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?

I know they don’t do PE as they’re the same kids who’ve helped the teachers during sports day for the last 3 years.

Yanbu, on the basis that the (presumably) unqualified pe teacher is basically doing some stretches with kids in school uniform and then calling it yoga. What a load of crap.

I actually think that this does more harm than good in that most kids will come away thinking yoga is pointless so will be less likely to uptake up a proper class.

If schools are gonna do alternative stuff they should get qualified people in to do it. Yoga teachers don't work for much money and I'm sure it would be easy to find one (as most do classes eve and weekends for working people in gyms etc).

Ahh sorry. So as one day a year they don't run about means that they never take part in activities. Hmmm.

olivia I love the daily mile concept.

I think Yoga is great if you complement it with other types of exercise. I do question if it is appropriate for kids, as they are usually pretty flexible anyway. And it can be downright dangerous if not taught by a professional. I wouldn't like this either.

My kids are full of beans and need proper CV sport. If 'free movement' is not CV exercise, I would complain to be honest.

This actually sounds like a combination of costcutting and wankery. Schools are all struggling financially, and they may have decided to cut back on the sports coaching if it's provided by external staff. Or, if they had a teacher or TA who had skills/enthusiasm/some qualifications for sports coaching who has now left, they might have been desperate for a replacement, and this half-arsed 'yoga with your shoes off' might be all they can get for the moment. Or the teacher doing it might be one of those 'make it easy for the ones who can't do it so everyone feels included' dingbats who doesn't cope with the idea of kids having different abilities and different preferences, but thinks anyone who is good at anything needs to 'learn to understand and be kind' rather than taking pride in their skills.

There's a bit more to yoga than you have said but, to be honest, I'd be disappointed if my academically able child had to twiddle her thumbs with unchallenging work. Sounds like the same sort of thing.
Yoga is good for building an athlete's core strength and focus but it sounds like that line is only going to work so far with your son. Speak to the school but try not to be dismissive of what is suggested.

Athletics coach here. Please don't assume athletics is just running, the field events are so much more and not easy to become good at because they tend to be far more technical than the running events. So if he wants to do athletics, get him to an athletics club outside school as most PE teachers don't have a clue. I have spent many hours trying to reverse bad habits that kids have acquired from school.

But as far as yoga goes, if it's being taught well then it's a good thing for athletics. I have recommended it for many athletes to improve flexibility and focus. Also it's a good way to get unfit kids with little confidence in their physical abilities to start sport.

It's not a "sport" lesson though is it?

It's P. E.

Yoga is a form of P.E. albeit a gentle one, and not one your child would prefer. Presumably its for 1 hour lesson once a week for 7 weeks then it will be back to cross country running or T20 or whatever. Also not "sport".
Also you only have some random parent at school's word for it for why this was programmed.

I agree that there should be more PE on the curriculum but your kid can also always play football at lunchtime or whatever?

Givemesteel
Not sure what you mean about the "unqualified PE teacher" any teacher at a Primary school can teach PE and so can some HLTAs, I do. Do you really think schools can afford to have a qualified PE teacher in every school.

OP I also think you are being unreasonable. Some children might not like Rugby but have to do it. The Govt have encouraged schools to include other sports such as yoga to help Mental Health in children. Mindfulness, Relax Kids etc are being taught in some schools. It is only seven weeks not the whole year and some children might enjoy it. I've taught Relax Kids before and the kids love it. It was an after school session but we had no problem filling it. Depending on the age of the children but do you know how long it takes for children to get changed. It is often longer to get changed in and out of clothes than it is for the lesson. As they get older some of them speed up. Also no one can dip out because they don't have kit. The teacher might have ulterior motives!

The less able kids don’t get to opt out of the weekly maths/spelling quizzes and awards which come with them. Yes, I was told that by the non-academic school tennis champion. The difference was, she didn't get bullied for not being good at maths, I got bullied for not being good at sport.

Of course kid's get bullied for not being good at maths etc. Called thick, dumb and put to the back of the class and forgotten about. These kids are not being helped.

I would be concerned at an unqualified teacher for yoga. It's one of those that done wrong can do quite serious damage. And you can practically guarantee that someone there will have hypermobility - the experts all agree that mixing HMS with yoga (unless a teacher who specialises in yogo for HMS, not just yoga) is a bad idea.

Yoga itself isn't bad but an untrained teacher is.

Well does he do sport out of school? If he loves it that much you should encourage him to surely? Then he will get his fix out of school and learn extra skills by being on a little football team. I don’t think you can really complain about school having a more diverse curriculum.

I think its pretty normal for schools to rotate sports options like this. Why doesn't your DS join an after school or out of school club?