To let Dd skive off tomorrow because of sports day?

[Cadela]

Honestly, the way the school organises it is horrendous. It’s FOURTEEN different ‘sports’ that you have five minutes at, and the kids have to perform in front of their peers so it’s already stressful. Plus there is no races, no medals, no winning!

Last year Dd was crying the whole way round because she was so worried about looking silly in front of the year 6s. She’s 7.

Usually I am very much of the let’s crack on and show ourselves we can do it! Mindset, but honestly Dd has been crying about this every bedtime and I just don’t want to force her to do it.

Let her skip it. I did really well throughout school, studied diligently, never missed classes, got straight A's, but I was painfully shy, clumsy, and hated sports, sports day would have been my worst nightmare. I still have fond memories of the day my mum let me skip it and took for a day out to the cinema and lunch instead (to a Wimpy - the height of excitement in those days). A lovely memory of spending time with my mum, a happier me, and missing it made zero difference to the rest of my life.

You were so right! An awful lot can change in a year!

What about getting every child to play an instrument at a music evening, or sing solo, or put everyone's art on display and invite parents in to see it (and judge it)?

Someone who is sporty should enjoy competing against other sporty people who want to be there, not against everyone regardless of ability or desire to compete.

And if it's not competitive then it's not really a chance for those kids to shine anyway, so why would it matter so much if a few kids who hate that kind of thing aren't there?

I'm sure the school didn't miss you either! There's almost always enough other supportive group-minded children and teachers to cheer the athletes on and make it a pleasant day for them, unless of course it rains...

I was proud that she realised she had achieved something she thought she couldn’t do. And with regards to the other child who refused to do it- well all that’s happened now is that a pile of other 11 and 12 year olds think she is a wet blanket and she has ostracised herself as not being a team player! I don’t need to teach my child to think like that- it is natural human behaviour and therefore parents should think carefully about what message they send their child when they let them opt out of things they find hard.

If you’re going to seriously compare sports day to a maths test, you shouldn’t be going around telling other people to get s grip.

Hope your child had a good day!

Sports day was hell for me.
I was useless and when very young knew I would fail the unhappy team I was inflicted upon for the potato race😕

Other solo races brought deep failure and solo humiliation (unless even unluckier asthmatic Alison was in with me) for years.

At my school they never treated academic achievement in the same way… nor ever publicly humiliated those lacking ability in academic things.

Have things changed?

Sonic you do get worried or anxious at exams we can take them out? Everyone get anxious or worried or a bit tearful or over excited, a good parent helps Thier child manage these emotions, not run away from the bad ones. This is exactly why everything is a mess now, if some one if worried not turning up or facing it is ok, so the bullies win. Life isn't fair or a bed of roses, stuff happens, relationships break up, people loose jobs, DC doesn't get that dream uni place do we all give up and cry, no we get on.

Sounds like none of this would've happened if Layla had been allowed to opt out in the first place, so I'm not sure that's making the point you think it is...

Wow. I don’t understand the hate for sports day? We love it. It’s always a really enjoyable day for the kids - and parents. They all encourage each other. It’s sport - there’s meant to be a winner, that’s what it’s all about.
For those that aren’t keen, I guess they copy their parents lead? Sports keep you fit and feeling good. It’s a positive thing to encourage.

Same. It’s such a nice day we have a big picnic on the field and have ice creams and stuff, the kids really enjoy it.
It’s not the Olympics it’s just a bunch of primary kids having fun. They’re not being judged by anyone . I’m not sure I’d call an egg and spoon race sport tbh! It’s just physical activity. It’s only really in year 4-6 at our school they can pick to do running races and they choose which ones they want to do. And any child coming in last always gets a massive cheer from everyone.

Do you know how horrendous sports day is for dyspraxic, neurodiverse children. My daughter was always ostracised in PE lessons and during sports day. She was never allowed to be part of teams either so not taking part in races that would make her feel even worse quite frankly doesn’t make her a wet blanket. You and your daughter sound vile.

Well done OP. Childhood and school are hard enough without all that additional shite.

Why wasn’t she allowed to be in teams?

A wet blanket?

Maybe instead you could teach your child about invisible disability. About how people can have conditions you can't see, sometimes conditions they don't even know they have yet. I would say these people are incredibly tough, they fight battles noone knows. Pretty much everyone with my condition (congenital Myasthenic syndrome) recall these kind of nasty comments at school. And there are lots of similar conditions that often go undiagnosed for years. Plus dyspraxia and other forms of neuro diversity. And stress /,periods/ coming down with a bug, dealing with grief or a trauma or mental health problems

Sometimes the people who are sneered at for being weak are actually the strongest.

Sounds like a very inclusive sports day if there is no races and no “winning”. Sounds like a fun afternoon trying new sports with friends.

I’d speak with the teacher about your daughter’s concerns.

My children love sport. They love PE. They are always swimming or playing football or doing sports lessons.

But sports day at our school always seems to be on a day so hot it ought to be cancelled, and some of the parents are vile and screaming and yelling throughout.

Football clubs these days tend to try and clamp down on screaming from the sidelines and I don't think it should be ok on sports day.

Plus you seem to have forgotten that children can have all sorts of disabilities. I longed to be an active child but my body had other ideas. My parents were active and sporty. My genetic condition means I can't be. We don't make dyslexics perform a spelling bee in front of everyone's parents. Or make people with dyscalculia do a mental arithmetic test on stage

Sports Day was a nightmare for me, same as weekly P.E. I've managed to be OK for the rest of my life, obtain a degree & even have a career believe it or not, let her off, it's not character building, it's humiliating if it's not your thing

So many judgy comments I’ve just sat down to read after not subjecting my child to an event that would have caused her stress.

Like???? I feel so sorry for the kids of the parents on here championing forcing their children to perform for them. Oh your child got a medal? At what cost? Did you get to brag about it on social media?

Vile. And honestly when I told Dd she had the day off today and we were going to Bewilderwood her pure joy was worth 100000x any sports day shite.

Well I absolutely hated it, all PE lessons filled me with dread. It didn't benefit me in anyway being forced to do PE and sports day. So I won't force mine to do sports day in secondary as it's all day so no other lessons.
After I finished school I have actually enjoyed lots of different exercise.

@Leftleg exactly this.. I was exercise/sport averse during school because it was shoved down my throat & was mostly team related, guess who was picked last? or that horse thing you had to jump on or over! Now I happily (sometimes!) jog & swim & all the rest, in my school now the kids love P.E. but that's cos it's mostly games, not a fucking Beep Test

God where to start! Your child being smug at someone else’s expense is nothing to be proud of. She could have been simply pleased that she overcame a barrier of her own. Not wanting to take part in an activity doesn’t mean you’re not a team player FFS. And actually it’s more courageous to not do something than to only do it so you got in and don’t risk being called a ‘wet blanket’ by someone. Ridiculous attitude.

Is “ group-minded” supposed to be a compliment?

Well done, OP. Your daughter will always remember her lovely day and how you had her back xx

Why so passive aggressive nasty?