Schools an physical activity for pupils

annodomini

Our school lunch hour was 12.30 to 13.50 which gave us time to go home and back if we didn't take school dinner. When I started secondary school I was able to cycle though my sisters had to walk. Plenty of exercise for us as it was about 1km each way. Oh and we always had a 15 minute break in mid afternoon which allowed the (male) teachers to have a quick smoke.

I'd forgotten the smoking! Open the door to the men's staff room and the smoke billowed out into the corridor. You couldn't see across the room for it.

Our school lunch hour was 12.30 to 13.50 which gave us time to go home and back if we didn't take school dinner. When I started secondary school I was able to cycle though my sisters had to walk. Plenty of exercise for us as it was about 1km each way. Oh and we always had a 15 minute break in mid afternoon which allowed the (male) teachers to have a quick smoke.

THEN ANOTHER 15 minute afternoon playtime signalled by the handbells

I was bell monitor, let out of the lesson a couple of of minutes early to run round the school ringing the hand bell 😀

Lunch time used to be 12-1.30pm. Most schools only have a short lunch break now, 12-1pm or even 12.30-1.15pm so they finish 30mins earlier.

The children don’t have an afternoon playtime so that’s it after dinner ‘til home time.
Some secondary schools start earlier say 8:30 to allow them to leave earlier and be bussed to main pickup points in towns nearby in time for parents or other buses to get them home.
It’s right complicated🤯
At primary we started at 10 to 9 in old Engerlish and finished at quarter to 4.
I lived around the corner so naturally was last in then we all dawdled home (no parents required) .
The school day had time for registration, big daily (yawn) assembly with prayers hymns and yadda yadda from the head, a morning playtime, a massive dinner time (you could go home) ..lovely puddings mmmm.
Plenty of prancing around in the hall wearing slip on plimsoles (kept at school in a cage with your name on) and just vest and pants (known as PE.
THEN ANOTHER 15 minute afternoon playtime signalled by the handbells and …if we were good the teacher rounded off the day by reading the latest book to the class. Happy days😊

This thread has, to my surprise, shown many not agreeing with making sure physical exercise is included in the curriculum. Why? If it improves pupils ability to learn? Many say there is no time because the subjects studied is so much wider. Is this necessary?
Yesterday I passed the local comprehensive and they were all leaving at 3pm. My school day began with assembly at 8.45am and finished at 4.15 pm with, if I remember correctly ( it was so long ago!), 7 teaching periods a day. I am not saying this was better but wonder why it changed.
I agree that it will be difficult for primary children who take for ever to get even shoes changed but a run round the playground or exercise in the hall could be possible.

Yes, Mollygo, they need to think outside the box in PE. I was a dance obsessed teacher and introduced Jazz and cheer leading as alternatives. DD teaches aerial yoga, kids love it.
Team sports are not always popular.

Newquay
You mentioned aerobics.
What a good idea. Available to all schools wha have a hall space, no ‘only those good enough for the teams count’.
If a school has a big interactive screen or projector and screen, programs like ‘imove’ can get children moving to dance music.

We were all much more active cycling and walking, PE was OK but I hated the gym knickers we had to use, cold showers too. Team sports were always top priority, mainly hockey and netball, lots of competitive matches, between school houses as well as other schools. School meals were “good wholesome” food, we needed it because we used up so many calories, no central heating at home, bedrooms were freezing.

I do remember a couple of children with asthma, certainly not all the allergies we have these days. For me the good old days, todays children miss out on so much.

My DC walked to school but it wasn't far, now my DGC have such distances to go they have to catch the school bus or have a lift as there is no way they could get there otherwise.

Callistemon21
Thank goodness we didn't have to do that. By the time I'd walked to the bus stop, waited in all weathers, changed buses in town and then walked the rest of the way to school I was ready for break time with milk and a bun!
Me too! But how many children do that today?
DD walked the 1.2 miles to high school but DGC’s primary school was over 4 miles away. Thank heavens we had a car!

Newquay

What happened to the walk round the school perimeter every morning-including staff? Organisations like British Heart Foundation show a brilliant 10 minute “living room “ workout which could easily be done every morning.
I hated (still do!) any sport. At grammar school I somehow found out about exercises done by Canadian (?) women forces-like a forerunner of aerobics. I asked PE teacher about it and was completely ignored-cos, of course, I wasn’t one of the sporty ones. When Jane Fonda encouraged us in the 70s I started aerobics and happily did it twice a week for years!

Thank goodness we didn't have to do that. By the time I'd walked to the bus stop, waited in all weathers, changed buses in town and then walked the rest of the way to school I was ready for break time with milk and a bun!

Newquay

What happened to the walk round the school

Since 2014, we have the daily run every day. 15 minutes of running or jogging around the playground. I don’t suppose ours is the only school that does that.
My DGC’s primary school had a playing field at the top of a long slope. They did running or jogging (or walking to start with) up the path to the field and back every day.

Lots of posters on here whether grandparents or not, know children at school. It would be interesting to know how many schools, primary or secondary do a daily run.

I loved PE and games . We played school matches on Saturday
mornings. This was in Yorkshire where the winter weather could be cruel.
I am getting fed up with the sadist etc comments. My grandson teaches P.E.. He is not a sadist as most P.E teachers are not . It can not be easy to try to get some pupils to join in .Perhaps if some of you had been more cooperative you would have found you actually enjoyed the experience,

What happened to the walk round the school perimeter every morning-including staff? Organisations like British Heart Foundation show a brilliant 10 minute “living room “ workout which could easily be done every morning.
I hated (still do!) any sport. At grammar school I somehow found out about exercises done by Canadian (?) women forces-like a forerunner of aerobics. I asked PE teacher about it and was completely ignored-cos, of course, I wasn’t one of the sporty ones. When Jane Fonda encouraged us in the 70s I started aerobics and happily did it twice a week for years!

FannyCornforth

Glorianny

I've had an idea. Any new education proposals should be trialed by MPs first. I look forward to seeing them all doing PE in their shorts.

Or, if they have forgotten their kit, in their vest and pants 😃

Oh FC that's put me off my breakfast- Yuk!!!

Glorianny

I've had an idea. Any new education proposals should be trialed by MPs first. I look forward to seeing them all doing PE in their shorts.

Or, if they have forgotten their kit, in their vest and pants 😃

Mollygo

Callistemon21

We did the same amount of subjects
I don't think we did.
As well as Mollygo's list, add in the Welsh language, history, and politics in Wales.

Eek! Was that in Primary? I know the language was compulsory even in KS1&2 from 1990, and Welsh history, (providing they can get together enough resources) since September 2022, but politics?

I think it could be if it is a choice at GCSE level rather than the compulsory GCSE Welsh language, but I'm not sure. I only know what DGC tell me.

The only thing I disliked was the none too warm showers afterwards.
Ours were freezing! No soap or shampoo allowed, just a quick dip under a cold spray!

I lived for sport at school. I'm not sure how we managed it, being a London comprehensive, but we had a gym, playing fields and used the public pool a short walk away. The PE teachers were always setting up interschool matches - netball and rounders. In the 6th form I also used to watch the boys play basketball matches at Queen Mary, and we all jogged round Mile End Park to warm up first. It was fun, as well as being beneficial.
The only thing I disliked was the none too warm showers afterwards.

I managed to get out of lacrosse by doing Latin for O level.

I managed to avoid PE and games for the whole of my secondary school career by various means. The PE teachers were pretty sadistic and I saw no reason to be humiliated on a weekly basis. I was not overweight. They talked a lot of nonsense about team spirit and 'house' spirit.

I remember that at the time of the London Olympics 2012 we were told that a lasting legacy would be a sporting and active nation. Youngsters would be given opportunities to develop healthy life styles through sport.Were those just empty words?

Sago

It’s a great idea and children would benefit.
The only way this is feasible is if the school day is longer.
This is unlikely to happen in the state system.

The Unions wouldn't agree to that, you are right.
When the children go home it is time to tidy and prep the classroom for the next day. Photocopy etc. Then log the results, read the orders and plan the next day. The marking usually goes home with further planning. After-school clubs at all schools that the government, not the parents paid for would have to be provided.

Glorianny

I've had an idea. Any new education proposals should be trialed by MPs first. I look forward to seeing them all doing PE in their shorts.

I look forward to seeing them all doing PE in their shorts.

👀