Year 6 PE Scheme of Work
In Year 6, pupils reach the highest level of their primary PE education. They are expected to perform, compose and evaluate across all areas of the curriculum with confidence, maturity and ambition. Pupils take leadership roles — officiating, coaching, planning warm-ups and choreographing dances — and begin to think like sports performers and artists.
The programme develops the competitive skills, physical fitness and collaborative character needed for secondary school PE and lifelong physical activity. Pupils reflect on their own development across their primary years and set goals for future participation in sport and physical activity.
Expected prior knowledge
- ✓Invasion game tactics and net and wall game skills from Y5
- ✓Advanced gymnastics sequences from Y5
- ✓Cultural dance choreography from Y5
- ✓Athletics competition and personal best recording from Y5
Units across the year
Six half-term units covering all strands of the KS2 PE programme of study.
Invasion Games
- –To apply advanced skills and tactics in full invasion game formats
- –To take leadership roles: captain, referee, coach
- –To evaluate team and individual performance and plan improvements
- –Sport-specific skill refinement in football, basketball or tag rugby
- –Pupils designing and leading a skills practice session
- –Full-sided competitive games with pupil referees
- –Video analysis: reviewing own game footage and discussing tactical decisions
- –Creating a written game plan for an inter-class match
Athletics: Performance and Competition
- –To compete in a range of athletic disciplines at their highest level of performance
- –To use warm-up, training and cool-down routines appropriate to athletics
- –To officiate accurately and support the performance of peers
- –Sprint and relay: baton exchange in a full relay team over 4 x 100m
- –High jump: consolidating Fosbury Flop approach for able pupils, scissors for all
- –Triple jump: hop, step and jump rhythm on the runway
- –Shot put and discus technique refinement
- –Whole-class athletics competition day with officiating roles for all pupils
Gymnastics: Composition
- –To compose and perform a complex gymnastics sequence as a group
- –To demonstrate clarity, control, fluency and expression in performance
- –To evaluate performances using detailed technical and aesthetic criteria
- –Group composition (3-4 pupils): assigning roles and planning a 16-action sequence
- –Including synchronised work, canon and contrast in the group routine
- –Full rehearsal on apparatus circuit with refinement between run-throughs
- –Formal performance to another class or parents
- –Written or verbal evaluation using technical and expressive criteria
Net and Wall Games
- –To compete in net and wall games at a high level of performance
- –To understand and apply advanced tactics including match management
- –To officiate confidently and accurately
- –Advanced techniques: slice, topspin and drop shot in tennis/badminton
- –Match play: managing pressure points, reading opponent's game
- –Doubles tactics: communication and court coverage
- –Tournament play: round-robin format with self-scoring and officiating
- –Post-match analysis: what tactical adjustments worked and why
Dance: Choreography
- –To choreograph an extended group dance with a clear artistic intention
- –To demonstrate expressive performance qualities in a public context
- –To evaluate choreography using aesthetic and structural criteria
- –Choosing a theme, stimulus and style for an original group dance
- –Choreographic devices: unison, canon, mirroring, levels and pathways
- –Full rehearsal and refinement across multiple sessions
- –Performing the finished piece to a wider school audience
- –Writing a choreographer's note explaining intentions and choices
Swimming: Consolidation
- –To swim competently over 25 metres in at least two recognised strokes
- –To perform safe self-rescue in a range of scenarios
- –To evaluate own swimming performance and set targets for future improvement
- –Assessed 25-metre swims in front crawl and backstroke
- –Improving breaststroke timing and efficiency
- –Survival swimming challenge: 100m continuous swim at sustainable pace
- –Self-rescue scenarios: jumping in, recovering a float and reaching the side
- –Peer mentoring: confident swimmers supporting developing swimmers with teacher supervision
Progression into KS3
At the transition to secondary school, pupils should be confident, physically literate performers who can participate in a wide range of activities, apply tactical thinking in competitive games, create and perform in gymnastics and dance, compete in athletics and support the safety and development of others in physical activity settings.
Individual lesson plans
Full lesson frameworks — learning objectives, vocabulary, lesson structure, and common misconceptions — for each unit in this scheme.
View all Year 6 PE lesson plans →