Do you think I should complain to the school about this.

[petetong]

I sent my ds to school today, he has a cold, but other than a sore throat and cough on exertion he can cope with the day and felt well enough to go. I gave him a letter to excuse him from PE, but the PE teacher made him participate and said that he shouldn't be at school if he isn't well. I am very angry, but am not sure if I am over reacting.

[mrsruffallo]

Unless he is asthmatic I think the teacher was right

[scienceteacher]

It's amazing how many parents give out off-games notices. I think the school has to be pretty sceptical, tbh.

Is there a reason why a cold in itself should prevent a child from doing PE? If he is iller than a normal cold, then he probably is to sick for school.

[scienceteacher]

It's amazing how many parents give out off-games notices. I think the school has to be pretty sceptical, tbh.

Is there a reason why a cold in itself should prevent a child from doing PE? If he is iller than a normal cold, then he probably is to sick for school.

[petetong]

He loves doing games and he loves going to school. I don't write notes willy nilly, he has a cough which is bad on exertion. For both his sake and other students, I didn't want him coughing and spluttering over everybody. I'm annoyed because, regardless of anything else, I would have thought that it might be judged that, as his parent, I am perfectly capable of deciding if he is well enough to attend school and partake in PE lessons.

[seeker]

Why on earth shouldn't he do PE if he's got a cold?

[ladycornyofsilke]

Teacher was right.

[scienceteacher]

I guess his teachers don't share your opinion. They obviously feel that a student who is in school and looking OK is well enough to access the full curriculum.

[seeker]

Be very careful how you complain - if you do. Your ds has to be at that school til he's 18 - and the apectre of being one of the ones whose Mum Writes Notes will hang over him all that time. My dd is in year 8 - and they have already sussed the ones who get notes excusing them from things - and aren't particularly sympathetic!

[littleducks]

oh god, i remember my pe teacher telling me exercise was good for menstrual cramps, as i was doubling over in pain when i was supposed to be playing hockey the b*ch, believe me i know my body..... it isnt, it want until i laboured i realised that i actually get contractions not just period pains

i think it is unfair to force a chhild to do something that you as an adult wouldnt, i think you can be well enough to get on with day to day life taking it easy at times but not

[ladycornyofsilke]

A child who isn't well enough to do PE due to a virus shouldn't be in school.

[robinpud]

PE is part of the curriculum. Would you expect him to be exused from maths or english?

He's either well enough to be at school or not.

gov allows 5% as absence for any reason.

By all means complain, but I think you have not a leg to stand on.

[janeite]

Most schools will have something written somewhere, or commonly believed, that says, on the whole, if a child is okay to be at school it is okay to do PE. Obviously there are exceptions to this but a cold wouldn't be deemed to be an exception. I think you'd be over-reacting if you complained tbh.

[TheFallenMadonna]

Gawd, PE excuse notes. Honestly, if you saw the sheer volume of these in some schools, you'd understand the teacher's POV IMO.

[petetong]

Robinpud, as I have said, he has a cough on exertion. I don't remember ever being asked to exert myself during Maths or English lessons. Ofsted judges schools on attendance and I would have thought that they would have been grateful that he was there for an attendance mark.

[robinpud]

It isn't always as straightforward as that though is it? For instance if a child arrives at school with a note from parent excusing them from swimming for instance, we have to find somewhere for said child to go whilst we take the class swimming as we can't supervise them safely at pool and teach swimming. So, we have to find another class where that child can be safely supervised. As all classes swim, and times overlap, it can mean sending a non swimming year 1 child to a year 6 class for the time needed. Not ideal. We also need to set work to be done etc etc. Imo parents should ensure children are fit to be at school and do everything that is expected of them that day. You would also be surprised by the number of notes parents send explaining child cannot do x and y due to cough on exertion, then said child is able to play noisy, energetic game of football at playtimes quite happily.

[robinpud]

I take it the note stressed the need to walk slowly at all time to avoid exertion?