Children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day - and one way to achieve this is through PE lessons at school. But one mum has been left outraged after her Year 4 daughter was forced to participate in an outdoor PE lesson when temperatures dropped below freezing.
Wearing only her polo shirt, shorts and plimsolls, the child was expected to run around as if it was a warm summer's day while the teacher stood by in a thick coat. Taking to Mumsnet, the woman wrote: "The teacher stood there in her coat, hat and gloves. Apparently after the children said they were cold, they were allow to put on their hats. I'm not one to mollycoddling my kids but it was -1C all day here yesterday."
The mum claims making children participate in an outdoor PE lesson in the midst of winter is "stupid and on the verge of cruel".
She is now debating bringing this up with the school because she doesn't want it to continue into the New Year when the weather could worsen still.
She asked users: "How do I handle this with the teacher who is otherwise wonderful?"
In response, one parent said: "My son, aged 10, plays football outside. His school's limit is -5 but they wear tracksuits, hats and gloves.
"Being underdressed in those conditions can be dangerous when they come back into the warm. Not acceptable in my opinion."
Another user added: "We've been doing outside games, with tracksuits and hats. Fast-paced and lively, no standing around. Our rule is that the teacher should be wearing a tracksuit as well."
Offering an inside perspective, a PE teacher said: "I wouldn't have a class outside doing PE in this weather - too bloody cold for me, never mind the kids!
"Whenever I've been in schools doing outdoor PE - they either have tracksuits or I make them put their jumper and coats back on and I do a lot of running around type games to keep them warm - but even I would have cracked and stayed in the warm yesterday!"
One more user simply said: "I'd be bloody livid and would be having a word with the school."
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