Mixed Sex changing for PE

[Partyfops]

I have googled and not found a definitive answer.

Are there rules on this please. My daughter is in year 3 and says she has to change in the same classroom as the boys.

The reason I feel odd about it is not because I believe any of the boys pose and risk or danger, but over the next year or 2 she will start to reach puberty and maybe feel a little self conscious.

Separate from Y5 in my dds’ school. They had some building work done anyway, and as part of that repurposed a small classroom as a cloakroom for Y5 and Y6, and the girls change in there. Didn’t stop dd getting teased about not wearing a crop top, though, as it was girls doing that...

Think yourself lucky because in my DD’s school the boys stayed in the classroom whilst the girls got changed in the corridor because the girls were ‘more trustworthy.’ So they were on view to three other classes, staff off all varieties and all the kids with their teaching assistants doing their reading in the corridor. Year 5 that was. It only happened once.

I and another girl had started developing breasts in year 3, we had mixed sex changing in the classroom. The boys kept trying to get a look which was very distressing. In the end, all the other girls formed a circle round us whilst we changed. Teachers did nothing about it. In year 4, we used the cloakrooms instead. That was 35 years ago. Why has nothing changed?

According to this School Premises Regulations 2012 it's 11. Seems strange that toilets have to be single sex from age 8 but changing is fine until age 11.

Yr4 onward at my kids school but I know girls in yr3 who requested to change in the toilets and were allowed due to early development.

DD has just started y4 and they are now changing separately. I'm glad.

A boy made a comment while she was changing at the end of last year that the teacher heard and made me aware of but that DD didn't seem to hear.

Reception to year 2 I think is fine but y3 onwards should be separate.

Totally normal to have mixes changing at that age, usually changes in Year 4 or 5.

When I was at school it was mixed sex changing until secondary school. The same went for my DCs primary and it is the same in the schools I have worked in.

The problem is.... where do they get changed if you want to separate them? The toilets in our KS2 corridor has four cubicles, certainly not room for 15 (assuming a 50:50 gender ratio) girls to all get changed. Plus you have supervision issues. My school was built in the 70s and extended in the early naughties but there aren’t any changing rooms....

Over on the Feninism board they would recommend you googled the potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act at this point.
This Act is probably changing and is up for consultation right now. Groups like Action For Trans Health have been lobbying hard for change. Google their manifesto. This could impact the privacy your boys and girls get during puberty.

What age is year 3?

In Scotland we changed together until we were 8 I think.

Year 3 is equal to P4 but averaging 6mths younger.

So at the start of the year the youngest will be 7 and by the end of the year the oldest will 8 coming up on 8.

Sorry that should read 8 coming up on 9.

So at the start of the year the youngest will be 7 and by the end of the year the oldest will 8 coming up on 8.

Thanks! I can never read these threads in the right context when 'year 3' or 'year 5' etc are mentioned.

@legocardsagain You started your period and wore a bra at age 7? I was 9 (nearly 10) and I've never met anyone who started earlier than that.

I teach year 4 and they separate- boys in class, girls in cloakroom (not in a corridor, a separate room). The children prefer to be separate, and I think their preference should be respected. On a personal level I wouldn't be bothered if my own children were separated at that age or not.

Kaytee took me ages to get my head around it.
Their years go Reception = P1; Yr 1 = P2; .....Yr 6 = P7
Yr 7 = 1st Year etc

Englands cut of date is 31st Aug rather than 28 Feb so on average the kids are 6mths younger than Scottish kids. Starting school our youngest are 4.5 winter born are youngest. English youngest are just 4 and summer born.

In my school they split at Y4 into boys & girls separately changing. Y3 are together I think.

DD just gone into y4 and they no longer change together

I know that a few girls last year had started periods in y4 so this brought about the need to separate.

At DD’s non uniform school you go in wearing PE kit (the only bit of uniform there is) and wear it all day, so no getting changed in the classroom. Seems the most sensible to me.

Girls can start puberty quite young these days (I know at least one girl who did in year 4) so I think year 5 or 6 is leaving it too late.

This will all be redundant when the GRA is reformed. Girls will be expected to put up and shut up.