To expect my 9 year old to be allowed to wear a coat...

[amy85]

Aibu to expect my 9 year old to be allowed to wear his coat for pe when the school insist on outdoor pe even tho it's cold and raining???

Rained all afternoon here and ds came out of school soaking and shivering

our school has them take a change of clothes in (uniform) just in case they get wet

If they don't do it outside, they won't do any at all!

I find these rigid PE rules in British school so baffling. I really don't understand majority of them. Most of my friends in Britain don't Have school aged kids so I've only heard few stories so no idea if they are universal.

I went to a uniform school abroad for a year (We do not have uniforms where I'm from) and there we were allowed to adjust the uniform rules as needed.

I do think if it's rainy and cold it's unfair if they are not allowed to wear a jacket or change clothes. I don't see a practical reason for this. Ifstuden choose not to wear a coat or feel ita too hot or not appropriate, fine. But not allowed to just for funzies? I play football and hell yes, I wear a jacket in training if it's raining and/or cold. If too warm for that then at least I get home immediately after.

My child is wearing PE kit on PE days at the moment and is expected to wear base layers if it's cold and waterproof top layers if it's raining, It sounds like your school needs to allow/encourage additional light waterproof layers.

It's not great. I think they should have cancelled the lesson if it was raining and they couldn't get changed.

I work in a secondary and our students are allowed to wear leggings, jogging bottoms and hoodies as appropriate. The only need to be school colours so basically black.

What on earth is the problem with wearing a coat? Like what good reason is there for saying no, regardless of whether they can change afterwards or not? Presumably most children's coats are some sort of anorak that they can easily run around in at playtime and not a wool overcoat that might impede their ability to do PE. And if they get too hot and sweaty in the coat, then they can take it off!

A lightweight jacket for PE - yes, she should be allowed.
A bigger heavier winter coat - no, it's too restrictive and would stop the children doing the activity. The teacher may be wearing one but they are not doing the activity themselves. The children should be exercising so should get warm through the activity. You could try asking for exercises that ensure the children are moving around and warming up during PE rather than group games that have less movement and more time standing to take a turn.

A light weight jacket and maybe thermals on pe day.

A jacket IS a coat? They're not allowed to wear them according to OP? The issue won't be solved by thermals as it was about getting wet wasn't it?

I also think I might have hated PE a little less if it hadn’t involved being a teenage girl getting sweaty and gross and then having to put my uniform back on and sit in class all day smelling. Maybe if PE in schools was less unpleasant and there was some recognition that not everyone enjoys the same thing and that even children might want to be protected from the elements there might be more enthusiasm about it

Why not send him with a spare hoodie, or tell him to take his hoodie off before going outside and put it back on when they come back inside.

Its not the exercise bit that is the issue, it's the sitting around in wet clothes afterwards that is the problem

@Missanneshirley

Did he have anything waterproof with him? Did he ask to wear it? We are doing all PE outside, kids not changing. The expectation is that they are suitably dressed for outside gym, then can take off waterproof/wet layers when back in. Although of course halfway through most of them invariably get too hot and throw their jackets off anyway!

He had his coat with him which he'd worn at playtime and lunchtime....The kids asked to put their coats on but the pe teacher told them all they can't put their coats on and to just put their hoodies/jumpers on

I don’t understand why they can’t get changed? They’re all in their bubble so getting changed into a PE kit doesn’t make you more susceptible to catching a virus. Ffs fed up with kids being treated like leper’s!

@romeolovedjulliet

why are kids doing p.e if the rain is that bad ? sounds pretty stupid to me especially as they can't get changed.

The pe teacher told them today that they will be doing pe outside no matter the weather. Even if it hails they will be outside in it

Stop exaggerating OP!

If DS had been siting in wet clothes all afternoon, then he wouldn't still be 'soaking wet' at hometime. And if he had a hoody on, then his t-shirt underneath would have been pretty dry.

It's only September, not January! it's been around 15 degrees in the UK.
this afternoon.

It's weird to do exercise in a coat unless it's a specific running jacket or something.

The PE teacher isn't doing PE- they're teaching it, and if out all day will need to wear a coat- kids are are probably only out for about 40 minutes and should be running around so not cold.

Aside from them being wet all day, I'd also be asking why they're doing PE outside on a rainy day. My DD goes to school in her PE kit, but if it's raining they do PE in the main hall. There was even a mix up today so there was another class in the hall (it's a 3-18 school), but not a problem as they just drew one of the curtains to halve the hall. If my school can do PE indoors during a pandemic, and it has indeed had 5 cases of Covid within the school, then why can't others?

Can you describe the cost that he had with him?

@Whyisitsodifficult

I don’t understand why they can’t get changed? They’re all in their bubble so getting changed into a PE kit doesn’t make you more susceptible to catching a virus. Ffs fed up with kids being treated like leper’s!

I don't get it either especially as at his school they get changed in the classrooms so there's no sharing changing rooms or anything

Lots of schools currently have staggered timetables and indoor PE cannot easily be accommodated. At my school lunch is now running from 11.15-2pm leaving very little time for indoor PE to take place in the hall!

Being cold and wet during outdoor sports/games (secondary school) is one of the reasons I always hated PE and games at school. A loathing that has remained with me over 50 years later.
However, at least we were not expected to sit around in wet clothing for the rest of the day.
I would speak to the teacher or head, so they devise some better practises

@innitbloodysuper

Aside from them being wet all day, I'd also be asking why they're doing PE outside on a rainy day. My DD goes to school in her PE kit, but if it's raining they do PE in the main hall. There was even a mix up today so there was another class in the hall (it's a 3-18 school), but not a problem as they just drew one of the curtains to halve the hall. If my school can do PE indoors during a pandemic, and it has indeed had 5 cases of Covid within the school, then why can't others?

Some (many) schools have only one indoor space large enough for a class to do PE. Many of these spaces are not large enough to "draw a curtain across" to split in half. Many of these spaces are only available for a short period as they are also used for lunch.

So it's PE in the rain or no PE. Schools have to weigh up benefits of PE against damage of rain. Given children are waterproof and it's not winter, rain is likely to be less damaging than no PE unless it's heavy.

I presume this is primary school, in which case it will have been whole class PE and I can imagine there will be many parents raising this with the school tomorrow. Have you spoken to any other parents?

The reason they wear PE kit all day is to reduce the number of bags of kit etc in cloakrooms; that's what they told us when my son went back in June.

@FreekStar - the uk does not have the same climate for all - there are pretty big regional differences - it’s been bloody freezing and wet where I am!

Remembering.my school days where it was the P.E teacher who decided if it was cold enough for our tracksuits and whether it was just the top or bottoms too. In fairness she was dressed in similar clothes and if it was really cold or wet we went in the gym. And we just had single lessons so were back inside after 30 minutes whereas she would be outside with different classes all day.

Indoor PE strictly off limits here (Scotland). Sitting in wet clothes wouid be an issue as it's very cold in the classroom so they wouldn't dry off. But the kids would have the opportunity to change (in the class) either before or after.