AIBU to think that schools should only keep the kids inside at break and lunch times if there is Monsoon-level rain. Not letting them out because there's a bit of a shower is insane.

[worrisomeasset]

As a primary supply, I've noticed that schools have wildly varying criteria for calling a 'wet play'. A few, very wisely, are loathe to keep the kids in and will only do so if there's Monsoon-style precipitation. However, far too many will announce it's wet play if there's just a bit of drizzle. I've also been in schools where the pupils haven't been allowed out because it's snowing (why???) and I've been in one place where they wouldn't let them out because it was too cold! Just to be clear, I teach in England, where it is never too cold to go outside for a while.

Going out and working off some energy at break times is good for the children and it's also good for the staff - it's very easy to tell when a class has had to stay in at break! It bloody infuriates me when I'm told a class has to stay in because there's a bit of drizzle outside.

I’m going to guess not all children are sent in with fully waterproof coats with hoods and in waterproof shoes: I wouldn’t like being outside in the rain or drizzle in inadequate clothing and then having to be slightly damp for the rest of the day, it would be miserable.

Maybe they have been sued by parents whose child fell over and grazed their knees because the ground was a little slippery 😡

Until half your children are wearing proper grippy shoes and slip on the wet playground, or are wearing coats or at least not actual waterproof ones... if there's enough rain to get you wet, it is ONLY safe to have indoor play.

Do you like being wet all day?? Most children don’t come to school in appropriate clothing to play out in the rain for any longer than 10 minutes or so. Ours go out when it’s drizzling and we keep them out as far as it’s possible.
There is also the issue of the number of complaining parents we get when their precious moppets get wet at school.

I agree, children should have plenty of time to play outside. It's very, very rare that the UK weather is too extreme for outdoor play.

Staffing normally means all the children have to be in or out not half and half. So many children turn up without adequate clothing that I assume it’s easier to have everyone in than cause the logistical battle of deciding who goes where as well avoiding the social stigma/embarrassment?

Sitting in a classroom all afternoon with wet cloths, socks, shoes, hair… is grim and makes you colder which is rubbish as schools aren’t exactly flush with putting the heating on.

As a teacher for 15 years in a SEN school it was far more difficult than it was worth keeping the kids inside for wet play, coats on for them (and us) and out we would go (those who wanted to still go out always could unless it was unsafe)

SO many children don’t come to school with coats. You can’t have half in and half out so sometimes you just have to make the call.

Also there have been times when it’s been tipping it down so we call wet break but then it eases, kids want to go out but then it starts up again. What do you do? You can’t keep going in and out again: it takes 5 minutes minimum to tidy up all the wet break stuff and by then break is over.

LOL, I used to walk a mile to school in all weathers - we didn't have a car (it was quiet suburban roads, not cross country 😁- but not a bus route).
I was often soggy for a couple of hours...

Most school shoes aren’t waterproof so the kids would have wet soggy feet for the rest of the day and those grey school trousers are like cardboard once they get wet, I wouldn’t like to sit around like that all day.

But also some parents have no idea how to dress their kids for the weather. I work in a pre school and we have kids in wellies in the middle of summer (kids in wellies full stop is ridiculous), thin coats and no gloves in winter.

Nowadays we would get parents letting rip at the school for sending their child out and then being damp in lessons. You just can’t do it. Parents can be very aggressive and sometimes physically intimidating. It’s always on my mind as a TA.

Agree but parents need to send children to school in weather proof clothing which apparently too many parents in the uk don't (and I bet school uniform rules hinder this too, shoe-wise especially).
In my country they get sent outside at break in all weather except if its colder than -25C but children are always dressed appropriately. Though my DS has managed to go in water deeper than his wellies so soaked his socks and the bottom of his trousers

DS has to keep a pair of wellies at school ostensibly for outdoor learning every two weeks, but they also use them for rainy break times. Wellies and a proper coat and children won't melt. DS' school only do wet play in very very bad weather, the children don't get enough physical activity in the day otherwise and I can imagine that's not ideal for infant school teachers! I found the WhatsApp group very interesting in reception, ds went to nursery with forest school so his friends from there were fine, but some of the other parents were beside themselves over a bit of drizzle.

Kids do not have appropriate coat and/or footwear for wet (or extremely cold) weather. Slippery playgrounds are a health and safety hazard. Why a teacher is posting this, I do not know. She should be well aware of the rules.

I'm thankful I teach in a rural school where being outdoors is part of the ethos. Parents know they won't get far complaining about children being out in rain and by and large send them with coats (pretty deprived area. We have spares for children who don't bring one). My child's nursery was dreadful for keeping them in all day which I think was just cos the staff didn't fancy being out in the cold. I'm not sure I've ever taught a day where we've not been outside at some point.

I work in a school and we do like to get the children out as much as possible. You can definitely feel the difference when the children have been stuck inside for most of the day. However, a lot of our children don’t come to school with appropriate clothing, so not waterproof coats or wellies. Also, if the children do go out in the rain a lot of our parents usually end up complaining that their children are damp. So it’s not as simple as getting the out in all weathers. Also, some of the children in my class are very reluctant to go outside if it’s cold because their parents have told them to stay inside.

I agree, but it does depend on parents sending them in with the right shoes and coats etc

The girls shoes especially seem to be awfully flimsy.

They probably don’t have the space for shoe changing (which is a shame) of the staff to split the kids between those who are equipped to go outside and those who aren’t.

But the result is a bunch of kids who think they’re made of sugar and can’t go out in the rain.

Having done countless breaktime duties on damp school playgrounds, I reckon some of the posters here are wildly overestimating the lubricating power of a bit of rainwater on tarmac.

That’s great. Do you want to respond to any of the other exceedingly valid points posters have raised?

I don't think it's being out in the rain that's the problem so much as having to deal with wet muddy children for the rest of the afternoon. Muddy shoes, damp jumpers etc.

Clearly you didn't attend school in the 1970s and 80s....hmmm how I miss sitting through 2/3rds of the school day with trousers clinging to my legs, wet underpants and the smell of wet socks/shoes wafting through the classroom. Girls with sodden wooly tights bagging around their ankles and wet hair forming puddles at their feet.

All because the teachers were in the staff room chain smoking John player specials, Embassy no 6 and for the art teacher, silk cut

This.It almost never rains in the UK.....

Yes.

I’m with you and take them out in all but torrential rain - and they still beg to go out then. Luckily, our parents seem to appreciate that the children will likely survive getting a little bit damp.