Jewellery in PE and Sports activities
06 Jun 2024
We have received the following information from the North Yorkshire Council Health and Safety Department which school must follow with immediate effect regarding jewellery in school.
All schools have been advised to follow the advice of the Association for Physical Education regarding the wearing of jewellery for PE/sporting activities.
This National guidance states that no jewellery should be worn in PE and that includes swimming and physical activity.
The guidance also outlines the following:
It is not safe to cover ear-rings / studs / sleepers with tape. The reason is both because of the potential tearing of the ear lobe, but also the chance that the post of the ear-ring could damage the neck which is where the brachial nerve is running directly to the brain. There are anecdotal cases of children wearing ear-rings / studs with plasters over being hit by a ball or coming off worse in a collision and having nasty injuries as a consequence.
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. Where safe participation cannot be assured then the pupil cannot take part in that element of the lesson.
Pupils should remove their own jewellery. This should be made clear to parents and carers. If the child is unable to do this themselves, they should not wear any. School policy should explain this to parents from the outset.
Whilst the removal of jewellery for PE/sports activities has always been in place, many parents send children with taped ears or ask school staff to tape these before the lesson. Unfortunately, school is no longer permitted to do this and all jewellery will therefore need to be removed at home and not worn to school.
The guidance also states:
Parents should be 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. It is dictated by national guidance, and they need to comply. Parental disclaimers are ineffective and legally unenforceable.
Even if parents request for staff to remove jewellery or accept responsibility for their child to undertake PE/sports events with wearing these this will not be allowed.
We thank you for your support in this matter.