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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

PE always being dropped

21 replies

PseudoBadger · 08/05/2018 21:07

Child in year 2. In the first half of spring term PE was dropped as the class had to rehearse their school assembly. Then they had it piecemeal for the rest of the term.
Now this term it has been dropped as “there is too much to fit in now it’s nearly SATs and we just can’t get it all done”.
Does this happen in any other school?

OP posts:

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penguinsandpanda · 08/05/2018 21:29

DS in y6 and yes PE is getting dropped for SATS but DD y7 said end of y6 is pretty much all PE. There has been a lot of muttering about it in our house by DS.

trinity0097 · 08/05/2018 21:57

Our children have sport every day, 35min a day in Rec and KS1 and an hour in KS2 and 3 - without fail, unless on a school trip. But that’s what our parents pay for in a private school.

BringOnTheScience · 08/05/2018 23:09

When I was full-time teaching: yep! PE got dropped plenty of times. There's so much pressure on maths, English and reading that they come first.

Then science. Then history & geography (aka 'topic'). RE is high up only if it's a faith school. MFL or music get done if there's an external tutor bought in. Leave art to the TA during PPA.

If it's not on the SATS then it gets squeezed out

Lifechallenges · 08/05/2018 23:35

That’s why I’d pay to go private if I could

penguinsandpanda · 08/05/2018 23:38

We used to go to David Lloyds three times a week after school, about 30 a month for kids and gave us 3 hours of sport a week. I don't like PE being cancelled for SATS though, kids need exercise and a break from cramming.

Tronkmanton · 08/05/2018 23:56

Yep it’s ridiculous. One half term my DS’s PE kit came home completely unused because of ‘play practice’. Both my DC love it now at secondary school where PE can’t be dropped. My DS particularly struggled with no PE. Why on earth it is not law to have two hours a week PE at primary I do not know. I’m pretty sure it’s a big contributor to childhood obesity and mental health issues. Hopefully with all the publicity about these issues at the moment something will be done. Ooh I feel a letter to my MP coming on

IDefinitelyWould · 08/05/2018 23:59

I love our school. The children get at least one pe session a day and quite often have classroom breaks to do yoga or dancing or stretching. The teachers believe in getting the wiggles out! They also don't do SATS (not UK) so that's another positive :-)

LetItGoToRuin · 09/05/2018 08:55

This often happens in DD’s school too. While it’s not ideal, schools are under so much pressure on time and space that it’s no great surprise that some subjects (that are easily supplemented at home) get pushed out from time to time. I just make sure my DD gets sufficient exercise outside school time, in her case being dancing during the week and a parkrun (5km run) on Saturdays.

suitcaseofdreams · 09/05/2018 13:21

Much to their disappointment (hates PE) mine have PE every week twice a week without fail...primary school, they are in Yr 2
School employs dedicated PE teacher and takes it all pretty seriously
They seem to find time to fit in all the other subjects and SATS too....

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 09/05/2018 13:26

No PE has been dropped for yr2 SATs this year, or when DD was in yr2. One PE lesson swapped days, that might have been to do with SATs, DS2 wasn't really sure what it was for.

reluctantbrit · 09/05/2018 13:39

DD, Y6, would prefer to have no PE in Summer as they do tennis and cricket, DD and a ball don’t go together, she is miserable.

But in general PE is on every time, even when it was snowy and the external rugby coach decided passing and throwing snowballs is as good practice as using rugby balls. PE kit came home soaked though.

After half term they switch to athletics in preparation for sports day.

The school has several sport clubs, employs external coaches and is high in the borough’s list for inter school winners.

montenotte · 14/05/2018 08:48

yes!
my ds jokes that the monday pe lesson on the timetable is "for ofsted only" they do it once in a bluemoon.

PseudoBadger · 14/05/2018 11:53

Thanks for comments, interesting mix of school approaches!

OP posts:

BubblesBuddy · 14/05/2018 15:57

Where I am a governor, we never drop PE!!. We do competitive matches and the children would hate not doing PE. (Well a few might be glad!!). It is vital to have time out of SATS prep. Some schools are just poor schools and do not value an all-round education as they should. However, after SATS they should go all out for sports day!

Mine went to private school and they did not do sport every day. They did longer sessions twice a week andwere taught by specialist PE teachers. 35 minutes is hardly worth the effort of getting changed. Neither did I pay for sport every day. It was a bit more nuanced than that!

montenotte · 14/05/2018 17:21

Where I am a governor, we never drop PE!

Really? Do you know that as fact. I'm sure the governors at ds's school have no inkling the monday PE lesson very rarely happens. There's always some reason...

BubblesBuddy · 14/05/2018 17:30

We get subject reports from teachers and have an overview of the curriculum. We visit the school and have a governor attached to PE as a subject. It is a school that prides itself on PE. I did, however, mean in the run up to SATS. It is seen as important to keep PE in the curriculum as a necessary break from SATS and we do not do it on a Monay morning either. I am confident it is not dropped.

ifIonlyknew · 14/05/2018 20:02

our school does way too much sport according to my sport hating children

LockedOutOfMN · 14/05/2018 20:04

OP, that's really sad. If I were you I would write to the school expressing your concerns.

KingFlamingo · 14/05/2018 22:00

I worked in a state school where there was SO much pressure and need to get maths and English levels up. But PE was protected. Children could not miss it - it is a legal requirement and so important for health. The head was keen to squeeze in as much maths and english everywhere else but not in PE.
I'd be writing in about this. It is so sad.

Notenoughtime123 · 14/05/2018 22:05

I'm shocked its so common to drop PE, if anything the children need more access to PE during times of stress. Performance would probably improve as it would hopefully reduce stress in pupils.

Pythonesque · 14/05/2018 23:21

My most intense academic experience ever was when I was 16. A 2 week physics camp. Between every session there was compulsory physical activity - ie 3 or 4 times a day.

It is true that physical activity will help learning. At year 2 level fitting PE in should be beneficial to SATS not the other way around!

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