Jewellery in PE Lessons
Jewellery In PE Lessons
The following information is issued by the Chelmsford Schools Sports Partnership and ratified by Essex Local Authority.
If you have any further questions please contact the Headteacher.
Can pupils participate in PE if they wear Jewellery?
The National guidance has always been that NO JEWELLERY should be worn in PE and that includes swimming and other physical activity. Neither is it safe to cover earrings/studs/sleepers with tape.
Personal Safety
The reason earrings are not safe for the wearer is both because of the potential tearing of the ear lobe, and also the slim chance that the post of the earring could damage the neck which is where the brachial nerve is running directly to the brain. There are anecdotal cases of children wearing earrings/studs with plasters over being hit by a ball or coming off worse in a collision and having nasty injuries as a consequence.
Similarly, rings, bracelets and chains (necklaces) should always be removed before participation in PE or Sports. Again, there are recorded cases of fingers being severely damaged if a ring catches on a fence or net, and there is always risk of strangulation from a chain catching or being grabbed in contact sports.
Where an item of Jewellery cannot be removed then it is the adult teaching the group’s responsibility to try to establish a safe situation to enable participation by considering how, or if, the context can be made safe by amending the task, conditioning the activity or creating some other management strategy to make participation safe. Where safe participation cannot be assured then the pupil cannot take part in that element of the lesson.
Lower risk activities include when children can work and be secure in their own personal space. This could be warming up, skills practices, observing and analysing, officiating, coaching.
Higher risk activities include when that personal space could be compromised … this could be by other participants or by equipment. This could be games activities where there are elements of ‘scrimmage’, gymnastics where children are close to each other or where the floor/equipment could come close to the ears (eg. swimming, dodgeball).
Wider Risk
The guidance is not only in place to make the wearer of the earring safe, but also to ensure the safety of other participants. There are anecdotal cases of earrings falling out and other children needing tetanus injections because they then get a puncture wound having trodden on them in Gym. Similarly, there are cases of damaged swimming pool filters and also of children swallowing plasters when gasping for breath in the pool!
For this reason, a parental disclaimer/waiver (permitting their own child to wear earrings/tape to cover earrings) becomes inconsequential. It would not stand up in a court of law either)
Duty of Care
Parents are reminded that the school has the higher level duty of care and cannot be put in the situation of looking after their child without exercising that duty of care. Removal of earrings for PE and sport is dictated by national guidance and they need to comply. There have been many awful cases involving jewellery in PE and physical activity and, in upholding this rule, the school staff are protecting against that happening to the children in their care.
