PE teachers inspecting pupils' feet - Unusual?

[noverrucasnowadays]

Something's just jogged my memories of the verruca checks we had in middle school (in the UK - late 90s/early 00s).

At the start of each new term we all had to sit on the gymhall floor in queues, shuffling forward one by one on our bums to have our feet inspected. The teachers sat on chairs at the head of the hall, wearing gloves, and we had to extend one foot at a time to them for examination.

The context was that all indoor PE lessons were expected to take place barefoot, unless you (at the beginning of term ) had a verruca, in which case you were allowed to wear plimsolls or trainers.

To me it feels (and felt) really quite strange.

For all I know though, it wasn't uncommon at all. Now I'm really curious!

Help me out fellow MNers... Did this happen at any of the schools you attended?

I've NC for this, just in case it turns out that the only UK middle school this happened at was my one!! :). Thanks for your time.

Had this at beginning of first year seniors in 1985. I got shouted at in front of the whole class for having athlete’s foot. I had no idea I had athlete’s foot as I thought that was something sporty people got. Another reason to gate PE.

I don't know about parents checking kids' feet. Once I stopped changing nappies I don't know that I ever really look at the soles of my kids' feet. Possibly when cutting their toenails. But DS1 does his own now.

You used to have to walk through a little bath of disinfectant to get into swimming pools, does anyone remember? Our council pool kept the little bath for ages, and just stopped filling it up.

I vaguely remember feet getting checked before swimming. And some kids wearing that awful rubber sock. We wore gym shoes for P.E. I remember the school nurse sometimes checking feet but in private in the nursing room.

only if we went swimming, i didnt have to go swimming for a very long time while having treatment for my verucca

naked showers were also another thing i got out of through having a verucca!
if you were having a period you didnt have to naked shower and the pe teacher marked it in the book

90s kid and no, because no PE in bare feet. And school swimming was once in a blue moon.

And no showers after PE, not with how much pressure the school timetable was under. Put your uniform back on and rush to your next lesson.

Yeah my primary school had a pool with one of those little foot baths. It was always much warmer than the actual pool so it was quite pleasant paddling your feet in it before you had to go shiver in the outside pool.

We had foot inspections before swimming lessons way back in the sixties. I remember my mother being mortified because my sister had a verruca.

I’d completely forgotten about this. Yes, every half term in the 1960s.

Well, in the 2010s, the headteacher goes into a PE lesson, sees lots of children with trainers (due to verrucas) and says that there can't possibly be that many children in the class with verrucas. So we all have to write in, confirming our child has a verruca.

my dc now 20 - 25 had to wear socks in the swimming pool in primary and a special verucca sock if needed.

I dont remember it for PE but definitely inspected exactly as you describe at the swimming baths

I still maintain I remember Nitty Nora looking down our knickers . PE was totally embarrassing so this may be a false memory but it’s a very vivid one.

I remember a black pen being passed around the swimming pool changing room just before a verruca check in the 80's!

And yes to nit nurse, dentist, PE knickers (ours were navy and had our names embroidered on them!)

You think that's bad we had to run naked to the end of the field and back again to dry off after we'd been in the local open pool! (Reception/Year 1) - this was late 70s though so things were different.

Also back checks year 5 or 6 equivalent which was naked from the waist up (in the headteachers room so private just with the nurse or doctor, I don't recall)

Nit nurses too - personal space certainly wasn't so much a thing in my experience.

We had disinfectant foot baths at the local pool. I'd forgotten about them - 1980s or thereabouts. I don't know if they are still there but they were totally built in to the flooring/tiles. Quite a good idea I'd say!

Yes, in the 80s, must have been termly, though I only remember it once. Because we shared communal showers after PE (shudder).

Heads and feet were checked at my school.......lucky us. 🙄 Didn't have the rife infestations we have these days tho.

Primary school in the mid 80’s and we got our feet checked before swimming. Also had to dip our feet in a wee foot pool before going in the water too.
We were only ever allowed to wear those black slip on gym shoes for p.e. No trainers allowed. In P6 and P7 the girls were allowed to wear white lace up gym shoes.

Not at my school in the 80s.

@captainmycaptain
There was no refusing.
I often cried because I didnt want to do pe or go in the showers naked (secondary school) but it was called 'crocodile tears' and we were made to, by very severe in-face shouting and peer humiliation (inciting other kids to taunt you) and ultimately blocking exit.

We had to tell our secondary school P.E teacher when we had our period. She wrote it on a big wall chart in her tiny broom cupboard office next to the changing rooms, it was mortifying! I can only imagine it was changed for each different class. The only lesson we were ever excused from was swimming which each class only did for one term, yet we were expected to report to her all year!!!! This was only in the 90’s.

Our teacher didn't watch us shower (80's), so we all stuck our heads under the water and just pretended we'd had one

Yep, I was born 1983. 'Foot check!!'