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Original poster

PE - did it promote a life long love of sport or was it ritual torture?

636 replies

LuckyMum96 · 18/10/2020 16:03

Just that really, for me it was mixed - too much PE was focussed on the school teams though and not enough on general exercise and activity

OP posts:
Janevaljane · 21/10/2020 10:36

Well maybe it would do them good to have to do something they find boring, kids who hate team sports could give them some survival tips

Most schools do a mixture of both. This is the ks3 curriculum currently -

Key stage 3
Pupils should build on and embed the physical development and skills learned in key
stages 1 and 2, become more competent, confident and expert in their techniques, and
apply them across different sports and physical activities. They should understand what
makes a performance effective and how to apply these principles to their own and others’
work. They should develop the confidence and interest to get involved in exercise, sports
and activities out of school and in later life, and understand and apply the long-term health
benefits of physical activity.
Pupils should be taught to:
 use a range of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in direct competition
through team and individual games [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket,
football, hockey, netball, rounders, rugby and tennis] develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports [for
example, athletics and gymnastics]
perform dances using advanced dance techniques within a range of dance styles and
forms
take part in outdoor and adventurous activities which present intellectual and physical
challenges and be encouraged to work in a team, building on trust and developing
skills to solve problems, either individually or as a group
analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement
to achieve their personal best
take part in competitive sports and activities outside school through community links or
sports clubs*

TheoneandObi · 21/10/2020 10:37

@Janevaljane errrr that'll be me then. Active member of W tennis club, former club runner. Yet hated the way sport was taught, and despite my setting an example my kids did too. Fortunately like me they've found a love of exercise for themselves in spite of school (which they otherwise excelled in).

ancientgran · 21/10/2020 10:38

@Janevaljane Blimey, where and when did you go to school grin I was at a shit comp in the late 70s early 80s and even we did athletics. Unfortunately I went to school in the 50s and 60s, girls grammar in the 60s where jolly hocksticks could have been the school motto.

ancientgran · 21/10/2020 10:44

I found similarities with music and art, I'm no better at them than I am at catching a ball.

Four years of music lessons at grammar school, we had these bizarre lessons were we had a cardboard keyboard and would "play" along to teacher playing the piano. In four years I never understood the keyboard, how the hell did people know where middle c was? Four years of wasted lessons as I had no clue what they were talking about, I was a kid from the slums and surrounded by all these middle class kids who had been learning piano or violin for years. When one of my kids wanted to go to a baby keyboard class at 4 I had to go along. Now there were two big pluses about this, I learned in week one how to find middle c and the kids all loved the fact that I was the only adult in the room who was struggling more than them but I did actually learn more music in that year than 4 years at school.

Art again the focus was on the kids who could draw, we did one glorious term of pottery and suddenly I was one of the kids who could do it.

Tiny2018 · 21/10/2020 10:44

Torture. I was the smallest female in the tear and one of the last to develop, so undressing in front of the popular, made up, big boobed popular bitches was degrading and undignifying.
I was also one of the slowest, in terms of running, couldnt make the first bar of high jump or the longest of long jump. I have always been more academic than sporty, which in adult life is not a problem.
On the plus side I learned how to laugh at myself and not take myself too seriously. I do feel terrible for my teenage daughter though, who has had similar issues.

Janevaljane · 21/10/2020 10:50

[quote ancientgran]**@Janevaljane* Blimey, where and when did you go to school grin I was at a shit comp in the late 70s early 80s and even we did athletics.* Unfortunately I went to school in the 50s and 60s, girls grammar in the 60s where jolly hocksticks could have been the school motto.[/quote]
Things have changed since the 50s as I'm sure you will appreciate .

TalbotAMan · 21/10/2020 10:50

@Janevaljane

Everyone is different and being forced to do team sports when you're not that way inclined or skilled is humiliating and emotionally damaging

Being taught how to work as a team is immensely valuable.

Learning how to play hockey is much easier than learning how to perform yoga safely and effectively. You might not be able to hit the ball very well, but not many can unless they play outside school or are just naturally good at it.

Being taught how to work as a team is indeed immensely valuable.

And is a skill that was never taught in any PE lesson I attended.

GrumblyMumblyisnotJumbly · 21/10/2020 10:50

Torture (80's) as I remember the teachers mocked lack of natural co-ordination / ability so it was far from inclusive / encouraging

Urgghh hated the indignity of the communal shower after PE

Janevaljane · 21/10/2020 10:50

so undressing in front of the popular, made up, big boobed popular bitches was degrading and undignifying

Nice.

ancientgran · 21/10/2020 10:57

Things have changed since the 50s as I'm sure you will appreciate And yet I had that conversation with a PE teacher within the last 5 years. So maybe they do athletics now but they still humiliate, deliberately or accidentally, the kids who can't do it.

I have 4 kids, two very sports, in all the school teams and some county, one who wasn't very good but happy enough to do it, and one who couldn't do it and hated it and particularly hated the teacher joining in with the girls who bullied her.

Some things have changed but not all.

paintedpanda · 21/10/2020 10:57

It was torture for me and the idea of doing any sort of competitive sport now is awful. I was the fat kid in my class, asthmatic, always bumbling along behind.
Our class teacher was one of the PE teachers. She wasn't mean, but you could tell she had a preference for the athletic kids in our class.
I hated getting changed in front of people, particularly all the popular girls who weren't fat, asthmatic, or bumbling. And I hated trying to compete with the athletic kids because it was obvious that I was always going to be last. First out during the bleep test. Last in running races. The only thing I was decent at was the shotput (because I was fat and sturdy) but that was only ever done for sports day, so once a year.
I never thought I would become active. Although I'm still fat, I can now jog 3k, I weight train and do yoga, because I'm not competing against anyone. I do it for me.

derxa · 21/10/2020 10:58

I do wonder if mumsnet has a high proportion of insular people who just hate exercise and/or joining in. Well you need to read the annual sports day thread to know that's true. MN generally hates school sport
Another trope is that people who enjoy team sports are thick. And the prejudice against football

UpHereforDancng · 21/10/2020 10:59

Gosh I'm sorry so many of you hated it - genuinely surprised at this.

I was at school in the early 80s and hardly knew anyone of my age who a) didn't love PE at school and b) didn't continue being sporty later life!

HoppingPavlova · 21/10/2020 11:03

What’s with the showers? I live in a hot country and we never showered after PE at school and even more recently none of my kids did when they went through either. I mean there is no option, it’s not a case of dodging off, there are physically no showers. Everyone just sticks some extra deodorant on when they get changed into the PE gear and that does the job.

TheoneandObi · 21/10/2020 11:05

The difference with music and art is you can drop them at O pop toons time. Not so PE!

tectonicplates · 21/10/2020 11:07

@UpHereforDancng

Gosh I'm sorry so many of you hated it - genuinely surprised at this.

I was at school in the early 80s and hardly knew anyone of my age who a) didn't love PE at school and b) didn't continue being sporty later life!

You're genuinely surprised that so many people hated PE? Really?
LentilShanklet · 21/10/2020 11:12

Torture. The inevitable order to "Get into pairs" still leaves me cold as I was always left "spare" once everyone had partnered up with their best friends, and I'd be left looking around for another spare at the end, which there sometimes wasn't and I'd just have to pick an unfortunate pair to join and make an awkward 3 with. Why, why did they do it?

Runningdownthathill · 21/10/2020 11:13

In my year at secondary school we were forced to shower naked in communal showers after PE. It traumatised me. I moved schools and had nightmares for months beforehand about whether I’d be forced to shower in communal showers at the new school. Thankfully, not the case.

Runningdownthathill · 21/10/2020 11:13

First year that should read

CleverCatty · 21/10/2020 11:14

I wasn't bad at gym stuff - but had a lazy eye and was long sighted in one eye (meant glasses) so my gym classes after school were never that good. Added to that my class teacher in primary school also taught PE and had little patience with my zero co-ordination so netball and rounders I was always stuck on the sides.

Funnily enough in secondary school I was good at athletics but mostly 400/500m and hurdles and also volleyball.

Swimming was always good at but our lessons were a nightmare with the school.

Came as a big shock that I was actually not bad at these (ball games) when I was a teenager/adult.

TheoneandObi · 21/10/2020 11:50

apologies everyone - I was typing in the pouring rain on a 6 mile walk with my dog. My posts make no sense!

rookiemere · 21/10/2020 12:03

Yes I'm hugely surprised as an adult that I quite enjoy physical activity. I was even happy to take part in the parents race when DS was at nursery as I was unbothered if I came last

Janevaljane · 21/10/2020 12:37

I think what would have made all the difference to me as a child and teen was some encouragement and being told that exercise was - in itself - important and beneficial, regardless of wether you won or not

Did your parents not do this?

MrsAvocet · 21/10/2020 12:38

My youngest son is very sporty. He is doing GCSE PE and plans to do A level and then a degree in Sports Science or similar and even he doesn't particularly enjoy "normal" school PE. He loves his GCSE lessons, especially the theory, but as he has no real interest in football or rugby the mainstream PE lessons, in winter at least, hold little interest for him. He does have a natural aptitude for most sports and isn't bad at any, but like everyone else, he has his preferences and neither of the 2 traditional "boys" school team sports interest him. And he is definitely not unusual. I realise that there are issues around resources but the school manages to offer quite a variety of sports in 6th form so I am unsure why a bit more choice can't be given to younger pupils, who might then not develop the loathing of school PE that is so common.
I do have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about GCSE PE actually. They have to do 3 sports from an approved list, one individual sport, one team sport and the 3rd can be either, but all 3 must be competitive. I think this gives the wrong message about sport. In my opinion, exercise absolutely does not have to be competitive to ne valuable and I think the syllabus should reflect this. In fact if I was writing the syllabys I think I would insist that one of the activities was non competitive. Allegedly the list of approved sports has been chosen as they are easy to demonstrate progress in, without the PE teacher needing to have super specialised knowledge, but I think that's rubbish. You can demonstrate progress very easily in lots of non competitive activities in terms of improved personal performance or achievement. Currently you can only include things like running and cycling if you race, but huge numbers of people enjoy those activities in a non competitive way. I think the focus on competition in school sports in general does young people a great disservice - there needs to be more focus on activity for physical and mental health, and simply for fun.

tectonicplates · 21/10/2020 12:42

I think what would have made all the difference to me as a child and teen was some encouragement and being told that exercise was - in itself - important and beneficial, regardless of wether you won or not

Did your parents not do this?

Nope, they didn't. My mum hated PE when she was at school too, so she sympathised. Interestingly I'm from a family that does a lot of walking, countryside etc, but this was never marketed to me as "exercise" as it probably would've put me off. Similarly, when I was in my twenties I used to go out clubbing every weekend and dance for hours - never did it even occur to me that this was "exercise". It was just stuff we did. Exercise was competitive sport where nobody wanted you in their team.