To ask if you can think of an excuse which will get 11yo off PE for the rest of term?

[HelloKittyGirl]

Just that, basically. What would get her off games for a few weeks?

Thing is I quite liked athletics since it's more about basic movement although the hurdles were farcical (yeah, full size hurdles when you're 1.4 m tall..). I was wondering why on earth we didn't do athethletics the whole year round as I actually felt like I could learn something and get fitter - but no. Team games, team games and more team games with dodgeball being the only one I was competant at.

So you are encouraging her to be a skiiver. 🙄

@Charlotteskye

PE isn't just for fitness. It teaches leadership, sportsmanship, life skills, patience and other attributes. Why should your child be excluded when the others have to participate. You're not teaching your child good behaviour. Im sotry to say that they must go in my opinion.

Bollocks. It teaches you what it's like to be bullied, ostracised, and humiliated, by both children and the fucking sadistic evil bullying PE teachers. It teaches the sporty kids how to gang up on the non sporty kids. It teaches the popular kids a socially approved way to exclude and penalise the unpopular kids. I wish to god my mum had signed me out of PE. Maybe I wouldn't have a lifelong fear and hatred of physical activity.

No but a child who has learned from their parent that they don’t have to anything they don’t want to and can get out of it by lying with the full support of said parent will, by the time they are 18, be very obviously ‘that type of child’ and to educators that is very very obvious

What rubbish. Just because a kid hates PE and their parents supports them in it doesn’t mean they won’t get into uni, or a job, it’s just laughable.

I taught secondary for 25 years. Never recognised any 6th formers who got out of PE as ‘that child’ 😁. Loads of them hated it and moaned about it.

They all went to university and jobs. Weird that isn’t your?

Isn’t it!?

Are they getting Counselling?

In my day it was I’d left my kit then when the school try to call you to drop it off be unavailable due to work.
Or write a note saying she needs to be excused for menstruation problems

It is not normal for every child to want to take part in PE and Games. I hated it from the word go and managed to avoid it for 7 years at school. My main excuse was asthma. I was always breathless and could never keep up with others. It was only when I was 50 that the GP used spirometry which showed I was about one-third short of lung tissue which explained a lot but the PE teachers at school took no account of that kind of thing. I don't believe that missing compulsory PE did me any harm at all and it gave me about 4 or 5 hours a week to do more useful things. And one doesn't need compulsory Games to learn about being a team player in life!

It teaches leadership, sportsmanship, life skills, patience and other attributes

I skived it all the time. I seem to have managed to get through life. I’d hate to be a leader. Sportsmanship? What even is if? Who cares anyway. I’m very patient and have loads of attributes.

Walking really isn't sufficient exercise for her

Overall a bit of exercise and learning/participation in sport is good for vast majority. Lying to get out of something is not a skill to practice.

Osgood schlatter disease was always the go to at my school.

@blyn72 I know that feeling. I tried a team sport for exercise as an adult that was advertised as just for fun beginner level and it was exactly the same brought me to tears and felt like I was straight back in my school days. I have a DD now that is similarly struggling with sport and I'm strongly encouraging swimming and walking as good forms of exercise for personal enjoyment and hope she has a better time of it than me.

Just tell them she's not doing it for x amount of weeks.

You’re teaching her that if she doesn’t want to do something she can lie to get out of it, with your approval. Life is full of unpleasantness. Teach her to push through and show a bit of backbone.
It’s a life lesson.

I'm so glad I'm fortunate enough to be able to home educate my children. The thought of them being forced to take part in an activity they do not want to do makes me feel so sad.

I hated PE. I'm still wholly unintersted in sports. I'd have done anything to get out of it. Due to timetabling issues I did manage to drop a couple of periods to do extra maths and Latin.

wholly uninterested obvs

If she's already having trouble with the workload I think you need to speak to her form tutor. Do you think it's fair that she gets the extra hours a week compared to her classmates?

Wait - One time PE DID teach me teamwork. It was when there was an attempt to teach Yr 9 gymnastics. Not a terrible idea in priciple but in practise it was acrobatic gymnastics where you have to climb on and hold positions on top of other people. The entire multi-class group refused point blank to do any such exercise considering only a handful did gymnastics out of school.

Selective and highly academic school for girls. Is this private by any chance? I know many who skipped off PE when i was at my coed state, peroids were an excuse, but in the main girls didnt want to be in there sports kit with boys. I remember it as I attended one of those. You DD goes to a highly selective school however you seem disinterested in what it offers so I am at a loss as to why you bothered?

Honestly? I think what you're suggesting is a bit shit op and is not setting a great example for your dd.

I was bottom set for PE because I was crap at team sports. I still did it. What the heck are you teaching her about life? She doesn't get to opt out of the less pleasant stuff.

Parent her ffs.

I should add that my DS friends from his selective boys school play for england in cricket, play for england and local club for rugby, one of the boys won the gold in the heptathlon. If you have invested in a good school they draw out raw talent and ensure you excel. Not everyone is 'academic'

Lying about your child's health is shitty. You're supposed to model positive behaviours.