PE teacher and dyspraxic DD

[doodlesnoodles]

DD is in year 8, she was diagnosed with dyspraxia not long before leaving primary school but her primary was very understanding even before her diagnosis. She struggled with PE but was kindly encouraged to have a go. This has been very different since starting secondary, especially year 8. Her PE teacher has taken a strong disliking to her, she's aware of DD's dyspraxia but seems to treat it as just an excuse. She's quite quiet about it but has explained her teacher that she finds PE difficult especially tennis and netball which seems to be all they all. Her teacher told her in response a list of all the sports she does and how she teaches PE 5 days a week and DD only has to do 2 hours a week. She sits out of a lot of lessons, I give her a note if she's really worrying about it and this really annoys the teacher and often tells DD off for it. Yet she also has a go at her when she does something "wrong" when she does participate. She seems to particularly pick on DD despite there being other students who also don't join in. When I met this teacher during parents evening she wasn't understanding at all when I explained that DD worries about going to PE lessons, I can certainly see why she doesn't going

Other

Aside from anything else it’s lazy teaching. You accommodate all levels and deal with SENs instead of pretending they’re not there. Teachers up and down the land manage it in other lessons.

It is probably incredibly hard if not impossible to come up with a personalised programme for your dd when you are an unsupported state school teacher. Not sure how people think this is even a possibility.

one thing I invested in was getting my dc some physiotherapy from a neurological physiotherapist - it was the best money I ever spent - she worked with my dc once a fortnight for a set period of time (as a teenager) basically she had fine & gross motor issues. she made it fun & my dc became fitter & more able to balance - she eventually taught her to ride a bike! She used bigger balls to help her catch & we purchased a trampoline & a skippet www.amazon.co.uk/KOBWA-Swinging-Children-Athletic-Exercise/dp/B07J4HRHV2/ref=asc_df_B07J4HRHV2/?hvlocphy=1006774&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=310623523849&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos=1o5&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-583091738337&hvrand=11863988025734280125
toy to help with strength & co ordination & encouraged swimming she will never be able to compete with others but specific exercise to strengthen weaker muscles & hand eye coordination is essential -
however the worst thing any pe teacher can do (any teacher) is to bully or humiliate a child. Pe should be about self competition not pushing child to conform or compete with others but to enjoy sport & encourage whatever ability they have. Dyspraxia is caused & expressed differently from person to person. You definitely need to talk to both pe teacher & senco together - take specific information on your child & general information from the Dyspraxia charity.
dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/
Be calm (not always easy!) but be informative so they know you know more about the subject than they do.

Aside from anything else it’s lazy teaching. You accommodate all levels and deal with SENs instead of pretending they’re not there. Teachers up and down the land manage it in other lessons

They absolutely do not manage it.

Fazackerley
Bollocks to that. A capable good teacher would try, there resources available to all
my son has muscular dystrophy and is in a shit unsupported failing school. Pe department were inclusive right up until it became immposible.- Rest of the staff were shite though...

Keep pushing, go through the complaints procedure if you have too.

My son is in Y8 and has dyspraxia. I sympathise, OP, as DS has similar issues with PE (well, primarily Rugby as they are obsessed with it and it's compulsory at his school). His Rugby teacher seems to believe that because DS looks like a tall strapping rugby player, he must be just lazy and making excuses for being useless at it! Things came to a head after the teacher told me at parents' night that DS 'Is always last out on the field because he's too busy putting his lipstick on' No, he just can't do buttons, laces and zips well because of his dyspraxia, you tool! I had an apology from the HOD for that one, and this teacher seems to have stopped singling DS out as much now. I've had to explain with handouts what dyspraxia is to so many teachers now (including his old SENCO ffs!), it's disheartening.

I wouldn't pull him from PE altogether though, as he needs exercise, physical things DO get easier with practice (I also have dyspraxia and have found this) and he enjoys the other sports even if he's not great at them.

And how is the teacher supposed to be teaching the rest of the class if she is trying to oversee a personalised program for your dd? Or do they not matter?

Honestly if you want individual attention for your child then pay for it by going privately.

Our local schools budget for support workers has just been slashed. Any money left over will go to support children who are really genuinely struggling emotionally and academically, kids who otherwise will leave school with zero qualifications. I'm sorry your dd finds PE awful but she's way down the list of requiring individual help.

I’d suggest the teacher has a lot of students trying to avoid lessons and you consistently writing notes for your daughter doesn’t help.

I’d be questioning why the curriculum is so narrow, some health related fitness should be in there, which is often where students who struggle with team sports struggle. If school and this teacher continue to be an issue I’d be looking at encouraging DD into some form of HRE In her own time as being active is important and would help to build her confidence in her ability to exercise.

Teacher sounds like a pain, but the notes won’t help, it will just make her more frustrated at you and your daughter as it’s difficult to constantly differentiate for unknown numbers (or maybe she doesn’t bother as she knows it’s likely you’ll just write a note so anything she has planned won’t be used anyway)

Get a meeting with school to discuss and suggest strategies to help your DD

If it's a state school they will not have done exclusive tennis and netball. They will have done fitness, dance, probably cheerleading, hockey plus others.

Honestly if you want individual attention for your child then pay for it by going privately.

Are you for real?!

Teach your daughter to stand up for herself. The teacher is being a discriminatory bully. Your daughter should tell her so.

The teacher not being a duck to those who aren't good at sport would be a good start

What do you do out of school to improve her fitness and coordination?

Yes I am totally for real! You absolutely cannot expect tailored individual attention in a state school PE lesson. Why not try working with the teacher and tell your dd just to join in as she can. And work on her fitness and coordination out of school. There is plenty of information on the dyspraxia website. Print out out and go and talk to the pe teacher about it. Then if your dd knows what she can and cant do, she can join in as she can.

As a parent of a dyspraxic child I think you are doing your dd a disservice by encouraging her to sit out pe and this will make you unpopular with sports staff. As she gets older there will be alternative sports on offer and she needs to learn to try and participate at her level. They will be doing skills as well as team games. She could learn to referee. Think of it as an opportunity for free ot, throwing/catching, jumping, hand/eye. Ds never enjoyed team sports but he recognises its place in the timetable.

I think my dd is dyspraxia. We do t have a diagnosis. I have taken a very different stance than you and instead encourage more PE. So we swim twice weekly, cycle everywhere, netball out of school,park runs, Pilates classes and ball games at the park. She's generally last to be picked for a team and never represents the school but by encouraging more physical activity she is improving and is better than she would be otherwise. You need to be speaking to her teacher about how they can be inclusive to encourage her in sport, not writing a note so she can sit it out.

You cannot cure dyspraxia but you sure as eggs is eggs can improve them through appropriate exercises and strategies that improve performance. That is ‘rewiring’ as much as neuro rehab post head injury. It’s not physically rewiring but finding other ways. It’s highly effective but requires effort and increased physical activity.

Dyspraxia is only painful when they fall over. In itself it does not cause joint pain. EDS - hyper mobility- has several forms only one of which (vascular) has any significant impact on joint pain and physical functioning.

Thank you cherrypavlova that's very interesting.

Go and speak to the teacher and head of year/house who ever is in charge.

I think the PE teacher could have been more encouraging. They could have helped your DD find activities she does enjoy and can manage and build from that.

I'm not expecting a personalised programme at all, all I want is for her teacher to be more encouraging and stop putting her down for not meeting her standards when she does try. She has tried many times and that's what happens every time so it's knocked her confidence completely. I do make sure she keeps fit and healthy outside of school, we have a trampoline that she spends a lot of time, we regularly go for walks and she does swimming. She has PE today and I haven't written a note

The purpose of PE is to get a child some exercise and expose them to sports and encourage healthy habits which they can take into adulthood. Humiliating a child who will always find PE difficult is having the opposite affect and will put her off for life. It will also affect her self esteem (and it's exactly things like this which cause people with disabilities to have such low self esteem).

I'd probably excuse her from PE entirely as long as she agrees to try a different sport and do at least 2-3 hours of exercise outside of school - hopefully she can find something she actually enjoys (running? swimming?).

Someone earlier mentioned dyslexia. Imagine if your dyslexic child was made to read in front of the class and berated for not doing it well enough - you'd be absolutely livid for good reason.

You can't rewire dyspraxia, but as with anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Problem is, kids playing team sports spend most of their time standing around doing bugger all. Especially if they are no good at them.

I used to bunk off with a bunch of like-minded friends and we would spend PE lessons mooching around the nearby shopping precinct looking in the shop windows. We literally got more exercise than we did if we took part in the lessons.

Honestly if you want individual attention for your child then pay for it by going privately.

Is this poster ignorant or just nasty (or both)? Every child deserves an education appropriate for their abilities and it is illegal to discriminate based on disability. If PE is essential then the teacher has a responsibility to provide an education which takes into account the girl's disability. She should never be told off for making mistakes which result from her disability. This is plain common sense.