Primary 5 boys & girls have to change for gym together??

[Yogagirl17]

DD (10) just been telling me that her teacher makes them all get changed for gym together in the classroom and also that her male teacher stays in the room while they change. Now I just want to say straight out I like and trust this teach and absolutely do not suspect him of anything untoward, other than possibly being a little naive.

Anyway, DD says she is beginning to feel uncomfortable with this and doesn't understand why the boys (and the teacher) can't go to another room while they change. I can't say I blame her and frankly I'm a little surprised this is even happening - surely 10 is old enough that they should be given privacy? I definitely want to say something to the school but trying to gauge how strongly to react. I mean, should I just ask the head teacher if they can change teh current arrangement or do I make a bigger deal of it?

[gazzalw]

Think I'm sadly naive about 10 year olds these days!
I wonder if this is really to do with the opposite sex though....sure most parents will remember secondary school anxieties about having showers and stripping off (and that's only in front of own gender). Surely it's a rites of passage self-consciousness thing which maybe requires a different approach completely????

[KristinaM]

in our kids school they change seperately in P6 and P7. the girls change in the classroom and the boys in the cloakroom. its a small school and there are no other facilities.

i don't see how the sex of the teacher is relevant, assuming they are teaching both boys and girls. why is a male teacher supervising girls any different from a female supervising boys?

as its bothers your child, i think its fine to ask if she could be allowed to change in the toilets for the next few weeks. and you can check on the arrangement for P6, so she doesnt worry about it all summer

[southofthethames]

In my old school we didn't change for PE either. You wore a PE uniform for the whole day, but not every single day included a PE lesson.

[SofiaAmes]

At my kids' school (in usa) they do not change for PE in elementary school, thereby eliminating the issue. I think this is pretty standard at most schools here at this age. Seems to make a lot of sense since kids at that age aren't really creating body odor for the most part. When they go to middle school (6th grade/age 11) they have proper changing rooms and are expected to change for PE.
I would never allow my 8 year old dd and 10 year old ds to be put in a position where they have to change in front of children/adults of the opposite sex. It would make them very uncomfortable. (Not something fostered by me, by the way...I'm from the hippy school of happily changing in front of anybody at any age).

[handsomeharry]

Yes, our playground supervisors check the loos at playtimes.

[mrz]

and yes some children are escorted

[mrz]

We check toilets at break times and lunchtime supervisors are quite strict on checking children in and out at lunch break

[VivaLeBeaver]

No, I didn't really imagine for one minute there would be any breaktime supervision but just wanted to check.

[mrz]

but there again they are happy to have whole groups unsupervised in lesson time so they aren't going to be more vigilant at breaks are they?

[VivaLeBeaver]

There would be more than one go to the loo at the same time if more than one needed to go. DD says no teachers or lunch supervisor near the toilets at break time.

[mrz]

Do children go to the loo in groups or singly? I would expect teachers to be policing toilets at break time

[swash]

My DD is 7 and - as with my stepson - she is more private about her body than a year or so ago. She wants a towel round her when changing at the swimming pool or at the beach etc.

Am rather staggered that girls and boys change together when they are 10/11 - good to know this is normal practice in advance.

[cory]

Trying to think what happened in my day:

male teacher, two separate changing rooms, girls just got on with it.

were we perfectly behaved? no certainly not

but if something happened due to silly behaviour- such as someone getting a vest soaked or even slipping and banging their head- nobody seemed to make such a fuss about it;

we also had an enormous playground which certainly couldn't be covered by a teacher in one glance

everybody assumed that a group of 10yos should be able to look after themselves for 5 minutes and if they got into trouble by being silly that was their outlook

these days, it's the teachers who get blamed

so I don't blame them for being careful

but I think it is naive to think that no 10yo is uncomfortable about changing before the opposite sex, or that no 10yo boys think about these things

[VivaLeBeaver]

So why is it ok for children to go to the toilet without a teacher supervising them? Maybe all kids ahould have their own personal TA to escort them to the loo.

[MadameCastafiore]

Agree with Euphemia.

Just asked DD - she is year 6 - doesn't really see it as an issue - she sometimes wears a vest on the days that she has PE so not completely topess when she takes her top off but that is only when she remembers.

Blimey I remember falling over and getting my PE kit totally soaked and muddy and having the head teacher (lady) undress me totally and kit me out in scabby borrowed pants and clothes all in front of Jeffrey Lewis - wasn't an issue was more mortified at having to wear borrowed pants.

I am sure if the kids have swimming lessons or go to local municiple pool they would be happy wearing a bikini infront of other pupils so why not just get the girls some crop type type vest things if they don't want to be completely topless infront of boys.

[mrz]

I can tell you it does happen in schools and with children much younger than 10

[mrz]

Too late when your child has been sexually molested in a toilet

[VivaLeBeaver]

Well I don't think for one minute that my dd is at risk of been sexually molested or raped in the school toilets when she's in there with ten other girls and no teacher. That report doesn't say that it happens in school.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'd expect the teacher to come down on anyone who's misbehaved like a ton of bricks. But I wouldn't be sueing anyone. Surely the teacher can say that they are indirectly supervising if they are in shouting distance even if not in the same room? Do teachers really need to be able to see kids at all times - genuine question?

How about at DD's school then when they have a massive field off the playground that the kids play in? They go down to the bottom of the field and could be getting bullied, etc down there as even if there is a teacher in the playground there is no way they can see that far to know what's going on.

[mrz]

www.burnhamandhighbridgeweeklynews.co.uk/news/9057241.Shock_child_sex_abuse_figures_for_Avon_and_Somerset_revealed/

[AbigailS]

More fool them! They are laying themselves open to all sorts of legal cases of negligence, parental complaints to LA, etc. if accidents, bullying, etc. happen in the unsupervised area. Even if the school / teachers are found not to be at "fault" the stress of an investigation or even a court case is stressful and devastating for all involved. The worst case scenario is the teacher's job on the line!

[mrz]

So what would you do if your daughter came home obviously very upset and told you about an incident and when you ask where was the teacher she says in another room supervising another group?

All it takes is a single incident/accident while unsupervised and the school /teacher are leaving themselves wide open to all kinds of legal action.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Yes, like I said - my daughter's school.

And when I was at primary school we got changed unsupervised in our respective toilets.

[mrz]

Do they?

[VivaLeBeaver]

But how come other schools manage it?