Should sports day be optional?

[Nothinglefttosaynow]

I remember dreading sports day as a child, I was slow & awkward and always near the end if not last. It was public embarrassment for me & I dreaded it. My nephew has sports day next week & is already worrying about it. He is fit and healthy but not a fast runner & has come last for the past 3 years. I absolutely agree with kids taking part in sport at school & at home, but I wonder if forcing kids who clearly don't enjoy it to participate in front of a crowd is fair.

Yes I think it should be optional.

Yes I agree. My dc often tend to win and even they dread it. The crowds of parents watching and the pressure is just not fun. Kids should be encouraged to enjoy sports

No. We shouldn’t protect kids from things they’re not good at.

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

There’s plenty of things in life you might have to do that you’re not good at, or don’t want to do. Learning resilience is more important than being able to opt in and out.

And I truly, deeply HATED sports day.

My experience was the same - I hated the ridicule I got for something I couldn't help (being shit at sports), so it's a yes from me. Kids are really cruel.

Do children HAVE to take part in competitive races? I was slow & not very good at sport, and I don't remember being forced to do anything on sports day.

Yes, I definitely think it should be optional. I as a kid hated it, didn't want to do it and always found my friends left me and went off in their own groups and I was always alone.
On the other hand, my kids really enjoy it and really want to take part. I think it should be optional, if the child doesn't want to do it they don't have too.

I find this stance really interesting. I think it's good to encourage resilience in kids & maybe not always winning does support that. I think it's the public embarrassment that I don't like. I understand SATS are difficult for some kids but realistically only you/your parents know, whereas being last to cross the finish line is very public. But I appreciate your view!

Dd HATED sports day last year, the set up was awful. She will be having the day off this year and we’ll be doing something fun.

Im all for encouraging kids to do things they’re not keen on, but sports day isn’t one of the things that is necessary to experience when it’s so horrible.

Where in later life do I need to receive "training" for people ridiculing my inability to do something? Kids who can't do exams aren't forced to appear in front of the entire school and show how crap they are at maths.

It does give everyone a chance to shine, and it certainly will be nice to boost the confidence of any child who is not academic but is very sporty.

However, sats, exams etc aren't done in full view of all the schools parents.

Technically Sports Day is optional because there’s no repercussions if you keep your child off.

I was a Sports Day hater which is a lot better than being crap at say maths which is a bigger part of the curriculum and impossible to avoid.

The kids know who is sporty regardless of whether or not SD is held but having parent spectators makes the fear worse.

When I taught it was very rare to have parents attending. When did this become the norm? No I don't think that children should be compelled to participate in front of crowds if they struggle physically or emotionally but some degree of competition in itself isn't necessarily damaging.

Yes, I do! I hated it as a child, teacher and parent!

The people with excellent academic results often receive recognition at awards shows or have their name publicly published in the school newsletter or website.

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.

I personally feel it should be optional. Let the really sporty kids shine & enjoy it, and let the others watch and support.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Exactly.

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

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.