Are there any dedicated P.E. Teachers in Irish Schools?

Andy From Sligo

Did I hear correctly yesterday on Operation Transformation that schools in Ireland dont have dedicated P.E. (physical Education) teachers in primary and secondary schools? and some heads saying the normal teachers teach it and some even say they dont have enough time allocated on the curriculum for P.E. classes - I find this crazy myself - I grew up in the UK and we always had dedicated P.E. lessons/teachers (even though I couldnt stand P.E.) we done rugby, football, cross country, basketball and all that jazz

anncoates

We had one in my school, although that was in medieval times.

Aeternum

There was in my secondary school. Not primary.

stimpson

Good question. The one in my school didn't give a ****.

Toto Wolfcastle

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

Did I hear correctly yesterday on Operation Transformation that schools in Ireland dont have dedicated P.E. (physical Education) teachers in primary and secondary schools? and some heads saying the normal teachers teach it and some even say they dont have enough time allocated on the curriculum for P.E. classes - I find this crazy myself - I grew up in the UK and we always had dedicated P.E. lessons/teachers (even though I couldnt stand P.E.) we done rugby, football, cross country, basketball and all that jazz

Secondary PE teachers are specifically trained to be PE teachers, along with another subject. Primary school teachers are also trained to teach PE as part of their degree but obviously they also teach all the other subjects.

There's a thread about the Operation Transformation claims about Primary Schools in the Primary and Pre School forum if you're interested in finding out what teachers think.

TheDoc

Was one in my secondary school for sure, 00-05

Andy From Sligo

these ones in secondary - where they properly trained P.E. Teachers or were they just maths / engish / bog standard teachers teaching P.E. though?.... what is needed is a properly trained teacher in physical education that knows about exercises and injuries and teaching proper sports and most of all be qualified for P.E. !

Toto Wolfcastle

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

these ones in secondary - where they properly trained P.E. Teachers or were they just maths / engish / bog standard teachers teaching P.E. though?.... what is needed is a properly trained teacher in physical education that knows about exercises and injuries and teaching proper sports and most of all be qualified for P.E. !

Most of the PE teachers that I worked with trained here, and others trained in the UK. I'm sure there are probably other options in other colleges in Ireland.

Andy From Sligo

primary school need to have them as well! - granted not as full on as when they are in secondary level education but still, just to get them fit and give them excercise and ready for when they get to secondary school - why the reason for no proper P.E. classes in primary school i wonder?

Andy From Sligo

our P.E. Teacher(s) as I were growing up just taught P.E. and nothing else - like-wise our English Teacher or Maths teacher did not teach P.E. and Likewase our P.E. teacher didnt teach English or Maths in another class!

The_Valeyard

Defo,

My PE teacher ran it like a military boot camp. Good craic though.

Adamantium

No we were not taught pelvic exercises. Disadvantaged so we were.

RobYourBuilder

We had one who was a dedicated PE teacher. He tried to get us into games such as hockey, basketball, badminton, tennis and the like. We eventually wore him down and he gave up and just let us play five-a-side winner stays on for the next five years.

Novella

My brother is going to graduate this year and will be a PE and English secondary school teacher. I believe you have to teach a second subject.

rainbowtrout

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

our P.E. Teacher(s) as I were growing up just taught P.E. and nothing else - like-wise our English Teacher or Maths teacher did not teach P.E. and Likewase our P.E. teacher didnt teach English or Maths in another class!

Most teachers in secondary school in Ireland are qualified to teach 2 subjects. Those include PE teachers. It's not like the UK where teachers generally only teach one subject.

rainbowtrout

Novella wrote: »

My brother is going to graduate this year and will be a PE and English secondary school teacher. I believe you have to teach a second subject.

You don't have to, but it's harder to get a full time job without a second subject.

Bobsammy

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

our P.E. Teacher(s) as I were growing up just taught P.E. and nothing else - like-wise our English Teacher or Maths teacher did not teach P.E. and Likewase our P.E. teacher didnt teach English or Maths in another class!

Unlike in the UK the vast majority of secondary teachers here teach two subjects. Most of the time they are equally qualified in both. PE is no exception to this.

bjork

We had one, he loved volleyball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAs7F9inPxw

Novella

rainbowtrout wrote: »

You don't have to, but it's harder to get a full time job without a second subject.

That makes sense.

Andy From Sligo

Bobsammy wrote: »

Unlike in the UK the vast majority of secondary teachers here teach two subjects. Most of the time they are equally qualified in both. PE is no exception to this.

I dont particuarly like that Idea. - Ok if the Teacher is slim, fit, healthy and really has qualified in the subject but say if you got an overweight or over BMI teacher teaching kids P.E. its not on is it! - bit like going to a fat doctor who smokes and having them tell you you have to lose weight and stop smoking ... oh hold on a moment we already have them ones lol :-)

Tilly

My little sister is a PE and business teacher for a secondary school. Her degree is in both. So what you heard it bull.

anncoates

Ours was definitely qualified to do the job as she only ever wore a tracksuit and had a whistle around her neck.

Bobsammy

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I dont particuarly like that Idea. - Ok if the Teacher is slim, fit, healthy and really has qualified in the subject but say if you got an overweight or over BMI teacher teaching kids P.E. its not on is it! - bit like going to a fat doctor who smokes and having them tell you you have to lose weight and stop smoking ... oh hold on a moment we already have them ones lol :-)

But a teacher could be only teaching PE and be unfit or overweight. Teaching an additional subject won't affect that.

rainbowtrout

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I dont particuarly like that Idea. - Ok if the Teacher is slim, fit, healthy and really has qualified in the subject but say if you got an overweight or over BMI teacher teaching kids P.E. its not on is it! - bit like going to a fat doctor who smokes and having them tell you you have to lose weight and stop smoking ... oh hold on a moment we already have them ones lol :-)

Why would you assume that a teacher would be overweight just because they are qualified in two subjects? Easily the most ridiculous thing I've seen posted on boards about teachers.

Macavity.

Our PE teacher was hot, when I say "hot" I mean she kept in shape and was one of the only female teachers in the school younger than thirty. Most of the lads would stare at her and make wolf whistle noises. She had no control whatsoever. One time she took one lad out of the hall and gave out to him. When he came back in he pulled up his zipper and announced to the whole class "Well, I sure showed her". She probably would have been okay as a teacher but just couldn't control certain people in our class - to be fair the school was some shithole.

Toto Wolfcastle

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I dont particuarly like that Idea. - Ok if the Teacher is slim, fit, healthy and really has qualified in the subject but say if you got an overweight or over BMI teacher teaching kids P.E. its not on is it! - bit like going to a fat doctor who smokes and having them tell you you have to lose weight and stop smoking ... oh hold on a moment we already have them ones lol :-)

Where are you getting the idea that the fact that PE teachers teach two subjects mean that you have teachers who are overweight and not interested teaching PE? Taking the degree I linked to earlier as an example, people who choose to do that course do it because they are genuinely interested in sport and fitness. They also have to do a second subject, which is a good thing because with only PE they'd have no chance of getting a job. Even with two subjects there aren't many jobs out there.

Turtyturd

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I dont particuarly like that Idea. - Ok if the Teacher is slim, fit, healthy and really has qualified in the subject but say if you got an overweight or over BMI teacher teaching kids P.E. its not on is it! - bit like going to a fat doctor who smokes and having them tell you you have to lose weight and stop smoking ... oh hold on a moment we already have them ones lol :-)

I'd also make sure geography teachers had left the country at least once and seen a waterfall being formed. Also mandatory for history teachers to have survived Pompeii.

RayM

When I was at school, PE was basically an excuse for those who were crap at proper subjects to verbally and physically bully people. It did far more harm than good. The only thing I learned from PE was how to forge my parents' handwriting every week.

Toto Wolfcastle

RayM wrote: »

When I was at school, PE was basically an excuse for those who were crap at proper subjects to verbally and physically bully people. It did far more harm than good. The only thing I learned from PE was how to forge my parents' handwriting every week.

That's a pity. My school had fantastic PE teachers. We were lucky that they timetabled a few teachers at a time to teach PE when we were in 6th year (and possibly in other years, I can't remember) so that they could offer a few different sports at a time. I'm not sporty at all but I have fond memories of PE.

Lia_lia

My PE teacher in secondary school was fantastic. She took us surfing, climbing mountains, down to the park in the summer, swimming... She let us try loads of random sports so it wasn't the usual basketball, football etc.

In primary school it was just the normal teachers doing PE with us. But they were trained to do that in college anyway so what harm. I'll never forget the time I kicked a football at a 60+ year old nun teacher and knocked her glasses off...thought I would be killed!

RobYourBuilder

Did any of you do the bleep tests when you returned after your summer holidays? Serious craic, that.

Turtyturd

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Did any of you do the bleep tests when you returned after your summer holidays? Serious craic, that.

Yep...about 5 or 6 would drop out at every bleep to get to the football quicker.

pickarooney

There were no PE teachers and no PE classes in my secondary school.

RayM

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

That's a pity. My school had fantastic PE teachers. We were lucky that they timetabled a few teachers at a time to teach PE when we were in 6th year (and possibly in other years, I can't remember) so that they could offer a few different sports at a time. I'm not sporty at all but I have fond memories of PE.

My school had no sports facilities, and the PE teacher was useless, so it was either football on a tarmac yard or indoor football in an undersized hall (with a leather football, which provided a great opportunity to injure people). From around fifth year onwards, I stopped turning up.

Andy From Sligo

nothing like a good cross country run in a P.E. lesson in the Snow and freezing cold in shorts and tee as we had to do - you had to run if you wanted to keep warm and not die of hypothermia. mind you I did opt for Cross country instead of Rugby

shruikan2553

I know we had 1 teacher who taught PE and CSPE so I would assume she most have been qualified in some form. Probably did a 2 week course in handing a class a football though by the quality of it.

evolving_doors

Maybe the local GAA could pay for one ...or... the drinks industry! They've taken enough money from sport already.

Andy From Sligo

god there could be some budding next generation footballers or rugby players or runners if the kids were getting some proper PE lessons in school these days. Hearing one of the teachers on OT yesterday it sounded like she was saying that the other lessons on their curriculum was more important than PE and that there was no time to fit in PE lessons - thats terrible.. i dunno cut out religious studies or some other pointless class then and introduce proper PE classes!

rainbowtrout

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

god there could be some budding next generation footballers or rugby players or runners if the kids were getting some proper PE lessons in school these days. Hearing one of the teachers on OT yesterday it sounded like she was saying that the other lessons on their curriculum was more important than PE and that there was no time to fit in PE lessons - thats terrible.. i dunno cut out religious studies or some other pointless class then and introduce proper PE classes!

That was one teacher. It doesn't mean the whole country is the same

Andy From Sligo

rainbowtrout wrote: »

That was one teacher. It doesn't mean the whole country is the same

true that, but id like to see a documentary on TV (even if there is some undercover footage) of how many schools in Ireland participate in regular PE lessons and how good they are

Lau2976

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

god there could be some budding next generation footballers or rugby players or runners if the kids were getting some proper PE lessons in school these days. Hearing one of the teachers on OT yesterday it sounded like she was saying that the other lessons on their curriculum was more important than PE and that there was no time to fit in PE lessons - thats terrible.. i dunno cut out religious studies or some other pointless class then and introduce proper PE classes!

My sisters was a pe teacher. Her other subject was maths. There are dedicated teachers around! TBH I've never seen the point if P.E. It's so easy to get out of so all you have is one group of students who already enjoy sports participating and one group wasting their own time. I don't see how they couldn't for it in and others schools can? They should fix their time tabling!

Also I don't think religion is pointless IMO.

AlanS181824

None.

heldel00

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

primary school need to have them as well! - granted not as full on as when they are in secondary level education but still, just to get them fit and give them excercise and ready for when they get to secondary school - why the reason for no proper P.E. classes in primary school i wonder?

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

true that, but id like to see a documentary on TV (even if there is some undercover footage) of how many schools in Ireland participate in regular PE lessons and how good they are

So if we need specialised PE teachers andy does that mean we need outside teachers for music, visual arts, science etc?
Primary teachers are as qualified in teaching PE as they are in any of the other 12 areas of the curriculum.
PE is taught for 1 hour a week by every teacher who is following DES guidelines. Over the year the children should experience aquatics, dance, gymnastics, orienteering, games, athletics and so on...
Primary forum has a thread discussing this already (I actually started it because I was disgusted with O. Transformation and their haphazard method of research regarding PE in primary schools.)

MRnotlob606

We had two PE Teachers, However none of them were qualified to teach PE. One was my woodwork teacher and the other one was my business teacher. They had to fill in for our actual PE after he had left. It just turned into soccer in the yard.

Mardy Bum

Government cut backs has meant that teachers who are not registered for PE are teaching it in a lot of places.

saywhatyousee

We had P.E teachers in primary and secondry school that just taught P.E and nothing else

heldel00

saywhatyousee wrote: »

We had P.E teachers in primary and secondry school that just taught P.E and nothing else

How was this possible in primary school? Was it a fee-paying school?

Jinonatron

I used to love PE. In first year we had it for 90 minutes as the last class of the week. Was absolutely brilliant. We had 3 classes after lunch. Last 2 PE.

Then one year for some bizarre reason we had PE first thing after lunch and then had to change back into our uniform for the last class. So stupid.

I never understood the lads who didn't participate though. They would just sit at the side in their uniform doing nothing. Complete wasters in my opinion. No idea what they were missing. I used to love indoor soccer. I was ****e at it but always wanted to play in goal just to dive on people.

saywhatyousee

heldel00 wrote: »

How was this possible in primary school? Was it a fee-paying school?

No we also got free swimming lessons too maybe we were lucky

saywhatyousee

We also got free swimming lessons in secondary school too aswell our school had a pool.only in first year though

Lau2976

saywhatyousee wrote: »

We also got free swimming lessons in secondary school too aswell our school had a pool.only in first year though

Secondary school students needed to learn to swim? We did have it in primary school though. And water aerobics and diving in secondary.