Sports day is an annual event which dates back to the end of the 19th century and takes place at the end of the summer term in almost all British primary schools and also in some secondary schools. It’s an event where Pupils, Teachers, and (in primary) Parents get together for a day or afternoon of competitive sport and games.

In both primary and secondary schools, the objective of sports day is to highlight the importance of physical fitness, teamwork and taking part, even if some of the activities are outside of some pupil’s comfort zone.

At my primary school, there were a great variety of sports and games being held. Some of them were traditional athletic events, while others were more fun and comical in nature.

A few of the more traditional events which don’t need an explanation were the 50 and 100 metre sprints and Relay races.

Some of the more comical events which Il will mention below need a bit of an explanation.

Sack race.
This is where pupils will climb into a large sack and race each other to the finish line by jumping and often repeatedly falling all the way.

Three-legged race.
This race is done in pairs. One pupil will have their right leg tied or strapped to the left leg of their partner and then using teamwork and coordination will try to run a race against other pairs.

Wheelbarrow race.
This is another race that’s done in pairs. For this race, one pupil will be the driver and the other will be the wheelbarrow. The driver holds the wheelbarrows ankles at waist hight while the wheelbarrow walks or runs with their hands to try and beat the other pairs to the finish line.

Bean Bag race.
This race is done in teams and is a fun variant of the traditional relay race. At the start, a pupil from each team will balance a Bean Bag on their head and will then then move as quickly as possible to the end of the course or track and back again without letting the Bean Bag fall off. The first team to have all the team members successfully go to the end and back wins.

Egg and spoon race.
The egg and spoon race is a simple concept but also one of the more difficult events. Pupils will race against each other to get to the end of the course whilst balancing an egg on a spoon. If anyone drops the egg , they must stop to pick it up and balance it on the spoon again before continuing. My school would use hard boiled eggs or even Ping pong balls so they wouldn’t break when dropped.

After the main children’s event there would be the parents 100 metre sprints, where parents could volunteer to participate in a mum’s race or a father’s race., and after that would be the teachers race where the students would enjoy seeing and laughing at their favourite teachers as they do the 100 metre sprint.

To end the day my school would give a small medal to the winners and a certificate to all the other participants.

Nowadays there are arguments for and against the worth of Sports day at school but from a student’s point of view, I loved it.

Mark Samson.