Or is this PE teacher unreasonable about periods

[BigSandyBalls2015]

DD(15) is doing GCSE PE. Part of this involves 'personal survival' which takes place in local swimming pool.

The school obv need to book this, can't just turn up, but DD queried what would happen if some of the girls had their period at the time. PE teacher (female) replied that they'd obviously have to use a tampon, they can't miss it, can't arrange another day. A few girls told her they didn't use/get on with tampons and she got annoyed saying they'd have to get on with it on the day as no other option.

Exactly better It's pretty simple really.how thick do these people have to be.

"What happens if someone is sick and genuinely can't do it on the allotted day? Do they just fail? Or are alternative arrangements made?"

The school applies to the exam board for special consideration. It's quite a well-trodden path

2 sessions 2 weeks apart is simply not that difficult unless you want it to be

What does that mean? What are you expecting the school to do?

And no 'reasonable adjustment' is required as sex isn't a disability.

"2 sessions 2 weeks apart is simply not that difficult unless you want it to be"

Have you ever actually timetabled GCSEs?

I really dont give a flying fuck that periods are not a "disability"

And i have scheduled far more complex arrangements than a couple of swimming tests.

It is not reasonable to manage girls out of a sporting or educational activity by not considering their biological needs.

Bettersleepoutdoors: It is totally unreasonable to be rescheduling lessons around 30 girls' periods. Nothing reasonable about it.

Well quite blank

why is it not reasonable to make plans that that consider half the pupil population?

Niskayuna and others with similarly heavy periods.

It wouldn't help with swimming, but for daily life, have you come across shethinx underwear? They're briefs with integral absorbency that are supposed to be as absorbent as wearing normal briefs and a pad/tampon. If they work well for women with light/medium flow, I wonder if they might work well with pads/tampons to minimise leaks through to your clothes.

Another option in Diary Doll underwear, which is supposed to be leak-proof underwear.

It is totally unreasonable to force girls to push foreign objects into their vaginas with the threat that if they dont they will miss out on education if they do not.

BlankTVscreen: I have missed that - what is it? If the solution is perfectly sensible then I'm all for it. If it isn't, then the fact that excluding the girls is sexist isn't an absolute argument - the reasonableness of any remedy and the seriousness of the impact on the girls of not having recourse to that remedy must be considered.

TaraCarter I'll have to look into those, thank you :) sick of having a separate shark week wardrobe.

Bettersleepoutdoors: They won't miss out on their education. PE is optional at GCSE. They can choose another option. Unfortunate, yes, but if there isn't a reasonable alternative then it's tough.

OMFG

BlankTVscreen: Unless you have experience of organising secondary school timetables, you have NO IDEA what you are on about here. They are mindboggling difficult to organise. Unless you have experience of this your opinion on how reasonable your 'solution' (which isn't a solution - it's more of an assertion that a solution is easy to come by) might be isn't worth the cyberspace it's written on.

Well clearly these easily boggled individuals are incompetent and ignorant.

Bettersleepoutdoors: Unless you have been in a secondary school timetabling meeting (I have) you aren't qualified to comment. What you think is is probably like to do it is irrelevant because you have no idea.

BlankTVscreen: Honestly, given a reasonable adjustment I would be all in favour - why the hell not? I just have enough experience to know that the 'reasonable adjustment' proposed by someone without the same experience often isn't reasonable at all, it's impossible.

The PE teacher has probably said the right thing, thinking through the consequences. If they had said 'ok don't do swimming if you have your period' that would give the green light for loads of girls to dodge a week. This way, those who truly dont/can't use tampons can have parents write a note and they will be sure to get excused. The rest that aren't bothered enough to make a fuss will just get on with it, as we all do with all sorts of things at that time of the month.