Burnley Grammar School

Helen R,
We were never given the option of wearing a top once we developed chest hair. The rule was strictly stripped to the waist for gym, some lads tried to appeal and had parents write letters saying why their son had a health issue that required them to be allowed to wear a top but no exceptions were ever made.

The PE kit list sent to parents indicated that a top could be worn for outdoor PE such as athletics but several PE teachers ignored this and made all lads do athletics shirtless. The stripped to the waist rule was done for health and safety reasons to prevent lads being injured from tops falling over their heads whilst using wall bars and for hygiene because showers were not available after gym classes (only after football which was a longer period and there was enough time to have a shower before the next lesson)

Sorry if my question seemed odd. Obviously I know having a hairy chest does not stop you exercising, I just thought the schools may allow you to wear tops when you reached this point.

Mr Dando,
From reading the comments on this blog and from my own experience lads disliked being a skin when shirts vs skins games were played. The anxiety was created because lads didn’t know if the PE teacher was going to pick them to be on the skins team, if selected they then had to strip to the waist and felt self conscious in front of the lads that were still wearing shirts.

Whereas for gym classes all lads got changed & stripped to the waist and put on shorts and pumps or trainers and everyone was treated fairly and no lad was made to feel different; you all entered the gym shirtless and soon worked up a sweat. The PE teacher made us work hard and we didn’t have time to reflect that we were shirtless. Shirtless gym class was more comfortable than being made to wear a shirt, all lads were treated equally and it was in no way abusive or inappropriate.

There is no need to ban shirtless gym lessons for lads, I suggest that shirts vs skins games are not necessary as coloured bibs, armbands or sashes can be worn to distinguish teams.

Mr Dando

Whitburn Church of England Academy

"PE Uniform
Essential
Academy PE polo shirt or Academy long-sleeved multisport top
Academy PE shorts
Academy PE socks
Shin pads and football boots
Trainers
Mouth Guard for contact rugby and hockey"

"Student Showers
Pupils are expected to shower after taking part in PE lessons as it is unhygienic to remain unwashed after vigorous physical activity. However, we would like to assure you that your modesty and safety have been taken into account when designing the changing rooms and the cubicles are for individuals. You will therefore need to bring a towel and soap/shampoo on the days that you have PE."

SO -
NO topless PE
NO communal showers

THEREFORE -
NO PROBLEM!

It is time to show some 2020 vision and ban shirtless pe along iwth compulsory showers.

https://www.whitburncofeacademy.org/school-life/uniform/pe-uniform.html

Student Showers
Pupils are expected to shower after taking part in PE lessons as it is unhygienic to remain unwashed after vigorous physical activity. However, we would like to assure you that your modesty and safety have been taken into account when designing the changing rooms and the cubicles are for individuals. You will therefore need to bring a towel and soap/shampoo on the days that you have PE.

Danny,
Like you the question struck me as a strange one! I can't imagine why you'd think that having chest hair might be a reason for a boy to be excused from going shirtless.
I also felt self-conscious about having hair on my chest before my 15th birthday. Unlike many of the posters here, we didn't have a shirtless PE uniform at my boys only school - this was in the 80s - but we often did team sports with one team in 'skins'. So for a while I was quite apprehensive about PE lessons and the prospect of having to do it with my top off.
I did get some sarcastic remarks from one or two of my classmates when I was a skin and they saw my chest hair, which at first made me feel like some kind of freak. What a relief a few weeks later, when I noticed another boy who had been chosen for the skins team and took his top off to reveal a hairy chest! Suddenly not being the only one made a big difference and I gradually became a lot more confident.
It's interesting you say the boys who were still smooth were jealous of the hairier lads, maybe it was the same in my school?

Helen R, I don't see what having a hairy or smooth chest has got to do about it. I had a hairy chest at age 14/15 and even facial hair and some of the still smooth boys were jealous about it, although I felt a bit self-conscious about it.

It had some advantages though, as when I was allowed to enter a cinema theatre where an 18 plus film was showing since I looked older with my moustache while the other boys my age were not allowed in, even though they may have been taller than me but still with a smooth face. :)

I was in a boys only secondary school, but do you think that girls would have been more interested in hairy chested boys than the smooth ones doing PE if it was a mixed school?

Helen R,
The rule for all lads was shirtless PE. Some lads developed chest hair earlier than others but by age 14/15 many lads had chest hair and continued to do PE shirtless. Lads did PE with other lads and not with girls, so there was no problem.

Hi, Were you all still expected to go exercise topless if you had a hairy chest?

Having a shower after PE or cross-country is a matter of personal hygiene and nothing to do with abuse

Hi Simon S,
We didn’t get pulled out of lessons to do laps of the field but if we misbehaved during outdoor PE lessons we’d be made to do laps of the field. They were done barechested, I didn’t mind this punishment as I enjoyed running. I was totally happy to shower naked communally after sports too, it was hygienic and not weird or in any way abusive.

It is more than 30 years since the passing of the Childrens Act in 1989. The time has now come to outlaw the dreaded school shower!

https://www.grange-park-school-kent.co.uk/

P.E. Kit


Navy shorts or Navy tracksuit bottoms

Sky blue polo shirt with the school logo* or white round neck t-shirt

Trainers

A towel, shower gel and deodorant will also be needed for showering.

*These items are available/can be ordered through our uniform supplier

Caseys Schoolwear.

Hi John, You're right it would have been a lot worse running in a sopping wet t-shirt or vest than just going out barechested. We also did laps of the field the same way though we were pulled out of lessons to do them and then you had to catch up later. Did you experience this?

Simon So,
It was better doing cross country runs shirtless in winter when it was raining because having to wear a rain soaked t shirt would actually have made you feel colder. It may seem harsh to those who haven’t done cross country running shirtless but it made sense and didn’t do me any harm.

Hi Michael, you wore more than we did. We had no choice but to do x-country barechested regardless of our age or physique. For our teacher the colder it was the better.

Hi Michael, you wore more than we did. We had no choice but to do x-country barechested regardless of our age or physique. For our teacher the colder it was the better.

I thinking I recall seeing Mr. Parry's obituary on the internet some time back. Seemed to have led an interesting life after teaching.... judge, freemason, etc.

To Michael

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1298394.tributes-pe-teacher/

It's sobering to reflect that even the youngest boy in the picture, (presumed aged 11 in 1959) will now be over seventy years old. As for their teacher, Mr. R. Parry, who knows?

Thanks Danny, re-reading his original post, he says that his daughter is at a school on the south cost, but the uniform policy is from a school in Doncaster!

Max, Andrea,

I don't think Mr.Dando was referring to anything about himself. He usually just copies from other sites, mainly schools, and posts them here, usually about PE kits.

When it comes to swimming trunks vs shorts, I think any serious swimmer at school wore trunks. I left school five years ago (boys only) and all of us wore swimming trunks or swimming shorts, no speedos. The competitive swimmers always wore trunks, which have less air resistance which matters a lot when it comes to swimming times. But there was no real rule on what you had to wear.

“Mr Dando” what happened to your daughter is absolutely appalling, now I’m not sure which country you live in but here in Australia if a teacher did such a thing they could expect to be immediately fired, have their working with children’s license revoked and possibly face criminal charges. The court system would most likely see the situation as a case of pedophilia, and the teacher would have an absolute crap storm ahead of them. I know that sounds like some blown up story but it is 100% true, we have extremely strict laws here regarding how teachers can treat students and that would absolutely not be tolerated. I don’t believe you should listen to another person who commented saying that for the sake of your daughter you should not raise the issue as that simply teaches your daughter that this kind of thing is acceptable, which it is not. And for all those saying that school was better back then without all the “progressiveness” well you are just down right stupid, the fact that boys are not forced to shower naked or swim naked is a good thing, give kids the choice to do what they want.

Danny,
When my son was at High School, they didn't shower after PE, mainly due to lack of time until the next lesson, but I wouldn't have had a problem with it if the school had made them shower.

With regard to the girls being asked to wear something to keep their chests covered if their shirts were coming untucked, the consensus seemed to be that the teacher had overstepped the mark. I merely referred to it as a contrast to what had happened to Mr Dando's daughter.

To Claire and Andrea,

Claire, I don't know if you meant that or just said it with tongue in cheek. :)
It is also considered as "inappropriate" by today's "progressives" for kids to take showers after PE, lest they see each other naked.
Or to do PE in shorts but must wear long tracksuit pants for PE, lest someone see their bare legs.
Or even worse, as Andrea mentioned, for 6 or 8 year old girls to do PE topless.

Unfortunately these lunatic "progressives" have overtaken our education system, not to mention our political system.

Absolutely inappropriate. The LEA would blow a gasket.

It certainly sounds inappropriate for girls of that age to be doing PE topless especially, as Fiona refers to, some may be starting to 'develop' by then.

By way of contrast, there was controversy earlier this year when a mum objected to a teacher telling her (flat chested) 9 year old daughter and some of her friends that they should wear crop tops or 'sports bras' under their PE shirts to preserve their modesty when their shirts were coming untucked and falling down when they were doing handstands.

"Mr Dando" - I would have thought the situation you describe would not be completely unknown these days though not as common as it used to be. It was, of course, standard practice for children to do p.e. in their underwear fifty years or so ago. I imagine that, at that age, the girls looked much the same as the boys without tops on - if any had started to develop then, no doubt, they would have been wearing something appropriate.
I fear you could cause problems for your daughter if you complain about something as trivial as this.

"And knickers only for those girls who didn't have vests available, which I guess might well be most of them, would be even more APPROPRIATE"

Of course, what I meant to write was "INAPPROPRIATE".

Sandra, was this a girls only school and did the boys also have to do PE in just underpants together with the girls or separate?