Teacher Tatics

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Just looking for some advice and whether I am overreacting and being over sensitive.

my 7 year old DD came home from school today upset (she has started back in Year 3) it had been PE which she hates anyway. She told me that her class had to run lengths of the playgroup and the teacher told them if they stopped or walked then there would be ‘consequences’ anyway she and another child did walk she says because she had stitch, so was therefore made to a set amount of star jumps with this other child in front of the rest of the class.

Im all for learning child lessons in life but I just feel unsettled about this with that fact they are still quite young and this could contribute to a negative association and the fact this was in front of the class. My DD is exactly like myself she is very tall for her age and her build much bigger than her peers not fat she is just built bigger. She has already had children in the past call her mean names and I worry this might encourage given she was up in front of everyone.

I am considering mentioning this to her teacher tomorrow What’s everyone’s thoughts please?

As a teacher myself, I agreee that it's unacceptable to punish a child in this way. As others have pointed out, it creates negative feelings around PEabd ultimately singles out the less sporty children.

However, I'd firstly want to check if the PE lesson was taught by the class teacher or other cover staff.

I’d be pretty cross about this. It could put your daughter off PE/sport completely which is the opposite of what the teacher should be doing. I would make a note of it and then see how it goes. If this is a one off then I would leave it. If the teacher does more like this then I would speak to the school.

Year 3 teacher here. That is totally unacceptable! It sounds like this teacher has no idea how to teach PE. If I were in your position I would be complaining. Hope your daughter is ok…that must have been very humiliating for her!

The teachers actions weren't great. Maybe your DD was being a bit lazy, but embarrassing her isn't helpful.

It's also depressing that she can't run a few lengths of a playground at 7. Her build shouldn't affect this, you can be tall and able to run. I'd do some critical reflection on her size and exercise level now. I'm saying this because I have a friend who's always saying to her child "don't worry you can't keep up" when he plays with other children. She should be worried.

Good grief. Any other kind of ritual humiliation in front of their peers you’re okay with?

Bit melodramatic. Star jumps are a pretty standard activity in PE

And what we need to do to fix that is make sure all but the most athletic children come to hate exercise by the age of 10.

Sounds like the PE teacher has aspirations as a CrossFit instructor? 😆

I think it depends how in was phrased…..

”if anyone can’t run or finds it too difficult you can do star jumps instead” - ok

”if anyone stops running you must do star jumps as punishment for being lazy” - not ok

I’d be a bit wary about going in too strong as children can be unreliable narrators . Is it feasible that the teacher said run up and down , these two children claim they can’t run for whatever reason so teacher says well you stand here and do x amount of star jumps instead ? This sounds more likely and perfectly acceptable as what is the point of a PE lesson if the kids just say ‘ I’m not doing that so I will sit down here for 30 minutes’ .

Taller and a larger frame would absolutely have an impact on her ability to run. She will have a much greater weight on bones which can’t cope. It is really hard for tall kids to keep up at a young age; in the early years all the fast kids are also the smallest; they can fly as there is such little weight on same age bones!

And the OP has been very clear that her dd is not overweight; if you’re taller you are larger in proportion; everything is scaled up. My anorexic, severely underweight, 6 foot daughter looked massive compared to her 5 foot friends; literally her frame was bigger. Please upgrade your understanding. It’s harmful.

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts.
I spoke to the teacher this morning who confirmed this was true and did explain that it wasn’t just my DD that was asked to do the star jumps but her and two other girls (not sure this makes it any better)
I raised my points about how this seemed a humiliating approach and that this will not encourage her to enjoy something she already struggles to enjoy in the first place - it’s noted for next time so we will see.

I think It just very clumsy language and approach taken. Hopefully my DD will forget about it and move on.

That would be inappropriate.

If I were you I'd listen to the teachers on this thread OP who all this there isn't something right with this. I'm glad you spoke to the teacher but if something like this happens again I would escalate it (and I'm usually one for not being "that parent"!).

I guess the point is couldn't they run or didn't they want to run? The teacher was in the best position to decide that and decide if it warranted a slight consequence.

More broadly isn't the whole point of school that you do new and difficult things? If it was Maths or English and they just decided they weren't doing this bit and would only do something easier how would they ever learn or get better at things. Do they get 'humiliating' extra work if they slack off doing class orientated work or get a 'humiliating' detention. What are teachers allowed to do? Perhaps next time the children in question will run with everyone else, I assume PE is not optional?

Consequences shouldn't be punitive. As a teacher I'd have let them have a rest and then asked them to run the rest when they felt ready. How does the teacher know whether they had a genuine stitch or not? What are the rest of the class learning PEwise by watching children do star jumps in front of them?
I wouldn't have punished children for stopping running as I'm teaching a PE lesson not running a fitness bootcamp (which is full of paying consenting adults).

"Consequences????' WTF. Encourage, yes - punish - no.
I wasn't a 'runner' at school, couldn't do even 200 yards in one go, I wasn't overweight at all - but did tennis, gymnastics & swimming (represented the school, with awards) - this teacher appears to be a bit of a bully with a weird mindset. Maybe have a chat with someone higher up about your child's abilities, and how the 'teacher's' attitude may be affecting her?? FFS, she is only 7. Encourage, NOT punish.