AIBU to think games lessons should be more inclusive

[ScoutFinchMockingbird]

DS is hopeless at games - I'm the first one to admit it. So was my mother and so am I - just no coordination.
But DS is keen and enthusiastic and likes the thought of tennis. Class of 21. Class asked to CHOOSE partners - guess who got left until last and then got send to bang a tennis ball up against the school wall?!
My mother was made to do this in the 1950's and I was hoping (given the obesity crisis etc) that things may have moved on and become more inclusive. I don't expect any child to choose my DS - I wouldn't have myself as a child! But surely the games teacher could have come up with a more inclusive activity, given the odd number in the class?! Something like rotating partners every 5 mins or something?
Hey ho - back to the drawing board on how to engage DS in games!

PE in school is generally an utter waste of time. The sporty kids will be doing sport any way. As PE teachers were all sporty kids, they have no time or empathy for the non-sporty ones and can usually barely disguise their contempt (ie spend a lesson bouncing a tennis ball by yourself FFS). Consequently the sporty don't need it and the un-sporty will be put off the very idea of sports.

I am a primary school governor and it is clear to me that the teaching expected in PE is not the same as in other subjects. For example- there are no special plans/interventions for pupils who are less able, no reviewing of lesson plans and expectations of differentiated learning, no assessment of what progress each pupil has made and accountability for this. In my area most schools have outsourced PE teaching to a private coaching company so PE is not being taught by a qualified teacher with an understanding of these expectations etc.

The theory behind this approach is good- PE being taught by a 'specialist' whilst teacher plan other subjects. But in reality lessons are delivered by sporty youngsters who have experience in coaching junior football clubs etc (ie youngsters with ability and interest) but no teaching training.

Unfortunately this means that my DC2 who (like his mum) is not naturally co-ordinated and does not enjoy traditional sports is treated as an inconvenience and often reports that he spent the lesson as 'reserve' for a game of football or was sent to run round the field.
In any other subject the teacher would be expected to plan how to get him engaged in the subject and how to improve his skills. The result is that a child who already disliked PE now hates it and will not consider any sport outside school either. Great result.

PE in school is not supposed to be about training kids as specialists in a particular sport. That’s for themselves to do as An extra curricular activity after school. School PE classes should be about encouraging everyone to try a variety of activities and thus find at least one form exercise that they enjoy and which will help them stay healthy and keep fit outside of the school timetable. The exercise i do each day is just as good for me and my body as the exercise you do for yourself regardless of whether or not I “win” or am the best at it. That’s why attaching shame to exercise is appalling - we want everyone to be fit and healthy and living to their potential. Some will be gifted sports people and give it more focus but it’s essential that everyone does some exercise regularly. This teacher sounds lazy - they could have done this en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Australian_doubles

A lot of local schools have outside companies do PE while the teachers have PPA time. They are not necessarily teachers experienced in sensitivity etc! and will only know the children from this one lesson a week. Not good if it isn't a one off. Speak to your teacher.

I’ve met three amazing, inclusive and encouraging PE teachers in primary schools who got the best out of every pupil. I’ve been teaching 36 years. Three. Less than one a decade.

I wondered if I’d started this thread in a fury and forgotten. Ds is disabled, always has been. PE has never ever been inclusive.
Yesterday they were playing football (which 50% of the class play 3 x a week for a club and every playtime) and had to choose teams.
Delightful charmer said to the teacher can ds not play cause whatever team has him looses.
The fact that it wasn’t even about teaching skills is bad enough.
If you can’t do your times tables you don’t sit in corner by yourself with a calculator while everyone else does calculus.
Ds is miserable and dreading pe tomorrow. Not sure what I can say to support him.

Whenever it rained or snowed severely, they would pile us all, boys and girls, into the sports hall to play either dodgeball or eurohoc (sort of easy indoor hockey I guess, with a puck?).

Even the kids who had forgotten their kit were gagging to cobble together something from the bins. The naughty ones behaved because they knew they'd be left out otherwise. It even bust through social barriers, with no division of cool or uncool kids.

Everybody had an enthusiastic, energetic, sweaty old time of it.

Always makes me wonder why it wasn't done most of the time, as opposed to a last resort!

Why is it harder in PE than e.g. English or Meths?

Possibly because in most other subjects, little johnny’s lack of talent doesn’t directly ruin the experience for the kids on his team, or cost the team the match. And no matter his much you try to pretend otherwise, that is how some of the kids will see it.

Johnny having different work in maths doesn’t have the same effect as putting him in a relay team that would otherwise have won but can’t last because he’s so very slow. And the thing is, if it’s a race, the kids are going to want to try to win. So it becomes more difficult to balance everything out and be inclusive.

PE isn’t the same as maths or English (which aren’t the same either). Just as music isn’t the same or food technology. That doesn’t mean that the teaching shouldn’t be thoughtful and inclusive, just that it might be quite tricky to make it work for everyone (especially where some of the kids spend all their leisure time doing things like playing football etc, or take part in it very regularly outside school). But different subjects do have different issues to deal with.

Indeed, lots of schools set for maths and English. But not usually for PE.

But given that schools also have clubs and after school sessions for the more able, why not use the PE time to promote general fitness, provide new and fun activities etc?

I think it sounds like a pretty shit tennis lesson, and not just for the leaving out of Op's DS.

Mainly because tennis lessons should not be pairs match play (except maybe for a short period at the end, and even then the archer should be assigning the groups,and having a work around for accommodating an odd number. For which the correct answer would be some sort of alternating, or a 'doubles' match 3 against 2. Leaving one DC out is in no way whatsoever an acceptable workaround.

The majority if the lesson should be skills focussed, and there are simply oodles of activities, with different groupings taking of turns, swooping along a line etc. As well as fitness/warm up, and drills for hand to eye coordination.

If you think your DS might like tennis, point out to him (quite forcibly) that a 'real' tennis lesson is quite different to the pale imitation he's just had, and perhaps see if he wants to try a juniors class at a tennis club, or a tennis-themed camp during the school holidays

Thanks for the responses all. To those suggesting we try a local tennis club instead, we have done. Populated by sporty youngsters who the coaches concentrate on. No real chance to improve or play if you’re less able.
DS actually enjoys kickboxing and swimming and is pretty ok at them - but sadly these aren’t school or team sports 😒

School PE should be about fitness, flexibility and building the skills of the individual rather than team sports which often create an aggressive, gang mentality. Football being a prime example.
Either that, or pupils should be able to opt out in the grounds of mental wellbeing. The whole PE curriculum needs redesigning for the 21st century.

The result is that a child who already disliked PE now hates it and will not consider any sport outside school either. This was me. It taught me that there was no point in trying any form of exercise as I was no good at it. It took me until my late 40s to realise that there were outdoor/physical activities that I could enjoy.

School PE classes should be about encouraging everyone to try a variety of activities and thus find at least one form exercise that they enjoy and which will help them stay healthy and keep fit outside of the school timetable. That would be brilliant!

Tai Chi, yoga, a range of martial arts. People who are rubbish at tennis often find badminton more achievable. Dance. Circus skills.
Why is it so often about being yelled at, hit in the face by a ball or running? Lazy and unimaginative thinking on the part of the adults.
Generations of children who know they are useless at physical activities so give up in their early teens.

It would have been better for the teacher to pick one of the most able in the class and have him play against a pair of the less able boys, then everyone would have been playing and challenged.

Having said that as a shit at PE last to be picked kid myself playing against the wall would have been a blessing for me!