Fundamental Movement Skills — Year 1 Lesson Plan
National Curriculum: PE KS1 — master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching; develop balance, agility and co-ordination
Overview
Pupils develop fundamental movement skills — running, jumping, balancing, and throwing — that underpin all physical activity. Sessions focus on enjoyment, body awareness, and building confidence in movement through games and individual challenges.
Learning Objectives
- Travel in different ways, changing speed and direction with increasing control.
- Balance on different body parts, holding a still shape for three seconds.
- Jump in different ways, using arms to assist take-off and absorb landing.
- Throw and catch a large ball with a partner using an underarm action.
Key Vocabulary
Suggested Lesson Structure
Follow-my-leader around the hall — change the movement every 20 seconds: walking, skipping, hopping, side-stepping. Pupils copy the leader. Finish with joint mobility: wrists circles, knee bends, ankle rolls. Establish that warming up prepares our muscles and joints.
Set up four balance challenges: stand on one leg for 3 seconds; balance on one leg with eyes closed; make a symmetrical shape with a partner; balance on three body parts. Pupils rotate through the challenges, counting to three before moving on.
Jumping challenges: jump as far as you can from a standing position; jump as high as you can; jump and land as quietly as possible; jump and turn 90° in the air. Teach the soft landing: bend your knees, land on balls of feet. Emphasise arms: swinging arms forward helps take-off.
With a large foam ball and a partner, start close together and take one step back each time they catch successfully. Underarm throwing technique: non-throwing hand points to partner, step forward with opposite foot. Count successful catches — can they beat their score?
Slow walk in a circle, shaking out limbs. Gentle stretches: hamstring, shoulder, calf. Ask: which skill was hardest? What would help you improve? Reinforce that practice makes movement feel easier and more natural.
Common Misconceptions
- Jumping hard gives you more height — it is about the whole body movement: bending knees, swinging arms, and pushing up from the balls of the feet.
- Balancing means staying perfectly still — micro-adjustments are constantly happening; being 'still enough' is the goal, not total rigidity.
Prior Knowledge
Pupils should already be able to:
- EYFS: broad physical development; exploration of movement.
- Basic spatial awareness — not bumping into others.
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