Primary school - is dance an appropriate substitute for P.E? I think not.....

[Nixz]

I have just took DD's P.E kit out of her school bag and she has not worn it AGAIN! It has been in her bag for 2 weeks. I ask her if she has done P.E and she replies "No, well, we did dance" and she just took her shoes and socks off.
I was under the impression that primary school children should have 2 sessions of PE a week, surely its not fair that they have to miss out because the teacher decides not to do it! Im quite cross at this - kids love PE

Anything that raises the heart rate counts as aerobic excercise.

So unless they are slow waltzing I would say it is exercise.

And nice to have a change I would have thought.

Dance is a compulsory part of national curriculum

yeah but since September?

I bet it's Music and Movement. Hello sky, hello clouds

I loved Dance and it stopped me getting a D- every year at PE

I was no ruddy use at any other sport but I could sway about in a leotard most convincingly

If this is a state school I'd be surprised if they have been doing Dance for a whole year.

Perhaps it just feels like a whole year to your dd

I think dance is fantastic to do as PE. It's very good exercise, and also teaches co-ordination and grace, much more than chucking a beanbag is going to (which is how I remember our PE lessons).

If she loves gym, why not go to a gym club outside school? Ds1 does that, and he loves it. I was quite surprised by your sentence 'she needs to learn how to do a forward roll' - if she really wants to, in a way, it's better to do it at a gym club - I've noticed the difference in ds1 to the way people who learn at school do them - he really tucks his head right in, and does it on his shoulders, whereas at school they seem to put their heads on the floor and roll over them.

brain gym is nothing to do with PE and canot be counted towards 2 hrs a week they are supposed to get. brain gym is about stimulating different parts of brain with movements adn coordination. Its done in quick 5 min bursts

sorry - misunderstood fio!!

That's right oldwoman. We also do 'Take 10' as part of the Numeracy lesson about twice a week to sharpen us up. This is 10 minutes of aerobics done in the classroom to old favourites like "Hands Up".

"kids love PE"

I don't post this very often but seriously - LMFAO

oh god. Nobody has a problem with kids doing dance as part of PE but if dance is all they do as PE all year then I'd be cross too. For a start, where's the variety? and I agree that running, bats and balls, swimming, team games, gym should all be part of the curriculum as well.

Just re read thread - Dance since September????? Id ask teh head about it. Thats disgraceful. The givernment is putting millions of pound into PE before 2012 in an effort to get kids into sport.

brain gym could be counted as physical exercise. Why not?

nol i"ve done a lot fo work with braingym and absolutely woudn't count towards pe!

ooohh! Lots of education bods up here say different.

Dance is fine. It is part of the PE curriculem and all 3 of my daughters have done dance at school.

Of course it is. It achieves the same things as pe...exercise and body control.
Ds (6) does dance at school and loves it and he is completely uninterested in sports so at least it's exposing him to another way of exercising that might be interesting to him.

There is no way your daughter has just been doing dance since September. Before you start thinking the worst of the teacher go in and speak to her. Also why don't you make an appointment with the PE Subject Leader to talk about what PE in primary school means?

Do let us know what the teacher says. I would be very surprised if she had done nothing but dance since September - as others have pointed out, there is a curriculum which must be followed.

Every Monday and Thursday is PE.
She has done Dance most Mondays since september and every Thursday since September. Hardly any of the Mums bring their DC's PE kits in on a Thursday because of this. And yes, it probably is dance and Movement as dd says the teacher puts a tape on and a lady tells them how to move.
Blackandwhite - agree 100%

Dance is okay.....however it is nice for them to have a little verity....phone the school....I am sure they will deal with any concerns you have.

I thnk dance is fine as PE, but i would share Nixz's concern if that was the only thing they were doing.
I would check with the teacher - ask what has been covered, what dd particularly enjoyed etc.

my dd (7) has dance, but has also done football, basketball, hockey, and volleyball since September.