Should sports day be optional?

Those coming in last of course have a very public version of a booby prize.

Everyone sees you and the the humiliation for a sensitive non sporty child can cut deep.

When it's a "team effort for your house", it's actually worse as you then get ridiculed and whinged at my your team mates when you lose them valuable points! No one wants to be "the one" who causes their team to lose.

My eldest DD is Y4 and the way her school does it is they have 2. The first is "sport for all" so easy, accessible sports that are inclusive and big emphasis on having fun, everyone wins yadda yadda

Then the 2nd one a couple of weeks later is for kids who are selected or choose to engage in more competitive things.

It seems to work well and most kids engage and no-one is shamed etc

Fully agree. Nothing wrong with "sports" days if they're "fun" days for all, but when they become ultra competitive, the less sporty ones are basically laughed at. Not much difference to the "wait of shame" in team games lessons where the ones who are picked last are made fun of. None of that has any place in modern schooling and needs banning. When it becomes humiliation rather than "coping with life's disappointments", the line of acceptance has well and truly been crossed.

But it does do some children harm.

Its not about something being hard, it’s about the child’s struggles being so public in some cases. The whole school and parents wouldn’t know if Amelia struggled with Maths because she’ll never have to do Maths in front of them all. Some kids may do find in sports day but still don’t like performing in front of everyone.

No. I'm not sporty, didn't enjoy it, but always did my bit.
Children need to learn that sometimes you have to just suck it up and get on with it! There are lots of things in life we don't want to do, but have to! I think it's similar to a workplace. Even if you're not good or don't enjoy it, it's a team effort for your year or house usually.

No I don't think it should be optional unless the child is extremely upset about it. I used to dread sports day too because I was always one of the slowest but I was academic and sports was the only thing I didn't do well at in primary school so it was probably good for me to do something I wasn't good at for once! We can't protect children from everything or how will they learn to deal with this stuff when they older?
But I do think schools should have more "fun" races like egg and spoon though which the less sporty kids can just enjoy having fun with.
Just to add I am talking about primary school, secondary I think should be optional because it's taken more seriously!

Not really. My son was usually in the top few of each class at secondary and left with 4 A levels at A* but never got a single award nor mention in a newsletter. Not that he was bothered, but the awards seemed to go to those who "went above and beyond" rather than just academically good, i.e. engaged in clubs and societies, entered external competitions, etc. In one year he got the top result in his year in the end of year exams and still didn't get anything - the lad who got the Geography prize that year had entered a photographic competition and got one of his photos published in a magazine - but did pretty badly in the end of year test!

Was the sports day she hated one like the one I was quoting, where all the primary school children played silly team games and there wasn’t really a competitive element? Because I am struggling to see what is so awful about that.

I haven’t said I disagree with keeping children off a traditional, competitive sports day if they are finding it humiliating. But somebody (not you) keeping their child off what is basically a Team Fun Day because they didn’t like sports day themselves thirty years ago does seem like projection to me, yes.

Yes it should be optional. In my school the kids who didn't do well were bullied and people would laugh when we raced. Still have issues with sport

@frankentall who gives anyone a booby prize for sports?

I wasn't great at sports day but just got on with it and it hasn't done me any harm.

We've had parents asking for pupils to opt out of all sorts of things because they find it hard or they don't like the teacher. Where would it stop?

Yes, I feel very sorry for those kids who have to go in. It would have been very bad for my daughter if I couldn’t have kept her off. It really should be optional. I’m sure most kids would still choose to do it but if they didn’t, schools should look at why and look at changing the day to make it more appealing to all.

Secondary school sports should be optional.

At primary, they should be properly 'inclusive'. DDs was great - they had a house system, they had team activities such as cumulative jumping and throwing. So every child's contribution to the total counted. In the older couple of years they also had a few specific events (sprinting, long jumps) for the more talented athletes - the rest of the team (and parents) cheered them on. The same kids weren't allowed to dominate all events so something like the sack relay would give the middling kids a chance.

Kids who couldn't compete got various helping jobs suited to their abilities.

Maybe it took a bit more organisation but it worked well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Sports day 1982. I knew I was going to come last anyway so I walked it humming the theme to chariots of fire. Got a detention but it was worth it!

Yes - the humiliation of school sport and sport days gave me a lifelong hatred of organised sports.

I wish my parents had let me stay at home but it wasn't something that was even considered possible back then.

Mine didn't mind it but if they had, then I would have kept them at home without a second thought.

Well this is it. Many of us simply opt DC out if they don't want to do it, regardless of whatever daft claims anyone makes about resilience, obesity, it being the same as never doing maths etc. With the corresponding impact on attendance figures.

However, there's a problem because not all parents are in a position to keep DC off.

But when Susie wins the English prize (again), do they give the kid who is worst at English a booby prize?

No school I know of do effort prizes for sports day.

If someone struggles with everything, their struggles shouldn’t be played out in front of the whole school and parents. Maths tests scores are not read out, kids aren’t made to stand up in front of everyone and be tested on maths questions.

There are many reasons for kids not liking sports day anyway. My daughter would have won prizes, she’s sporty but it still wasn’t a day she wanted to take part in. As a parent, I can choose to keep her home and thankfully, you don’t have to agree.

Why do children associate losing a low stakes race that someone has to lose with being humiliated?
In my case due to the jeers, name-calling and ritual humiliation that actually happened - great for you that you were spared that.

Why isn't it?

The fact is, it's a false dichotomy you've created there. Some kids are just excellent at both. I know this because one of mine is the top of class, captain of the football team type. All compulsory sports day does is give him a chance to shine even more when he's already not short of them. Meanwhile, other DC really struggle. Including another one of mine, so I see it from both sides here.

Yes! It’s bloody awful. DS hates sports and hates crowds. It’s also pretty boring for the parents. Every single kid in the school has to do a 50 metre sprint, 6 kids at a time. There’s only about 160 kids in DS’s primary but it still took forever. Also, DS is an amputee (foot) but didn’t get an exemption from the school. He was absolutely distraught because he knew he’d finish well behind everyone else. I told him he didn’t have to do it and the teachers could take it up with me if they weren’t happy. For the head, it’s his favourite day of the year and he doesn’t see that others don’t enjoy it.

@ThinkingOfMe there's often prizes for effort when it comes to sports too.

I just can't agree that children should be able to opt out just because they struggle with something. What if someone struggles with everything, do they just never go to school?

@WoshPank I didn't say that at all

But the fact that some children struggle with both isn't a reason to never celebrate either set of achievements.

Yet another poster who clearly thinks the kids who shine academically are a different group to the kids who shine at sports. They're not. Some kids are excellent at both, some crap at both.

If you're going to make this argument, it has to explain why the kids who are crap at both have to be made to feel even worse while the kids who are excellent at both get yet another chance to shine.