To think that head has made the wrong call about cancelling sports day because of the rain ?

[Concreteblonde]

Forecast was for rain overnight but showers to clear this morning. All the lical forecasts said the same thing. Head sent a text at 8.30 am to say he was cancelling sports day because of the rain. It was drizzlingvat that time

The sun is now shining and the ground is completely dry. Even if the showers hadn't cleared and it was too wet to use the playing fields they could have used the huge recenyly resurfaced playground and improvised some of the races. Nobodys going to come to any harm doing an egg and spoon race in a damp surface surely ? Or used the assembly hall.

Kids are gutted. I've taken a days holiday as I don't have the option.of just leaving work for a few hours. The main gripe though is that originally school was to close straight after sportsday at lunchtime so obviously anyone working who didn't get the day off had to.organise childcare. School is now open until the normal time today and sportsday will be resceduled for the first dry day next week and will close at lunchtime on that day. I haven't got any holidays left to take another day off next week.

I wish the old head was still in post. Sportsday went ahead whatever the weather, the kids sometimes ended up in a mudbath but boy did they enjoy it!

That does seem completely ridiculous. I think schools have got a lot better at being more accommodating to working parents (certainly than they were when my now-adult DCs were little) but some still have a way to go.

Poor sod. I hope his staff don't spend the whole time saying 'we wish the old head was still in post'.

Bloody awful job, having to make this sort of decision. I bet he feels worse about it than you do, OP.

It will be because the grass will be wet and someone might fall and hurt themself.

Sorry. Clearly not this time.

But Yaby the forecasts were clear. Unless he read a different forecast to everyone else. He's a really experienced teacher but this is his first head post. And as for the other teachers 2 are in longterm sick, 1 has left and another isn't coming back in September. It used to be a brilliant school. Now it's not. It's chaotic, disorganised and IMO today is just another example of that.

He would have been criticised if he had not cancelled and it had poured down. The only thing I think they are doing wrong is finishing school early. That is silly in my opinion.

if a child fell on wet grass a parent would complain if a child got a sniffle from being out in the rain a parent would complain the poor man takes a decision and a parent complains, maybe not all the kids loved rolling around in the mud and getting soaked, I think he took a decision about the weather,

I'm sure the Head thought he was doing the right thing - cut him some slack, these things happen.

and you just need to accept that

Forecasts were clear for here too, storms over night and rain all day today, no storms last night and I have a line of washing out!

This also happened at our school last friday, we were notified at 13:05 and Sports day was due to begin at 13:30. It wasn't even raining just a bit of drizzle around 1pm

I do appreciate that it's a difficult decision but they have plenty of space that's not grass and it was drizzling at 8.30. Not proper wet rain. Kids are gutted.
And would people SERIOUSLY complain about kids falling over on sports day ?

As an ex-teacher, sports days are a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't':

If it rains before the sports day but then stops: Cancel and you get parents complaining that they've taken time off and it could have gone ahead. Don't cancel and you get parents complaining that the children have to sit on wet grass, or the grass is too slippery for races to be held safely.

If it is sunny you get parents complaining that the children have had to sit out in the sun all morning/afternoon and are sunburned/dehydrated, no matter how careful you have tried to be.

If it is forecast for rain: Cancel in good time and you get parents complaining that, in fact, it didn't rain and you were being ridiculous. Don't make a decision until nearer the time and get parents complaining that you didn't give enough warning.

Whatever happens, you get parents either complaining that sports day should be competitive to give the sporty ones a chance to be celebrated, or complaining that they shouldn't be competitive because their child is always last and gets upset.

Can you tell I hated sports day? Whatever happened, parents would complain.

Look, it's out of your hands, you're not the Head so that's that, isn't it.

Wet tarmac is just as slippery as wet grass.

Concreteblonde oh yes they do complain! A parent raised hell at the KS2 sports day last year because the grass was quite greasy from the drizzle and her PFB had slipped. She was trying to raise a pitchforked mob as far as I could see to go and complain to the HOY...
The problem may have been that although the grass has dried out it could still be 'greasy' and slippery. The head was probably trying to take evasive action. (i speak as the wife of a sports coach who has to make this call quite alot)

The kids will have to get used to things like this, ours was cancelled completely last year!

Parents will always complain... about anything at all.

The fact is people's childcare arrangements have been messed around for no good reason and also people have taken time off work so they could attend.

And would people SERIOUSLY complain about kids falling over on sports day ?

some might parents complain about all sorts of bonkers stuff,

My dds all play rugby Slippery grass complaints are foreign to me.

Having said that my mate has just txt. She's pissed off but only because she was pretending that her DD had a hospitall appointment so she didn't have to go to sportsday at all....