Genuinely not sure if I am or not AIBU?

[WalkingWolly]

DS lives for sport. Mid range academically but lives for his football/biking/gymnastics etc.

The two PE days a week he goes to school happy as Larry. He lives for those two school days. It’s his turn to shine and it’s where he gets his school praise from.

There are three overweight DC in his class. Two hardly ever take part in PE the other does but begrudgingly.

In an effort to be more inclusive (schools words) this terms schedule of dodgeball and hockey have been changed to Yoga and free movement?! (Not sure what that is)

One of the mothers of one of the overweight children told my friend that the school had asked them what they could do to make the DC more comfortable with PE and this was the solution.

So. DS massively annoyed that they’ve effectively lost out on PE and are now doing yoga for 7 weeks. The less able kids don’t get to opt out of the weekly maths/spelling quizzes and awards which come with them. And I can’t see how yoga is helping anyone lose weight, it’s not exactly burning many calories.

So AIBU to counter complain? Or just tell DS it is what it is and to suck it up for a term?

@monkeywithacowface anything helpful to add?

Do you know for a fact that these classes were introduced just for the benefit of the overweight children?

DSC have had yoga in PE since they have been at senior school- I presume it's part of the curriculum.

Do they have a fully qualified dodgeball, football, gymnastics, rugby, athletics, hockey etc etc instructor? Doubtful.

Teachers at my dcs school have done yoga training. Probably the same amount as they did in gymnastics or rugby or any other PE training.

Of course yoga is exercise.

It’s not the school’s fault that you’ve decided PE should be high intensity cardio, always.

Perhaps, if your son isn’t “that bright”, you should encourage him to study more instead of focusing on sport so much.

You could also try teaching him not to be bratty about one term of doing something that he’s deemed not good enough.

And if it's in PE lessons, why on earth are they doing it in their uniform?

DSC have had yoga in PE since they have been at senior school- I presume it's part of the curriculum

Mine have always done free movement for a while in primary. I assume that's part of the curriculum too.

YANBU
The problem is that schools don't have the time to do enough PE as it is. Yoga is brilliant, but I think it should be in addition to the other sports you mention.

You can mention it to the school, but they probably won't be able to do anything about it. If it's only 7 weeks it will just be an introduction to yoga - try to be positive so that your DS doesn't write it off before he gives it a chance.
If he doesn't already, you could find an after school football/dodgeball etc class for your DS to give him more chance to play (Id do that anyway given how little sport they do in school)

You sound like you don't know much about yoga.

So there are two kids that "hardly ever" do PE, and the school has introduced yoga after discussions with their parents. And it didn't occur to you that maybe there's more to it than these kids being too fat and lazy to exercise? Yoga is often recommended for people with medical conditions that make football and the like impossible. Use a bit of imagination.

I had yoga/stretching lessons in PE 15-20 years ago. It's not a new-fangled "inclusive" thing.

We did it for 1 or 2 terms during the 4 years I was at that school. The other terms were spent doing football, swimming, dance, rugby, athletics, etc. Yoga is just another sport to add to the variety. PE teacher DH says core PE should be about trying different sports so that every student can find one they enjoy and can choose to continue with. Students who want to focus more on one sport can join teams in or out of school, take GCSE/A Level PE, etc.

Maybe they're really trying to tackle the weight problems without making it obvious who needs it. Hopefully the kids who they've made the change for will begin to enjoy exercise and be more keen on keeping exercise up.

I can understand your sons frustrations though, and agree with your point of view that other lessons don't get simplified to make it more convenient for kids who don't like it (maths/history etc)

I was ready to say yabu, until you said it's not by a yoga instructer, and in their uniforms.

I don't see how yoga could be done in a school uniform?! Not anything approaching proper yoga anyway.

So yanbu. That said, I would just tell him to suck it up for 7wks - he's doing athletics next term.

YANBU what is the world coming to free movement ffs!!! That is crazy so when the less academic ones are struggling will they get something to make them feel more included will they hell. Absolute wrapping in cotton wool at its best. I would complain. Im not surprised your boy is peeved.

Ask if they could perhaps split in two groups, kids choose whichever they’d prefer to do.

He does tons of sport outside school.

The DC are the last people I blame for them being overweight.

If you can do sport in your normal clothes it ain’t sport.

DS was told yesterday I won’t be complaining on his behalf.

I don’t think it’s healthy to coop children up in a classroom for 7 hours a day without opportunity to burn some energy.

Clearly I’m being U. So I’ll take my kicking in true MN fashion and shut up

Yes it's interesting they hardly ever do PE. I haven't come across a school that lets kids sit out without a very good 'excuse'. I thought this was normal? Or sometimes if they don't bring kit they aren't allowed to join in. But that's clearly not the case here if they did yoga in uniform.

And yep, there’s an outside sports agency which comes in and teaches their sport.

But you're not being unreasonable. Taking off their shoes and 'doing yoga' in school uniform is crap as a replacement for PE and sports.

School is always going to be a mix of activities you like and some you don't. He'll have to suck it up if it's just for a term. I take it you are getting him doing high energy sporting activities several times a week yourselves?

On a more positive note, if he's good at sport generally he'll probably also be good at yoga and will still enjoy it and shine.

I don’t think it’s healthy to coop children up in a classroom for 7 hours a day without opportunity to burn some energy

I agree but they don't do PE every day anyway. Suggest a daily mile.

Sounds to me like this is at primary school so there's plenty of time for running around outside not just in these 2 PE session a week. I really don't understand your objection to adding to the variety of exercise. PE isn't about weight loss it's about encouraging children to move and use muscles and should cater for all preferences. You've singled out a couple of children who don't engage. I do wonder how you know about them. Is your DS blaming them for the change in actvity. Hardly a nice way to treat his peers is it?
I'm also quite sad that he lives for just 2 PE sessions a week. Can he be encouraged to enjoy more that the school offers and so increase his chances of a good outcome at the next level?

I used to love hockey and YANBU.
I dont see why the PE class cant be split into football/yoga. I was forced to do dance one year and loathed it.

Yoga is good for any sport, including weightliftng and martial arts and parkour. Though I can see that it's not going to burn off much energy for an active kid.

Cross posted, just saw you post that he does tons of other sport. In that case he does just have to take it gracefully. As for not keeping children cooped up with out exercise for 7 hours, that's where break times and lunch breaks come in.

Ask the school whether the PE teacher is qualified to teach yoga.