Learning Map Where we’re up to

When I grow up…

I want to play sport for a living

Your child lives for sport. Here's what a life in it is made of, on and off the field.

Ages are guides, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home → · See it on the map →

What this is, really

A paid athlete plays their sport for a living. The playing itself is practised on the field, not on this map. But a lot of what carries an athlete far does live here: their body, their numbers, their team, and how they handle a loss.

The seeds are already on the map

24 real skills your child can already meet at primary school, grouped into 5 strands. Every one links to its full page.

ScienceMathematicsPersonal & Social DevelopmentLearning to Learn

Your body in motion

How muscles, heart, and lungs work — and what keeps them strong.

Bones & Muscles How Muscles Move Bones The Heart & Blood Circulation & Breathing Together Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle Basic Body Needs

Measuring and improving

Timing, counting, and charting your progress to get a little better.

Measuring & Plotting Lengths Telling time to the minute Picture & Bar Graphs Calculating the Mean Line graphs

Teamwork and handling losing

Playing well with others, and bouncing back when you lose.

Taking Turns and Sharing Working Well in a Group Resolving Disagreements with Friends Positive Self-Talk Resilience and Bouncing Back

Sticking with practice

What carries you furthest: keep going, learn from mistakes, try new ways.

Persisting When It's Hard Growth Mindset Learning from Mistakes Trying a New Approach Time and Attention Management

Rules, fairness and goals

Playing fair, and setting a goal you can work towards.

Rules and agreements exist Ethics in Real-World Issues Personal Goal-Setting

See all 24 seeds lit up on the map →

What it looks like at each age

Ages 4–5 · preschool

Your child runs, throws, and climbs for the joy of it. Loving to move is the real foundation.

Ages 5–7 · F–Year 1

They take turns, learn the rules of a game, and start to keep going when it's hard.

Ages 8–10 · Years 3–5

They can time and chart their own progress, and handle winning and losing a bit more calmly.

Ages 11–12 · Year 6

They can set a goal, stick to practice, and understand how their body works.

Try this together

Free, low-key, and doable tonight — no special supplies.

Time a short run or count keepy-uppies today. Write it down and try to beat it next week.

After a game, name one thing that went well and one thing to work on — no matter the score.

Feel your heartbeat before and after running. Talk about why the body speeds up.

Set one small sport goal together and make a simple chart to colour in each time they practise.

After primary school

Here is the honest part: most children who love sport won't play it for a living, and that is completely okay. High school offers PE and pathways into coaching, sports science, physio, and health. And every seed above — a strong body, teamwork, bouncing back — pays off in any life at all.

The quiet truth

About 62% of what a sportsperson needs at primary school also lives inside other dreams on this site — reading well, a feel for numbers, noticing patterns, and sticking with hard things. Dreams change: that is the point of being seven. Nothing your child learns here is wasted.

Why every dream shares the same seeds →

This page is a map, not a plan. It shows what a dream is made of at primary school — it does not say your child will or won't do this one day, and it measures nothing about them. Explore it together, follow what they love, and let the dream change as often as they like. Learning Map original · CC BY-SA 4.0