Do your children get changed for PE at school or do they go in their PE kit on PE days?

[insancerre]

I work in a nursery and have recently asked parents to send in a PE kit so that the children going to school in September can practise getting dressed and undressed for PE.
Most have done this and it is going very well- the children love it as they feel quite special and it is helping them learn an important life skill.
One of the parents made a comment about how schools in the next LEA ask the children to come into school already in their PE kit.
The school that we feed doesn't do this and I just wondered how widespread and common it is to not get changed at school.

Is this a safeguarding issue?
Are schools really worried that getting changed is an inappropriate activity for school?
Is it because boys and girls are together? And does it really matter at primary?
What about in the winter? It must be cold wearing PE kit

Any thoughts?

[SandStorm]

All our year groups do PE in the afternoon so it really wouldn't be practical to come to school in PE kit.

[mikkii]

I have children in y4 and y1. The only times they wear PE kit for more than just a PE lesson is sports day, and one seaside trip where they ask for them to wear PE kit as they will be paddling and playing in the sand. Oh, and also if the little ones wet themselves they put on track suit bottoms

[Movingtimes]

In all the schools that I am aware of children change at school. Teaching them to change in and out of it is part of the process and I think it is fab you are getting them started on this at nursery. I can't see how there is a safeguarding issue. IME boys and girls tend to change in the classroom together until about Year 4 and then they organise separate changing.

[christinarossetti]

I've never heard of this. Thankfully, our school doesn't do the whole getting changed for PE until after Christmas, so it's one less things for new reception starters and their parents to stress about.

[adogforme]

DD's school have a gym uniform. On gym day they wear their polo shirt instead of shirt and tie. It's a time management thing rather than anything else.

[PoppyWearer]

Ours go in football/outdoor sports kit (track suit/jogging pants) on days when there is football etc and also in track suits with swimming kit underneath on swimming days. I think it's just to save time. They certainly all get completely changed together after swimming, boys and girls together.

They do get changed into indoors PE kit at school, but AFAIK they often don't get completely changed and sometimes just put on their plimsolls tries to overcome urge to use the word "daps".

[insancerre]

That would make sense then, as it does take a long time to get changed.
I hadn't actually thought of that.

[SavoyCabbage]

We live in Australia and I sent a PE kit in with dd on the first day only to find a group of teachers huddled around it wondering what it was.

Here, they go in their PE clothes. It is annoying as if the timetable changes dd ends up doing PE in startrite Louisas and a pinafore.

[noramum]

DD gets changed at school. Only at the end of Summer term and when the weather allows she goes home in the kit instead of changing bag into the uniform.

As the PE kit means T-Shirt and shorts it would be far too cold for most of the year if she would wear it all the time.

When she moves to juniors and has a sports club in the morning than they come in PE kit and change before the lesson starts.

[hatsybatsy]

here the younger kids (reception-Y2) go in in PE kit if the PE lesson is the morning. They then change into their uniform after PE. And if PE is in the afternoon, they come home in PE kit. Purely to save time - in a 45 minute lesson, if you've got a room full of 5 year olds, getting changed twice, there's no time left to run around!

[ReadytoOrderSir]

I've never before heard of a primary having pupils in PE kit all day! My own DCs and the schools I've taught in (4 so far) all get changed for PE during the day.

In one of my schools the staff were in their PE kit all day. In the others we got/get changed at lunchtime as required.

I've always used a stopwatch on the whiteboard and house points / merit marks to promote speedy changing. My current class have changing down to 3 mins 32 secs :-)

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Ours get changed at school, makes life much easier for the parents as we don't have to send them in in different things on different days, PE kit only comes home for washing half termly too. I can see that the time saving aspect of it would be a factor though, sometimes I have picked up DD from after school sports clubs and she takes AGES to get changed back into her uniform.

They start changing in separate rooms for boys and girls in Yr 5.

[ipadquietly]

We're thinking of this because cloakroom space is so limited and we would love to reduce lost property!
Hear it's common practice in Ireland?

[ThisIsMummyPig]

Ours get changed at school.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Ours get changed from Yr1 - Nursery and Reception pretty much wear PE kit (polo shirt and joggers) anyway so don't do anything other than change shoes for plimsolls.

[MirandaWest]

DC both get changed at school (year 2 and year 4). Not sure when there starts being separate changing.

[Annanon]

Our school do this. Sports three days a week, nursery - Y2. Children go in wearing school tracksuits/Shorts & polo shirts on these days, purely from a time management perspective.

[LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops]

Mine gets changed at school and has done so since YrR

[ShadeofViolet]

DS (Y1) sometimes comes home from school in his kit if they dont have time to change, But I have never sent him to school in it.

[OldBeanbagz]

My DC have always changed at school except when it Sports Day and then they're asked to go in their kits.

The boys & girls get changed together in the classroom until Y2, then they're split after that.

[Frikadellen]

Ours get changed at school. However I cant help but wonder about this. they come in PE clothes and then stay in the stuff they got all sweaty in all day??

[Missymoomum]

My 2 (Yr1 and Yr2) go to a British school abroad and they both go to school in their PE kit and stay in it all day. Nothing to do with safeguarding, it's simply to save time. They have swimming on a separate day and wear normal uniform get changed at school with no problem. They don't get that sweaty as they're only 5 & 6! From Yr3 onwards they have to bring their PE kits in to school and get changed there.