To not really like school sports days

[midlifehope]

Ds is only 3 1/2 and they had a nursery race. Have come away feeling odd about the whole thing I thin I'm a hippy homeschooler at heart

Loathed them at school (usually dodged them) and as a parent.

We don't require the less academically gifted to humiliate themselves in public, do we? So why should the non-sporty types have to?

I blame Arnold of Rugby whose pernicious view of how to run a school for the sons of the privileged has spread to grammar schools, comprehensive schools, girls' schools, mixed schools, primary schools, you name it. One size does not fit all, even if it suited Rugby in Arnold's day - and I bet some of his victims pupils loathed the mania for sports too.

My gran changed the sports set up when I was a child, she and one other lady taught PE on a perepetetic (I think?) basis to thirty schools . They decided sports should be done as team games entirely - called it potted sports. Had stuff like sack races, bean bag games, egg and spoon, but there was no direct racing involved, it was all done like circuits and the aim was to see how many team members could get through the circuit before they had to cage to th3 next activity. It was always done as a whole school basis with each team having a child from every year group, nursery onwards. It worked very well and was always packed out with parents. One of the circuits was simply a table with juice, fruit etc which worked very well - and another one year was the headmaster presenting each team member with a prize for participating.

When I went to secondary it was just basic running races for a select few - not ashamed to say we skived it!!

Lazy it's true! My poor DD is late July birthday and she's almost a year younger....the other girls are almost all 11 already and have had that spurt where they've got these endless legs....dd is like a little girl next to all these teenagers! I know they're not teens yet but they look it! She can't help but be a little bitter.

I'm a teacher and I hate them.

I teach Sen. I generally spend the whole time attempting to cajole a child into 'including' when all they want to do is walk the perimeter or lie on the grass.

The other keener teachers and kids get stuck in. I think that's why I'm msinly in the core autism classes

I remember being cheered as I came very last in the 800 m at school. V v v v embarrassing.

I remember excelling at the egg and spoon though. Shame that's never higher than reception class. I reckon I could have represented team GB.

Clarella yes...poor DD had that too. I know people are trying to encourage but it makes the poor old slowcoaches feel patronised.

Good school sports days are great - the ones where sporty kids get to shine, non-sporty kids get to have fun and admire their athletic pals, parents get to have a natter, eat cake and get some comedy sunburn.

Bad sports days are terrible - the humiliating ones that could have been devised by the Marquis de Sade.

Thankfully my DDs' sports days have been very much the former, and I have one dolly-day-dreamer who skips at the back, and a sharp-elbowed win-at-all-costs sprinter.

It's really important for academic kids to understand they can't be brilliant at everything and THAT'S OK.

Arthur thing is...if you're always last...then ALL the races are humiliating.

Kids learn more from losing than winning. They think this is why suicide is on the increase because kids cant face failure. Yes they lost but so did the other 99% of the race. I have no issue but some parents are more pushy - i have seen moms disagreeing with 2nd place as DD didnt get a sticker and kids having melt downs at losing... should we pander to them and have no competitions? Jolly on in lifes is fair? Let them lose and toughen up.

"I want a Spelling Bee and an Arts Day where the great spellers and artists get to wipe the floor with their classmates! grin"

I think that's called "school"......

The less sporty kids were put in short relay races against each other (egg and spoon etc), the sporty kids did sprints and laps. At the end there was an invitational lap race where the competitive ones compete for places and lots of points and the less-sporty ones didn't have to take part if they didn't want to but they got a point for their house if they did. The vast majority took part.
They are still in primary though (KS2). I think it's a good compromise. You do have to learn to come second, third, seventy-fifth or whatever in life, best to start getting used to it young and in a friendly safe environment.

I like sports days as a special support teacher as it's the day mine get to shine..winning all the races and being the hero for their team. All year they watch others get all their spellings right finish maths with no bother. Now there are no books for a day and they can relax and shine. For some reason mine always clear the decks and go home happy with their proud parents.

Do they still do the Catch the Train race?

I can't stand them , same as assemblies. Love that dc1 is in senior school so any parental attendance is the bare minimum .
I can't make dc2 sports day as working this year, oh dear never mind ;)

I hate them! In fact, I only attended one the whole time DS was in primary school, although to be fair, three years were cancelled due to bad weather.

Sports day is good for sporty children. Not everyone is very academic, and to shine in something is a lovely feeling. I love it and try to embrace the mums race as I'm the oldest parent there and asthmatic, still came second last year!

The problem comes when, like my ds2, you are neither sporty or academic and a 'competitive' sports day is another way of showing up your shortcomings in public. Last in every race as well as in the bottom groups in class... Horrible.

So far our nursery and school sports days have been pretty non-competitive. Nursery was completely non-competitive, they all did every activity as a sort of circuit, everyone got a clap and a medal at the end.

Infant school was done in teams, and the team that won and came second in each event got a sticker. Everyone ended up covered in stickers by the end so no-one could say they had done better than anyone else.

Junior school one got cancelled but I think is somewhat more competitive.

I think there's a place for some competitiveness, it's a bit namby pamby not to be competitive at all, though maybe forgiveable at nursery age. But there's also a place for every child being able to take part in something even if it's a dressing up race or obstacle course. Think it's a real shame if ONLY the best athletes get to take part, but also a shame if kids that are really good at something don't get the chance to show it in a competitive situation.

I hated them as a child and also as a parent.

I am just so glad now that mine are in secondary school and I am no longer required to be there.

Horrible institution. Whoever thought that was ever a good idea

Sports day is one of those things that schools really can't win over. Too competitive and the Guardian readers are up in arms, ?ot competitive enough and the Daily Mail brigade are predicting the end of civilisation as we know it.

Bertrand the difference is that in daily school, the children's parents aren't there to see them fail academically are they? Or to celebrate their prowess if they're bright.

My son is mildly physically disabled - he has a condition with no name - the disability is not obvious, but it affects all muscles/joints, balance and sensory processing - he is last at absolutely everything whether it's a race or something more light-hearted - there is nothing for him to excel at and some of the activities are a downright risk to him (I sent him off to the toilet during the sack race and he opted out of the sprint - which was so badly organised that even kids who don't have balance issues crashed into each other). I hate the school for putting him (and me!) through this. My son is too little yet to understand there is a reason why he is always last - he just gets his confidence bashed - and I cry for him behind my sunglasses. This is not inclusion.

I like my children's current school sports day - very much a social end of term celebration, as many parent's events as children's events, lasts about an hour.

Hated sports day at the previous school. Seemed to go on all day. Just an exercise in organising a large group of children in a field. I agree with others that sporty children are more likely to show their talents playing in teams throughout the year.

Snidge
That's so sad, if I were you I'd be tempted to keep him home on sports day.
This year I'm working on dc's sports day and I can't swap
When I told dc's they said they're not bothered, so no guilt trip!