Primary School PE Kits! (UK)

I wonder how common it is /was for pupils to change in their classroom, boys and girls together, for PE? I certainly have seen many stories on here and know of many friends who said this was and still is the case. Right up until leaving primary in year 6 at age 11, we were still getting changed together in the classroom and by getting changed, I mean undressing really, because there was no PE kit as such - boys would do it in their underpants and girls in just their knickers. Quite a number of girls, myself included, would change our knickers in class at the end of the PE lesson, meaning we were naked for a short time in front of the boys, but we didn't really worry too much!

Well, I went to primary school (though it was called "Infants" initially, followed by "Juniors" later) back in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and this was very much the case for my school too. Perhaps because it was an impoverished area, but we (boys) simply weren't expected to bring a PE kit into school. We were just told to strip down to vest and underpants (and bare feet, of course), and had our PE lessons in the classroom like that.

Oddly (though some might say, sensibly, lol) I don't have any recollection of the girls getting "changed". Perhaps they had PE separately, or perhaps I never bothered looking. I think most boys were more interested in each other, trying to show off how 'strong' and 'agile' we were. I do remember really enjoying PE, and not feeling at all embarrassed about wearing only pants (sometimes a vest) as we were all the same, all the boys. It was just a fun opportunity to run around and play games with simple apparatus.

When we moved up to Juniors (a different school) we (boys) were expected to wear only shorts (bare chest and barefoot), and the lessons were segregated boys/girls. If you forgot to bring your shorts in, you did the lesson in your pants. Again, we just got changed in the classroom, before heading into the Main Hall.

From what I've heard, back then it was common practice as it was just too much to expect very young children to bring in PE kit, and then get changed without fuss.

Though as Keiran says, it was simpler, more innocent times.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I agree that the innocence has gone now and it's mainly down to the media I'd say. They want to lynch anyone with the slightest of excuses when most of what goes on is harmless.

I'm glad some of you had a bit of fun with your replies because I must admit, by 11 years old, I quite fancied some of the lads in my class and I actually looked forward to PE so I could take my clothes off in front of them and watch them do the same lol! Couldn't do that in schools now...

Amen to that, innocent times lost and the world is worse for it. Any girls remember doing "toss-ups" as we used to call them? It involved the highly un-politically correct action of doing a handstand against a wall and showing our knickers to the boys lol! YES, you snowflakes, it REALLY happened! And we didn't go squealing to the media about the duty teachers who let us do it. It was HARMLESS - understand?

As for PE, wasn't that the fun of mixed PE lessons in year 6 of primary? Taking our clothes off in the classroom in front of the boys and watching them do the same and then spend a whole hour in just our knickers doing exercises, boobs all over the place and not a single person complained.

Get a life some of you on here - respecting each others' bodies was far less harmful than making false allegations, as usually happens these days :/

My primary school managed to separate boys and girls when we changed for PE. They just put PE between morning break and lunch, or lunch and afternoon break, and we'd take it in turns to change.

However... one lesson the teacher lost track of time, and realised we had about a minute to change before break! She was quite clear that we couldn't change separately, and I remember the girls complaining about this. I did my best to get changed really quickly, all I had to do was put my shoes, socks and tie back on.

Meanwhile, Helen opposite me was faffing about. She had her top half changed (blouse, tie and cardigan), and her shoes and socks on, but still had her PE shorts on. I thought I was some kind of 7 year old genius, she was going to have to take her shorts off, so I was going to see her knickers... I hadn't accounted for her putting her skirt back on OVER her shorts, haha.

Oddly enough she wasn't too fussed about showing her knickers while doing all sorts of cartwheels and handstands at breaktime a few minutes later.

EDIT: I should have said, this was in the late 1980s or so, maybe '87 or '88.