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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be bloody annoyed DS missed PE again

48 replies

Pantone363 · 10/06/2015 16:38

His teacher operates a '3 strikes and you're in' policy. Basically if anyone misbehaves its a strike, 3 strikes and the whole class goes in and misses PE.

DS says they didn't even hit one ball in rounders before they were all sent in because of two boys messing about. This is the second week in a row this has happened. What the fuck does she think is going to happen? Does she think that 7 year olds are going to miraculously peer pressure their mates into behaving? Its a lovely sunny hot day and they could've been outside playing rounders, instead they were sent in to get changed and read to themselves for the rest of the lesson.

AIBU to go in tomorrow and ask what fresh hell this is?

OP posts:
outtolunchagain · 10/06/2015 16:43

I thought PE was on the National Curriulum , it's not an extra she can't just cancel the lesson

LazyLouLou · 10/06/2015 16:43

Yes. You NEVER use PE, or lack of it, as punishment. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Go and talk to HT and point out that this stupidity means that if one kids chooses to play up then all of them lose their physical activity for the day. So the kid who hates exercise calls the shots.

Utter lunacy! Flies in the face of logic, funding regulations and common sense.

Theycallmemellowjello · 10/06/2015 16:45

Ridiculous. And as a PE hating child I fear I might have used this to my advantage!

MyIronLung · 10/06/2015 16:45

Yes go in. I would.
Surely it would be better for the ones messing about to be punished rather than the whole class.
Isn't PE a compulsory class? If so then then teacher is being VU to make the whole class miss it.

midnightvelvet01 · 10/06/2015 16:46

Is this what actually happened or are you taking the word of a 7 year old as gospel? Go in & see the teacher by all means but find out what actually happened before you react.

cansu · 10/06/2015 16:47

She really shouldn't be taking the whole class off PE. However, she could legitimately use the three strikes method on individuals. However this really should be part of general behaviour management, rather than specifically PE related. I think it shows that PE is seen as some kind of treat as opposed to being part of the curriculum.

SoupDragon · 10/06/2015 16:49

Yes, go and talk to the actual teacher concerned, not the head teacher.

Samwaygangeee · 10/06/2015 16:51

YANBU. Letter to head I think.

Original poster
Pantone363 · 10/06/2015 16:53

Midnight, clearly I will ask for clarification of how much PE time they actually had before they were sent in. DS is quite sure that X was messing around on the way out, then Y was throwing the balls around and then X was jumping on the tires and then Miss said she was very disappointed that we had got 3 strikes and we had to all go in.

OP posts:
LurkingHusband · 10/06/2015 16:56

Wow, collective punishment ...

taxi4ballet · 10/06/2015 16:59

So - taking this to its logical conclusion - if you hate school PE then mess about a bit and you'll get sent in and won't have to do it.

Brilliant idea.

Homemadeapplepie · 10/06/2015 17:01

I bet she wasn't in the slightest bit disappointed, some primary school teachers hate PE lessons. I'm surprised she can just cancel the lesson though, I too thought it was part of the national curriculum, certainly was when I was a school governor.

LindyHemming · 10/06/2015 17:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Andrewofgg · 10/06/2015 17:06

So the kid who hates exercise calls the shots.

Oh, if only that had been around in my schooldays. I would have organised a rota of games-haters to take it in turns so that we never had to get within spitting distance of that oversized bloody lawn with the fishing-nets with ideas above their station at both ends of it!

TwinkieTwinkle · 10/06/2015 17:07

Are you sure it is their normal PE slot? DS school get extra in summer to play fun games if they finish their work and as a treat, cancelling that would be acceptable if there is messing around.

bigbluebus · 10/06/2015 17:11

My DS detested PE at Primary School. His class would never have had a PE lesson if that rule had been in force at his school Hmm. In fact, I remember the HT once threatening to make DS do extra PE with another class as a punishment for some misdemeanor as it was well known how much he would have hated that!

Andrewofgg · 10/06/2015 17:14

I have always believed that the purpose of compulsory games and PE is not to make children fit, it is to make them resourceful in finding ways of getting out of it!

soapboxqueen · 10/06/2015 17:14

Peer pressure is actually incredibly useful in keeping children in line.

If children are behaving in an unsafe way then the teacher is absolutely right to stop the lesson. For their own safety and the safety of the other children.

Ideally the offending children could be removed by a TA and /or sent to another class. However that depends on staffing levels and school procedures.

In any event, using this same sanction repeatedly to no benefit needs looking at. Especially when it is resulting in the whole class missing the lesson.

I would go in and express concern at the repeated cancelling of the same lesson.

Original poster
Pantone363 · 10/06/2015 17:17

soapbox, yes I use the divide and conquer approach with my own kids Grin

Unfortunately I don't think these two kids give a toss if everyone in the class is annoyed with them

It might have been an extra lesson tbh, DS did say they should have been having peer group assembly instead but that was cancelled for some reason.

OP posts:
strawberrypenguin · 10/06/2015 17:17

That's really stupid if the teacher - I don't think PE would ever have happened when I was school if this rule was applied- especially on cold wet netball days!

BettyCatKitten · 10/06/2015 17:22

What an odd approach. The kids are only 7, PE is important, the offenders should surely have sat it out, not punish everyone.
If my teacher had used this approach when I was their age then we'd never had had a PE lesson!

soapboxqueen · 10/06/2015 17:25

Even if it is an extra pe or treat session, repeatedly using this method would eventually cause the well behaved children (especially the fence sitters) to give up trying because they'd know the repeat offenders were going to ruin it anyway.

grannytomine · 10/06/2015 18:32

I hated the "peer pressure" thing when my kids were at school. Why should kids have to exercise control of other kids and lose out if they don't manage it? Isn't the teacher paid to run the class?

popalot · 10/06/2015 18:37

Unacceptable. The misbehaving children should be sent in to the head's office, not the whole class.

PandasRock · 10/06/2015 18:56

I hate whole class 'peer pressure' punishments too. It is not the job of other (in this case) 7/8 year olds to make children behave.

And it entirely overlooks the fact that possibly, in that moment, at that time, these children were (for whatever reason) unable to behave. Punishing is not the only way forward, and sometimes it can be totally counterproductive. If these children are already having difficulties behaving in a socially appropriate manner, then ostracising them and making them scapegoats amongs their peers is hardly going to help matters.

Poor behavioural management on the part of the teacher.