Have you been landed with the task of sorting out this years Sports day?
Relax… we’ve got you covered. I work over lots of different Schools and each one does it differently, a good start might be asking what you want to get out of it in a Staff meeting. After some reflection one of my Schools realised that it might be worth restructuring Sports day so that all of the children get to actually do more! All 240 kids out at once meant 1/2 races max per child.
So we decided to split the day into 3 sports days (EYFS, KS1, KS2). We wrote a letter to the parents explaining why we were re-organising and apologising if it made it harder for family members to come and watch – but ultimately this way is better for the kids.
We split all of our groups into ‘heats’. Essentially everything they do in the Sports day will always be against the same kids – that is the same for all Key Stages. It just makes everything slicker on the day – instead of calling out names we just shout out Year x Group y and they know they need to be ready.
So our EYFS go first (whilst they still have lots of energy) and before they get hungry/don’t have chance to let their food go down. They will run lots of cute races (Sprint, Egg and Spoon, Football race – dribbling the football and stop it on the finish line and the holiday race – Pick up a hat, bucket, spade, sunglasses and rubber ring and run to the finish ready for holiday!)
Next up is our KS2 – They like to watch the other races a bit more and the events start to feel a little more like Athletics as we know it in the Olympics. They compete individually in a range of events (Javelin, Sprint, Hurdles, Obstacle race before all houses Y3-Y6 compete in a team relay. This makes for a great spectacle as they all cheer on their house!)
Make sure each class had organised their ‘heats’ well in advance and they’ve had chance to practice – also prioritise differentiation over houses. In my opinion I’d rather see competitively matched children as supposed to some children feeling embarrassed/upset that they have lost by quite some distance.
Then we finish with KS1. This is a rotation of activities which is led by the Year 6’s (with a lot of Staff support) – for this the adults watching are asked to stay in the middle throughout and the children move around them in a clockwise fashion. 2 classes, 8 groups so make sure all of the leaders of each station know to keep them on the station they’re on until you blow the whistle to signify allowing them to move. Your leaders will need lots of stickers so at the end you can work the top boy/girl in each group. Try and have a few practices with your leaders and Staff to get running as smooth as possible.
It might not be perfect but we feel it gave our pupils a better experience and the families who came to watch get to see their kids doing more!
Have fun and good luck!