To think that schools should have PE more than once a week

[ReallyTired]

My daughter's school has PE in one two hour block so that the teachers can have their non contact time in a two hour block. There is an arguement that the children spend more of their time running about and less of their time changing. However I feel that one two hour PE session a week is not enough for fitness.

Its interesting to see the chinese teachers making the children start the day with exercises. I would not want children to have chinese style PE lessons, but there is a lot to be said for regular PE. I feel that children who are struggling with PE should have a complusory after school PE lessons.

I hated PE..Yes I think PE should be split..My Ds usually used to have PE during planning time but it has always been coupled with french or RE..This year he did ICT and french during planning time.

He is not naturally athletic.. I think PE is good for him and he is improving, however swimming which he is very good at was stopped after a couple of terms as he could already swim..

As for PE detention, he is never going to be in the olympics, I am happy for him to just enjoy it instead of been told you have to stay behind because you can't run very fast.

The additional PE would be wanted by the sporty kids and not the ones who can't

However Yes the school should not be responsible for childrens activity levels...However there are some parents who don't take their kids to the park, don't join them up for clubs , our primary has no lunchtime clubs by the way. It runs one evening a week per term with 20 places for juniors in a 400 child school ..

I think yes we need to look at he obseity crisis but there are things I would personally change. I would stop cake or buscuit as an option every day for pudding, I would continue fruit break through primary and stop free school dinners unless eligable . I would also make people in low income including those in receipt of WTC eligable for FSM. As a government incentives to subsidies sport so children can choose sports. I know a family whose child is going up to year 4 who had swimming lessons in year 3 but is having to continue as there child has not managed to swim 25 meters. She has never had lessons, her parents never take her swimming , they say they can't afford Dance and swimming so the school is having to pay for it.

Daily mile is a great idea: simple and effective.

Primary school: 14 classes, one school hall, 5 timetable sessions each day. Also used for 2 assemblies per day, singing, drama and school meals.
Playgrounds and school field used when weather suitable, but you can see the problem.

I agree that there should be a daily form of physical exercise built into the school day. If parents wish to add to it afterwards, then fair enough, but I think it comes under the heading of general education.

I find it really interesting that many of you don't think physical education isn't a necessary life skill. Not only does keeping fit & healthy help children to concentrate & learn better though out their schooling, it will also teach them to take good care of themselves for the rest of their lives. No- 1 hour a week is not enough.

Fuck.

That.

I hated PE at school and see no benefit whatsoever in forcing children into it, especially when they could do something they might actually get some benefit from, like another lesson.

Unfortunately in year 11 they do only get one hour a week because passing GCSEs takes priority.

I find it really interesting that many of you don't think physical education isn't a necessary life skill

I think been good at a particular sport isn't a life skill..Enjoying sport is important. I put my DS in an payable soccer school thing..He is not any good at football and if anything put him off football even more as they kids that were good at football just moaned about how bad he was..

He spends 40 minutes walking to school and back everyday for the reason I do think he is more capable of sitting stlll after burning off some steam.

I think opportunity to learn a sport is great not sure how to find the balance between pushing the sporty ones and letting the less sporty ones do it for fun

I think there should be more group guided physical exercise in school, but sports should not be compulsory.

The DfE 'target' for PE in schools is two hours a week and almost all schools meet this. So what your school does is acceptable.

If you add more PE to the curriculum, it is at the expense of what?

I would like my ds to do more music for example. That varies from school to school.

And I say that as somebody who hated PE with a fiery passion.

I don't know what the solution is. I understand that resources, timetabling and dead time spent changing and faffing around are big issues.

I was a very small, withdrawn and awkward child. Team sports were hell on earth (I'm very pleased to have a big tall daughter who is afraid of nothing!), but things like running and yoga are things that even the dorkiest child can excel at, and cost nothing for the school to provide (unlike swimming, rowing etc.).

At her primary school my daughter absolutly hated PE & she also hated the fact that despite being a very sporty competitive school they never warmed up properly & she wasn't shown the correct way to do things (eg you will never run efficiently if your hips are turned out as hers do naturally). Hence she became afraid of being injured & stopped trying.

Doing pilates & press ups/planking properly (preceded by a proper cardio warm up) has really increased her fitness levels. Schools need more teachers trained in these areas as well as competitive sports.

starlight that has been the big issue for my kids. Finding genuinely welcoming sports/swimming groups.

My son for the most part enjoys pe and always tries his hardest but, bless him, is not very good. I don't understand what subjecting him to compulsory after school pe lessons would achieve. Surely it's down to us parents to ensure that our children get enough exercise?
My son's primary had pe one afternoon a week. This encompassed both pe and swimming. I can't see how, with everything else, they could do more

The daily mile is very flexible and the teacher chooses the slot - they do fit it in ok.

Starlight - my son had the same problem with the school football club. He got so fed up being moaned at that he stopped going!

DC do two separate PE lessons here.

Agree daily mile sounds great, and nice and easy for children to do with their families outside school.

But I know at times in my life it was impossible for me to do that with my children out of school. Doing it as a school body is the strength of it.

Hated PE at secondary school. Teachers who made fun of you if you weren't very good, having to get changed with a hunch of bitchy girls, getting injured multiple times because there was barely any supervision on the gymnastic equipment...the list goes on.

I enjoyed a few things (rounders, netball, and aerobics) but I was always a fielder or goal defence, and aerobics we did twice in five years. I ctually think that secondary school ruined the enjoyment of competetive sport for me.

Now I do pilates and yoga, and run three times a week.

OP YABU

PE isn't just about becoming 'good at sports'. Any decent school, with half decent teachers will be teaching children about physical fitness, promoting different options for maintaining fitness levels. I hated team sport- so my teachers got me into swimming & cycling. We got to try several different sports, and learnt about how important exercise was to our bodies, and to keep trying things until we found something we liked. P.E should be about setting up good habits for long term health, not just sports.

Even though your child might not enjoy or thrive in group sports- they are still learning plenty of important life skills that will help them in their future life- team work, perseverance, identifying & managing risk, sportsmanship (knowing how to win & lose gracefully applies to other activities beyond sport) They should also be learning about other practical physical skills- like how to lift properly, or learning about facilities within their community & how to access them.

Also, providing children with a regular opportunity for them to exercise throughout the week will help them in other subjects, as they will have more energy, concentrate better, & help those who are prone to fidgeting or who get distracted easily to have an appropriate outlet. It also helps children cope & manage stress. It should be an important part of a well balanced curriculum, not given a measly hour.

I feel that lack of fitness should be treated as a special educational need whatever the cause. Every child needs a certain level of fitness for life. A session with unfit children would be away from bitchy girls and sadistic PE teachers. If a session was well planned then it might be enjoyable. There are ways that a child's fitness could be improved without competitive sport. Something like street dance, gymnastics or circuits might be more enjoyable for the uncoordinated child and unfiat child.

It is not essential for a child to be good at sport, however it is essential to be healthy. They do need a certain level of fitness to be capable of running for a bus or climbing stairs.

And why do you think the school should be responsible for your child's personal fitness and finding appropriate alternative activities to engage her?

I see your point op. However I'd say emphasis on exercise rather than Pe. People who exercise as part of a daily routine find it a lot easier than those who do so through fixed sessions of predefined specific activities they don't enjoy. I'd rather see them all made to run/ walk/ cycle a few miles.
However I think it's parents responsibility, not schools. I think the happy medium would be using lots of the people involved in change 4 life, administrating bmi measurements in primary, healthy eating campaigns and so on to administer an exercise campaign and routine in schools. Because the current methods for tackling obesity isn't working.

Our school offers extra support to children with poor fine or gross motor skills. You could call the gross motor skills group "compulsory extra PE" if you like but that seems an unduly negative way of looking at it. I don't understand why it's good to work with children to improve reading/ writing but bad to try and improve physical fitness, or dexterity. Ds2's self confidence has really improved now that he can catch a ball, ride a bike and swim (all things he found difficult and avoided).

"And why do you think the school should be responsible for your child's personal fitness and finding appropriate alternative activities to engage her?"

My son's fitness is awful, but my daughter is incredibly fit. Some children are harder than others to moviate. Some childre do have a special needs like dypraxia that makes fitness for life harder. I feel that a school should be a holistic experience and have the aim of making children into happy and productive adults. A moridly obsese adult is more likely to experience disablity and will have a shorter lifespan.

"I don't understand why it's good to work with children to improve reading/ writing but bad to try and improve physical fitness, or dexterity. Ds2's self confidence has really improved now that he can catch a ball, ride a bike and swim (all things he found difficult and avoided)."

Exactly! Achieving these skills is good for mental health as well has physical health.