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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

year 5 girls getting changed in school corridor

28 replies

loulou5 · 14/02/2007 08:33

Hi, was just wondering if i am over reacting to my daughter getting changed in the school corridor.

She's not comfortable with it as she tells me this is just after playtime when some children are still hanging their coats up! Her teacher hurries them along to get changed before the corridor is completly empty.

Regardless of this there is still the posibility of teachers/visitors other pupils walking out of any of the classrooms at any time.

My daughter is one of the more mature girls in her class and is starting to develop and is quite concious of her body.
Her teacher tells me there is no alternative as there are to many boys to reverse the changing arrangments.
Any comments appreciated thanks.

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nearlythree · 14/02/2007 08:34

I would be deeply unhappy.

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AngharadGoldenhand · 14/02/2007 08:36

Why isn't there a girls' changing room?

Or, at the very least, let them change in the girls' toilets.

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SSShakeTheChi · 14/02/2007 08:41

Where are the boys getting changed? In a proper changing room or in the classroom?

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donnie · 14/02/2007 08:41

I would ask the teacher about this as it isn't satisfactory.

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nearlythree · 14/02/2007 08:41

I think Ofsted would object to this. I would withdraw your dd from PE until the situation is sorted out. Make an appointment to see the head. And sound out other parents to see if they feel the same.

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gigglinggoblin · 14/02/2007 08:45

we used to get changed in the staff room. could you suggest that as an alternative?

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IamPotty · 14/02/2007 08:50

Could the teacher put up some screeens?

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loulou5 · 14/02/2007 10:36

Teacher has told me that all children need to supervised in case of an accident, so could not allow girls to change on their own in toilets, or hall etc.

The boys get changed in the class room and the teacher can then supervise both sets of children. There are 19 boys and only 12 girls which is why the boys get changed in the class room.

The staff room has been suggested and ruled out already.

screens are an excellent idea....it's just whether they would buy some ..but i'm definatly going to suggest this.

I am going to try to catch some of the parents tonight to see how they feel.

Thankyou for advice and suggestions

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serenity · 14/02/2007 10:40

I fail to see why they are bothering to separate the sexes, if half of them are having to change in a public place anyway. It seems a bit pointless really - a bit 'tick the box'. If your DD is uncomfortable then I would withdraw her from PE until they resolve it.

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Ali5 · 14/02/2007 10:49

Understand completely. It's a really tough one to sort out. Primary schools don't have changing facilities and the issue is, as the teacher has pointed out, one of supervision which is why children can't get changed in the toilets (and they are generally too small and it's really not hygenic) or in other areas of the school. It's also a fairly recent issue, when I started teaching this would never come up in Year 5, and only occasionally in Year 6. Try not to involve too many other people in this as it may make your ds more sensitive about the situation. Ask the teacher where the Year 6 girls change (you'll need to know this anyway for next year, especially if your ds is one of the more mature ones). Is there a TA that could take the girls into the library or SN room? You may have to accept that there is no alternative, as screens could be prohibitively expensive for an item that would only be used once or twice a week.

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RosaLuxembourg · 14/02/2007 11:18

In our school boys and girls get changed together in the classroom. I asked my year 5 DD if this bothered her and she said no. Certainly preferable to the corridor IMO. Year six do get changed in the toilets - no issue about having to be supervised AFAIK.

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wheresthehamster · 14/02/2007 11:23

Have just asked dd2 what they did at junior school and she said yrs 3,4 and 5 they all got changed together in the classroom and in year 6 they got changed in the toilets.

As someone said the busy corridor is surely worse than being altogether in the classroom!

I would speak to the head about your concerns. Even if it didn't bother your dd I still wouldn't be happy about it myself. What do the other mums in the class think?

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loulou5 · 14/02/2007 18:44

managed to have another word her teacher tonight, but situation still remains the same.

She also said that this is a recent issue Ali5 and 'a sign of the times'. I see where you're coming from about the screens, i've just looked on a website and they are in the region of £250

I don't want to make this into a major issue but at the same time as a mother i have to listen to what my daughter is telling me, which is that she doesn't feel comfortable getting changed in the corridor.

So i've come away yet again being talked round that the schools hands are tied, but i can't help but feel there should be something they could do.

I didn't get to talk to any other parent's tonight as i was talking to teacher.

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Skribble · 14/02/2007 19:02

My son is P6 which I think is the same as Year5. They get changed in the toilets, last year they all got changed in the class.

I don't see why supervision is such a problem as they go to the toilets unsupervised anyway. what is the point of getting changed in the corridoor if there are other people there anyway, offers no more privacy than mixed changing in the class.

I would enquire further about the supervsion while changing in the toilet and if it is a problem possibly a classroom assitant or head teacher could spare 10 mins to keep an eye. Perhaps the girls could reach a deal where they pledge to behave while changing if they are allowed to use the toilets.

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wheresthehamster · 14/02/2007 23:05

Why can't the boys get changed in the corridor?

Baring their chests is no big deal for them.

So what if there are more boys than girls.

This is really annoying me.

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edam · 14/02/2007 23:12

Agree with wheresthehamster. At least, I think they should have somewhere to get changed properly, but if someone has to get changed in the corridor, it should be the boys.

Wonder what the governors would have to say about this?

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colditz · 14/02/2007 23:15

Why can't they change in the toilets? Why can they not combine two classes for pe and have the girls change in one class with one teacher, and the boys in the other with the other teacher?

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colditz · 14/02/2007 23:16

My point about the toilets being, they go to the toilet don't they!?

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RosaLuxembourg · 14/02/2007 23:24

Write a letter outlining your concerns to the head and cc it to the chair of governors. I am a parent governor at our school and I can tell you that we would take a letter like this seriously and put pressure on the head to find a workable solution.

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maisym · 14/02/2007 23:53

Can't they have the boys or girls change first in the classroom and then wait outside whilst the others change and then after the class the reverse.

Would only take a few extra minutes.

Or could the teacher put some chairs on a table in the class and put a sheet over to make a screen.

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cat64 · 15/02/2007 00:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Ali5 · 15/02/2007 10:38

Primary school toilets are not big enough for half the class to get changed in them. Also, most primary schools only have the facilities for one class to do PE at a time -ie using the hall or the playground/field. Time is also a real issue here - the children are supposed to do 2 hours of good quality PE every week and it takes AGES for kids to get changed. It's impossible to get one half of the class changed first then the other, you'd end up with 20 minutes left for the lesson (and I'm not exaggerating) which is also not acceptable. As I said before it's a really tough one that needs to be dealt with sensitively because some girls need that privacy and some don't.

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twelveyeargap · 15/02/2007 10:43

I had a real issue with this at DD's primary school. In year 5 (when she was already quite developed), boys and girls were expected to get changed together.

I worked around it by her wearing a skirt on the days she had PE, so the shorts could come on and off under the skirt and that she always had a vest top under her school shirt which did not get removed for PE.

It wasn't ideal, but the school didn't have the resources to change it. I felt that withdrawing her from PE just made even more of an object of her.

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tissy · 15/02/2007 10:49

Loulou,until this is sorted out, could your dd go to school on PE day with her T shirt under her uniform? Then she could pull on her shorts before removing her skirt, then take off her shirt without exposing herself. If she got hot later on, she caould always go to the loo and remove the T shirt then.

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tissy · 15/02/2007 10:49

snap

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