Can kids do gymnastics on the field at playtime?

[Trallers]

At my school the kids have been told by some members of staff that they are allowed to do gymnastics moves but only ones they "know how to do" and not ones they are learning. It's outrageously unsafe isn't it? The head doesn't 'allow' it but some staff members seem to, despite me raising it repeatedly. I tell the kids not to but they don't understand why something they are good at is dangerous, especially when the teacher on duty yesterday said it was fine. Plus they aren't always in ears reach so I have to watch them do 6 back flips in a row, or an aerial cartwheel, as I race across the grass. It's actually making me want to quit as we roll into summer and it's every bloody day. Throw in all the other poor behaviour and I'm tearing my hair out! I have a feeling this isn't happening at other schools as none I've spoken to allow it - would be interested to hear wider responses though.

Same with my 7 now 8yr

tho can be pavement - shop floor (making sure room lol)

it’s natural to her

her bff got her a T-shirt. Why walk when You can cartwheel 💖

Funnily enough, one of my 7 year olds told me after school today that a classmate had told her not to do cartwheels, as it wasn't a gymnastics gym!

This. It's just normal childhood play. The Nursery teacher at my school was praised by an ofsted inspector for letting the children climb trees. They were allowed to roll down the grassy bank too. The horror!

Exactly this. It's frustrating as the head is clear about the rules if asked, but the enforcement is weak. I have a feeling it would be just as you described if something dire happened, and any staff who permitted something technically allowed would be thrown under the bus, despite the day to day culture feeling very permissive.

Yes they’re different, Aerial your hands don’t touch the floor but body moves in the same way as doing a cartwheel. So basically run, rebound and turn/flip in the air and land.
Definitely not something my DD is allowed to do at school. Instructed by her gymnastics coach to only do it supervised by her or one of the other coaches.
I’ve seen 2 bad injuries at daughter’s previous gymnastics when kids have tried doing aerials when they hadn’t yet mastered it. One girl broke her arm - literally snapped in 2 and the other child broke their collarbone!!

We too have a grassy bank that the kids roll down, I don't stop that because who cares.

Sometimes the football is banned for a while if it gets too rough and reminders don't work. All ball games being banned would affect about 80% of the kids as its the main thing eveyone likes to do. They pretty much all play with balls at some point, even the gymnastics girls.

The keeping people in their own areas is a good idea but hard in practice as they are already split up by age group, and that's hard enough to stay on top of. There's also no consistent spots as different activities seem to happen on different days, so there might not be a football game on one day.

Then address the having to tell them multiple times. You shouldn’t have to.

Totally normal child behaviour and seems a moderate sensible rule.

So the kids who enjoy football or other ball sports can play in the field but kids who want to do handstand or cartwheel can't? I wouldn't really describe it as gymnastics necessarily anyway, just kids playing.

As a former TA, I always hated when they did "gymnastics" as we had a child break their arm a few years ago doing it and the memory of his bone sticking through his jumper really stayed with me.

Speak to the head, clarify that some staff have been staying different things and you are worried about safety.

Find them a room of cotton wool, and let them roll about it that. I assume you would have an attack of the vapours if anyone played British Bulldog. It’s no wonder kids have no resilience, injuries are part of growing up.

DD broke her arm at school, aged 9 .. fell awkwardly off the Monkey Bars - it was just one of those things. I didn’t sue the school, or demand the kit was dismantled.

How have you read the thread and come up with the idea I don't allow cartwheels?!

my daughter is learning aerials now and I won’t let her practice them at home. Uneven surfaces and landing badly could be catastrophic. She does cartwheels and handsprings and works on her over splits and plays on the trapeze and does anything else she can come up with but not aerials. I want her to be totally proficient before she does that in a space with distractions and wet grass and random cats and whatever else we might find in our front garden. They are quite dangerous and very different to a bunch of cartwheels and forward rolls.

Gymnastics has really taken off in the last 20 years or so. Where ballet was the default when I was growing up, I feel like gymnastics is now. The cartwheels, handstands etc we were doing in our 70s /80s playgrounds are nothing compared to the level of gymnastics tumbling that kids achieve now. Aerials etc.

But in a gym club they have spotters to step in if they are not going to land well. And soft mats.

My daughter is complaining that they are not allowed to use the bars anymore at school, but I know full well that they are not just hanging off them upside down like we used to, but practicing soul circles and other moves from uneven bars at their gymnastics club which has a foam pit under the bars not a scattering of wood chips. I don’t blame the school because it’s a playground not a gym…

Doing a handstand or cartwheel is one thing, doing 6 backflips in a row is quite another. The chance of the child hurting themselves or someone else is much higher.
I would get clarification from the head, they may not realise that gymnastics on the field includes a row of backflips and aerial cartwheels. If you say you're concerned and looking for clarification and they say it's fine then it's down to them if it turns out not to be fine.

I agree with this and YANU OP. Amateur entry level gymnastics fine. But no way would I want kids doing full-on tumbles and aerials on my watch. I’d be getting the head to send an email around both to staff and parents.

I think some posters need to go back to school to improve their reading comprehension, this is not about cartwheels and handstands

Unfortunately, you are in the minority. The number of complaints we get over what most would class as minor grazes is actually quite sad. I love seeing children play and explore through different exercises, but at the back of my mind is "what would happen if they fell while doing..." So I'm constantly scanning and reminding children to take care. Like I said, it really not my way, and thankfully major accidents are few and far between but if something happens we have paperwork to fill out and I have to explain what happened in detail to our SLT, headteacher, and the parents and I would probably be given a warning for not monitoring the children probably. It's such a sad state of affairs.

Ffs. I actually despair.
No wonder we’ve got a generation of obese, iPad addicted kids if the adults in their life are discouraging this kind of play. It’s actually really fucking sad.

Coaches aren't present at football to assist the children doing tricky moves safely by putting a hand under their back or catching them mid flip if they can see its going wrong. The football coach has a slightly differnt function so I don't think the comparison quite works.

In answer to your original question....ignoring all the usual aibu ridiculousness....

Our primary did not allow gymnastics other than the basic stuff and it was quite heavily policed. My daughter regularly came home whingeing that she had been told off for it.

I have to say I'd rather my kid not do the more advanced stuff at school because, like you say, there are kids and footballs everywhere and potential for injury.

I wouldn't have blamed the school if they had injured themselves though as I know what she is like..... But I guess a lot of parents would nowadays.

People moaning it's the school ruining kids fun, it's probably more the parents!

Reslly? Discouraging things that should be taking place at a gymnastics clubs rather than a school who are legally responsible for the children's welfare? The kids are all very active and spend the whole playtime doing various sports, but the fact that I'm concerned about these particular dangerous moves happening without a coach and mat means it's no wonder we have a generation of obese kids? I'm sorry but i really don't understand how you've reached that conclusion from what I've said on this thread. The iPad generation is certainly an issue but not allowing elite gymnastics in school fields isn't the cause!

Not allowed where I work. Mainly because kids flipping about means someone is pretty likely to get a hefty kick in the face. Nor is football allowed at lunch time due to all the arguing it causes and the poor midday supervisors end up stepping in constantly which then mens others aren't getting the supervision and help they need. Is it sad, yeah it is, but if you have to deal with the relentlessness of it you understand.

I’d agree with this. Lots of fractured wrists from slipping whilst playing football. I think half the boys in my sons class had fractures last autumn. None of them very serious ( green stick fractures) they don’t even pop a plaster cast on anymore just a splint.

It’s not great but better for them to be active overall we have bars and various bits of climbing equipment. I have had a phone call about all my children at various times to say fell, hit head and to keep an eye out at home for signs of concussion but pupils are equal and reactive so seem fine and have had a wet paper towel applied. Again it’s not great that they’ve been injured but Ithink the benefits of getting lots of outdoor exercise outweigh the odd injury.

I definitely agree in terms of the odd injury or broken limb and the benefits of outdoor exercise. I've certainly had my fair share of calls home about banged heads, bad scrapes, broken fingers etc. The stakes are just so much higher for the sort of gymnastics this thread is about that I don't feel it applies - in my mind it's the risk of broken neck, paralysis, that sort of thing. I just don't feel it's right to decide to allow that for other people's children when the parents don't even necessarily know it's happening!