Sports day misery

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sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Sports day misery

Post by sherry_d »

I hate the sports day and we have the damn thing this week. Ours should really be renamed to something else perhaps fun day but it ain't fun. Its really suitable for KS1 and I just don't know why they insist on doing it in the name of sports day.

All they do is some silly hula hooping, egg and spoon race, magpie rugby, 50m relay and pretending they are playing football. I wonder why cant they do proper football then? Oh and everyone wins, DD's house was last and they still got medals. I just wish it was a proper sports day not the silly stuff they ask us parents to endure for an hour :evil: . Perhaps other schools organise theirs much better but our sports day is rubbish for anyone above key stage one IMHO.
Impossible is Nothing.
twinkles
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by twinkles »

At DS's old school in KS1 they did non-competitive sports day, I can't remember what sports they did though but I remember they had to step through a hoop and put it up over their head and something with some bean bags.

At KS2 it was competitive - sack races, skipping races, relay, individual running races, dribbling footballs, obstacle courses etc - 1st, 2nd and 3rd got points and the winning house was awarded the sports day cup. Oh and it lasted all morning, not just an hour!
vasu
Posts: 719
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by vasu »

We have a sports day too this week and believe me I dread it every year. Kids doing pretend sports rather than the real thing. We had sports day too as kids, it was such a big event. March past, proper co-ordinated events and proper 1st,2nd and 3rd place. It made us motivated. I was in athletics and that 1st place medal kept me motivated the whole year through. Now you get medals just for showing up. Kids need a little bit of healthy competition to stimulate them. I am no child psychologist.... maybe I am wrong.
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by doodles »

We have sports day in a couple of weeks and it is the full blown thing, all the boys in their houses sitting together under the appropriately coloured gazebo.

R,1 & 2 have their races - sack, running, egg and spoon etc on one side of the field with a fun obstacle race at the end. From Y3 upwards it's on the main running track with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places all going towards the house totals -it's long jump, running races, cricket ball throw etc. Parents Association do tea and cakes and Pimms. There are also sibling races, and mum's and dad's races. Though of course having done so much training for the EPE Olympic Team I won't be competing in the mum's race as it wouldn't be fair!!
pheasantchick
Posts: 2439
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by pheasantchick »

Whats magpie rugby? I didn't see that on Springwatch!
Snowdrops
Posts: 4667
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by Snowdrops »

Oh, I'm so glad I have no more sports days to attend!!

My dd's old primary had them and they were competitive (hurray for common sense, we were even allowed to video the school Christmas play :shock: :lol: ) and points were awarded in descending order for each 'race'.

Races were held against your own year group and some did include jumping through hoops, but there were also long distance races, which I thought was a great mix for those who could run and for those who couldn't too.

Anyway, each year was more a social gathering for me than anything else as every year was much of a muchness, until the final year when my dd was head girl :D :D and her team won sports day for which a cup was awarded, it was a brilliant day and one I'll remember for a long, long time. (I managed to get accompanying photos of the moment the cup was handed over and all the raa raaahing too :D :D ).
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scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: Sports day misery

Post by scarlett »

At our school , sports day used to be a rather underwhelming event with group events such as putting hoops over your head until most of us mentioned it on the Ofsted questionnaire and then the next year we had a 'proper' sports day. My DS2 was striding ahead in the 100 m and of course I was cheering him on....the head came up to me and asked me not to shout out as it wasn't fair to the children not winning ! I just said ok and then carried on .....however the most ridiculous thing I've heard a parent do ( at another school ) was to ask for photographic evidence that their child came second as they felt said child had actually came first. The child in question was 4.
push-pull-mum
Posts: 737
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by push-pull-mum »

pheasantchick wrote:Whats magpie rugby? I didn't see that on Springwatch!
Good grief! I think someone should call the RSPCA!

The DCren's sports days are non competitive. There's a round robin of events and a dozen people keeping a (usually inaccurate) tally of how many times each team manages to complete it's designated activity (usually something with a beanbag and a hoop - and sometimes a novelty hat as well.) It takes ages to work out which team has won - and by the time they announce it nobody much cares.

Everyone seems to have a pleasant enough time though - and the sporty children do get other opportunities to be competitive in inter schools events.

Best of all there is no parents' race.
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Sports day misery

Post by doodles »

Oh I think the parents' races are the best entertainment of the whole afternoon. All those mothers and fathers hurtling down the running track, not me I hasten to add.
jingle
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 2:35 pm
Location: kent

Re: Sports day misery

Post by jingle »

I think the parents races were superb! The dads one was far and away the most entertaining, with the guys all trying to pretend that they were laid back and casual about it "just a bit of fun for the kids" etc etc
While secretly they were all limbering up discreetly beforehand. I shall never forget my DHs face, filled with grim determination at the start that he tried to conceal behind a mask of cheery indifference ....Priceless!

:D Am sitting here sniggering away just remembering it :D :D

One bloke had even brought his spiked running shoes along!!!!
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