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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu to expect my child to actually do sport during a PE lesson?

29 replies

FootballOnAgain · 06/01/2026 18:50

My child missed 2 years of school due to EBSA and disability issues. He has worked very hard to get back into school, and the school have been very supportive. He is in secondary school and has been back full time since September, but he wasn’t doing PE lessons. I was so please that before Xmas he said he’d like to join PE after the break and today was his first lesson - he was excited about it.

He came home very deflated - they had played a team game and he had been made to sit on the bench for the whole lesson - along with one other boy. This was not at all his choice.

AIBU to expect that PE lessons are about getting kids active, not just about competition and leaving out the weakest students? I’m really disappointed and I feel like speaking to the school about it - I have a great relationship with them and would of course raise it in the most polite way to ask if this is standard and let them know that he was sad about it. WIBU to do this? Or is this just normal practice and he and I should suck it up?

OP posts:
Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 06/01/2026 19:01

That lesson would fail an Ofsted/SLT observation. Every pupil has to be involved and active, unless there's an injury in which case they would be the designated scorer, umpire etc. I'd have a word as it could put your DS off for a long time.

CosyDenimShark · 06/01/2026 19:01

I agree too, but I also think I'd see how the next few lessons go before approaching the school. Maybe they thought they'd show him the game before joining in next time?

You would think they would be encouraging exercise really. But then my DS came home with this terms PE options today & one is Esports. I questioned what it is and its virtual golf on a headset!

bloodredfeaturewall · 06/01/2026 18:59

yanbu
dc school in uk had two periods of pe every other week. no wonder there is an obesity issue...

titchy · 06/01/2026 18:53

Agree - but maybe see how the next few lessons go before contacting school. A pattern of excluding certain children can’t be ascertained from one data point.

As an aside - PE doesn’t have to mean sport. Trampolining, cross-trainer sessions, dance etc all count as healthy physical exercise and should be included.