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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect my son to still be allowed to do PE?

77 replies

KarenM262 · 05/10/2021 17:05

Since covid school have made us send our children in PE kit once a week anyway I was supposed to send my 6 year son today and for some reason I completely forgot and sent him in his uniform, it wasn't until I got a text from school telling me off that I even realised. Anyway I've no excuse I should have sent him but he has come home telling me he wasn't allowed to join in and had to sit and do writing instead. It was indoor PE and he wears trainers so can't really see why he couldn't have done it in his uniform? AIBU?

OP posts:
NovemberWitch · 05/10/2021 17:43

Teaching was less complicated 35 years ago. Far fewer rules.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 05/10/2021 17:49

Ours just let them do it in uniform if you forget as long as they've got trainers on

It's hardly hygiene when they are sat in pe kit all day at the minute

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 05/10/2021 17:50

Actually all mine have taken in their pe kits at the beginning of term and brought them back home at half term in primary school (before covid) I'm not sure hygiene has ever been a consideration 🤣

sirfredfredgeorge · 05/10/2021 17:59

How is it unhygienic? If you were claiming the need to change out of the PE clothes after PE then I could perhaps see (although without a shower, I don't really buy it) but given they wouldn't do that with their PE kit, so it's simply swapping one pair of shorts and t-shirt for another...

1forAll74 · 05/10/2021 18:12

Yet another silly school rule, especially if it's a one off.

LorenzoVonMatterhorn · 05/10/2021 18:18

@KittenKong

I imagine if they allowed a small child to do PE in their uniform it could get trashed - and the parents would have a fit.
Yes remembering the thread a parent threw a fit at a child doing art in their uniform…
TheCanyon · 05/10/2021 18:20

Our dcs school are saying to send them in pe kit on pe days. Can guarantee my kids won't be doing that over winter. Our school still let's the kids participate.

lightningstrikes · 05/10/2021 18:23

Ridiculous. They all run about at play times in their uniform and no one is concerned about hygiene or what shoes they have on. What is a concern is the shocking level of obesity in children, schools should be encouraging children to move their bodies whenever possible. How very petty and shortsighted of them. I also think it's shitty to punish the child by shaming and excluding for something their parent is responsible for. Our school would never do this, its a shitty way to treat kids ( and parents who are human and forget things).

RosieLemonade · 05/10/2021 18:24

My year 5s do PE in the morning and then wear them for the rest of the day. It's certainly fragrant!

icedcoffees · 05/10/2021 18:25

@TaraR2020

Because its unhygienic
How on earth is it unhygienic?
CottonSock · 05/10/2021 18:26

He's 6, I assumed year 6. What a ridiculous decision from the school

AFS1 · 05/10/2021 18:26

My kids’ primary school used to have a 3 strikes rule - the first 2 times a child didn’t have PE kit they could still do PE. Third time onwards they had to sit it out.

I don’t see a safety or hygiene issue for 6 year olds. I think the school was unreasonable.

mumwon · 05/10/2021 18:28

Our school didn't have pe kit - we just use to do pe in our uniform
True, this was decades ago & in Australia & we didn't have a hall - everything was outside (girls school)
Can't remember what happened when it rained though -
We probably were pretty sweaty & smelly anyway in that climate - fortunately we had big opening windows in the class rooms Grin

Biancadelrioisback · 05/10/2021 18:30

Can you imagine the uproar from some parents if the uniform was damaged during PE (getting caught on things while running/getting holes in trousers from falling etc) even if it was their fault that their DC didn't have PE kit?

It'd be all over Daily Mail with compo faces just like the "my son was sent into isolation for shaving a swear word in his hair" type stories.

firsttimeclock · 05/10/2021 18:41

I used to work with a PE specialist who said PE kit is simply to get you in the mindset of what you're doing. The kids run around for an hour at lunch in school uniform and coats so really there's no purpose to it all other than mindset.

fourminutestosavetheworld · 05/10/2021 19:20

"Maybe the OP is definitely the sort of Mum who would ensure her son never went without kit again, maybe she's not. But it does nothing to encourage the other children to remember to wear their kit, does it, if anyone turning up without it still gets to do PE?"

I don't care. I am not punishing a child for his parents' error. I would allow it the first time and talk to the parent after school. If it was a simple mistake, I wouldn't expect it to happen again. If it happened again, I'd ask the parent to leave a kit in school. If it was a parent who didn't care, I'd get a kit from lost property or ask school to buy him one.

I realise everyone says the child should remember, but the reality is that children with organised parents are hugely advantaged, given reminders etc

JoborPlay · 05/10/2021 19:21

@TaraR2020

Because its unhygienic
How? If they're in sports kit all day after PE how is it different to uniform all day after PE?
fourminutestosavetheworld · 05/10/2021 19:24

"Not sure this really works as it would mean boys could take part but girls (who predominantly don't wear trainers as school shoes) wouldn't be able to. There needs to be the same rule for all."

Yes and my rule for all is - are you wearing footwear that is safe to use the equipment in the sports hall? If so, on this first occasion of forgetting your kit, you can still do PE.

MurielSpriggs · 05/10/2021 19:26

How on earth is it unhygienic?

Do not look for reason! I suspect that comment came from a representative of the Mumsnet faction which teaches that your family will become infested with disease if you put your table cloth in the same wash as your tea towels.

Morgantowers · 05/10/2021 19:31

It’s not a big deal. He forgot his kit not you. I bet he won’t forget next week. Yr 6 need to start taking responsibility, Yr7 is a big jump otherwise.

Bitofachinwag · 05/10/2021 19:34

Not really, he would have worn his PE kit all day anyway.

MurielSpriggs · 05/10/2021 19:35

There's talk that new gas boilers will be banned before long. When they need replacing you'll have to get an electric "heat pump" boiler, which will cost about three times as much to buy, and in nearly every case will also require complete replacement of all the pipework and radiators, with all the expense and upheaval that involves.

So get yourself as reliable a gas boiler as you can while you can, and keep it going as long as possible!

MurielSpriggs · 05/10/2021 19:35

Oops! You might find that informative though Grin

Leftphalange · 05/10/2021 20:04

I would have let him do it, a 6 year old should not be punished for the parents actions. He's 6.

And the arguments if hygiene etc make no sense if he's sitting in his pe kit all day anyway.

FatBettyintheCoop · 05/10/2021 20:15

YANBU

What reason did the school give for excluding your child?

I’m in Ireland. It’s always been standard for our local primary school kids to wear PE kit to school on days they do PE as it’s a small village school with no gym space or changing facilities so PE is always done outside. PE kit consists of joggers and trainers instead of trousers and shoes.

If they happened to be wearing ordinary uniform, no matter, they can still take part.

Must admit, one of the main reasons we moved here from the U.K. was because I felt he’d get a better quality of education here, and reading posts like this simply confirm to me that we did the right thing. Our school is very nurturing and the children clearly thrive in their care.

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