Do children not get changed for P.E anymore?

[Cottonbud25]

My daughter starts school in September and I noticed one of their uniform policy’s is that children must come to school in their P.E kit and remain in their P.E kit all day until they go home? I’m just wondering is this standard practice in schools nowadays? As I remember the days we all used to get changed for P.E in the classroom and then you’d change back into your uniform after P.E? It just seems abit odd to stay in your P.E kit all day?

It just seems abit odd to stay in your P.E kit all day?

Four year olds don’t have a gruelling workout, just a bit of a muck about with some hoops and balls, it’s fine for them to be in kit all day. Nice and comfy too.

While I agree that it was useful to get the children to learn the life skill of getting dressed, 1) that isn't the job of the school, 2) unlike learning to read, write and work with numbers, getting dressed is a skill that they will learn over time. No NT child has left secondary school unable to get dressed because the school didn't teach them.

My 5yo's school is like this. I don't know if it's likely to change but it saves a lot of faff I reckon.

teachers have been dealing with kids getting into PE kit for years, I can't suddenly see why this is superior.
Increasing independence is part of what kids partly do learn at school as part of primary education.

I teach 4-7 year olds. They don't really smell from sweat in the way that adults and teens do,

They also spend every single playtime, 2-3 times a day running manically around a playground or kicking/throwing balls around. We also do a daily 'mile' thing most days. So, tbh, what they do in an official pe lesson is definitely no more 'active' than their every day life for most of the children.

The vast majority of our parents chose to keep the change. Infact some would like us to change the uniform to being more like a sports wear style for every day, rather than trouser/skirt/shorts/polo shirt combo.

It's also not like the children get the chance to have a wash and wipe down after changing either, so the same sweat (if any) would still be in their body regardless of changing or not.

Even most secondary schools don't shower after pe lessons these days - haven't done for years.

I love this change post covid. My youngest at primary school have kept it that you wear your sports kit on PE days but the secondary has gone back to changing during school. I prefer the weqaring sports kit all day approach as do both my boys.

Because not only does this remove the faff of getting 30 5 year olds dressed, not to mention the lost kit and clothes, therefore ensuring they get a PE lesson, it also means that no child is without kit. No child is that one who always has to wear the spare kit that is the wrong size etc because their parent forgot.

teachers have been dealing with kids getting into PE kit for years, I can't suddenly see why this is superior

But schools have increased in size due to constant building of houses. Facilities like changing rooms or soare rooms that couod have neen used as changeong rooms have been forgone in order to accommodate the larger numbers or provide spaces like nurture rooms/reflection rooms / quiet space for children with SN , disabled access etc

Plus children start puberty earlier now ajd it's not really appropriate for them all to get changed together any more.

But the forgetting and then having to remember is all part of learning independence. School uniform comfort is a separate issue, as is teacher workload and uniform affordability.

We'll have to agree to disagree, thankfully my kids are changing for PE again.

It means we now get a much better pe lesson with far more time to concentrate on the pe curriculum, rather than looking for missing socks and tights, a random trainer that turns up and discovering a pair of knickers on a chair but no one is willing to claim them!

Being able to get dressed/undressed is indeed a very important skill. However, that is really something that children should be taught by the parents and careers rather than school teachers.

Schools can teach independence though many other ways that teaching children to change their clothes.

It's all of the things that go along with the changing too, such as taking your bag, unpacking it, keeping track of things.

Schools are doing a bad job of teaching independence and each generation has less of it - it's especially worrying given kids have spent much of the last two years at home.

Parents could do a lot of things, and equally you'll get kids getting to secondary school with even fewer organisational skills than before.

It’s not the fault of a 5 year old if they don’t remember their PE kit but they are the one who has to wear the grotty spares. In secondary school, yes. KS2, possibly. But not EYFS and KS1.

So, I love them going in, and staying in PE kit.
However I have recently noticed my Y2 son has an issue changing in front of his friends, it cropped up at a trip out. This could cause a problem for secondary school 🤔

Schools are doing a bad job of teaching independence and each generation has less of it - it's especially worrying given kids have spent much of the last two years at home

I think this is the crux of it. Our school places a huge emphasis on fostering independence and initiative - it’s a really big part of their ethos. Yes, parents should be teaching these skills, but many of them aren’t, and so our school have made a pragmatic decision that they need to do it. Other schools, in different circumstances and with differing priorities, will make different choices.

As a parent I love it. I know my daughter has her full PE uniform, I know whether it fits her and if it is weather appropriate.

As an educator in primary education. I love it, no more 1 hour PE lessons becoming 20 mins as you need to allow time for the children to change into and out of their PE kits.

My DD started school in 2017 and this was the practise then, so way before covid!

lots of 4 year olds are unable to get on shirt, tie, jumper etc and those that can are quite slow so the majority of the lesson is spent changing clothes twice!

makes much more sense to do it this way and I’m glad other schools have followed suit since covid.

I’ve got two daughters so not a massive issue if they don’t fit, but there’s plenty of room to grow in them anyway 😊

I LOVE that our school do this as a governor! I will teach my child to get dressed & undressed, it’s not schools job. It makes life so much easier. Our school is a non uniform school but we did used to make them bring a separate PE kit. Now, they come in sportier clothes on PE day & they actually get a full hour of PE. Rather then 15 minutes either side faffing getting changed, particularly in KS1.

Quite frankly, primary kids get more hot & sweaty running around the playground at break & lunch than in PE!

No, our kids all get changed into PE kit and back again.

I actually prefer that they do this now. Zero chance of kids going home with someone else's pumps/top/shorts etc and I do a midweek uniform wash on the PE day so uniform is fresh again for the latter part of the week.

My DC used to do that 10 years before covid!! School said it was sick of them losing bits of uniform/PE kit so trialled them coming to school in PE kit and it stuck.

But the forgetting and then having to remember is all part of learning independence.

Not really at infant school age - under 7s are very much dependent on their parents to have the right clothing ready for PE each day. I wouldn't be blaming a 5 year old reception child for coming to school without their shorts.

My DC's school have gone one step further and can now wear PE kit 5 days a week if they wish instead of the formal uniform.

They figured not only was not changing less hassle but it also helped with the active ethos of the school

Ours does this since covid and for 18 months it was great but now Dd is year 7 and she hates the rigmarole of getting changed upto 3 times a week in such a rush. Personally I would be in favour of wearing pe style kit all the time in secondary too instead of stifling uniform I mean if it works for homeworkers and they’re unaffected (as I keep being told) by not having to dress smartly, then what’s the problem