Why do pupils need to take in PE kit and change even when injured and unable to actually do PE?

[megletthesecond]

11yr old DS has been having problems with his knee being unstable and giving away. Lots of pain over the weekend but he's seen a nurse and she thinks it's probably a growth spurt. He can't exercise for a week.

His school still want him to take his PE kit in and get changed for PE and sit on the bench. Can anyone give me a reason why a school would do this? Carrying the extra weight of the PE kit in everyday is more aggravation for his knee.

Thanks.

"just send in a note/email to say your ds will be relocating to the library for sports lessons until his knee is better rather than indulging their pettifogging rules"

Please do not do this. It is totally normal to attend PE even when unable to participate in a physical lesson. PE theory worksheets are one way of keeping them with the PE curriculum, as is observing the practical. Telling your DC to cut a lesson completely, rather than go to adapted lesson, is wrong.

If too unwell to attend lessons at all, then pupil should report to sick room or equivalent and arrange to be sent home.

"just send in a note/email to say your ds will be relocating to the library for sports lessons until his knee is better rather than indulging their pettifogging rules"

How entitled. I agree with pp that you can learn a lot about PE by watching and umpiring

It's clearly to stop the situation we used to do:
Cold: yes
Wet: yes
Library: Warm and cosy and I can finish my homework. Good idea.
"Miss I've hurt my left thumb and can't do PE"

I think I understand the reasoning, but I do feel it's hard on the child who genuinely isn't feeling brilliant, for whom a day at school is doable, but sitting freezing on the bench in the rain will actually be quite bad for them. On one occasion it did influence my decision whether to send dc in as they really shouldn't have been sitting outside for nearly an hour in the wet.

Isn't the obvious solution to ask to keep the PE kit in school somewhere and get a friend to carry it for him on days he needs it?

Or even, if the PE kit could be stored in the PE office?

If all he is doing is sitting still in it for an hour, it won't need to keep coming home to be washed.

Isn't the obvious solution to ask to keep the PE kit in school somewhere and get a friend to carry it for him on days he needs it?

We do this. She has only done an hour of PE this term, not sure if it will even need washing at half term.

Anyone in my tutor group with this problem would have come and sat in on whatever lesson I was teaching and get on with something, or I would give them work to do. If anyone objected I’d have told them to get lost.
However I retired 5 years ago. Schools may be more tyrannical nowadays.

My son had a knee injury and was on crutches for a while to speed healing. He had to take his pe kit and get changed as that is the school policy. After a week or so I spoke to the school and explained it was painful to bend his knee to get changed and it was unnecessary as he couldn't participate - schools are usually reasonable if you speak to them

You can't just tell your child to go to the library. That's called truanting his lesson.

At ds' school if they can't do the lesson they get changed and help with umpiring etc.

Our DD's school is pretty sensible about most things but we got this nonsense after a head injury. We just sent her in without her kit and told her to tell the PE staff to contact us if they had a problem with it. The half-term bell saved it from escalating but otherwise I would been very minded to follow advice analogous to "just send in a note/email to say your ds will be relocating to the library for sports lessons until his knee is better rather than indulging their pettifogging rules." Spot on IMHO. And what is this nonsense about it being really bad to "truant" a PE lesson. Oh dear, missed some vital netball theory. Tragedy.