DD and PE lessons in secondary school

[xsquared]

DD has just started secondary school and is enjoying it so far except for PE.

She's never been particular good at team games but she is active in other ways like water sports and dance. Yesterday however, she was upset because she spent a lot of the lesson being ignored by her team mates and at the end of the game got blamed because they didn't win.

I hated PE too but it wasn't so bad by the time I got to secondary school.

I want to encourage her, not only to keep trying with PE but also to stand up for herself when she gets these sort of comments. Her db has also tried to talk to her about not letting others see her upset but she doesn't want to talk about it.

She's only in year 7 and she's got 5 years of this. How does your dc cope with PE if they hate it?

TIA

The teacher ought to stop that kind of behaviour by her class mates.
But speaking from the point of view of the worst basketball player my school ever produced - they probably won't.

Is there a particular sport she does like that she could do outside of school to build on team work skills?
May help her learn how to cope with different situations in PE.

I think a certain element of having an attitude of just getting through it helps. Sometimes I find that children who don't like PE don't even try and actively avoid the ball etc so I would encourage her to listen well and try to improve even if progress is slow. I would suggest some family sport and practice in the garden. I also remember very confident girls getting cross with me in pe and not standing up to them. Perhaps finding someone with common ground. We used to laugh at how ott they were about yr9 pe or whatever (not to their face - too scared)

I would look into her taking on some kind of sport outside of school to build her confidence. There are so many different things she could do. Is she fit or unfit?

Thanks for your thoughts so far.

Dd does a lot of scouting activities and is good at canoeing and kayaking. She does ballet and modern dance too, so she's not exactly unfit.

Prokup, I also think thenPE teacher should say something about this behaviour but have no idea where he/she would have been.

Dd is academic and good at everything else, but I think she's a people pleaser and said she didn't want to say anything in case her teammates got nasty. :(

I am a PE teacher (primary) and a parent of 3 children, 1 who has just started year 7 herself. It is a little concerning that many people are advising you to get your daughter to play sports outside of school instead of getting her to play on school. As a parent speaking, I would speak to the PE teacher and find out what their views are on what the children should be achieving. Are they just interested in the outcome of winning. Are they using different life skills on their lessons, such as personal, social and physical skills that can help the child in a more holistic way. The children who blamed your daughter for losing are the children that need the most help. I work with many children who are not necessarily the greatest at certain sports but if they can gain social skills and develop fundamental movement they are winning!

I was like your daughter, I hated it so much I used to make myself sick the lesson before so I could sit in the medical room.
My DD is year 5 she already feels awful about PE, I have worked on it by encouraging her to join PE clubs at school to try and improve her skills, she practices skills with her dad. She still drops about half the balls thrown at her but I am hoping she is more confident by the time she gets to secondary. Her big brother already at secondary is very sporty so I fear that the PE staff will expect more of her than she has to give.
The advice I plan on giving her is "do your best, you can't enjoy every thing and PE is only a couple of hours a week"

Eugh this sounds like me many years ago! Hated PE, especially team sports. I was much happier once individual sports were introduced (trampolining, dance etc).

Looking back I think some practice would have helped to build my confidence a little, as I'd never played any kind of sports before.

BJammin, thank you for your PE teacher perspective. Parents evening is coming up in a few weeks so I will definitely make a point of speaking to the PE teacher if this continues. It was her first lesson after all and DH has spoken to her since about dealing with unhelpful comments.

PartridgeJoan, I think that is true of DD as well. She would be happier with dance, trampolining and even just running laps around the track. DS, who is in the same school in year 10, tells me that the classes will be streamed after Christmas. That was his experience, so I hope that will help when she is in a class with similar ability learners.

A few years ago I was like your dd although probably worse as I probably only participated in about 5 PE lessons between y8-11, partly due to orthodontic apts. Mostly due to notes I wrote for myself.

Since then I enjoy running and the gym, and have recently started netball (age 20 😂).

The 5 PE lessons I took part in were in year 11 when my school finally got the message and started doing yoga, Pilates and stuff which was more chilled.

Pressed too soon, I would mention it to the teacher.