Pe

[AnonyMouse_5677]

Hi

I'm working as a nursery teacher attached to a primary school. I have recently taken over the class and have so far been carrying on with most things as they were. One of the main things I'm not happy with is P.E. I my last school even the reception children didn't do formal P.E. and I have to say I'm not fully comfortable with my nursery class doing it. I find it a very difficult session to manage as some of the children are barely three and the acoustics in the hall make it very difficult to make myself heard. I believe that they can definately meet the Physical Development goals through opportunities provided in my classroom and outdoor environment, but was wondering how other people felt about it. Do you do P.E.? If yes, what sort of things do you do?

Would welcome any comments..

Thank you in advance

Elfy

x

[AnonyMouse_79]

Can you make use of the large space and do something different---circle/ ring games or using a parachute, streamers etc. Sticky kids? Perhaps you dont need to do PE until later in the school year?

[Guest]

i have a large hall and i know exactly what its like when you have noisey children! what ive tried is a small drum, the children race from one end to the other only when i bang the drum, ready steady bang!! i tell them what they have to do each time, run then hop, jump, crawl etc you will be suprised how quiet they are waiting for that bang!!! and its good exercise hope this is some use

[Guest]

Hi. I am a Reception Teacher and my answer is yes and no! (Not very helpful - sorry)

 

We have been told by our Teacher Advisor that a formal PE is not appropriate for Reception as they should have such a physcial curriculum with access to the outside etc. We were advised to keep our hall time and use it for various things.

 

However, at the moment I only have 15 children in my class (many who have already turned 5 - I find this can make quite a difference) and they have been asking for "PE" from the very first day they arrived. So for the last two weeks they have had a "PE session" in the hall - and I can honestly say that they have both been a very enjoyable experience for all - they children have loved changing! and participated with enthusiasm in the games/challenges etc!

 

However, (again) when the next (younger) intake start - in November - I am not so sure we will launch into whole class PE sessions as I think this would be inappropriate for the needs of the whole class - we will think again and use the time creatively.

 

By the end of the year I will probably try for regular class PE lessons as they can be a very useful time to introduce some skills and have a bit of fun.

 

I suppose it might all come down to the needs of the children you have - and you will be the best judge of that!

[Guest]

Hi

We used to do PE last year, all the children used to get changed into PE shorts, t -shirt and daps, they are only 3 and 4, this used to take ages, about 30mins just to get changed, then PE then get rechanged another 30mins. we spent most of the morning changing in and out of PE kits. This year we decided to not do it in september and maybe bring it back in for the ones that are going to school in April, only i now have some parents that have complained and think its good for the children to get changed for PE. I'm not sure what to do now.

We do running races, traffic light games, obstacle courses, parachute, etc........ but without getting changed. I'm not sure what the answer is?

Be interesting to see what replies you get.

[AnonyMouse_2821]

Hi I have a small group of 10 children each week, which are the children who will go off to school in Jan and we do an informal Pe session every other week. This is not to say that we do not do any physical development as we do it every session the purpose for this group is to help them get used to changing and changing back. The kind of things that we do is balancing beam, music and movement, mini assult course, bats and balls etc.

[AnonyMouse_79]

Hi and welcome to Juliemoo.

 

Changing is a real time issue, I always think shoes and socks off is sufficient unless you are using large apparatus.

[AnonyMouse_2821]

I have to say my children take around 5-10 mins to change and are really great at it. Depends i suppose on the children?

[Guest]

We have 24 children in our group, its such a large group this year. Changing is awful!!!!!!

[Guest]

We were discussing our PE and lack of it just today! In the past our sessions were in the afternoon so just included the older children in the year group Sept to Feb birthdays. Now its in the morning and two of the sessions we've been given clash with our Jolly Phonics input and the need also to fit in a Guided Reading session before lunch. We have decided to share a weekly slot between both classes taking it in turns one week on, one week off. On the more difficult slots as time permits all staff are able to take smallish groups (mix of both classes) to the hall for circle games. This year we have a very young cohort and two children who are very nervy about PE. One boy is frightened 'Are we going to the other room now?!' - there seems to be some stress around doors that close that he might not be able to escape from. The other also a boy, oldest in my class - 5 in early sept, is incredibly stressed up about taking off socks and shoes, to the point of crying. I can't see any point in pushing him till he feels ready, but am just giving lots of praise and talk about what a lot of fun we are all having as the rest of us have done barefoot games in the hall. It sometimes feels so stressful at this time of the year, we seem to need to pack so much in in the morning session that to me it feels somewhat unbalanced, but I don't know how to sort it out. Ramble, ramble, ramble..... sorry everyone!

AOB

[AnonyMouse_73]

space is a real issue in our nursery, and so having PE is a bit of a god send as it sends a group off to the hall leaving 2 groups behind, one doing circle time where it quiet and the other doing cookery. We repeat this 3 times a week so that all the groups do everyhting.

 

We beging after half term when the children are all in and usually settled. We dont change in to shorts/tshirt in nursery , just shoes socks and jumpers come off, but they do in reception. We use the time to play stop/start games, do dance, ball games, parachute etc All of thse can be done outdorrs of course, but we have very limited space outdoors, so the hall is a rely nice place for them to do thse things worrying about bumping into other equipment (fixed like the slide) or into children playing with other things. I would be dispaoointed if we didnt do it any more.

[Guest]

The children dont get changed to do pe it does take long and can be quite stressfull for staff. as they are in their normal clothes their not too restricted, they just have black gym pumps on (the ones that are about £2) and then they have comfortable footwear.

thanks for the welcome susan.

[AnonyMouse_4544]

Im in a FSU and we dont do formal PE sessions. We do things like Write Dance SAQ and lots of moving to music but most of our physical activity takes place outdoors

[Guest]

We are a sessional pre-school registered for 20 children from 2 to school age. We do PE in some shape or form each Friday because we have to put everything away and so for the last hour the large hall is empty - ideal for whatever we want!

We use the Sticky Kids cds and these are brilliant for the whole age range, the youngest 2 year old joins in as does the oldest 4 year old, they are really participatory (big word for a friday!). We also do parachute games (done today with 15 kids - really great) and also a lot of different hoop games, Top Start activities run by one of our Mums who is fab. We do flagging (with flags! not just an exhausted staff member by friday) using small flags made by some lovely person. These are fab with mood music and are really stimulating for the children, also can be very calming/soothing. We enjoy lots of silly games with bean bags - 'can you carry it on your head, under your chin, on your foot.....

Don't be put off - this is a vital part of your children's fun and development - they need to know that exercise is a fun thing you do regularly.

Did you hear on Radio 4 this morning (7.15ish) that some research has been done by Glasgow University about proving that pre-schoolers who do 1 hours exercise per day will not turn into obese children and adults... might try and do a web search to read up on this, but I think the essence was that whilst it was definitely a good idea it was quite impractical in reality.

[AnonyMouse_5677]

Thanks for everyones responses, it's ace to have all this help at my finger tips. We only change into daps so changing isn't a problem. I think the answer is to come up with a larger repetoire of ideas and to perhaps separate the group into two. We have new children entering and leaving each term and so waiting until the children are more settled won't really be effective.

thanks again for your help

Elfy

x

[Guest]

Hi - i'm Debs's husband who completed a PE major alongside primary education for my degree, and I have to agree with LJW about the effects that teachers attitudes to PE affects the way in which children view PE.

 

PE must be done in some shape or form - but it doesn't have to be a chore! Try to create an atmosphere of enjoyment and excitement around physical activity and all children will benefit in the long term.

 

It's not a case of focussing on the 'sporty' minded children/families but all children will enjoy activities such as the Parachute games, as mentioned earlier, and Sticky kids is fun too. Changing needn't be an issue for FSU's or nurseries but a change of shoes to trainers/pumps is a good idea (especially for the teachers too, think about being that role model again). But try if you can to get the children changed as it fosters the longterm attitude that it is important as a safety issue.

 

Those of you who might have seen Ian Wright's unfit kids only need to see the negative attitude surrounding PE that children possess at a later stage in their lives so creating the attitude that PE is something to look forward to can only be good. Also seeing the children enjoying themselves using some energy might pass onto their home life and get them active at home and not on the playstation for most of thier evenings

[AnonyMouse_64]

Thanks for posting Debs husband. Although the children in our playgroup have access to physical apparatus every session throughout the session, I also try to plan one structured activity session each week. The emphasis is definately on fun though and we find that even the youngest children can benefit from this.

[AnonyMouse_3139]

My playgroup was in a church hall so we had a great space for movement when the main equipment had been put away. We didnt have sticky kids or any such CD but we did use any music that came to hand to march, skip, stomp, ect. We took alot of the movements from the FS folder, shuffle, walk backwards, stop etc. We did a lot of big arm movements with clapping, waving scarves and races with bean bags being picked up and collected and cones to wind around.

I have only seen a 'PE' session in one nursery and it was no fun, the children had to take it in turns to do somethng rather than at playgroup when we used teams for some of it, or whole group moving. At most nurseries I've been to the PE session is actually playtime with no adult input or focus, just a chance for staff to stand and chat. But I'm working on it

[Guest]

I teach in an International school as an Early Years PE specialist. I teach only 2-5 year old children for 3 lessons a week or formal PE lessons but it's just lots of fun really, music parachute, puppets, songs, games. The nursery children only start seeing new people after 4 weeks and even then only briefly while they are in their class setting. After 6/7 week those who are ready start coming out for 30mjn lesson twice a week one of which is based on perceptual motor programming (PMP). I think that the children get a lot out of these lesson and that it really helps in their development.

[Guest]

Coming out on a cold sweat at the thought of a formal PE session, we are a free flow in a large hall

And also go to forest school and I would rather use the climbing running crawling that we do in everyday activities

Than PE time :-) x