No P.E for 3 weeks

[wowzah]

It seems that school have been focusing on other things such as practising for christmas concerts etc and not doing P.E, I'm not sure this is even legal?

Is there any dancing in the school play. Dance is part of the pe curriculum and one that is often forgotten. Also I have a feeling the lovely Mr Gove has changed it so there is no legal requirement (set amount of time) for PE anymore. I am sure normal PE will resume in the Spring.

Is there any dancing in the school play. Dance is part of the pe curriculum and one that is often forgotten. Also I have a feeling the lovely Mr Gove has changed it so there is no legal requirement (set amount of time) for PE anymore. I am sure normal PE will resume in the Spring.

There are only a limited number of hours in a day. There is only a limited amount of hall space to juggle between rehearsals and PE.

Posters on other threads are moaning about missed literacy and numeracy. Should these lessons be missed and PE reinstated?

What to do? After school practices? Boarding during the Christmas period so that everything can be fitted in? PE homework?

Christmas productions are an 'extra' - there is no allotted curriculum time for them. Obviously, something, somewhere in the curriculum must suffer to make way for rehearsals. Teachers generally try their very best to minimise the disruption.

Having had several nights of sleeplessness, worrying about the finer points of the productions, concerts and parties, and having to deal with excited volatile children during the day (many of whom can't cope with a lack of structure), I find your post thoughtless and provocative.

so long as they run around in the playground I wouldn't worry for a few weeks.

ours have been practising christmas dances so not doing nothing in PE time

Pretty standard at this time of year. Illegal - really???? They probably get far more exercise during break times than PE which is mostly taken up with changing.

I think you just have to ask yourself what do DC's get more benefit from... a couple of extra PE lessons or taking part in a Christmas production.
I love that my DS's are having a fun time at school in the run up to Christmas with lots of enjoyable activities. We've got nativity, christingle service, Christmas fair, panto trip, Christmas walk, christmas dinner and movie afternoon over the last couple of weeks of term. I think DS's have worked hard all term and really deserve it. I doubt it will make any difference to their educational out come at 16 and their general health that they missed some PE, literacy and numeracy but they will have some lovely memories of their school days.

Teachers, TAs and children work incredibly hard on these productions and I'm sure the children don't mind missing a couple of PE sessions. Maybe you would like to withdraw your child and take them out for a run? Personally, I'd rather my child miss PE than Maths or English, it's only a few weeks and they are probably getting enough exercise with the dances.

Well I'm with the op, PE is DS's favourite lesson and he misses it. He's in primary and I'd far rather he did healthy exercise than yet more SATS revision papers. No Christmas productions in ks2 at his school, but still hardly any pe. The one teacher who did pe whatever the weather has left and the rest seem determined to stay inside and pe in the winter is largely restricted to country dancing which he hates passionately.

OMG - really. You really want to question the legality of a few missed PE lessons? Tis the season and all that. If you want your child to have all those extras which take teachers hours and hours out of school time to prepare - like special assemblies and school shows - then the time to prepare has to come from somewhere and the space to prepare has to come from somewhere. I doubt your child's overall health and fitness will suffer from not having few PE lessons. Instead they will be learning a lot of other skills like cooperating, team work and self-confidence.

As a teacher id have to agree. Hall space is tight and the weather isn't great so schools have to consider health and safety. Numeracy and literacy are core subjects so come first and I'm sure you'd be complaining if your child came home and said they hadn't learnt anything in those subjects. Children still get their daily exercise from play times/ lunch times. Most schools also have 5aday which is an interactive programme where they exercise in the classroom. It's Christmas time and the term is nearly over! Speak to the class teacher if you're concerned however please remember schools do try their best for every child!

I would rather my child did PE than Xmas productions! If they're that stressful then why do them?

I'd also rather that there were more teachers and smaller classes but ain't gonna happen although I bet it could be afforded, noone has actually costed it

"If they're that stressful then why do them?"

1 They help children develop self-confidence
2 The overwhelming majority of children enjoy them
3 The overwhelming majority of parents appreciate the opportunity to come into school and see their child performing.
4 They form a part of the 'hidden curriculum' helping children develop skills and abilities which will help them as they grow.
5 It often gives children who may struggle in more formal classroom activities like reading and maths the opportunity to perform as well as their peers.
6 It benefits self-esteem of children to perform successfully in front of their peers, parents and teachers.
7 It is fun for the children.
8 It can give children the opportunity to do something they may well find they enjoy, are good at and do not otherwise have the chance to do.
9 Teachers enjoy seeing the children they teach doing something new, something different from the normal day-to-day activities. It can help us see new facets to their characters and helps develop our relationships with them in a positive way.
10 Many aspects of teaching are 'stressful' - like taking a whole bunch of young children out on school on trips and on residential stays. Teachers generally don't run away from activites which they know will be beneficial for the children in their care because it is stressful. They do it even though it is personally stressful because the children benefit, and most families appreciate what is being done.

Alternatively perhaps we teachers do it to piss off the tiny minority of parents who are never happy, no matter what is done and always seek to find something to moan about and criticise. Call it our Christmas present to you.

"The current national curriculum programmes of study for PE at key stages 1 and 2 have been disapplied with effect from 1 September 2013 and are no longer statutory."

There is no legal requirement for schools to teach a set number of hours per week (any subject) just guidance of percentage of the curriculum over the whole year

I love all the Christmas shows, carol services, fayres etc that happen at our school. I would far rather ds do this in school and I take him swimming, to soft play or to the park for an hour later. It's only for a few weeks.

Oh my god...just goes to show....teachers can NEVER please everyone.

Sad.

And incredibly annoying.

There seems to always be something to moan about.

Maybe they should try teaching to understand how incredibly stressful it is.

My PE timetable has clashed with other classes' play rehearsals for the past few weeks. I've therefore done outdoor PE. I planned the entire term's PE lessons knowing this.

Two parents complained that it was too cold for their PFBs to be outside.

Teachers can't win.

how could a parent NOT like a Christmas production? My youngest (reception) said to me after hers this week that she had been very scared before she went on the stage because there were so many parents (150ish) but that she realised it wasn't so scary when she was out there dancing. What an amazing thing to learn at 4 and what a boost to her confidence surely. I think the teachers do a wonderful job, I know from experience just how much time teachers put into doing backdrops, working out parts, changing things around because someone doesn't want to say anything after all or rejigging things because half the class are off ill and so on. I can't honestly see how missing some lessons (of anything to be honest) at 4/5/6 is really going to do any harm in the long run and it is great for the children to experience a performance like this.

Bad teachers. Naughty teachers. Slap on the wrist for us (again)

Shame on the school for spending plenty of time on music, drama, dance and public speaking. Quite outrageous.

And for letting the children have fun! bah-humbug ... it shouldn't be allowed!

Plenty of exercise in drama productions ime.

In fact, I think this is a case of P.E. smelling far sweeter by another name.

Oh OP - get over yourself and worry about something important.

My dd hated PE & loved it when they did Xmas production stuff instead. Sadly they got rid of the Xmas play in year 4 in favour of a carol concert.

She now goes to a school where she doesn't have to do PE ever again (but she dances every day)