Section 7: Sports Day 43

7.1 What is a Sports Day?

7.2 Events Ideas
7.3 Planning

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44 Section 7:

7.1 WHAT IS A SPORTS DAY?

What is a Sports Day?
A Sports Day usually occurs once a school year- usually
towards the end (June/ July). It is a day that the whole
school community of staff and parents/ carers come
together to watch and support the children in track and
eld athletic events. It is a popular event in most, if not all,
school calendars and for it to run efciently a lot of
planning is needed. Sports Day is also the perfect vehicle
to show what FFS can do.
Deciding on and Booking a Venue
Most schools will have a provisional date for Sports Day at
the beginning of the school year. It is up to the Activity
Co-ordinators to discuss this with the school Headteacher
and nalise a date. From here a venue needs to be decided
on. Most schools use the same venue every year and are
happy with that venue. However, it is always important to
check that, the school are happy and if not, look for
alternate venues. Once the date and venue are discussed
and agreed, it is important to book it as soon as
possible.

be discussed and decided on who is to do this. Final

bookings do not need to be made until later in the year, as
long as the bus company is aware of the date of sports day
and that bus(es) will be needed.
Deciding on Events
It is important to discuss and decide on what events the
children will be doing on Sports Day. Will every child be
doing exactly the same events, or will it depend on their
age group? Experience has shown that it is more
successful if the younger children (aged 3-6 years) do the
same events and the older children (aged 7-11 years)
participate in the same events.

Wet Weather Plan

It is a good idea to have a wet weather contingency
plan. Even though Sports days are usually held
in the summer months, British weather can be
unpredictable! Some schools will happily allow a
Sports Day to still go ahead on a rainy day, but
some schools would rather a dry alternate plan!
This is something that you will need to discuss
with your Headteacher. If a dry alternative is
needed then a suitable venue will need to
be found and booked as soon as possible.
Events may need to be adapted if your
wet weather alternative is used.
Booking Transport
It is important that if your school
uses a bus company for
transporting the kids the bus
company uses is
notied of the date of Sports
Day, so that buses can be
provisionally booked. It needs to

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Section 7: 45
7.2 EVENTS IDEAS
Here are some ideas for events for the two age groups: Age 3-6 years:
EVENT

DESCRIPTION

EGG & SPOON RACE

Children race with egg and spoon (you may want to use either
potatoes or rubber eggs due to allergies).

HOOP RACE

Children use the hoops as car steering wheels or hold hoop above
their heads and race between two markers.

BEAN BAG RACE

Children race with a bean bag balanced on their head (or can hold the
bean bag with one hand).

BEAN BAG THROW

The children see how far that they can throw a bean bag using
underarm throw technique.

SACK RACE

Children race jumping in sacks using the handles.

RUNNING RACES

Children running between two markers.

RELAY RACES

Children use cones/ markers to run to and back to tag next

person - simplied version.

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Age 7-11 years:
EVENT

DESCRIPTION

RELAY RACES

Children run around track in teams - each child doing a section of

track each and run when they are passed the baton.

LONG JUMP

Children run and jump as far as they can into a sand pit.

SHOT PUT

Children see how far they can get the shot using correct technique.

BEAN BAG RACE

Children race with a bean bag balanced on their head.

HOOP RACE

Children race by jumping through middle of hoop.

SACK RACE

Children race jumping in sacks holding onto both handles.

SPRINT RACES

Children race as fast as they can between markers/ lanes set out.

JAVELIN

Children throw javelin as far as they can, using correct technique.

TENNIS BALL BALANCE

Children balance ball on tennis racquet, running to cones and back

(ball must be on strings of racquet).

HOCKEY DRIBBLE

Children dribble ball with hockey sticks, to cone and back.

* To save time on the day, it is advisable to decide on your relay teams before sports day. This means
that the children can get into their teams relatively quickly and it also gives them a chance to practise
in their teams before sports day.

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Section 7: 47
7.3 PLANNING A SPORTS DAY
Equipment
The equipment you need for teaching athletics and sports
day preparation is usually different from the equipment that
you would use throughout the rest of the year. It is
important that once you have decided on the events that
will be undertaken, that you check your PE equipment
cupboard and note anything that you do not have or that
needs replacing.
It is then important to decide on the quantity of what you
need and price it up. It takes time, but it is good to shop
around to try and get the best deal, as you may be ordering
a lot of equipment and it potentially may be very expensive.
Once you have done this, it is important to present to your
Headteacher and check that it is nancially feasible to order
the equipment. If it is, then it is your responsibility to order it
and if it is not nancially feasible, then a contingency
plan- i.e. change events or only order what is essential.
Practice Sessions/ Days
Athletics is usually part of the PE curriculum in the Summer
term, so the children get to practise the events that they
will participate in on Sports Day. However, it is advisable
to do some of your PE athletics lessons at the Sports Day
venue, so that the children can familiarise themselves with
the venue and have a clearer idea of what is to come on
Sports Day if possible. This will need to be authorised by
the Headteacher or Head of PE, and these sessions be
booked in advance (if Sports Day is at different venue to
usual PE lessons!)
Refreshments/ Lunch
This is not the responsibility of staff. Some schools will ask
families to provide children with a packed lunch and other
schools will have their PTA (Parent/Teacher Association) to
organise lunch and/ or refreshments. Whatever the plan, it
is important that you are aware, so that you can keep the
relevant people up to date with the plans for the day.
Structure of Day
This will be different for every school. For most schools
Sports Day is just a half-day event, but regardless of the
length of the day, sports days are usually organised
whereby the children go from each event in a circuit format.

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Even though the whole school will usually do Sports Day

on the same day, the Lower school or Early Years Sports
Day can be organised separately. For example, this can be
done by using a different working area within the facility or
such like. This means that the lower school will come to the
Sports Day venue for lunchtime and start their events after
lunch.
Sharing Information with the Headteacher
The Headteacher should be kept up to date with all plans
for sports day, from which events the students will be
doing, to transport, to relaying information to all
concerned and such like.
Sharing Information with the School Staff
The school staff need to be informed of the format of
sports day and the role(s) that they are expected to full
on the day. Roles may include getting their class around
the events, recording distance thrown and running times
and such like. The school ofce need to be kept up to
date with all plans, as they will get questions from parents
and usually help with the booking of buses (if needed)
and such like.
Sharing Information with Parents
Most parents usually want to come along to Sports Day,
so information such as date, venue, times and
programme of events are important to distribute to
parents about a week before. This can be done through
school mailings and posters. The date of sports day
usually goes out at the beginning of the year with
important school dates on it, so parents should already
be aware of the date!
Sharing Information with the Students
Most students get very excited about Sports Day, as it
is a chance for them to show their families what they
have been learning in PE. The students will be aware of
Sports Day as their athletics lessons in the summer term
is where they learn the events that they will do on
Sports Day.

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Sharing information and brieng FFS staff
Organising and hosting a successful Sports Day is very
complex and needs lots of planning. FFS staff are usually
drafted in to help on the day and it is imperative that they
are briefed on what is expected of them and which events
they will be running and any other information that they
should be aware of. Communication, as always, is key!
Here is an example of a structure of a sports day with a
programme of a day with times and events:

Bevington Sports Thursday July 10th 2008 (Key stage 2)

Houses / Countries: Brazil, Germany, Italy, England,
Spain, France, Portugal, Argentina
Each house or country will be provided with a colour or a
label which represents which team they are in. There will be
x staff per station, one Fit For Sport staff and one school
staff member.

Morning Events 10.30 - 11.30

Javelin / shot put

Point System
Yellow 1 point
Red
2 points
Blue
3 points
Green 4 points
White 5 points
Orange 6 points
Each child will have three attempts and three scores will be
totalled up with the individual child reaching a maximum of
18 points for their house.

Aiming & Throwing

Point System
Red
5 points
Orange 10 points
Blue
15 points
Each child must try to throw the tennis ball into the different
coloured hoops to gain points for their house. Every child
will have 5 throws. The children must throw under arm and
stand behind their marked cone.

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Section 7: 49
SPORTS RELAY RACES
Dribbling football relay:
Six cones must be spread out over 25 metres.
Children must get into their teams and line up in their
houses. They must dribble up to the end of the cones and
then dribble back. The rst team to be sitting down are the
winners.
Point System:
1st
10 points
2nd
5 points
3rd
2 points
Hockey relay races
Similar to the football dribbling relay but they are dribbling
with the hockey stick. Same points system as above.
12.00 - 12.30: LUNCH
Sprints Heats 12.30 - 1.30:
Children participate within their year groups in the
afternoon running events. The boys run against the boys
and the girls run against the girls. The heats run with the
childrens years and within their countries. E.g. all year 3
children will run within their countries, so all children in Brazil in year 3 will run in the heats the rst child will qualify for
the nals. This guarantees that every house will have one
child per year in the nal.

Title page - including venue and date on the front!

Programme of events - including grade levels taking part
in those events
Any other relevant information
Named First Aid Person:
It is very important to have a named qualied rst aider
who will be on-hand all day should there be an accident.
Although most FFS staff are qualied it is advisable to have
somebody from the school to be that named person. It is
advisable to approach that person as far in advance as
possible to check that they can full this role and
understand all the requirements.
Certicates/ Trophies:
Not all schools like to hand out winner certicates and
medals, because during primary age it is important to acknowledge and praise effort and participation, rather than
encouraging just winning. If this is the case, then it is a
good idea to put together a certicate of participation for all
children that took part. If the school would like to present
trophies and certicates for winning events, then it needs to
be addressed with the Headteacher, so that you can make
appropriate arrangements.

Final:
All children who have qualied will then run in the
nals to nd the fastest boy or girl per year.
Sports Day Results and Summary of Day 1.30pm
Teacher Parents Race 1.45- 2.00pm
Back to school 2.00pm
Advertising Sports Day:
It is good to advertise a forthcoming Sports Day! This can
be done by putting up posters and talking about Sports
Day to staff, parents and teachers. This can be done up to
about three weeks before, to get everybody enthusiastic
about the day.
Programme for Sports Day:
It is advisable to devise a programme for Sports Day, as
this can be used and followed by teachers, FFS staff and
families alike. It should have:

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