To think that PE could be reconsidered in order to be a more meaningful and enjoyable experience for secondary aged pupils (and primary too!)?

[EveSix]

This week, I'm hearing so many of DC1's school friends and parents express their frustration with the experience of PE in school (secondary age in our case, across several schools, two counties / local education authorities). So many pupils seem to loath it and struggle to participate with any real sense of enthusiasm or enjoyment.

In DC1's friendship group, PE gives rise to lots of anxiety about changing bodies and comparison; nobody seems to feel better for a stint on the field. I'm an active adult now and love physical exercise on my own terms, but remember feeling very much like DC1's friends when I went to school.

Looking at the National Curriculum for PE (KS3 copied in below), I can't help but to feel as if there could be another way of teaching young people to actually enjoy physical activity and feel good and safe in their bodies. There are so many ways to be active, and some of them, if approached sensitively and creatively, would be bound to appeal to kids who don't feel there is a place for them in PE lessons at the moment.

Across the schools I know, there seems to be a big focus on competitive team sports and track, which just isn't going to be everyone's idea of fun. I'm sure many more pupils with SEN and anxiety are exempt from PE than geography or food tech because it's can be such a high stress environment. When I exercise, I'm definitely not looking for a stressy time.

Does anyone care to join me in musing on what alternative provision and activities might be enjoyed more broadly if made available?
If you didn't like PE the way it was taught at your secondary school, is there an activity you think you might have enjoyed? Or perhaps a different approach to teaching PE altogether? Contributions from DC welcome!

YABU: young people just need to crack on with it; PE is character-building

YANBU: PE could be made more enjoyable and relevant to a wider range of pupils

My suggestions would be (some might involve travel to facilities not within easy walking distance):
Yoga
Pilates
Nordic walking
Mindfulness walking
Archery
Fencing
Badminton
Table tennis
Rollerskating
Ice skating (DC1's school is in spitting distance of an ice skating rink, for instance)
Gym sessions for cardio (exercise bikes, treadmills, rowing machines etc) and free weights

I am convinced that if I'd had the experience of learning to enjoy a range of physical activities that made me feel good about myself in a relaxed environment during OR lessons, I would have been happier in general at school.

Here's the the first part if the PE Programme of Study for KS3:

Purpose of study
A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness.

Opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

Aims
The national curriculum for physical education aims to ensure that all pupils:
 develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
 are physically active for sustained periods of time
 engage in competitive sports and activities
 lead healthy, active lives.
Attainment targets
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
Schools are not required by law to teach the example content in [square brackets].

I totally agree with you

I wasn't a sporty kid at all and the thought of PE lessons fills me with sadness for my younger self. I wouldn't let anyone treat me like that now.

I loved PE at primary however as it wasn't competitive. We had a non-competitive sports day where there were lots of small different events which were geared towards different skills. For example if you weren't good at the running race, you might have been good at the balance beam or bean bag throw. The whole school would be split into team but you scored points for your team by trying and completing all events, not for where you came in them.

At secondary I hated it. All but one of my PE teachers would shame you for being last saying you just weren't trying hard enough. All abilities were expected to achieve the same. My javelin throw was never going to be as good as the girl in my year who threw for the county. I didn't get a well done for doing my best, just negative comments and being told I should do better.

It should be about promoting enjoying sport, whatever your skills and the importance of keeping active but doing so in a positive way and recognising not everyone will find this in the same way.

And aerobic dance activities like Zumba is such a good idea; it's fun! At DC1's school, the dance element of the PE curriculum always seems to require artistic / creative interpretation and qualities such as gracefulness and poise, which can feel quite unattainable for many 14-year olds.

Yanbu. But there isn't the money for individual changing rooms, extra PE facilties and additional teachers.
I dropped out of PE at 14, too much bullying in communal changing. DD's school stream for PE, from the sound of it the sportier pupils can crack on with things.

The attitude from PE teachers hasn’t changed since I was at school and I’m 55 now. Teachers allowing Sports Billy kids to pick teams, taking the piss out of the less sporty, forcing ASD kids to grab other kids and cling to each other.

so sad because his is what sows the seed of hating exercise. My youngest was really keen on sport and running etc until secondary school and some twattish PE teachers.

Agree wholeheartedly.I hated, hated, hated PE, especially team sports and anything with balls. The experience of being forced to do it, getting sweaty / muddy, and all my classmates laughing at me for being crap. It was a really scarring experience and put me off sport right into adulthood.
I would have happily gone for a nice brisk walk round the nearby park, or even just round the school field. I also would have preferred to some kind of keep fit or aerobics to a video rather than playing hockey or tennis or netball.

Neither of those would have cost the school a penny.

I think non weighted circuits are a good option and dance too. I did circuits with my brownies a few years back and they are not the active type. They loved it and really got into it.

So children go on having their lives made miserable, nothing gets better, no progress is made. Helpful !

My DD state school does trampolining - they each got 2 lots of 45 seconds of jumping in the 90 minute lesson due to class numbers!! Pointless.

The main problem with PE lessons is that they actually don't spent time teaching people who are not very good how to get better.

It always annoyed me that in PE, pupils were allowed to mock and tease others that were less sporty, less competitive and generally not very good.Likewise PE teachers wee critical and unpleasant.
Yet if I, as one of the top academic types did the same in English, Maths, Humanities, Science….I’d be hammered by the teachers. Told not to brag and belittle others. Somehow it’s ok in sport/PE. In the same way that fans are nasty and aggressive in their support of football.

I was so beyond hopeless at PE that it took the teachers years to realise that I was genuinely that inept (and most likely neurodiverse). It was only really y10 when I still doggedly turned up with my incorrect PE kit (DM didn't believe in PE so never went to the bother of providing the exact kit) week after week rather than resorting to skiving off did my effort grades lift from Ds and Es.

The problem with PE is it tends to assume a basic level of competence, and woe betide you if you don't have the skill, build or specific fitness to meet a certain standard. In subjects like maths there is care put in to adressing those skills, but if you're basically phobic about projectiles being launched at you, you're stuffed. I never did work out why anyone would want to go towards hard, fast objects that hurt. Basic survival is to get away, duck or block for goodness sake. PE never actually taught how to do something. A mobile phone eventually taught me how to run where years of belittling and being bellowed at to "try harder" while wheezing, and in agony from stitches and shin splints failed.

PE kit was another source of misery. Shivering away on frozen mud in a thin rugby shirt, short skirt and maroon pants. These seem to have improved slightly, but allowing more flexibility of sports kit would improve comfort and reduce embarrasment. Doing sport in comfortable, well fitting, quick-dry clothing appropriately layered to the weather is a game changer. I didn't mind PE supply if I knew in advance to be wrapped up for it!

My saving grace was doing dance outside school. I never was unfit, but through my adult life, I've always done something and stayed fit. The other thing was the Duke of Edinburgh's Award where I walked to have the stamina for expeditions and learned to swim for the physical sections.

More choice would be great. It's often timetabled with multiple groups at the same time so give a choice of something team/ individual on the same spot. Individual doesn't have to be expensive, let them brisk walk the cross country. Cheerleading can be done outside when there's pressure on indoor facilities.
Do individual target setting. I'll never win a half marathon, I'll never get good for age, but I can do well against individual goals.

Many schools are better than my experience (which at least did not involve communal showers like my mother endured) but there's still a long way to go.
I'm involved in junior parkrun and it's a delight to see children participate and develop against themselves, not face unfair comparison.

This. I was rubbish at hockey but excelled at gymnastics and running. More to the point, I really enjoyed PE and would have hated to be with the girls not interested in sports.

PE is often themed for a half term or a term. So you could stream children accordingly. Of course, if you haven’t got a clue as a PE a teacher whether they’re any good because all you do is yell and order them around, you won’t have a clue.
At 13, I could swim 5 miles in the ocean, sail, shoot both rifle and bow and I was excellent at orienteering. None of which helped me survive a move to a comprehensive with my confidence intact or my sporting prowess acknowledged. It was all about netball and running.

Dds school's approach to this is one of the main reasons we chose it - hoping to foster enjoy exercise without the dread of PE. Games (afternoon a week) by choice is team games eg hockey, cricket, netballl, football depending on season or outdoor pursuits so caving/abseiling/climbing or gym spinning/treadmill etc. PE - 1 lesson a week compulsory when swimming up to age of competency and then either PE of that term - badminton/squash/tennis/athletics or back in the gym - they pay for a Les mills type subscription for them to pick a class.

Anything has to be better than PE when I was young. Games were netball and hockey. It always seemed to be freezing cold, and there was also a trampoline and equipment such as a vaulting horse. I was hopeless at all of it. Showers were diabolic, we had to run naked through a short corridor fitted with sprinklers. I remember several girls being really upset. There was no privacy whatsoever.

My children's secondary school has a gym suite with weights, treadmills, rowers etc and they are taught to use all the equipment. I think it's a much more realistic way of teaching kids exercises that they're more likely to continue as adults.

Entirely students choice which they pick dd is currently outdoor pursuits and gym for PE. Nest term when it is cricket - she'll change her mind but stick with gym for PE - she just puts headphones in for 30 mins on a cross trainer or spinning.

Not necessarily. If you struggle with PE due to reasons like dyspraxia, you may also struggle across the curriculum due to processing and writing speeds.

DS isn't ritually humiliated because he can't spell and flips his letters and that wouldn't be tolerated.

I can handle being last, it's the eye-rolling and exclusion week after week, year after year that cut. And when you're ritually left as substitute, or Wing Defence if they're desperate, you'll never get chance to practice and progress. I don't think I ever did get chance to be a Centre. Being sent to play tennis against the wall was unfair; the fucking wall had enough talent to hit the ball every time unlike me. I never was convinced there was much exercise value in wandering off to collect wayward balls.

There's no discretion when you fail in PE and too often it's colluded and encouraged by the staff and favoured students where it would not be accepted anywhere else.

30 years later I get the last laugh, but it bloody well hurt at the time and too many people, especially girls are permanently turned off physical activity to the detriment of their health.

Forgot to say, it was over 50 years ago.

Name changed as this is potentially outing but a more developed primary provision is definitely possible. It just needs a P.E. lead and staff team who want to push P.E. forward. We're a single form entry state primary school (so a small budget and a limited number of staff) but as part of our curriculum, we run:
Yoga,
Gymnastics,
Dance (different styles),
Tennis,
Hockey,
Golf,
Archery,
Athletics,
Curling,
Netball,
Football,
Rugby,
Cricket,
Swimming,
Rounders,
Tai Chi,
Taekwondo.

We also regularly do "event days" for things like fencing and horse-riding so we can expose the kids to other things we don't have the time, space or facilities to include.

My own experience at secondary school completely changed when we were given control over what P.E. we wished to study. We were all able to focus ourselves on things that interested us rather than the same things again and again and again. All it requires is a big enough P.E. team and the will to do it. Unfortunately, loads of P.E. teachers now end up being pulled into other subjects because of subject specialist shortages so they aren't available to offer a choice.

This is just totally the opposite to my experience. Not a single person showered after PE. Oh apart from one girl who once showered with her shirt on.

The biggest condemnation of school PE in my view is the number of people who leave school humiliated and turned off exercise who then get really into it later on in life when they find activities they enjoy in a supportive atmosphere. Given that the whole point of school is to expand children's opportunities and develop their confidence and self-knowledge, this seems counterproductive.

We did rounders or cross country with the occasional game of netball or a bleep test thrown in. Possibly badminton in the sports hall if it was torrential. Teachers usually stood on the sidelines with a cup of tea and an umbrella. Never any actual teaching of techniques or strategies. We had a dedicated, purpose built sports hall with gymnastics equipment and a gym room. We used it once. I'm asthmatic and I remember once telling my teacher i was struggling to breathe, her response was that I was talking so clearly I could breathe...
Needs a total overhaul and focus needs to be teaching kids to enjoy exercise!

Re train as a PE teacher and then give us your brilliant, ill thought out advice!

After you’ve spent nearly half a day filling out the risk assessment for one of those sports and spent an evening and night in a hall with 30 children fundraising for some of the equipment I’ll listen to you.

Yoga and pirates should not be alternatives to exercise. Most kids do little enough proper exercise so pleased don't give them even more opportunity to be sedentary.