Sports Days: Should they be modernised?

Overweight children who are unlikely to enjoy an old-fashioned school sports day are being targeted with a new approach to physical education.

Traditionally, athletic-based competitions mean that while a handful of children perform, the majority have to end up spectators.

All children can be involved in the new team-building and problem-solving activities devised for primary school teachers by Sport England.

The inclusive "tool kit" they have produced aims to make a better experience for the children who would usually be "comprehensively beaten in front of their peers and losing vital points for their team".

Should competition be encouraged at sports days? Will the new games ideas help children learn and build confidence?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your reaction

If they don't learn to be winners we'll never win the World Cup, Test Match, Wimbledon, Grand Prix or Olympics. All these sports we invented, and we get stuffed by the rest of the world because tomorrow's competitors are scared to be better then anyone else.
Richard, Leeds, UK

What next? Nintendo marathons?

Liz, UK

I am by no means slight, but I wasn't excused from sports day or PE because of that. It is encouraging that different sports are considered and trialled, but what next? Nintendo marathons? All kids should participate, otherwise there's no point and the athletic ones will always win the 100m dash, whilst the chubby ones sit on the sidelines and feel sorry for themselves.
Liz, UK

As parents we try to foster a competitive spirit

GT, UK

No they should not be modernised. It's bad enough as it is. My son has rarely had the chance to take part in competitive sports already. Competition just doesn't feature in his school. As parents we try to foster a competitive spirit in him but this is seen as a disruptive influence by the teachers. This country is falling apart because of the left-wing attitudes the hippies that run our councils and country have forced upon us.
GT, UK

If people are so concerned that overweight children won't enjoy sports day then perhaps they ought to be more concerned about stupid children being embarrassed by having to attend classes every day. Their inadequacies are shown up every time they turn up to class whereas an overweight child's are only shown up once a week in a PE session.
Bill, UK

Why this obsession with sport? If a child is no good at the traditional sports offered by schools, it would be a good idea to look at other areas of expression, such as music, drama etc. It's sport or nothing and this is a hangover from the public schools and its old boy politicians who formulate education policy.
John G, London, UK

A surprisingly high number of teachers would have to admit the negative practice of inclusiveness in the classroom has helped the failure of normal kids reach their level of ability. It's time the proponents of inclusiveness faced up to the fact that some kids are brighter than others and should not be penalised for being so.
K. Johnson, UK

My daughter is sporty but suffers from asthma

Denise, Belfast

This can only be a good idea. My daughter is naturally sporty but unfortunately suffers from asthma. She has yet to take part in a sports day and I know how upsetting this has been for her. It would be great if she had something else to take part in.
Denise, Belfast

I remember the sports days in my junior school. Instead of proper sports we had team events which involved things like synchronised jumping over five-inch hurdles. Marks were awarded on how 'nicely' we performed the task. Sports day was an horrific experience that no one looked forward to and no one gained anything from. Sport is supposed to be a competitive physical series of events. If taught well, it encourages children to improve.
James Tandy, UK

All the detentions in the world would not make me run the 100 metres

Mel, UK

I was not an overweight child, I was just superbly bad at athletics. The pure horror of sports day is memorable though. I dealt with athletics in a specific way to avoid the ritual humiliation: refusing point blank to do it. All the detentions in the world would not make me run the 100 metres. Instead I walked it. The teachers were livid, the pupils amused and I avoided running. Inspiring students to stop them behaving in the puerile manner I did is to be applauded. Students should exercise and should not feel humiliated as they do so. Mind you in my mind Sports Day should be abolished. Ritual showing off only goes to highlight those who cannot.
Mel, UK

My school (all girls, 1970s) was absurdly uncompetitive - if you broke a record in the high jump or hurdles, the achievement was not yours, but claimed by the school. Similarly we weren't supposed to let other girls know our exam marks because it "wasn't quite nice" and smacked of boasting. Healthy competition and congratulation is to be welcomed, as is acknowledgement of academic success. To do otherwise is counter-productive and harbours discontent. Success breeds success and pride in oneself, and these need not be unattractive qualities.
CC, England

Are we giving our children any kind of preparation for the real world? We are already churning out a generation of overweight, computer-addicted, over-protected kids, now we don't want to let them compete against each other in a little sports day in case they feel bad?!
Wendy, UK

Concentrate on improving grades, not games

Sharon B, UK

Sports days are always meant to be fun and inclusive and for the unsporty kids (myself as a child included) the egg and spoon race and the potato sack race were what we looked forward to most. It was silly games and kids having fun. Whilst teamwork is important, we are a secular society and children need to learn how to deal with competition because at the end of the day we don't live in teams, some of us don't work in teams, and we all walk alone. Leave sports days as it is and concentrate more on improving grades, not games.
Sharon B, UK

The elements of compulsion and traditional team sports should be done away with. Freed from school where I was useless at football, cricket, and rugby I soon took up cycling, tennis and softball with gusto, despite being the same unathletic shape.
Mark, UK

As long as the aim is to get couch potato kids doing some kind of physical activity on a regular basis, I'm all for it. The number of obese children is increasing alarmingly. I'm already wondering how I'm going to help my children keep fit this winter, since they spend so much time cycling and playing football - both of which are likely to prove less popular on dark, cold, wet evenings.
Guy Chapman, UK

I'm sorry, but what actually is the point of competitive sports? I was rubbish at all of them as a kid, in fact I still am rubbish at all of them. But I don't really feel I've suffered in my adult life as a result of not being able to run fast or kick a ball around.
Rod, UK