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

@ChristmasCarcass
£10 amazon set.

@CandidaAlbicans2

I wonder if the posters saying “skin is waterproof”, “it’s not cold in the UK”, and “being a bit cold won’t kill him”, have ever experienced sitting for hours in the cool with wet clothes on? It's very unpleasant, not fucking character forming! I bet they'd have trouble concentrating on lessons if they were in that position

I think they've clearly missed the point. No-one says skin is not waterproof and no-one is saying the actual temps are freezing in the UK. They're clearly ridiculous responses to the actual question.

Perhaps they need to get themselves soaked to the bone and then sit in a draughty room at 15 degrees for 4 hours without moving much and then see if they get it. Their waterproof skin will be of no comfort at that point!

[quote Grobagsforever]@lizbetlizbet

No it doesn't speak fo itself which is why I asked for evidence...[/quote]
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/scientists-finally-prove-cold-weather-makes-sick/

I allow the kids in my class to wear coats if necessary in PE lessons and even in normal lessons if really cold. We don’t do PE if it’s absolutely chucking it down and we aren’t using the field to avoid kids getting too muddy and wet. We just use our MUGA or playground. We’re only doing outdoor PE to keep everyone as safe as possible from the virus. I would prefer to be indoors too rather than freezing my backside off outside but that’s the way things are at the moment.

Won’t he stink after sweating in it?

Do primary school kids sweat during PE?! They barely move.

I found that too @HerNameWasEliza but didn't link it in case it started a debate about the current state of research/not sufficient

grobags - i would have thought the research since then would be along similar lines - plus children are even more vulnerable as their bodies cannot regulate temperature as efficiently as adults' bodies

Yabu, kids normally wear their jumpers over their PE kit, with thermal vests underneath.

Not here they don't. And even if they did and all the layers got wet then they would still be cold and wet for the rest of the day

YANBU..

This sori of bollocks is how DC get put off organised sports for life.

@mayflowerapplepie With you 100% on this. It took me ages as an adult to find physical activities that wouldn't bring back bitter memories of Nurse Ratched-like Games and PE teachers. I eventually settling on a bit of martial arts, yoga and Pilates, and as an older adult I enjoy walking. None of which involved having to play in a blooming team while aforesaid Nurse Ratched pranced about yelling "Hit, hit, hit". And if I'm walking, I have the right kit for the conditions and a nice flask of coffee in the backpack, thanks.

Strangely enough, the experience also put me off jolly hockey stick type "gels" (and "lads", and oh, do I mean "lads") who thought sports were the be-all and end-all and the only feasible way to teach team skills.

I wonder if those tough, hardy, sporty paragons of virtue would feel the same about it all if they had to endure a task they loathed in wet clothes and no chance of changing for some time afterwards. (And yes, it's blowing a gale and chucking it down here today and chilly - according to Alexa it's 12 degrees though she generally understates it by at least 2 to 5 degrees. So I don't know where these people experiencing 15 degrees are, unless it's the Scilly Isles or somewhere, though a friend in Northern Ireland did say the weather was nice over there today...)

*I eventually settled, before the Grammar Police get started. ;)

@amy85 is the Headteacher aware that this is the PE policy? Have you had any joy questioning this yet? (Or is it the Head themselves who's come up with the policy?)

You're not in East Lothian, the north east, or Yorkshire by any chance, are you? (I mean, I come from a city where lads and lasses [used to] go out on a Friday night just in little T-shirts and killer heels, but that's because all the bars on various streets in Newcastle are pretty close together and you just teeter from one to the other.)

I still don’t understand why they can’t get changed?? 🤔

Because they've been told to avoid changing rooms. Same as our sports centre hasnt opened changing rooms either

Plenty of schools with no changing rooms, kids that age just change in class

@Missanneshirley

Plenty of schools with no changing rooms, kids that age just change in class

Nspcc recommend that children over year 3 have single sex changing. This requires some logistics which are generally not doable at the moment.

It also reduces the amount of things brought in from home.

Grobags,

'You. Don't. Catch. Colds. From. Being. Cold.

They are a VIRUS. You can them from being near someone with the VIRUS.*'

You can call it what you want, but people get sick (temperature, cough, sneezes, etc) after getting wet/cold.

• I absolutely do not know what's in those people's heads, when they force children to play outside during rain without adequate protection. My DD was in the same situation today at school, too and I have just heard her coughing. I absolutely intend to complain to school on Monday! DDs class had morning session, she got wet, her feet got wet and then she had to stay in school until the end in wet PE kit and trainers for the rest of the day. Her socks were soaking wet when she got home. This is unforgivable!

@amy85 did you get an answer from the school on this?

Solidaritea they can recommend all they want but unless they're offering funding to rebuild schools it isn't going to work! No school I've worked in has had changing rooms, although one has since had an extension built and changing rooms included in the extension.

I don't mind doing sport in the rain as long as I can change into dry clothes afterwards. If they have to stay in wet clothes then it's ridiculous. I don't see why they couldn't just wear a light waterproof though - what would the harm be?

@Missanneshirley

Solidaritea they can recommend all they want but unless they're offering funding to rebuild schools it isn't going to work! No school I've worked in has had changing rooms, although one has since had an extension built and changing rooms included in the extension.

It is completely possible without extra space.

Every school I've worked in has facilitated separate changing for KS2 children. 2 schools organised neighbouring classes to have PE lessons one after another, so 2 classes changed together - boys in one room and girls in the other. Ideal situation and works very smoothly. Not possible now due to covid bubbles.

Another school had girls changing first while boys lined up in the corridor; then swapped.

TA here. Our class teacher isn't present for PE. All our class kids were given the option for coats during PE, but only three put them on. Those three and several others then threw coats and jumpers on the wet ground despite the rain. I picked them up, but the damage was done. Wet kids, wet clothes, meh. The ones I worry about are the ones who have no coat at all despite us repeatedly asking parents if we need to provide one.