Physical development includes both growth and the ability to use muscles and body parts for particular skills. Both gross (large muscle movements) and fine (small movements) motor skills contribute to physical development, and children often learn a set of skills by a certain age.
Physical development experiences and activities are crucial in the Early Years and are cited as one of the three prime areas of learning and development in the EYFS. The curriculum states that early education programmes should, "provide opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food."
We encourage our children to be active each day and expect them to explore the local area by foot and to go on trips that involve lots of walking!
At Belmont Infant School we ensure our children get outside to climb, run, jump and play. All classes have a weekly P.E. session with a specialist coach or their class teacher. Sessions are tailored to meet the class and age group's needs. For example in Nursery we work with small groups to build gross and fine motor skills, and as children move through the school they learn more specific skills such as kicking, throwing and balancing. Children have the opportunity to apply these skills in different games.
The children also have the opportunity to attend (at a small cost) multisport and football clubs which are held after school.
At Belmont Infants we run the Daily Mile in Belmont Rec each Wednesday. We encourage our children to keep moving and celebrate those who participate. In October 2022 we participated in a Mini-Marathon - many of our children ran at least a half marathon although the expectation is only one mile in the month!