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!

Often with sports, it is the participation that is the important thing. Sport and physical activity are fun and enjoyable. And it does teach children that you can't always come first. If you come last, it doesn't matter, because you had fun getting there. It is a good, positive way to learn about success and failure.

I was absolutely hopeless at sports when I was at school, but I wouldn't have chosen not to do it. I looked forward to it, because it was fun.

I think sports day should be optional. Thankfully it is in my DDs secondary school, but we had to endure the primary years, which were dreadful.

Music, drama and art isn't publically inflicted on everyone, so why this one day all school horror fest - what does it achieve?

Let those that enjoy sport do sport, music do music, art do art and the intellectuals get good exam results. Why does only one of these activities require whole school participation with parents watching?

This year at DS's school, they competed to better the personal best they had achieved over the course of the term's PE lessons. So you got a sticker if you beat your term's personal best. They then had a show case 80m race for the fastest 8 boys and girls in each year group. Seemed to satisfy both camps of parents.

DS struggles with his reading and attends learning support, he told me a couple of nights ago he feels sad and worried and left out because all his friends are on chapter books and he isn't. He is however incredibly sporty and the look on his face when his name was called out to run in the 80m final was priceless. Just for once he was one of the stars of the year as opposed to one of the laggers behind and I would hate to see that taken away from him.

When they make all the kids publicly compete in spelling or maths, I will send my dyspraxic child to sports day. Until then, he's staying home.

As it is, he spends his playtime walking round the playground on his own because his mates are all playing football. Sports day is the humiliation of the playground writ large.

And a sure fire way to ensure that doing regular exercise DOESNT happen into adulthood, is to fail to engage children at a young age. And to label them unsporty, rather than try to find sports they can enjoy.

I'm proof that's not true. I suspect that being very lousy made me determined to improve however marginally, by the time I was 14-15yo.

odd I have a dyspraxic dd too so I totally understood. She was teased because of her running at primary school.

Do you tell the school the truth about the absence or take a sickie?

What Move to Wales where music and art is inflicted on everyone for the Eisteddfod!

Its the bullying that takes place in PE lessons that is the problem. And some of it comes from the teachers and seems to be encouraged. If it happened constantly in any other lesson the Education Authority would be inundated with complaints.

Why should the rules be any different here.

And tbh I don't like it either Bee.

I agree that children who would really struggle with music (dc1 would actually be one of those) would never be asked to stand up in front of an audience and sing or play.
Or they would never be asked to present their 'ART' and make a full show of what they have done in front of all the parents and the school when clearly it's rubbish.

So why do it with sports?

Re resilience. Resilience is learnt by experiencing difficulties and then finding a way to get over it. Not by being humiliated. That's why Sport Day doesn't teach resilience because the child who has dyspraxia is never going to be 'ggod at it'. It's a bit like asking the disabled and the able bodied to compete together. It doesn't make sense.
However, we have some sport competition (swimming comes to mind) where able bodied and disabled children are competing on the same day. The disabled children ALWAYS get a lot of applause and support and that is the right way to do things.
So why not put children in 'races' that are at their level, group them by abilities rather than age and let them do the same races.
Then encourage everyone and support everyone. From the ones who are doing very well to the ones who just walked the race.

Evans the upset was not from coming last but from knowing the whole fucking school would be laughing at me

Helena I completely agree

I did find sports day humiliating. I'm plenty resilient. I was always the bottom of every single person lesson. I never won any play ground games. I was never on the sports team, I never got special person kit. Sporty kids get recognised quite a lot.

Its the bullying that takes place in PE lessons that is the problem

God, yes! And in my dds' schools, loads of PE teachers seem to be form tutors! When did that happen?

Dancergirl - I am going to tell the school he has a medical appt. I could tell them the truth but it will make his anxiety worse.

Lashes.......I had ppl bullying me in PE lessons all the way through school. In the final year they BEGGED me to do a baton race because they were short of numbers.

Me. "what so you can moan when i come last or hold up the race"
Them. Oh no we wont moan honestly
Me Well you have moaned at me constantly for the last 5 years. So No i wont be doing it.
PE teacher Come on Helena wheres your school spirit (in hindsight probably in much the same place where her duty of care was when i was being bullied)

I said no AGAIN and i told them straight that i would NOT let them use me like that.

To this day im glad i stood my ground. I would have always regretted it if i hadnt.

EdwinBear just about summed it up!!

Helena good!

I had horrible bullying in P.E. Beatings, clothes stolen, verbal abuse, it was awful. Didn't know I was dyspraxic (as well as other things) till much later and often the teachers encouraged the others

So the teachers encouraged it and did fuck all. Surprise surprise.

It seems a ridiculous way of doing things.

At ds's school everyone takes part in every race. They go round each event in a circuit. There are 6 groups & the fastest/most sporty are group A & my small unathketic but tries hard ds was group E. It means they compete against children of a similar standard.

Ds won a couple of races but did appallingly at the throwing & jumping events.

I was crap at most team sports in school. I was also crap at Science.

I had to endure weekly humiliation, being picked last for hockey. Every. Single. Time. Or if the gods were smiling on me, being picked second from last (because yes there was one poor sod who was deemed worse than me).

I never once felt an iota of humiliation for being crap at Science. Tbh I don't think anyone particularly noticed or cared. And if they did, intellect was played down generally so it was cool to be a bit crap.

Yeah. I remember a teacher telling me I was "a pampered princess born with a silver spoon who thinks just because mummy and daddy pander to even want doesn't mean I should be treated any differently"

I was 13

Sports Days can be great or horrendous - depends how they are organised. I teach in a large primary school that has 4 separate sports days (Foundation, Key Stage 1, Lower Juniors and Upper Juniors).

I've seen all of them, either as a teacher or as a mum, and they seem pretty good with a mixture of mixed ability team games and a variety of races (with children racing others of a similar ability so all have a decent chance of winning).
Almost all the children seem to enjoy it - although I very occasionally have an anxious child. I encourage them to take part, but if they're clearly upset then I just let them sit out.

But my heart goes out to the OP's poor DD. I really think you should keep her off school. It's supposed to be a fun day - not a time for anybody to feel humiliated.
I hated PE at school, dreaded Sports Day and still feel grateful to my mum for keeping me off school (she didn't usually let me get away with anything). As a teacher, I wouldn't normally condone term time absences. But for any parent whose child gets this upset, then I would actively encourage it.

And don't even get me started on the ordeal of teachers races. Who ever came up with that idea needs to be put straight into Room 101.

When poor dd was at the school she struggled to finish some races. She runs & all her energy is lost because her hips are naturally turned out meaning all the effort produced no effect.

Not one teacher ever pointed this out!

That is the point, OP. Children aren't publically humiliated for being unmusical, or crap at art, or not very good at geography. It is just sport where everyone gets to watch them fail. Why?

I hated sports days (I competed at an international level in my own sport and nationally in another so it was not a case of hating physical activity, I just couldn't see the point of running). I figured out that if you volunteered to timekeep or some other task that the school would overlook your lack of participation in races