Year 5 and 6 Sports Day

When we first heard that Year 5 and 6 were heading back into school, we were determined to offer them a Sports Day.

We knew it wouldn’t be easy – most of the usual athletics activities (such as long jump and high jump) are currently off limits. Our next issue was that most schools seemed to be offering virtual sports days for their pupils, but our children were back in school. So, all the activities needed to be socially distanced and avoid any contact of shared equipment.

Relays without batons? Check. Throwing activities without equipment? Impossible but there was a solution. It involved giant rhino tubs, full to the brim of soapy water, in the different bubble areas on the school field.

After careful consideration, including zoom calls with other schools around the country about their sports days, we reached our decision. The answer was obvious – we needed to stay in our bubbles all day, taking part in a range of fun athletic tasks:

Throwing – target games (boules into buckets/ bowling at targets), throwing for distance (tennis balls)

Running – distance relays, silly team relays and obstacle race sprints (with football dribbling, rock and roll mini hurdles)

Jumping – standing long jump, skipping – including skipping rope racing

Ball skills challenges – flick the ball up and over, keep the ball off the ground

What did the children think?

‘I liked the football dribble and sprint – it was fast and fun. You could improve your skills at the same time.’ Toby, Year 5

‘I really enjoyed the hurdle races because they were fast and competitive!’ Ayesha, Year 5

‘I loved the tennis ball throw because I liked trying to beat my score every time. I think I improved a lot.’ Evie, Year 5

What did the staff think?

“Thank you so much for putting together such a lovely sports day full of wonderful activities. It was so lovely to watch children enjoying sport so much, and achieving more than they thought they could.”

“Amelia now knows she is talented at long jump. Asher hit three personal bests in the activities. Teddy realised he can run fast. Bruce now understands that the harder he tries, the more he excels. That is just a few of them. They all had a wonderful day.”