Kids and schools ' sports week' in this heat.. im wanting to complain to the head, but abiu

[watchforthesnail]

Its very hot, we all know that.

This week we have had sports day, which is a whole day activity ( with parents) from 10am till 3pm. Out in the sports field with no shelter.

Today, they have had a ' maraton' which was 26 0.5 k laps, again in full sun. Parents were asked to come if they wanted and its a good job they did as the only water provided for the whole school were 4 or 5 jugs of warm water, again, no shade. The teachers were double ticking for each lap for each child in a bid to get it over with quicker, but still, in this heat, farcical.

We now find out, on top of this maraton, there is an afternoon of races, again, sat in the full sun, with no water ( or just a small cup of)

I cant believe its all going ahead, and its frankly ridiclous in a 28degree heat.

So - do i need to get a grip, or should i email and complain? or just go grab my child out of school?

( shes 7 )

Pull her, then email.

Aside form anything else, anyone who thinks a 7yo should be running 13k in any weather needs a kicking. Even the 6.5k from double ticking is outrageous!

If you are worried about your childs health, grab her, she is your child. I kept two of mine off on sports day Monday because they had been poorly over the weekend and I couldnt see Sports day doing them any favours with their recovery.

she didnt run anywhere near that. none of them did. most walked it and sweat was still pouring off them.

the 'sporty' pe teacher in full lycra was pushing children out of her way as she completed it though. which was nice of her.

I am a PE teacher and thought I was going to come on here and rant at you but that is very poor by the school. Children that age should not be running that distance. Full stop. No shade and no water is idiotic and as for taking part herself I'm shocked.
Complain now before a child becomes ill.

Go and fetch her. Then ask if they have done a risk assessment.

confirmed by the school most of the techers have gone home and the have sports coaches in for the afternoon. There is no classsroom provision.

There is some shade under the trees, but thats not on the 'field' so any child ( a mum has called the school) will have to sit outside and watch.

ive called them to get her ready and they were very shirty with me.

i will ask about a risk assessment

bloody ridiclous

Why have the teachers gone home?

I was all ready to say YABU from the title, but actually that sounds stupid. All that time in full sun, no shade and little water? Redic.

I would also find out why the teachers are not there. Surely they should be in school. Get in touch with governors.

Urgh they were very shirty with you? After the teachers have sodded off home? Are you sure? Sorry but what kind of school is this? Good idea about the risk assesment , DS1 has had footy matches cancelled because of the extreme heat, The ambulance services are stretched enough.

Surely all the children have their own bottles of water?

no. Outdoor events are weather dependent. If it is was snowing and no-one could get there would pull it.

it's too hot. End of.

26.5 laps of the field rather than miles!

26.5 laps of the field rather than miles!
still works out at 8 miles. Still a long way in this heat. And then to be expected to race again this afternoon is sheer lunacy.

26 x 500m laps, i.e. 13km is far too far for children of primary school age to be running, regardless of heat. DS1 is a keen cross country runner, but at aged 10 his races are only 1km. I have enquired about Park Run as he wants to have a go, but they have advised that they would only let him run the 5km distance if an adult ran with him.

In this heat it is just plain silly.

I am surprised though that the children don't have their own water bottles?

Is this a private school?

No, its not a private school.

They didnt have water bottles, as they werent asked for them, and we werent asked to provide them. They had their ususal ones in the classroom, but no access to them. Jugs of sun heated water were on a table, along with cups, which were shared with the whole school, so lots of kids drinking from the same cup. There werent any inforced breaks.

It was meant to be the full 26 laps of a 0.5 k track. they cut this short because of the heat and only made them ' run for an hour with no breaks'

the lycra clad pe teacher, was running on her own and continued when most of the children had finished. She wasnt running alongside, or cheering them on, but literally running on her own.

Several people have taken their children out of school, the first, my friend, got pulled into the head teachers office over it. She was told her child could sit in the shade and watch, and that if she took her out it was an unauthorised absense. the school did not see the issue with the lack of shade/ water/ anything to cool them down, nor any problemm with making them do so much sport in a 28 degree heat.

I shall write to the governers and bypass the headmistress i think. any one good with wording these things?

Also - on monday and tuesday, the classroom is being discarded for the local park. we have to send them in in normal clothes andhave been asked for pop up tents and water guns. They havent mentioned a change of clothes, so im presuming they want children in wet clothes all day? its also a public park, so how they are going to look after all these children... the loos are filthy, and again out in the sun all day ( although there is more shade there)

I dont usually get het up about school stuff, but this is making me very cross.

Can't parents take gazebos to provide some shade? We had sports day today and that's what al lot of people did, with the children in the shade between races.

Sports day was tuesday.

I supose parents could do that. but surely, the school, if they are going to do these events, should organise shade.

For a mum, with a buggy, and other children, transporting and erecting a gazebo, because they school are inadequately prepared is a poor show.

Dear Governors, As you are aware that on Friday 19th July temperatures soared to ? degrees. Many parents were perturbed to discover that their children were expected to run 13 km in full sun with no access to shade in the morning. In the afternoon the children were again expected to race outside in full sun and even hotter temperatures.

This activity was supervised by sports coaches as we were told teachers had gone home. The only access to water was by jugs standing in full sunshine and shared cups. I feel that this is totally unacceptable and very dangerous for young children.
Please could you investigate this matter to discover whether a full risk assessment was carried out and the reason for absence of teachers. We are now told that because we withdrew our children this will count as an unauthorised absence.

Does that help you? Get other parents to do the same.

I would also mention the park days and ask if a risk assessment has been done for this. If no joy inform OFSTED because children are at risk here.

thats fab. thank you

would it also be worth adding the inappropate dress of the female pe teacher? full lycra... and her running, clearly for her own gain.

we are on a grade 3 weather warning here too....ill add that

if i send that now...... what are the changes that will be read by the governers? i have an email address for the head teacher, and thats all