, combining jumps with other movements and exploring different ways to take off and land.

The underlying skill remains relevant, but the context and challenge change.

This allows children to build confidence while developing their ability to apply movement skills in different situations.

From fundamental movement skills to physical literacy

This is where the bigger picture becomes important.

Developing FMS is not simply about helping children become better at sport.

It contributes to the development of physical literacy, and general movement throghout life.

Physical literacy encompasses the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding that support an individual's engagement in physical activity throughout life.

It is about much more than whether a child can throw accurately or run quickly.

Do they feel confident trying something new? Can they adapt their movements to different situations? Do they understand how their bodies move? Do they enjoy being physically active? Do they feel capable of participating alongside others?

These are important questions when considering what we want children to take away from their Primary PE experience.

We want children to leave school with more than a collection of sporting experiences. We want them to have the confidence and competence to explore, enjoy and participate in movement throughout their lives. Such as being confident enough at 16 to join a gym, or a pilates class, become part of the local jui jitsu club or simply rent a badminton court with a friend or family member. Confidene and competence is just the start of a positive, active lifestyle. 

A challenge for Primary PE teachers

The next time you plan a unit of work, I would encourage you to look beyond the sport or activity title.

Ask yourself:

1. Which fundamental movement skills will children develop?

2. Are these skills being explicitly taught or simply assumed?

3. Where are the opportunities for repetition and progression?

4. How will children apply these skills in different contexts?

5. Are all children getting meaningful opportunities to develop their movement competence?

You might discover that you're already doing much of this.

But perhaps there are opportunities to be more intentional about it.

At PE Solutions, this is an area I'm particularly passionate about exploring through professional development, mentoring and conversations with many Primary PE professionals.

Because when we shift our thinking from simply teaching children different sports to developing confident, competent movers through a broad range of physical experiences, we open up a much bigger opportunity for learning.

Let's continue teaching sport. Let's make the most of the opportunities it provides. But let's never lose sight of the bigger picture: developing children who are confident, competent and motivated to move.

A question to consider

If you removed the names of the sports from your PE curriculum, could you clearly identify the fundamental movement skills your children are developing across the year?

And how deliberately are you using sport and other physical activities to help children apply those skills?

Perhaps that's a worthwhile place to start.