Did you dislike PE? Do your kids dislike PE?

[chris1987]

I'm studying to be a PE teacher and I'm curious to know what people's views are on how PE has changed over the years. Do your kids enjoy or dread it? Why? How could it be better?

I hated PE for all the above reasons I was useless and was bullied. My DS'S like PE but are still in primary school feel this could change. Although they both like Football and attend a football club makes me happy they enjoy a sport.
As an adult the only sport I enjoy is swimming which we were not taught at school? We spend a lot of money on external swimming lessons as we feel it's very important.
Why can't the teachers pick teams agree 100% separate the bully's surely as a teacher you know who they are!

I hated it. It was rounders, netball, athletics. Rinse & repeat.

DS loves it. His lessons are varied, he can choose to go to the gym if he wants and they learn new sports as well as aspects of fitness and sports science.

I hated it because the PE teachers at my school only seemed to concentrate on the pupils who were in school teams and the rest of us pretty much got ignored during the lessons.
Unfortunately sport at my school was very exclusive and the policy was definitely not "all abilities welcome". It's a shame because I still lack confidence and get very anxious in any team sports situations even if it's playing rounders at a BBQ with friends etc, but I think it's something I could have really enjoyed.

(I remember one particular hockey lesson where the hockey team was away so all of us less able non-team-worthy pupils were left to play in the lesson. I scored a hat-trick and it was the best PE lesson of my life!)

I loved PE, I wasn’t brilliant but I was good enough. My daughter likes PE too, she’s also reasonable. Middle of the field. We are good at some sports but ones that aren’t generally offered at school.

Hated it until we hit yr 10 equivalent and were allowed the options of swimming / aerobics (with pop music!) / badminton etc.

Dd hated also, again happy from yr 10 onwards when they were allowed to use the leisure centre gym.

What would have helped?

• Sets for PE so that those of us who are very un-coordinated aren't in with the star performers (just as bad as mixed ability maths IME)
• Actually TEACHING the rules of football, netball, tennis, hockey etc explicitly. If you didn't know the rules already when you started secondary, they were never taught, so you were doomed to failure fro the start. The same was true for dd, they still didn't actually teach the rules of any of the ball games they played.
• Being allowed to wear glasses for PE if you are short sighted. It's quite tricky to play hockey, for example, when you can't actually see. I never managed to get permission so was stumbling around in all my lessons. DD's PE teacher tried to ban her (-6 in each eye in yr 7) from wearing her glasses, but in that instance a complaint did work and she was allowed them.

CMOTDibbler I hated it - never being taught the basics like how to run, catch, throw meant I thought I was useless. At 40 I discovered that running was just something you needed to learn to do rather than just being able to do it, and I am so cross I spent so long thinking I couldn't.

me too!! Oh this annoys me so much and I'm 43!! I don't understand why PE teachers don't understand that some children need to be taught this stuff? Just as some children don't have a natural aptitude for maths or whatever. but for some reason, in spite of a few kids who clearly don't know how to do any of these things, years of PE and different teachers never realised that the children needed teaching!! Argh!

I liked netball, hockey & rounders. Didn’t enjoying running, working out or swimming can’t remfmbdt what else we done

sorry, forgot to bold CMOTDibbler's actual comment!!

Absolutely hated it. And this is coming from a tomboy who loved being out climbing trees, walking miles, fishing with her older brothers. The first instruction from the PE teacher at my grammar school was 'right girls, climb to the top of the wall bars!!!!'. My daughter similarly hated it and was bullied by the PE teacher. I'm sure you're a lovely, intelligent person and it's great that you're asking these questions. I went onto work in a large Academy, and with one very notable exception the PE teachers were thick bullies. I love exercise now, zumba and Pilates. Hockey, cross country, etc. were so not my thing - enjoyed tennis and netball though. I think it does a great deal of mental harm to those people who are not naturally athletic.

I loved it and was in most of the teams etc..DD2 loves it she's in Primary, DD1 who is Year 9 absolutely hates it. She is also convinced that as she is in the bottom set that confirms that she is shit at it so she doesn't really try anymore.

Also they do a three week rotation so when they did trampolining she was really good at it and her teacher commented but then that's it and she won't do it for another year!

I hated it. My kids love it. They are sporty by nature though and I never was.

I hated it.

Hated being cold, hated being wet, hated the sports that were played, didn't understand the rules, hated the elitist attitude from the others who were good at sports. It was a breeding ground for bullying and isolation.
Teachers didn't give a shit. Once they established who the sporty kids were they honed in on them; everyone else got left behind.
It was one of the only lessons I bunked off from.

It's difficult. Some children will hate forms of sport (football, netball, hockey, rugby) but will enjoy the 'gym' aspect (trampolining, gymnastics) so I think it's important to ensure they are included - but you're tied to a curriculum and I don't know how far it can be adapted.
I think PE is one of the only subjects where the kids who struggle get no extra support. If it were Maths or English there would be plenty of encouragement and support to ensure that the pupil was comfortable and making progress.
Definitely make sure that every child is included and praised in some way, make sure there's an aspect that everyone can enjoy, understand that some children just don't like/aren't good at sports in general.

If a child tells you they aren't keen on a sport or is showing reluctance - LISTEN.

Thanks for posting. My memories of PE was that the teachers did try and inject some variety but were working against the curriculum. I am an active adult and was an active child but idn't like the fact that there was too much focus on team games. For someone unpopular like me that was fun (not).

I also noticed there was no provision for students with disabilities or injuries - they just sat on the sidelines doing nothing for the lesson. Sports days were a waste of time - spent more time deciding what book to read than training for it.

Team games can be wonderful in building camaraderie and fitness but if there isn't any basis to start with then they can actually do the opposite and be highly divisive - blighting the lives of people written off as being physically inadequte at an early age.

I am also uncomfortable with high contact sports like rugby and the apparent lack of risk assessment that seems to be the case. Children should not be exercising in inadequate clothes in unsafe conditions. I cannot see any benefits that rugby as a game for my oldest ASD son but it could be made into minigames. I also don't like the system for sanctions for children who have legitimate personal reasons for not participating in team sports - if there is no trust it won't start there.

After all, many lives have been saved by learning to swim but none from learning to play rounders.

I hated it - no confidence, not competitive and unfit.

My two kids love it, especially the games and learning new skills although both have got fed up with additional running club at school as they get tired and cold after.

I hated it, my dc don't like it much. I was amazed to see that they still let children pick the teams - why on earth is that allowed?
I never met a PE teacher who wasn't a thick bully, and I went to a lot of schools and now go to a lot of parents' evenings. PE doesn't seemed to have changed over the years.

I was always puzzled as rounders as a sport. n=Anything that involves sitting in a queue, getting out then more sitting isn't really a sport. It's a game you could play outdoors but a sport? nope.

Hated it. Mainly due to not being very fit and feeling very self conscious in my PE kit.

My dd likes it she's not the best athlete but her school strikes quite a good balance and makes it fun for the average students. The more sporty and higher achievers tend to do a lot of clubs and so on.
Now dd is doing her Gcse PE is one subject she is not being graded in and she can just enjoy a bit of activity so she really likes that.

I hated PE. My DD’s love it are very competitive and get very upset if they don’t get to play the position they want or if their team loses on a technicality.

Think it’s because the teachers really encourage them and help them develope and improve on their weak points, let them play the position they want to begin with then move them around to encourage them to improve in other areas.

Also teachers pick the teams beforehand so nobody being left last to pick.

They’re also encouraged to participate in tournaments against other schools and also against the teachers at the end of the year. Which they love!

I hated it too! I have coordination problems and anything involving a ball was beyond me. I was never given any help in securing the basic skills. I was always one of the last to be picked and it made me feel shit. I was often left in a corner with a few others to entertain ourselves while the teacher worked with the more talented kids. To make matters worse, my mum was a PE teacher! I never told her about my PE lessons until years later.
My dd on the other hand seems to have inherited the skills that passed me by. She's a good all rounder at PE and loves her PE lessons.

At 40 I discovered that running was just something you needed to learn to do rather than just being able to do it, and I am so cross I spent so long thinking I couldn't.

Yes! I was ALWAYS picked last for teams, always last in races. At 43 I discovered C25K & at 45 I recently ran my first half marathon. If we'd done something like that at school I wouldn't have spent years just assuming I couldn't run.

I hated it. I have severe hypermobility in my knees, hips, and shoulders but undiagnosed as mother didn't give a toss (she's a nurse!). I kept saying to the PE teachers that my knees were excruciating whenever I ran but they didn't believe me. The crowning glory was shouting "are you taking the fucking piss?" at me, in front of my entire year, when I was getting changed for PE, having just asked to be excused (without success).

I also had no friends at school which didn't help. The PE teachers seemed to take great delight in choosing their two little pet favourites and then getting them to choose their friends to be on their team. They'd take turns to shout out a name. Every time, without fail, I was the very last left and so I was the reserve. I very rarely got to actually play an actual game, despite being quite good at tennis. It went on for 7 years. Was soul destroying.

I loved P. E. I actually went on to do A levels in pe.

What i did really hate was not being allowed to wear suitable weather gear outside we would be in shorts and t-shirt through rain and snow.

I wish the girls got to do baseball and more manly sports as well as the usual curriculum.

Offering a variety of different sports or games which include everyone is best. All too often the kids who are good at football play it regularly out of school and every playtime so then dominate any lessons if football is the main option. My daughter has particularly enjoyed learning dodgeball and uni hockey which seemed more inclusive and was new to more of the class.

Both my DDs have motor skills in bottom 1%.
Neither have particularly enjoyed PE, but the following have helped:

• adapting the task e.g. letting them stand closer when throwing and catching
• less emphasis on team sports and matches, more on fitness and beating yourself
• setting for PE

The following definitely don't help:

• the children choosing teams themselves, whoever picks it will be the same kids who get left until the end every time
• shouting at them or saying 'but everyone else can do it'
• not letting girls wear tracksuit bottoms