I just got back from Oscar's sports day. Restricted to the lower school it was a lovely display of children competing in a totally supportive environment and it was so nice that in every event, all that entered finished even when hopelessly beaten. I believe that all of the children participated and a good time seemed to be had by all. Only one boy who was squeezed out of first place lay on the ground, writhing in imaginary agony, clearly having watched too much football.
It is a nice end to a school year and this was well organised. Everyone got stickers for their performances and all were cheered on for their efforts but parents grandparents and teachers alike. Oscar now moves from reception into year one and has been separated from many of his immediate friends; time will tell the effects of that move, though his teacher maintains that he has been placed with children that he works best with and that has to be a good thing.
When I was at school, sports day was generally held to be a good day. We could enter for any event that we chose and each event had a standard time or distance that we aimed to reach or better. Should you reach that standard you were awarded a house point and thus it didn't matter too much who won or lost. There were certificates for first three places but reaching the standard was the most important thing. House points were awarded for all sorts of things during the course of the year, all sporting events counted towards the house, as did debating society, drama groups and public speaking, and at the end of the year a shield was awarded to the house that had accumulated most points during the year. All pretty meaningless in the long run but it did encourage a team ethos and gave the feeling that you could contribute something.
Many schools abandoned the house system along with most things competitive on the grounds that losing is a negative experience. It can be, Oscar hates losing, but we cannot always be winners and learning that can only be achieved by losing. Parents and schools today seem to reward every form of behaviour and encourage kids towards mediocrity. Exams can be taken over and over again in order to achieve a grade that is acceptable and that in itself makes many exam qualifications pretty meaningless. Some grow up thinking that they are wonderful and that the world is there for the taking. They find that life is not like that and that there is competition for everything in the real world and those that can compete are the ones most likely to succeed.
Participation in sports day is important and learning to lose gracefully is also a life skill. On the other hand it is also important to try hard to succeed and to aim for a high standard in all we do even if we cannot always be number one.
It is a nice end to a school year and this was well organised. Everyone got stickers for their performances and all were cheered on for their efforts but parents grandparents and teachers alike. Oscar now moves from reception into year one and has been separated from many of his immediate friends; time will tell the effects of that move, though his teacher maintains that he has been placed with children that he works best with and that has to be a good thing.
When I was at school, sports day was generally held to be a good day. We could enter for any event that we chose and each event had a standard time or distance that we aimed to reach or better. Should you reach that standard you were awarded a house point and thus it didn't matter too much who won or lost. There were certificates for first three places but reaching the standard was the most important thing. House points were awarded for all sorts of things during the course of the year, all sporting events counted towards the house, as did debating society, drama groups and public speaking, and at the end of the year a shield was awarded to the house that had accumulated most points during the year. All pretty meaningless in the long run but it did encourage a team ethos and gave the feeling that you could contribute something.
Many schools abandoned the house system along with most things competitive on the grounds that losing is a negative experience. It can be, Oscar hates losing, but we cannot always be winners and learning that can only be achieved by losing. Parents and schools today seem to reward every form of behaviour and encourage kids towards mediocrity. Exams can be taken over and over again in order to achieve a grade that is acceptable and that in itself makes many exam qualifications pretty meaningless. Some grow up thinking that they are wonderful and that the world is there for the taking. They find that life is not like that and that there is competition for everything in the real world and those that can compete are the ones most likely to succeed.
Participation in sports day is important and learning to lose gracefully is also a life skill. On the other hand it is also important to try hard to succeed and to aim for a high standard in all we do even if we cannot always be number one.
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