To think schools should think more about the athletically challenged on Sports Day?

[BeeInYourBonnet]

It just seems like they are set up to fail, which makes them hate sport and sports day for the rest of their lives!

My DD is yet again in the sack race and skipping race.
A. She can't really skip so it will be a disaster.
B. The sack race is like some kind of medieval torture.

She was DESPERATE to be in the sprint or obstacle race, but apparently you have to rank top three in the practice to be in those races.

The sack race however is the 'didn't make the grade' race. It's a great idea isn't it? - let's take the least athletic, make them jump for 50m in a sack, with the almost 100% chance that they are going to end up face down in turf at some stage. That should motivate them.

I feel so sorry for DD, as shes been in tears. I just feel like saying to the school to just let her run, if she comes last she comes last, but at least she won't be traumatised (again) from getting caught up in a skipping rope or going arse over tit in a sack!

Our school does it quite fairly,I think.
The boys are split into smaller groups of six or so, all around the same level. Makes it much easier to have a chance to win.
There are short races and long races, again in with your own level, and given another chance to someone who may benefit a shorter or longer race.
Then they get to pick which event they would like to be in, throwing a cricket ball, long jump or high jump.
It makes it much more fun.

That's good oddfodd :-)

She's not so great at team sports although she always wants to do them and her catching skills are pretty poor but god she's fast!

My girls are not especially sporty. But they approach it with fun. They regularly win maths/ reading/ designing competitions. So why should they give a stuff about 1 day of sport? Sport (in a balanced school) isn't the be all and end all. There are so many areas children can 'shine'.

My girls are not especially sporty. But they approach it with fun.

and that's what we should ALL be aiming for

Amen to your girls flora

But what about the ones who struggle academically AND are crap at sports? dd is dyslexic, dyscalculic AND very uncoordinated. She already suffers from low self esteem because she struggles with literacy & maths - is it really fair to also make her humiliate herself on the sports field? Luckily she is now at secondary so no more sports days! Her first primary was not too bad - it was so small it was fairer to divide the ds into house teams and compete for points as a team rather than make them race against each other - but 2nd primary she did have to compete against her classmates and invariably came last. I don't see how that had any benefit for her.

I love Sports Day, think it's so important for kids

However
It's on Friday, DS is athletically challenged and comes stone last in EVERYTHING. He asked if he could skip it, he is so embarrassed to constantly be the one who loses. It's having all the parents watch him fail. He doesn't want to do it again. He is in year 5. He asked me not to be there. It is a big deal to a 10 year old boy and is a cause of unnecessary anxiety. I must say though that there is NO WAY on this earth anyone at our school would even attempt to humiliate him. That, I think, is all him, but I think constant perceived public failure must be humiliating.

I do not have the answer. Maybe optional is not a bad idea. Yes, kids must learn to deal with disappointment. However I think you will find that the kids this impacts have enough other shit to deal with as well. One day of humiliation a year achieves nothing but distress.

I found this comment from a PP interesting...
He plays football twice a week, swimming 1-2 times a week and does a multi-skills class. He is extremely strong and fit for his age.

DS does swimming x3, football x 2, judo, cricket and 2 x double games/pe per week plus other random sports and fixtures. He still loses ... He is just not built for sport. If you looked at my son, you wouldn't think he did ANY sport at all.

Being the terrible human being and shit parent that I am, I always offer my kids the day off on sports day, I hate it, I hate everything it stands for, my children do tons of physical activity without being pitted against all the other kids, I have one very naturally gifted child when it comes to sport who is a bit 'meh' about it, he'll join in and win but has not much enthusiasm. I also have one child that adores sports and tries so damn hard every year but loses because he's got ASD and part of that means his co ordination is dire but he also has cystic fibrosis and a lung function much lower than it should be.
It's torture to watch him embarrassed at losing (not upset but genuine embarrassment and disappointment in himself) and to try and cheer him up whilst congratulating ds2 on his successes without upsetting either child.

As I said I offer the day off but they always choose sports day instead so I have to go and do it all again whilst arranging childcare for the toddler and stressing about the baby over heating.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for a heatwave or heavy rain on the day (and the back up day!)

Schools can't win with this. The ones I know of all have non competitive sports days with smaller activities going on in house teams, but then parents moan that there are no races like the ones back in their day.

I guess a good thing about my son's school is that so many of us are immigrants that we parents arent hung up on this. All the kids move from station to station doing all the things in teams. And the lower years have P7 students or parents to keep 'score' which is basically making a random number of hashmarks. And then they all get cheered. The upper grades probably keep tighter scores for themselves, but overall, it just seems to be a fun day. Well, 3 days as our playground is so small they have to just do a couple grades a day.

OP: running is something that can be learned and improved. Unless she has physical issues, her body IS capable of running faster and farther and she can move herself from the uncoordinated slowpoke status if she wants To.

I understand where you are coming from, i was a sack race kid, and so is my son (though he seems clueless and unconcerned so far). Parental sympathy is good, but try to help her understand she can improve her running by running more, just as she improves her reading by reading more. School gym class never will improve her skills, but SHE can.

I didnt believe that as a non-sporty, uncoordinated slowpoke child, but as an adult finally forced to deal with my health, i do now. Your daughter is not too young to take on something like the NHS couch to 5 k running plan over the summer. Maybe you or her dad could ask her to just come along while YOU teach yourself how to run. Even if she doesnt complete the program, she will have improved her skills and speed enough to feel more confident and escape the sack race assignment. SOOOOOO many adults on the Discussion forums over there (nhs website) were those of us that found everything about school PE cruel, torturous and humiliating because it was always about competition with others and never really about learning how to use your body.

For that matter, she could skip rope all summer. Kids hardly ever do compared to girls 'back in the day' so with a bit of practice she could easily outshine those who can do the basic skipping merely by being naturally coordinated. Being the one kid that can speed skip or do a few crossovers, which even I managed back when rope skipping was a big part of girls recess, would make her a star.

Between sports day, and awful PE lessons run by sadistic teachers, I was almost put off exercise for life.

I went to one or two sports days (reception/year 1) and then as soon as training began about two months before sports day, I'd be a mess. Shaking, crying, feeling constantly sick. Eventually my mum saw what it was doing to me and agreed I didn't have to go, something I'm still thankful for. Some parents would have forced me to continue, and probably at some point I would have started taking drastic measures to avoid it.

The irony is if I was taught exercise didn't equal torture and humiliation, I probably would have really enjoyed it. Had I been healthy now, rather than in a wheelchair I think I'd be going to the gym, and joining various classes.

I hope schools are a bit better now, but I'm not that old, so this wasn't that long ago.

Could you try teaching her to skip?

I managed to avoid games from about 15. There was a sensible teacher who looked the other way when six of us left the sports ground on a promise to go for a healthy walk by the canal in ordinary clothes instead of changing into sports gear and then avoiding the scene of the action on a muddy field. As for sports day I just went home.

As my (insanely competitive) dad used to say:

"There is a place for everyone in a race. For muhfuhs, there's only one place that is acceptable."

I took him at his word and refused to be unseated from last place in every race from then on.

He re-worded it for my younger siblings to remove the loophole.

I loved sports day in primary school and secondary school. I wasn't remotely athletic but I really enjoyed having a go!

Best sports day I've ever seen: teachers clearly knew the children's strengths. Races and teams were made so that all children had a chance to be the one who was good at this bit. So mixed obstacle course might be

Run
Hula hoops
Fire 3 arrows at a board
Crawl under heavy net
Run again
and so on.

Two teams.
The good runners do the first bit.
Hula hoopers do the next bit
Archers

Etc.

When the first two teams have been round, then the next two teams did it. Or sometimes, they'd have a more simple straightforward race for two teams, and then do the next two teams in the obstacle relay.

It is never impossible to find something a child can do well enough to be one of the children responsible for doing this bit as fast as poss for their team.

It also meant that it was not that easy for parents to keep score, which seemed to make the day much less aggressively competitive. Did my child's team win that race? They beat that team, but what about all the other teams, how did they do beside them? No idea! Let's not worry about it, his team won that time (but they lost to another team on a different race, are they going to go up against that team again? No idea. Let's just relax and enjoy it) I wonder what that stall is doing? I'll just go and have a look, ooooh tea, lovely seemed to be more like what people were thinking.

Haven't explained it too well, I know, but it was truly brilliant. There were a few stalls dotted around the sports field, so you could wander round when they were setting up the nexxt race.