dressing up child for sports on non-PE kit days

[sdana]

Hi, we moved to the UK in the summer and I am new to the concept of school uniforms. I am still figuring out how to dress my Y4 daughter for sports purposes. There is one day per week when the children are supposed to come in their PE kit. So far so good (For me it sounds strange that they wear these clothes the whole day and do not even differentiate shoes for indoor vs outdoor sports, but ok ok).

What I am confused about though is that there are PE / sports components on other days of the week, when the children are not meant to come dressed up in PE kit. That apparently happened today, and my daughter got sore feet because she was running in shoes that were not meant for sports. The sports shoes I bought based on the PE kit rules do not comply with the regular days' uniform rules - and the regular days' shoes are not great for sports. Am I the only one with this problem? Do people instead buy uniform-coloured sneakers for children to wear on all days?

Also: at the moment, the summery clothes are ok for casual sports, but when it gets colder and my daughter is wearing long non-stretchy trousers, how is she meant to be doing sports on "non-PE kit" days?

This week, an after-school sports club started (on non-PE kit days) and apparently, children were not changing either. Should I ask for an exception to have my daughter change (into sports shorts and shoes) - or do I need to search for "smart but sporty" outfits to buy next time? Thanks!

When you come to replace her ordinary uniform shoes, you need to get her ones she can run in. Whether or not there are sporty activities during the day, she needs to be able to run around at break times with comfortable feet.

Most school shoes for 4 years olds are similar to trainers so should be ok for sporty activities. If she has sore feet, she probably does need different shoes as reception children are pretty active and will be running around each day. Regarding the winter trousers, does the school require she wear the non-stretchy ones or can you buy any type? Most primary schools allow trousers of any brand as long as it’s the right colour (black/grey/navy) and not leggings/jeans.

This sounds unusual.

Most primaries get children to change for PE.
The exception is uf they are doing something in g like dance in which case they take their shoes off and do it in bare feet in the hall.

For the after school sporty club if necessary she can take in trainers to change into. They won't want everyone doing a full clothing change but shoes should be ok.

Her normal school shoes shouldn't be making her feet hurt from running etc. maybe find some more supportive shoes? Many children this age spend all break and lunch running around and playing games.

On the day they don't come in their pe kit you send it in with pumps/trainers in a pe bag.

It sounds a bit silly but yes they do sometimes do sporty things in my DDs school on non PE days.
But I don't think it's any more than playing at break time really- I gave up on "school shoes" for mine a few years ago and they just wear trainers every day now

Same for clothes , I only have one left in primary but she wears leggings or stretchy trousers, polo shirt and sweatshirt every day so if she needs to do sport then she's fine.
Skirts and dresses are very cute on little girls but not practical at all even just for normal playtime

Get her comfy clothes for her uniform. Leggings under dresses and trainers for her school shoes if they are allowed. Usually kids have a PE kit that they take to school.

You should probably check with the school what's expected for the after-school sports club, it seems strange to me that they aren't changing for the sport. But maybe it's an indoor activity, like dance or something? At the primary school my child attends they would change into sport-specific clothes and shoes for any after-school sports club (football, dance, multisports).

Regarding running around in the school day, her normal black school shoes should be suitable for being active in. If her feet are sore from running around, then the shoes are not suitable for a child to be wearing for long periods of time.

I'm curious what kind of activities you're classing as "casual sports" that aren't happening during a PE lesson?

They should be able to run in their normal school shoes. After all tearing around all lunch break is standard for that age! Unfortunately it sounds like you’ve bought ill fitting or badly designed shoes so I’d look to change them asap. Most schools primary schools permit black trainers if you want to go down that route but decent mary jane or t-bar styles from start rite or similar in the correct size shouldn’t be hurting.

Re the winter uniform, does your daughter really need to be in non-stretchy school trousers? Can’t she have stretchy trousers? Or a pinafore dress with tights? My DD usually does an after school tennis club in her school uniform because we don’t have time to change. In summer that’s the dress, in winter a pinafore dress with tights. I do change her shoes if I remember to trainers to avoid scuffing but on the odd occasion I’ve forgotten she’s been fine playing in her school shoes.

It depends on a number of factors - what is schools uniform policy and how strict are they?
What do these sports actually consist of and are they happening every week?
We had a one off sports activity happen this week. It was a taster session for a club. None of the kids were in PE kit, they just had a go for half an hour. This will not be happening every week. For all regular PE sessions they wear kit.
Her school shoes should be comfortable for her to be able to run around no matter what. Thats what they do for the best part of an hour every day and break and lunch.

in primary they had to keep pe kit in school and send home to be washed in the holidays

Since Covid a lot of schools (inc our Primary) ask that children come in wearing PE kit on set PE days. It saves the teachers a huge amount of time - I can’t imagine how long it would take to get 30 5 year olds to change their clothes & shoes each time!

DS wears PE kit on days he has after school sports clubs.

I think you are overthinking the non-PE sports components - if your child is dressed so they can run around and play at lunchtime, they will be fine for the odd bit of playing outside in class time. If their uniform is preventing them from playing easily, then you should swap in some comfier clothes anyway.

Thanks for your responses everyone!
My daughter tells me I'm overthinking the clothing as well :D Trust me though, if you have lived in a system without uniforms, figuring out the unspoken rules of the dress code is difficult. E.g. there seems to be more flexibility than is officially stated by the school.
As for the trousers, the policy says "note shorts and trousers are the tailored school trousers, not corduroy, jogging bottoms, leggings or cargo pants" so I imagined nothing too sporty.
It didn't occur to me that I might be able to send my daughter to school in a PE kit on days when she has after-school clubs - also a great idea! Let me ask. Or else I'd give her trainers to at least change shoes - that should really not take too long.
BTW she is in Year 4, not 4-years old.

My school used to be like this pre-Covid but since then, children are expected to come into school in their PE kits on PE days.

What activities are they doing on non PE days OP?
Also, if she's doing a sporty after school club, just send her in with leggings/shorts and plimsoles/trainers in a bag for her to change into.

Just to reply regarding the sporty activities as a few people asked: they were playing some ball and running games (unknown to me) as instructed by the teacher.
My daughter was wearing plimsoles but it seems those are not great for wilder running.
And don't get me wrong, I love it that the children have so many opportunities to stay active during the day, to balance the seated classes!
Again, thanks for all the suggestions :)

No, I’m afraid plimsolls are not that great for anything much except indoor sports!
You can buy smart but stretchy school trousers in most supermarkets for reasonable prices. Grey or black depending on school preference.
Most state schools have to be a bit flexible

Mine don't do the all day in PE kit thing fortunately but our PE kit consists of:
Plain white tshirt or logo one
Plain blue shorts or school ones
Plain blue or black joggers abs hoodie
Trainers in any colour for outdoors
Plimll (not sure if that word still gets an auto delete due to the P troll) for indoor.

So unless the school specify a trainer colour then on PE days you just send them in their normal trainers.

On days mine have after school sports they get sent to get changed at the end of school so would need their PE kit there then.

Surely she's running around every day anyway in her school shoes? Skipping, hopping jumping, climbing etc

Why is she getting sore feet from running for sport and nit running for play time?

I'm a primary teacher and this sounds strange to me. We have PE twice a week and on those days children come to school in their PE kits. This started during Covid but proved to save huge amounts of time so we could actually do PE in PE lessons rather than spend forever changing and hunting down Jimmy's lost t-shirt and Jane's missing shoe.

However, we don't do any running activities on days when children are not wearing the correct kit. Most girls in my school wear Mary-Jane style shoes which wouldn't be safe for running in. Can you speak to the school about if these are regular additional sessions for which you should send in shoes or if it was a one-off?

That sounds really strange.

In my daughter's school they are in PE kit all day on match days but on two other days they have PE and have to bring their kit in a bag and change. In Y4 some of the kids will be starting to get a bit stinky so doing sport in school uniform sounds really odd.

Gosh it's sad that the majority of girls ins school are wearing shoes they can't safely run in.

BlackOrangeFrog: she has only done 2.5 weeks in this school setting so I cannot quite tell :) Just hearing about her activities, I figured that not having proper shoes would be the reason.

If you go for the girls Jersey trousers, they have a bit of stretch to them and are fine for most schools (see uniform section of supermarket). You can also get trainers that look more like shoes, which might be good for uniform days with spot's afterwards.

Our school has kids come in on pe days wearing their kit (which makes life so much easier). Occasionally they do sports on other days but just do it in their uniform. It's never been an issue - most of the kids are straight over to the park to play football / table tennis/ rounders after school in their uniform with no problem. My kids have tailored trousers but they have some stretch in them and certainly don't hold them back from running round and playing sports.