PE Uniform

[rachyrob]

DD is due to start year 9 in Sept and we've just had guidelines on the changes to the PE kit.

One thing that is bothering her is that there will be a requirement to do some indoor PE barefoot which is really bothering her.

Is it common for indoor PE at secondary school to be done with bare feet and is it unusual for teens to worry about that?

[kakapo]

we did indoor PE barefoot, i think dance and gymnastics (not too many years ago!). what is bothering your DD about it specifically? could you contact the school, find out why it's done barefoot and explain to your DD? She might come around if she's given a good reason - assuming there is one. If there's not, maybe the school will let people wear pumps?

[Gunfleetsands]

At DD's secondary school Dance and Gymnastics are done with bare feet (indoors). DD not bothered by the barefoot bit but has picked up verrucas and also rubbed a large blister.

Perhaps your DD is concerned about verrucas?

[rachyrob]

I did speak to her about this and the reply was she is "shy of her feet"

I do recall when I was a teen I was never keen on having to get my feet out in public - not sure how to tackle it!!

[DeWe]

I used to hate going barefoot, but it was standard for gym. Suggest send her in with a note saying that she has verrucas or some sort of contageous fungal infection and get some ballet shoes that she can wear. I don't think they'd have problems with ballet shoes. Pumps are a problem if others are bare foot as they're firm. If you're buying ballet shoes then you get about 2 sizes bigger than your standard shoes size.
When she sees everyone else is barefoot then she'll probably be fine about it.

[rachyrob]

I think she is just being a teenager tbh!!!!

I'm not sure I want to encourage her to break the rules, just comply with them!
I agree that once she sees the rest of her class barefoot it will be easier for her - we did dance and gym barefoot at school and I wasn't too keen but once you see it is the norm you are not so bothered

[LauraClin]

Writing as a PE teacher, I would have expected that the school demanded bare feet for gym and dance before now. But it clearly is an issue for your daughter; perhaps talk to her about it being very common, and the fact that her classmates will all be busy doing their exercises and will not be looking at her feet! Does she do PE in mixed or single sex lessons - sometimes girls are more sensitive about appearance etc in front of boys.

[LauraClin]

Also meant to ask if she has no experience of PE in bare feet before, for example at primary school?

[LauraClin]

Just bumping this. Have you spoken to your daughter, rachyrob?

[dramafluff]

I have to say my approach would be a shrug of the shoulders and 'I understand darling, but that's the way it is - oh dear, there's nothing I can do'.

[LauraClin]

Good point! After all, there are far worse things that can happen than having to take off your shoes and tights for an hour!

[marriedinwhite]

I think the responses have been very dismissive. I had to do PE barefoot at sccondary school (because of the quality of the wooden floor); I hadn't at primary. I am now 50 years old and have some perspective. The reason I hated it was because I have very sensitive feet; there is no way I can walk on a pebble or a shingly beach. Actually, it used to hurt and there was certainly no way I could have balanced on a narrow bar or climbed a rope without plimsoles on. LauraClin, your attitude to this sums up my experience of PE teachers - complete lack of understanding for any child who may not fit your view or be able to do sport.

Please provide the reasons why it is mandatory to do PE barefoot and why you think schools should demand it. I thought things had moved on a bit but since my DD went to secondary school they clearly haven't.

[marriedinwhite]

OP should have said, I really feel for your daughter over this and if it will prevent her from doing her best in mandatory PE lessons then I think she should be allowed to wear plimsoles; rather like a dyslexic child is allowed to have adjustments to help them achieve.

I am generally quite robust in my attitude to compliance with teachers but looking back on my experiences of PE and the people who teach it (and dd has one similar right now) it needs to move on a lot further than it has to cater for the non sporty and gung ho brigade.

[heronsfly]

My dd has got foot thongs for her dance classes, and she wears them in the gym at school, they are flesh coloured and can hardly be seen.

[LauraClin]

I think if there are geneuine medical or emotional issues with doing PE in bare feet, then of course these should be taken account of. From the OP's information though it would appear not th=o be the case here.

In terms of why schools require bare feet, it is principally for safety. When doing gymnastics and using apparatus, having nothing on the feet allows increases precision and "feel" for the apparatus; slipping is reduced; and on landing, weight is not thrown forward as tends to happen with trainers and plimsolls.

[marriedinwhite]

So it's safer and more hygienic then to pick up verrucas, step on a pin, etc. I can see why the really talented girls should do it barefoot; for the other 90% it seems a no brainer to me. Just another way of roughty toughty PE types making everyone try to do things their bodies frankly don't do. Can you imagine what the average PE teacher would say if a child or young teenager told her their feet were very sensitive - I wouldn't have dared and neither would dd. I can hear the response right now.

[LauraClin]

Bare feet actually make gymnastics and dance easier though! There are no drawing pins etc in my gym - if there is a risk in other school gyms then of course shoes should be worn.

Can I ask whether your daughter does gym in bare feet?

[marriedinwhite]

And it doesn't cause emotional issues to be called names by PE teachers when you can't do PE then: I was called a "div", dd (this year) has been called a "muppet". PE moved on - moved on my backside. Just imagine what would happen if a maths teacher did that to a child with discalculia or an English teacher to a child with dyslexia.

[LauraClin]

That is clearly wrong and indefensible. I encourage and coach all my girls and help yhem do their best, whether they are county gymnasts or simply able to do a forward roll. Whether they have anything on their feet is not related to this though.

[marriedinwhite]

My daughter does do gym in bare feet. It isn't so much an issue for her as it was for me because she doesn't have the same level of sensitivity in the soles of her feet. The similarity is that neither of us can do PE, both are un co-ordinated (can't hit a ball) and neither of us are flexible or can run fast; we can't dance well either. That is in spite of being slim and active and very fit and able to ride and sail and cycle and walk long distances. The fact is PE in schools is exceptionally limited and run by people who can do all of those things and do not understand that others can't and seem to think they can be very demeaning towards those who can't because to them it is a mystery as to why otherwise fit and active people cannot do gym, ball games and the things on offer in schools.

My school days would have been much happier without mandatory PE and so would dd's. We have both suffered the incessant giggling from others and the name calling by adult PE teachers frankly does not help.

[bigTillyMint]

PE lessons are fraught with difficulties in meeting the needs of all children. Clearly for some talented sporty-types they are almost completely unchallenging, but for others are clearly a huge challenge for whatever reason.

At my friends school, the children are streamed for PE (first time I have heard of this) and her non-sporty son loves the lessons, whilst her sporty son also loves his lessons. Could this be the way forward?

[LauraClin]

It seems to me that the problem is a poor PE teacher rather than PE per se, or bare feet, or PE kits. I had a very poor art teacher, who wa sinterested only in the talented artists; that does not make art an invalid subject though. Teachers should encourage and work with all their pupils; I hope I do that.

[LauraClin]

PE certainly presents a unique set of challenges. Ability levels are clearly highlighted and can cause uncertaibty and worry; changing rooms and showers worry some children, and having to wear relatively skimpy clothing, and pehaps have bare feet, all create fears and worry.

[marriedinwhite]

If you understand the problems LauraClin I am stymied by your comments above:

" But it clearly is an issue for your daughter; perhaps talk to her about it being very common, and the fact that her classmates will all be busy doing their exercises and will not be looking at her feet!

"there are far worse things that can happen than having to take off your shoes and tights for an hour!"

Not very empathetic or understanding are they? Not sure where there is a recognition of the fact that the issue may be very important for a teenage girl even if it is blown out of proportion. That girl may be spending nights awake worrying about it. I know I did when I felt I was the only girl who had nothing to put in a bra and the "humiliation" of a changing room was as bad as the humiliation in the lessons.

At 16 I got a scholarship to a boys public school and accepted it on the basis that I would never ever have to participate in another PE or games lesson. My engagement with education and enjoyment of school increased a hundred fold for that very reason. The other "hobby" subjects such as art, music, D&T, are not mandatory after Y9. Why should PE be mandatory after that point?

[LauraClin]

Marriedinwhite, I really don't think will convince you of the validity of the subject, or of how most of my colleagues conduct their lessons, especially in light of your comments on another thread. You clearly had a problem with PE, and it would seem this hatred is shared by your daughter. I am pleased that others here do see the merit of PE though.