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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Very strange PE lesson today

100 replies

deliataughtme · 17/01/2013 21:42

Just posted this in secondary ed but posting here too because there is more traffice.

DD, Yr 9, came home from school fuming.

They had PE today. Two groups so two teachers. They did bleep tests (whatever they are) but which I understand to be mindless running up and down and then the girls take their pulses. At this point the girls were not told they couldn't talk and though they had been put at ease after the running and the two teachers left the gym because there was talking.

They were gone for 20 minutes and then came back and screamed at the girls for their rudeness, the fact that they might as well not be there, no-one noticed they had gone, etc.. The girls were also told they would do really badly at GCSE because of their attitude. The girls were then made to spend 20 minutes running around outside in the freezing cold - some did not have full kit and had to do so in tshirts/shorts in minus temperatures.

Now, I appreciate I have one side of this but there must have been 40 odd girls, some of whom have significant behaviour problems, some of whom have SEN. They were left unattended for 20 minutes. Is that actually acceptable from a safeguarding point of view? I don't think it is. I don't think screaming at girls is acceptable either.

My dd and one of her friends, another mum has been on the phone, think the teachers were out of order and should at the very least have given instructions about whether the girls could talk when taking pulses, etc., should not have left the girls unattended and should not have come back screaming. DD and the friend are very reliable to give accurate recollections of the facts.

All sounds very strange and unsatisfactory. Also, doesn't sound like much of a team spirited PE lesson either.

Any PE teachers, SMT members or teachers generally on here for a view?

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 17/01/2013 22:14

How can they have had inadequate kit?

They must have had shorts, trainers etc.

WorraLiberty · 17/01/2013 22:14

I can't get fussed about it really

And yes, if they can't concentrate and listen to the teacher, they probably will fail their GCSEs.

Let's hope they learned from this...if it's totally true and not exaggerated in parts.

IAmLouisWalsh · 17/01/2013 22:18

Grin at serious exaggeration issue!

Myliferocks · 17/01/2013 22:21

Without wishing to turn it into a competition, my DD played a netball match outside after school this afternoon. I was stood watching in about 10 layers and still felt frozen yet the girls were all just wearing tshirts and shorts even though they could have worn sweatshirts.
They were all complaining how warm they were!

Sirzy · 17/01/2013 22:25

Who timed how long they were gone?

How long is the lesson actually? They had time to get changed, start the activity, misbehave, the teachers leave for 20 minutes, teachers come back and scream at them, spend another 20 minutes running around outside and then presumably in and changed for the next lesson. That is a very long PE lesson!

Original poster
deliataughtme · 17/01/2013 22:27

Double lesson - 80 minutes.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 17/01/2013 22:30

Even then it doesn't add up. Considering 20-30 minutes of that will be getting ready and then changed back.

I think there is some serious exaggeration going on!

BookFairy · 17/01/2013 22:34

Hmmm. If the teachers did leave them for 20mins then yes it would be a safeguarding issue, but is there any way of assertaining exactly what happened? I would say be careful before you go in guns blazing.

Original poster
deliataughtme · 17/01/2013 22:35

10 mins to get changed, 20 mins bleep testing, 20 mins disappearance, 20 mins running outside, 10 minutes to get dressed again. What precisely doesn't add up for you? What precisely do you think is a serious exaggeration.

I know my dd. She is not generally the child to cry wolf or to make a fuss. Therefore, when she does complain I am inclined to believe her, not least because another mother or a very sensible girl has also been on the phone.

OP posts:
LessMissAbs · 17/01/2013 22:35

Why don't you find out what bleep tests are before condemning them? They are an extremely common test of fitness, and a very good idea so that improvement can be gauged.

Why don't you also find out what actually happened, instead of flinging around wild and strange sounding accusations about a perfectly normal sounding pe session? Did your DD actually time the absence? Were the teachers perhaps watching from a building?

btw running around in sub zero conditions doens't actually hurt you, you know. Its this strange biological phonomenon of increasing blood flow causing a rise in body temperature.

YABU, because you sound so unrealistic in your ridiculous comment about bleep tests. Why not just google them first?

Flojobunny · 17/01/2013 22:35

Perhaps they didn't 'leave them for 20 minutes' but were stood outside the door and saw how the girls behaved in there absense. Probably being loud and rude about the teachers behind their back and they came back in and told them what for.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/01/2013 22:37

I don't know why it's always assumed teenagers lie.

Original poster
deliataughtme · 17/01/2013 22:37

My dd would not have lied about the teachers leaving, would not have lied about the screaming/yelling/shouting (whatever is should be described as), would not have lied about the enforced running in the freezing cold as a punishment and would not have lied about the teachers saying all the girls would do badly at GCSE. Presumably the teachers could only speak for PE GCSE which my dd will not even be taking.

OP posts:
catgirl1976 · 17/01/2013 22:38

If they were running or doing some physical exercise they would have been plenty warm regardless of the temperature or lack of kit

And your DD shouldn't have been talking

YABU

Sirzy · 17/01/2013 22:39

There is a difference between lying and exaggeration.

LynetteScavo · 17/01/2013 22:40

Sounds like the teachers left them because they were being so rude and silly in the first place. I bet they were just standing the other side of the door seeing what the girls would do.

Running around in the freezing cold was normal in PE lessons in the 80's. We all lived. (Although Y7's in DSs school don't do outdoor PE in the winter in case they get cold. Shock Hmm Confused)

ArtemisatBrauron · 17/01/2013 22:41

I am a teacher and I would never leave a class alone for 20 minutes, I'm paid to teach them, not to ignore them. If they really were left for that long then you need to make a formal complaint to the deputy head. (although from experience of year 9s their perception of time can be a bit off "miss my homework took me hoouuuurrs" etc [grins])

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/01/2013 22:41

My DS1 who is truthful to his own detriment, reports loads of shouting and unfairness by PE teachers towards DCs who are trying their best but are just not that great at sport. It's a familiar trait IME.

Sure there are lots of lovely creative sensitive PE teachers, but ...

Original poster
deliataughtme · 17/01/2013 22:42

I have spoken to my daughter MissAbs - I am confident that she tells the truth; therefore I do feel I know what happened.

I never did bleep tests at school - we spent PE lessons exercising, trampolining, climbing ropes, vaulting, doing things that appeared to have a plan and a purpose. Presumably if pulses were being taken effectively and accurately the girls also had timers to do so and should have been able to time the teachers' absence perfectly with them.

Very surprised the timing issue is being questioned when the girls must have had time-pieces/stop watches in order to take their pulses. If they didn't they couldn't take an accurate pulse could they?

OP posts:
ArtemisatBrauron · 17/01/2013 22:42

P.s. the running outside in the cold is pretty standard tbh, you should see the scanty PE kit the kids wear at most schools even for winter sport!

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/01/2013 22:42

Fair point about the exaggeration

MissyMooandherBeaverofSteel · 17/01/2013 22:42

YABU 'enforced running' is PE isn't it? Or will we start calling English 'enforced writing' and Art 'enforced drawing'. If they have a bad attitude to school they will do badly in their exams, as for your daughter being left for 20 minutes with girls who have been excluded, doesn't she spend breaktimes and lunch times in the school? Are they supervised 100% of the time then too?

WorraLiberty · 17/01/2013 22:43

Dear god what's wrong with running in the cold?

And no the teachers aren't just talking about failing PE GCSE, if the kids decide to use lessons as a social gathering.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/01/2013 22:45

delia

they use the bleep teat as a measure of stamina and an objective measure of improvements made as a result of physical exercise.

I shall defend them on a personal level because in Primary, one of my DS1 got best in the class, even though up til that point he deemed himself to be useless at sport. Turns out he's a pretty good long distance runner

catgirl1976 · 17/01/2013 22:45

My PE teacher used to let me play pool whenever we were meant to be playing squash on the grounds that I was (and I quote) "fucking shit at it"

So me and another untalented child were packed off to the bar to get a diet coke and hone our skills with a cue totally unattended

I liked that lesson