Should sports day be optional?

No and I say this as someone who hated sports day in school.

In primary it was a lot of fun and it was never about the individual winner, they scored housepoints and the house won, not the child. So there was an even distribution of sporty and non-sporty children.

The school also has a SEN section, some of the children aren't able to do more then a walk, not a run and it was amazing to see how everyone supported them, cheered them on and often by unspoken agreement everyone walked instead of running.
DD once purposely lost her javelin throw as one boy got agitated as he didn't manage more than just a feet and she just let it fall on the ground so he wouldn't be last. Everyone knew what she did and nobody commented.

In Secondary it was a bit more painful as you had a whole day but only did one thing, most were sitting around, hearing music, playing card games. Luckily the weather was always good.

But you aren't comparing like with like.

Exactly so!

The school is getting it all wrong if it's public humiliation. It's ok for people to see you trying your best at something you're not naturally talented at. It's never ok to humiliate someone.

The public /private dynamic is also a valid concern as sports day is so public.

However, I’ve definitely seen kids who struggle to read being asked to read aloud or kids who struggle to present being asked to do so give solo talks.

It’s a tricky one and I’m undecided.

Humble brag here lol but I was the fastest kid in my class and also was among the handful of kids scoring the highest on national testing so as much as I loved sports day I didn’t “need” it for validation perhaps the same way some other kids did. I don’t know how it feels to be a kid who is always behind academically and then get your chance to “shine”

@OneHeartySnail it's only humiliation if you need to improve

Same with SATs - they give academic kids a time to shine, and sports day gives sporty kids a time to shine.

Do they publish the results publicly, so every parent can see every child’s result? Because that’s the fair comparison here.

pe definitely should be compulsory though. It’s just sports day doesn’t really give any physical benefits. They sit out all day in the heat waiting their turn for a sprint of about 50m

No onè is saying PE should be optional, only that public humiliation should be optional

The parents are ridiculing the kids that come last at your school?! You should probably get the school to interfere with that as that’s not okay.

But the first time I had to do a presentation to 50 people, I did not shine. No one walked away saying how great my presentation was. But it was part of my job I needed to do, and having been put in uncomfortable (but safe) positions before, I was better equipped to deal with the nerves and worries.

When I lived abroad literally every conversation in a foreign language felt embarrassing, but again resilience from childhood taught me I can survive situations that I am not ‘good’ at, even if they are unpleasant.

There’s plenty of things in life I need to do that I’m not good at or that I don’t look forward to. I’m grateful that my childhood taught my that I’m capable of dealing with that and that I developed coping mechanisms along the way.

But yes, the ridiculing of what I am assuming are primary age children should really stop…

No way. That's like saying kids can opt out of maths and English if they don't like it. Physical education is key especially in the UK where there are many overweight people

Yes, absolutely

I too hated sports day, but then many kids hated academic subjects. I don't think you can have one as an opt out and not another

I think it would be better to have sports day but close it to parents but I bet lots would be up in arms about that.

We don’t make the less academic children sit on stage and do an academic test and watch them fail directly in front of everyone, though.

Exactly.

Compulsory sports day participation creates nothing of any value or benefit.

Same with SATs - they give academic kids a time to shine, and sports day gives sporty kids a time to shine.

This is food for thought actually. I voted yes it should be optional but then you’ve made some good points.

We shouldn’t protect kids from things they’re not good at.

I agree with this to some extent. But then it should apply across the board and not just to sports. We don’t openly rank kids on academic achievement (Sarah came top in the maths test, Louise came second and Lucy came 34th). We don’t have spelling bee type things where it’s patently obvious that Mark is a literary genius and Clare is basically illiterate. Why is it okay to do it for PE? Plus - it’s always outside in June when the sun is at its fiercest and it’s a nightmare for kids with sun sensitive skin. I usually skive my kids off for that reason alone.

And what about the ones who come last in Maths? Because no one is saying we shouldn’t celebrate sporting ability, but that failure/coming last shouldn’t be a spectator sport. It’s like making the class stand in a ‘best to worst’ row at prizegiving to show the parents.

Yes it should be optional. PE should be compulsory as far as possible for each child who can physically do it, but sports day is awful for some children. The kids who are shit at maths wouldn’t have to stand up in front of the whole school and parents to do maths work, so I don’t know why a public sports day is forced on children who are shit at it.

I can see both sides, but DCs school would have them all run beforehand, time them and put children of similar speed together so it felt competitive even for those who couldn't run fast. They also ran in their team colour so 2 children from each team. They did 2 track and 2 field events so they didn't have to do everything. Track was full out sprint, skipping race, a race where you went under things and over things, mini hurdles. Field was kicking, throwing or jumping skills. They practised these beforehand and again similar ability children were put in the same races/field events.

There was also a very competitive parents v teachers race and the feeder school secondary children who were studying GCSE PE would come down too so they also raced against the teachers. There was a lot of camaraderie with the whole thing.

I felt that is was as fair as it could be. Every time assembly rolled round there were mentions for good work in art and PE as well as reading/maths/English work. There were also mentions for kindness, good table manners and good listening skills. I loved that primary.

Either optional, or a wider range of sports activities, including some that aren't competitive. Maybe some 'taster sessions' of different sports. Then pupils can choose, and all be involved and enjoy it.

No. I hated sports day, always last, only kid in my class of 37 not to win a medal in 8 years of primary school.

But I was academic, and school was a relatively pleasant and straightforward experience for me. One day a year of something uncomfortable did me no harm and was probably good for me. DC need mildly uncomfortable experiences so they're ready for the properly unpleasant stuff that is inevitably coming their way at some point.

DC who have additional needs and don't like it or those whose mental health means they're anxious beyond the norm should of course be free to stay home - they have plenty of practice at resilience already!

My sports hating child once said “why do I have to go to sports day. Nobody else has to come to the maths Olympiad”.

I’m all for building resiliance and giving things a try, but there’s enough in the day to day school curriculum to do that without making a whole competitive day of it.