Use the changing room you feel comfortable in

[TheRozzers]

DD has just started Secondary school. On PE days the children are told to wear their PE kit to school so they don’t have to get changed.

DD had PE today. There are boys ans girls changing rooms and the teacher told them all to use the changing room they feel comfortable with.

As the girls were already in their PE kits there was no actual changing in the changing room, it was just where they gathered before the class and left their bags.

This probably isn’t a hill to die on but it irritates me that girls have to be in their PE kits all day and can’t have their own private space in order to accommodate boys who may want to access the girls changing rooms.

Should I take up with the school or leave it?

Most primary schools do. We're talking about secondary schools here. Teenagers doing PE get very stinky, you do not want them going around in their stinky kit for the rest of the day. Also potentially wet and muddy if they've been playing outdoors on grass.

Research tells us that 45% are more active on the way to and from school if they wear their PE kit to school. 3 in 10 girls feel less stressed and anxious when they wear their PE kit all day, 61% wearing their PE kit to school helped them be more active on PE lessons and 59% of girls said it helped them be more active throughout the day and 99% of teachers said it gave them more time for PE. Women in Sport are currently lobbying government regarding this and obviously your daughter’s school is ahead of the game. Perhaps this the reason they are wearing their PE kit to school.

I would just write politely to the school & say you're concerned that changing is mixed sex & what is the policy? The phrase 'the changing room you feel comfortable with' is associated w the sex/gender debate but it might have popped into the teacher's head unconciously, or the teacher might believe in self identification, but he has to follow school policy which should be based on biological sex. You can follow up further if the policy is outdated.

Interesting. What age though chicory? For primary school, totally on board.

Secondary school - surely not pleasant for anyone or a good habit for teens to get into to do sports without a change of clothes after.

Definitely an argument for less formalwear school uniforms generally.

So they never play football on a muddy field or long jump into a sand pit?

What does school PE consist of these days?

When I was in school Id have seen this as a challenge and gone to the boys with the express intent of making them very very uncomfortable.
That won't have been good for me or anyone else though. So talk to the school, maybe the message was lost in the telling.

Quite a lot of schools have astroturf so they may not be getting muddy. But surely at this time of year they’re liable to be out in the rain?

It a good question regarding getting muddy and wet. At my daughter’s school the girls do netball indoors until summer term when they do athletics on the school field so they don’t tend to get muddy. I have no idea what other schools do. I think reducing down getting changed can only be a good thing even if they wear their PE kit to school and get changed into their uniform afterwards if they need. I can’t imagine they get too sweaty given there are so many girls and only 1 sports hall that they can’t actually get much exercise in. Shocking as it is. One indoor court per school in nowhere near enough room nowadays

Our secondary school field is grass, and tends to hold water until it gets too boggy to use at all. Sports seem to be different every term but they do try to get outdoors when the field isn't a complete lake. Muddy gear is very possible.

And would clubs be allowed to change? If they also have to wear kit all day some sporty children would barely need to own non PE uniform. At least they'd be getting muddy at the end of the day.

I feel sorry for the teachers (and the kids, come to that) who have to sit in a classroom of sweaty teenagers who haven't changed after PE.

It's perfectly easy to get sweaty without moving off the spot.

If they aren't working up some level of sweat they aren't being taught how to get any decent level of exercise, especially for a teenager.