Wearing PE kit to school

[DappledThings]

Our primary school (DC are 8 and 9 in years 3 and 5) have decided that from next term they will be doing what I know a lot of other schools do and spending all day in PE kit on PE days.

I hate this for multiple reasons so if you already do this and you don't hate it please can you explain why as I can't see past the extra hassle it is for me and I'm fairly pissed off with it.

1 - I have had to order extra kit. If they are wearing it all day they will get food down it and it will need to be washed every day so I now need duplicate kit for when one set is in the wash. Previously it just came home on Fridays so easy to wash at the weekend

2 - I have to remember every day who is wearing what and tell DC. Minor but just another thing to remember in the morning rush I could do without

3 - Both have a sports based after school club once a week on non-PE days. This used to not matter because they just changed into the kit that was already on their pegs. Now it's a day they have to go in uniform and remember their kit that I've had to give an additional wash to. So three different routines in one week.

4 - they will just look scruffy 2 days a week in a mishmash of blue and black joggers and hoodies and whatever else vaguely PE related people.chose to send their children in wearing.

It just seems like a massive hassle the school are putting on us to save themselves a few minutes of chivvying the class into changing quicker.

I never realised this wasn't normal. My children have had full day of PE kits since starting at their school 2 years ago! They have it twice a week, I have 1 branded (the school official top) and then I buy a 2 pack from Asda in the school colour but without a badge. Daughter wears leggings which we have anyway and son has black joggers and 2 pairs of sporty joggers.

They're in 2 different years so it's 2 different days a week each, which changes in September every year. Takes about a week of me having to remember (add it to my calendar) and then it becomes habit.

I like it. Before they needed 2 pairs of trainers because one stayed in school. And they'd forget to bring their kit home to wash. Or forget to take it back in.

It’s so much easier all round! Saves teachers a tonne of time waiting for everyone to get changed and unchanged every pe lesson. We always had 2x pe kit anyway as things do get dirty or lost etc regardless of how long they wear it! I’d rather stuff was fresh and washed than sitting on pegs in bags for days on end.
It’s more comfortable to wear for the kids too! It’s a great decision by the school, surprised it took yours so long to make the change!

The cost will work itself out once they grow and need new uniform- you will need less uniform and more P.E. kit. This change came in when my DD was in yr1 and she is now in yr3- staff said they were losing half of the P.E teaching time with getting all the children changed. Lots of uniform going missing and parents complaining. And issues with KS2 children needing to change in separate areas for girls and boys, only available area was too small for all of one sex to get changed at a time so the children would again lose out on teaching time waiting for all to be changed.

It is very straightforward once you get used to it and the kids love it as they are comfier. I can see why you prefer them to look smarter but making them wear their sweatshirt but when the other children are all in their hoodies, you are making them stand out from their peers which is a bit unnecessary.

It also means that come September, you’ll only buy 3x school uniform and 2x PE kit. So it’s not all that different to buying 3-5 sets of uniform (depending on your preference) and 1x PE kit on top
I don't routinely buy new uniform in September. I buy it when its been grown out of. Which for DC1 is unlikely to be at all before the end of his primary schooling so no saving there, only additional outlay.

For DC2 there might be a small saving in summer dresses and maybe one more set of cardigans. Their uniform has always lasted ages. DC2 is in year 3 and only in her second set of cardigans and third set of tops now.

They’re 8&9 not 2&3.
give the children responsibility for what they need and when.
if they make a mistake they’ll learn from it! & other than a bit of embarrassment it’s hardly the end of the world.
my children were initiating what needed washing and when at that age, because they wear it and know what they spill down it or splash in it, not me!

PE kit is loads cheaper than branded uniform stuff. I love 2 days of PE a week.

You're definitely over thinking, viva la revolution!!

I much prefer it when they can wear PE kit to school. It means less washing overall and definitely fewer lost items.

As many others have said this really is the best way to do it, well I prefer them wearing PE style kit all the time but that’s a bigger decision.
Kids getting changed at school is such a waste of time. Used to drive me crazy when I was a TA in Upper KS2 - they need their privacy by then so you need lots of space and omg the amount of lost kit 😢!
I predict you will love it within a few weeks!

I think OP, its not actually the PE kit that's the issue here, more that you've got your routine, you are used to it, you've planned for it... and now its changed and you can't control it. So it seems a massive deal while really its not.

I've never said it's a massive deal. It's an annoyance and an irritation and yes it is absolutely about a change that only makes my life more complicated

We have this at DC’s school. DS who is 8 knows his PE days so can put correct clothes on for each day. His school do have rules on PE kit though so kids don’t look scruffy. They have to wear school polo, navy joggers and a navy sweatshirt. No hoodies allowed.

I think its great. It means they dont have to get changed at school. Only downside is one child does it twice a week and the other doesn't. But I've just extra bottoms.

As a teacher it’s soooooo much easier. Nowhere near as much time waster trying to find lost uniform. And children are happier as they really dislike changing in front of each other. Most schools have done it ever since they went back after Covid.

It's not really extra washing, you will be washing it instead of washing a school uniform. Uniform may last longer too with less wears and washes.
Mine wears the PE kit on PE day. Remembering the days for PE became easy very quickly and I am someone who can be forgetful.

They really should wear a PE type kit everyday IMO. We lived in Australia for a while and the uniform there was a PE kit type. They just did everything in it. Joggers and sweats for winter months and shorts and T-shirts for summer. Much less hassle for teachers, no getting changed and no lost property. At primary age there's no need for getting changed for PE it's madness, just make the uniform active.

My children do this (year 7 & 9 now) and have done since Covid, so through almost all of the youngest’s ones primary school days. The biggest pro for me is that they spend all of their Pe lessons actually doing Pe, instead of half the lesson (at younger ages) getting changed. With the state of health and fitness declining in primary aged children, being more active surely has to be a good thing. For older children it means they don’t have to carry a huge heavy sports kit bag around with them all day, instead they can just bring the ‘extras’ like rugby boots, shin pads, running spikes etc, whatever they need for that day. They still look smart, mine usually wear rugby shirt, shorts & socks with a quarter zip jumper which is the same as all the other boys. In primary years, they all wore the school branded pe polo shirt, red shorts, long navy rugby socks and the school PE hoody if they were likely to feel the cold.

As another positive it means you have to buy less normal uniform (my two wear sports kit twice a week so I could buy them just the 3 pack of M&S shirts each instead of the 5 pack, same with their trousers (everything else is school branded and bought individually). Yes I have had to buy multiple sets of PE kit, but only 2 per child as it drys so quickly. They both wear Pe kit all day twice a week, but have to take Pe kit for either training or fixtures another 2 times per week - two sets is still fine though, I put a wash on every evening and hang it to dry overnight. They tend to take their spare shirt with them so after pe they can put some deodorant on and a clean non-sweaty pe shirt for the rest of the day. I wash it all that evening and it’s ready to go again the next day.

i can’t comment on how complicated it is remembering which day is kit and which is uniform as i’m so used to it, that it’s second nature, plus the children just always seem to know.

I’m a big fan of it and wish our school would extend it to wearing Pe kit in even on the days they just have co-curricular sports or fixtures, so they didn’t have to carry their kit those days!

My school did this and so does my daughter´s and most schools around us. Much easier.

If the school is okay with this and it does not break a school rule, and they're allowed to go to school like this? Let them.

It’s so much better. My DD is 9 and hitting puberty and I am so grateful she doesn’t have to change at school in front of people.

At the beginning of every school year, I stick a label on the DC’s drawer with the PE days printed on it, and then everyone knows.

And each year I buy two PE kits and three uniforms each. (Though as with some PPs, the DC are allowed wear black joggers/leggings/shorts every day so not much difference there).

I love it, it's so much easier and more comfortable than uniform. Who wouldn't prefer a nice soft tracksuit or shorts over a stuffy uniform? Also much easier in the morning, and in the winter a tracksuit is so much cosier. As long as it's a simple PE kit with no branding it works well.

my kids wear a tracksuit as their uniform so they are always in PE kit basically - they dont wear something different for it - so much easier

I think it sounds very practical. Schools didn't do this when my three were still that age though and it would have made life very much easier.

I don't think it would look scruffy. PE kit is also part of the school uniform after all.

It won't make for any more washing than usual as far as I can see. As for ironing, I don't do ironing ever so no difference for me there. 😃

Came here to say exactiy this. Same experience for us. It’s been fine. And less ironing!

I remember threads about the nature of female PE kit and how girls and young women felt about it, those who are now adults and mothers/grandmothers. If you have to wear it throughout a school day, it will be more substantial and cause less of the issues concerned. No more gym knickers to give an example.