Burnley Grammar School

Matthew S.

I think it was explained briefly once before by one of the retired PE teachers that wrote here that being able to see pupils without clothing also served as a means to observe any unexplained cuts and bruises that might be signs of maltreatment in the home.

I had some scratches from the family cat once when I was in school and had to explain those to a teacher who questioned me when seeing them across my shoulder.

I realise these are only small details, from somewhat later than most of the other recollections, but they might be of interest.

In my first, or one of my first, PE lessons at junior school in the early 1990s, we got changed in the classroom beforehand. The boys put on white shorts with our chests bare; the girls wore white shorts and white T-shirts. All of us had bare feet. The teacher handed round an open metal tin in which we placed any spectacles, sleeper earrings, watches or other jewellery.

We filed along the corridor to the school hall and the teacher told us all to run round the hall in circles. I had been very self-conscious in earlier PE lessons in infant school, but that was easing, to my relief, and at that moment, not quite eight years old, it was rather exhilarating to be scampering around the parquet flooring at peace with myself.

As we children were running round, the teacher, a kindly lady, suddenly called me over. On the side of my left foot, there is a dark, large, flat mole. She pointed at it and asked, "What's that?"

I explained (not much troubled), she accepted my explanation and we went back to the lesson. Only now, as an adult, does it occur to me that she was, perhaps, discreetly observing the children for any, very rare, signs of mistreatment (partially explaining the minimal PE kit) and that the mole could easily have been mistaken for a cigarette burn.

On a lighter note, I am invariably reminded of PE lessons from when very young whenever I hear "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

Good luck with your continued 'bareskin running' Craig. I'd sign up if I was in your locality.

There are some good lines in your post there William. Your final one about the strict discipline but also still having fun is right. Both a disciplined lesson and fun are not mutually exclusive of each other.

For just one year only when I was in my early teenage years the girls and the boys in my secondary modern school in 1970/71 shared the indoors gym PE period together. I do not know why this was. The boys in that class were never there in the school gym with anything worn above their waists in those lessons. I was always under the impression that boys really liked being undressed like that and preferred doing anything physical with a bare chest if they could. Until we were put in with them we never really knew what they wore for gym but I don't think it would have come as any surprise when we did find out. The gym there was taken by two women who alternated each week with us.

Nathan
I think the "gotcha" was more fun than serious. The consequences of your using the communal showers with the boys are obvious. I suspect that most parents do not raise concerns about showering because they do not want their children to make mountains out of molehills. Recently some contributors have written at length about their dislike of bare-chested gym or showers but in the great scheme of things these are not great challenges compared with the mountains we all face later in life such as bereavement and grave illness.
I thought the first main paragraph in your comment on 1st October was full of common sense and put so well that there is no point my repeating it. In essence, challenges such as communal showers are better faced and surmounted than avoided. The sooner the child starts to get over some of the molehills in life the better equipped he is for coping with more serious challenges later on.
Like you, I just got on with showers. Nervous the first time but soon got used to them. Not wearing tops or pants never bothered me; neither did being called by my surname, which is so much more practical when two or more boys share the same Christian name. In my 1960s grammar school we had lots of Michaels, Peters and Davids.
It was a good education and I left the school with more bodily confidence and resilience than when I arrived. The discipline was strict but we still had a lot of fun.

It seems a shame that for sometime now the comments on this site have moved away from the original idea of comparing experiences of PE lessons.
My experience of PE was no worse or better than some other lessons that I did not like e.g. TD (technical Drawing) now I think called Design and Technology. Also I was not a great lover of Geometry.
Having said that in PE I preferred climbing wall bars and ropes compared to having to clear the vaulting horse.
Yes, we did have communal showers after the lesson. For me it was not a problem because a lot of my fellow classmates were in the same Scout Group as me and we went to camps together which meant that we slept in tents and we were used to undressing in a confined space. Also for many years in the late 50s and 60s I shared a bedroom with my elder brother , and when we much younger had a bath together in the old tin bath.
I understand that some people may have experienced concern using group showers, but my attitude has always been whether showers or camping we were all lads together.

I can conceive how my previous comment might be perceived as rank hypocrisy but realistically what else do you do. The follow up comments were well made. Practicality limits the use of too many personal and private shower stalls, and communal washing is faster and mostly efficient, and as was mentioned if privacy is your top priority then it takes a hit in those circumstances.

But as I said before, in all my time which is now approaching 9 years doing my current job, only a couple of times has any parent even brought up the issue of school showers in a slightly concerned way, and both were reassured of their concerns and went no further. That's a lot of parents over 8 or 9 years that could say something and don't and everything is open and clear about requirements in PE.

I would certainly have no problem sharing a communal shower alongside those I work with if that was necessary. Trouble is that our private one is barely big enough to move around with one person and we are not allowed to use the pupil changing room shower by ourselves as staff because it lacks a lock on the door unlike our staff area which can be locked.

Don't forget that teachers like me were also made to take showers at school after PE, so I've been on both sides of the fence. They were very strict in my upper school right from the word go but I just accepted it for what it was and got on with it.

So I don't really feel I was caught out with a gotcha moment.

Matt - that's more than I did. The school shower amounted to no products or deodorants at all, just walking under some rather lukewarm water and rubbing the water over us with our hands, kind of like a pretend wash I'd almost say. I don't remember seeing anyone bringing any products into the school changing room or taking anything into the showers other than hooking the towel nearby and that's the lot. A rite of passage for sure like Greg said, but also just going through the motions for the sake of doing it even if it wasn't making much difference to our hygiene. Standing in the showers just getting wet was the main thing with my teachers, not the act of actually washing properly.

Our bareskin running whatsapp group had a record turnout this lunchtime, we had 15 out of 18 on the group turn out and run bare chested for approximately 6 to 7 miles. Although this is meant to be a male only group for obvious reasons we did allow a couple of eager female partners to tag along today, not bareskin for them obviously.

When we finished we all went into a pub garden for refreshments and got some good reactions as we sat together but perhaps the funniest was from an elderly lady who came up to one of us and asked us why we were out like this on 8th October, bless her. We go out all year we said and at night too. Today was almost too warm for a bareskin run, mad considering like the lady said, it's October.

Next run is a midnight one on Tuesday, so far we have 4 takers for that.

My son is at school right now and group showers regularly there after PE. They must.

He also takes a packet of wet wipes, deodorant and original source branded gel with him quite a lot.

You won't hear me complaining about it. Been there did it all myself.

Mike and Julia, such nice words.

I agree with you Greg. Lovely Julia. A little bit of love goes a long way and it doesn't always have to be tough love. The kindness of strangers is often rather special when you come across it.

Julia 7th October 18:36

That's a lovely and caring post, Julia. Thank you for contributing it.

What Alan proves is the huge life long damage bad schooling and teaching can have on someone leaving it very hard to get over and let go. There is clearly a deep sense of resentment about your education Alan and for that I would like to offer my sincerest sympathies for how it has affected you and add some positive best wishes in future to you.

Apologies, I omitted to include that my last comment was for Sebastian’s post, on 7th October at 14:36

An interesting post, and a great diversion to just appear during another re-run from an often repeated box-set of the Alan melodrama series.

Comment by: Alan on 7th October 2023 at 03:07
Have you all considered that Neil's original comment was somewhat ambiguous?.


If you thought the comment was a bit ambiguous then why didn't you follow the suggestion that Michael made and actually ask for it to be made clearer before passing your lofty judgement down on a second person in error within days of each other. You're not a fool, I can see that, but you are very over sensitive on some points.

I had an unexpected communal showering experience once with eight university friends in our early 20's that we almost chose to back out of but went with it and ended up loving.

Has anyone been to a swimming pool before in Iceland by any chance? I know it's unlikely but you never know.

Certainly not recommended for anyone with problems about general nudity among both strangers and friends.

In the single sex changing rooms, you are forced to go and strip entirely naked, males and females of all ages together, have a communal shower, and wash your bits with the soap provided. There are even diagrams to explain where you need to wash and everything.

Rather unsettling to us there were even attendants hanging about watching to enforce the rule.

The reason is that the geothermally heated outdoor pools over there don't contain any chlorine or other cleaning chemicals like British swimming pools do.

It didn't bother me at all to be honest, but a lot of my university mates, both male and female, didn't like it when we went over there for something a bit different and to study the geology. Iceland's hot water is all heated naturally.

I'd still recommend the trip though.

Will (6th October) wrote, apropos PE teachers "all kind and good, well meaning", well, as we only had one, and he was an old perv, I can't speak from experience as a pupil, but the brother of an old customer of mine, who has become a friend, is one, and he is a loudmouth - you can almost picture him in his baseball cap, acting all macho and devil-may-care. Thank you for being so solicitous of my physical health, btw - there is nothing wrong me me, I am not obese, and I am usually working from 6 a.m. till evening (except for Saturdays when I pack it in about midday).

Toby: PE and the arts (strange juxtaposition!) are luxuries in the sense that for most people sport and music will be a part time activity. It won't stop them earning a living in they can't play the French horn or trombone, or paint as if they were in Piccasso's Blue Period, or dedicate themselves to Cubism, but it will be necessary for them to have a good standard in writing, reading and numeracy. These schools that have half a dozen PE teachers could probably make do with half that number.

There is a further education not far from where I live that used to offer (via the LEA) a good range of subjects, including computer science, engineering, and "soft" subjects like beauty. A few years ago the local council sold off the FE College to one of those groups who specialise in soft subject, and the engineering section got closed down, and they built a big theatre studio and they now concentrate on the "Performing Arts" the world only needs so many actors or TV presenters. has it made the area, or the manners of the students any better?. In a word - no,

I love music and played it for several years, but I am not so hung-ho I think everyone should study it. It should be available for those who WANT it - not made compulsory - (and then I think as an after-school activity) in fact it might have the reverse effect if you make it mandatory and put people right off.

Have you all considered that Neil's original comment was somewhat ambiguous?. Is he saying that "knowing your place" was a good thing or that "knowing your rights" is better. Or vice versa?. Until he clarifies that, I will not apologise

I take issue with the view that arts, music and sport are less important. I'd argue they are most important. To suggest otherwise seems to ignore or misunderstand the massive value of mental and physical creativity. Thank goodness we don't live in a Gradgrind world.

The trouble with your abrasive approach Alan is that you made an instant judgement instead of asking for clarification and I think you might be issuing a second apology here to somebody else now.

The comment in question did not seem especially contentious to me in any way, it simply spelt out the basic truth as I see it, telling it as it was when we older ones were at school and how it is now with the younger ones.

Few people ever openly confronted teachers of any subject when I was at school. There was very little direct backchat. Even some of the rougher boys knew their place and the lines they dare not cross with anyone. Swearing was almost unheard of in school. When asked to do something by a teacher you would do so, not decide whether to do so.

There was a comment placed on here some days back where it was said that the people here who show their problem with things such as having to do gym in a certain bare chested style or be mandated into taking communal showers with others are simply the kinds of people who just don't like being told what to do by anyone in the first place. There could be a grain of truth in that.

Completely wrong interpretation and misread. You are wrong. Again.

What I said was a statement of fact, not a statement of opinion.

The perils of posting too much at 4am.

Geoff I apologised to you because I realised I was in the wrong and had misread what you wrote but this is, in full, what Neil wrote:


"Comment by: Neil on 5th October 2023 at 16:51
Many of us knew our place in school. Now many know their rights."

I don't think I have misread Neil's comment, and I have tried looking at it from a different angle - it suggests disapproval of rights to me. Clearly I mis -read your comment, and it was right to say sorry, but I find no ambiguity in Neil's comment. If he comes back and explains it a bit more, then if I am wrong I will say so.

Jason: I certainly agree with you there is far too much getting in the car to go 200 yards down the road - somebody I know drives her son and daughter to and from such a short distance every day, quite ridiculous and they could lose the use of their legs - like you I used to walk or run everywhere, but I think PE, like music and the arts deserve a very small piece of the school budget and time. Far more important to teach things that matter, like science, English, maths. Especially English so people do not keep writing "super excited" and "super thanks" (I have seen both of these in print several times) and also that the word "awesome" is not an English word. Two hours a week of PE is 90 minutes too long in my book, unless the pupil concerned has a great talent and desire to pursue it. I didn't expect my music interests to be catered for at school that was an outside job, and I doubt the boring old farts who administer such things would not have approved of what I did or where I did it. If you have a talent, and you want to express and explore it, you don't need school to foster it- quite the contrary, I'd say. I had no wish to play the recorder or the triangle, in the same way I had no wish to shin up ropes just so that R could reassure himself I wasn't wearing pants under my shorts.

Alan you look to be mistakenly on the attack again just like with me a few days ago. This time Neil for the words - 'Many of us knew our place in school. Now many know their rights.'

I don't understand your reply to his comment at all. What are you saying exactly?

Fred 4th. October 23:21.

Thanks Fred.

I mentioned in an earlier post how I can remember discussing, the school showers to come, with other boys after junior school. I suppose we all just had the usual apprehension, much the same as others I’m sure. I was naturally bodily shy anyway for whatever reason, so I was strangely looking forward to breaking this discomfort as we all dealt with it together for the first time.

Well, as things worked out, I never shared my first school shower with classmates as a new experience. I can’t actually imagine what that would have been like as I just didn’t experience it.

At that same time and age, I found myself occupied with all the hospital stuff, and when I did eventually join the school towards the end of the second term, I couldn’t take part in Gym and Games lessons for weeks anyway. I would just sit and watch, wait until it was all finished, then leave with everyone to go to our next lesson; everyone with wet hair, except me.

My first school shower experience, which was equally significant for me, was after joining them all properly for the first time in a Gym lesson. I was already 12 by then, but still the new kid they’d seen for weeks who didn’t do Gym, but then all of a sudden did. So, my very first communal shower was strangely like feeling alone within a crowd in some way, if that makes any sense. I can’t imagine what it must have been like at that age to share that new, slightly strange experience, collectively with all your classmates for the first time, as it was something I just never experienced. I can now understand how that must have been a one off, unique moment for you all.

I agree with Jason fully on every word.

PE is not a luxury.

I thought that your problem on this subject was simply down to the type of school you went to and the certain type of men who took you for the subject, and if they were all bad or useless then it comes as no surprise that has shaped such a negative view in you.

But your comment calling PE a luxury went further than what I've previously understood from you I think. It actually seems like you were one of those boys in school who simply hated PE, the whole of it, no matter what.

So I'm guessing that even if you went to a very well heeled school with fabulous teachers, all kind and good, well meaning and encouraging, with all the PE chances you could ever wish for, maybe never even having to do the tricky things like going shirtless and showers, that you would still say much the same things.

You just don't like PE full stop do you Alan.

What kind of physical activity do you do or have you done as an adult in the years since you last did a PE class. Anything at all?

A shower would have been seen as an extravagant luxury in my parents home in about 1985 Fred. I only got showers at school because of P.E. My parents still had a black and white TV in that year too, which was hilarious considering my father was a huge snooker fan.