Ninja - National Curriculum Programme

Scheme of Work Overview

• Target Age: Primary School (Key Stage 1 & 2 / Ages 5–11, with progressions adapted)
•  Core Themes: Jumping & Landing, Safety Rolls, Fundamental Vaults, Inversions & Spins, and Linking Movements.
• Key Focus: Smoothness, body control, and self-preservation over speed or competitive distance.

Week 1: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

•  Introduction to Jumps and Landings
• Introduce standing vs. running take-offs.
• Explore 3 jumping shapes: straight, tuck, and pike.
• Establish "quiet/soft" landings to protect joints.
• Stretching: Focus on dynamic and isometric stretches for the ankles, quadriceps, and hip flexors.

Week 2: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Dispersing Impact & Intro to Safety Rolls
• Understand how to safely transition weight from feet to hands to disperse impact.
• Learn the prerequisites of a rolling breakfall.
• Stretching: Focus on the wrists, shoulders, and spine.

Week 3: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Introduction to Fundamental Vaults.
• Begin learning the Step-Through Vault and Chest Vault.
• Explore quadrupedal movement patterns balancing on 3 to 4 limbs.
• Stretching: Focus on the wrists, shoulders, and hip flexors.

Week 4: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Inversion & Introduction to Palm Spins
• Explore the feeling of inversion (being upside down) through handstand progressions.
• Begin working on prerequisites for palm spins (understanding rotation).
• Stretching: Focus heavily on wrists, shoulders, and core/spine.

Week 5: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Consolidation & Peer Feedback
• Refresh key skills from weeks 1–4 (2 take-offs, step-through, safety rolls).
• Use peer feedback to evaluate and improve technique.
• Stretching (Global Stretch): Briefly go through all previous stretches. Quiz the students to see how many muscle groups they can remember.

Week 6: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Linking movements & flow.
• Understand how to link different movement combinations smoothly.
• Use fundamental skills to overcome physical challenges and obstacles.
• Stretching: Global stretch focusing on matching the correct stretch to the corresponding muscle group.

Week 7: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Precision landings & plyometrics. 
• Develop precision landings (landing and sticking on specific targets/edges).
• Introduce continuous plyometric jumps (strides, bounds, continuous hops).
• Stretching: Focus heavily on the ankles, quadriceps, and hip flexors.

Week 8: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Advanced rolling & impact dispersion. 
• Increase competency and instinct with the full safety roll.
• Apply the safety roll dynamically to disperse impact from movement.
• Stretching: Focus on wrists, shoulders, and spine.

Week 9: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Vault connections, speed and lazy vaults.
• Reinforce technique and combine the step-through and chest vaults.
• Begin working on prerequisites for the *Speed Vault* and *Lazy Vault*.
• Stretching: Focus on wrists, shoulders, and hip mobility.

Week 10: Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

• Advanced Inversions & Palm Spins
• Deepen control during inversions (handstands).
• Consolidate palm spin progressions into complete movements.
• Stretching: Comprehensive stretch for wrists, shoulders, core, and spine.

Week 11: Lesson Structure

Aims and Objectives

• Refresh key skills from previous weeks (precision landings, continued momentum, speed/lazy vault, etc.)
• Revisit problem solving to see if results improve.
• Stretching: Global stretch, try to briefly go through the stretches used in previous weeks (can they remember which muscle groups each stretch goes with?).
• Dynamic, Active or Isometric stretching is ideal as it better simulates the way in which they will be using these muscle groups.

Week 12: Lesson Structure

Aims and Objectives

• Gain confidence in simple sequences with the aim of performing one to the class.
• Practice & Complete a sequence of, at least 3, more complex movements.
• Stretching: Global stretch, try to briefly go through the stretches used in previous weeks (can they remember which muscle groups each stretch goes with?).
• Notes: Dynamic, Active or Isometric stretching is ideal as it better simulates the way in which they will be using these muscle groups.