Primary teachers of the UK, how old are those school benches?

[-]

Final-Tear-7090@reddit

Anyone else remember sitting on them in assembly and you’d be tough luck if you had to sit on the end and sit on the knobs.

[-]

One inside with shiny vanish, I’m assuming mid 90s- early 2000, my primary school in Wales my second one had them. Yes they old, we sat on them in year 10 for work experience watching a goodbye assembly from y6 in July in 2011. On the gymnastics thing i called no idea what it’s actually called but it was coved in thick dust, when i had my y6 assembly. They were installed in either 2002 or 4 & I believe my class was first to use them twice. Also got a bench outside outside big hall.

[-]

Plot_3@reddit

At our school the benches are most probably from the 80s as that is when the school was built. A few years ago a team came in and ‘serviced’ them. Replaced the rubbery bits on the end and made sure they were safe. They are pretty indestructible. We have a few newer metal ones and they were not nearly as good.

[-]

beeurd@reddit

They are probably older than the teachers!

[-]

Scottish_squirrel@reddit

Unfortunately my school just have plastic ones with flimsy metal legs. Not seen a proper wooden one in years.

[-]

Away-Activity-469@reddit

The wooden benches are pretty expensive (£300-400 I think). You can get mdf ones for less than half that but its a false economy as they sag and become dangerous and need to be thrown out after a few years. Proper beech ones can last decades.

[-]

metal_maxine@reddit

They still sell them, so they might not necessarily be that old.

[-]

buy_me_a_pint@reddit

I am pretty sure the benches when I was in primary school late 80s/early 90s were from when the school was built over 100 years old ago.

We never sat on them in assembly we used them for PE

[-]

Kaiisim@reddit

Older wood tends to be stronger, because the tree grew naturally for longer, so the fibres are much closer.

New wood is from tree farms so is a bit rubbish

[-]

Past-Anything9789@reddit

When you had to do gymnastics and the teacher would hook the bits on the end of a bench over the wall bars - peak excitement, especially if the spring board and pommel horse came out.

[-]

PHayesxx@reddit

I'm fairly sure they're coated in a thick varnish to stop them chipping away and decaying over years.

If it's not broken then don't fix it.

I'd also like to know how long the 'climbing apparatus' have been there. Recently visited my old primary school after 14 years since leaving and it was still there. Not once have I seen it operational and/or being used.

[-]

Funky_Owl_Turnip@reddit

Haha! The apparatus! In our primary school there was an urban legend that Class Six got to use it every PE lesson. Imagine my shock and disappointment when that turned out not to be true.

My brother, in Class Three at the time, swore down that his class had had a go on it one rainy PE but I didn't believe him then, and I don't now either.

[-]

eselex@reddit

Is this really a thing? I remember using them a few times in primary school, but that’ll have been more than 30 years ago. We even had to help set them up and put them away.

Perhaps they’re no longer allowed due to “health and safety”?

[-]

jimicus@reddit

I suspect there's also setup and takedown time. When you've only got an hour and you've already lost 15 minutes or so to changing each end of that, you don't really want any more dicking around if you can help it.

[-]

eselex@reddit

That was part of the lesson, I suppose: Tidying up after yourself.

[-]

Worried-Penalty8744@reddit

My children go to primary school and it’s still used every week for PE

In finest tradition PE is always after lunch too so there is a chance of catching a piece of stray jelly or a pea in between your toes

[-]

Feeling_Boot_5242@reddit

😷😂

[-]

DameKumquat@reddit

In all my schools, I got to use The Apparatus once, in year 7. Apart from playing throwing games where you had to throw bean bags through the hoops or between certain rungs of the ladder, which doesn't count.

They had mostly old wooden benches with dents and peeling orange varnish from the 60s, but a few shiny new beech benches which look just like the ones my kids had at school.

So I suspect they last 40 years or so.

[-]

PHayesxx@reddit

In our school, the benches were only used for either 'bench ball' (a game with its roots in dodge ball that involves children standing on benches and throwing balls at each other with the aim to knock the opposing team members off the bench) or assembly where year 6 and a select and exclusive group of year 5s were allowed to sit on them instead of the cold, wooden, dirty floor.

[-]

TheDisapprovingBrit@reddit

We used to sit on top of it and watch the rest of the class when we forgot our PE kits.

[-]

mentaldriver1581@reddit

I’m in Canada and we had those things too. I much preferred when they were tethered back to the wall in their usual position.

[-]

muse_head@reddit

We used the apparatus at my primary school, but this was around 1995. And we very rarely used it, probably no more than a couple of times per year. It was always very exciting!

[-]

jilljd38@reddit

We have some at our scout hut I think they have been there since baden Powell started scouts

[-]

PipBin@reddit

I’ve been teaching in the same school for 18 years nearly. Those benches were old when I got there.

[-]

chease86@reddit

Not a teacher but I do work in schools, I got sent to my old primary school last year (im 30 now) and the benches in the playground were the same ones that were there when I first started school, still in really good shape too in all fairness.

[-]

iamabigtree@reddit

What's the purpose of the dangly hook things on the ends?

[-]

swooning_basil@reddit

The hooks are to attach them to the rest of The Apparatus™.

[-]

Own-Lecture251@reddit

The Apparatus™

[-]

DraftOptimal4452@reddit

They hook onto the bars, vault box , etc to create inclines for different exercises or an assault course type layout. They get used for that purpose in kids gymnastics classes, but there are other options that include padded tops as well.

[-]

piggycatnugget@reddit

They attach to the apparatus to make a sloped balance beam

[-]

LG_UK@reddit

I've worked in a secondary school for 27 years, we've never bought a new one in that time and they were there for at least 10 years before that. Built to last.

Im now curious and need to go see if I can find a date on one.

[-]

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.