The Ultimate Checklist for a Safe and Successful Sports Day

Sports day is a highlight in the school calendar for both students and teachers, offering an opportunity to engage in some friendly competition, teamwork, and physical activity. It’s an “exciting way to bring parents, teachers and children together for an active, fun day”  

A survey carried out by BBC Newsround discovered that the most popular sport in a UK sports day is Sprinting, voted by 18% of pupils, closely followed by the Relay Race (13%), and Hurdles in third place (12%). These are nationally popular choices… but how about conducting a survey at your own school to see which sports and activities your specific students would like to? Using these insights will enable you to plan a bespoke and enticing sports day where everyone feels involved, motivated and important.

Here are some other fun activities:

• Egg and spoon race
• Jumping (long jump and high jump)
• Throwing (Discuss, Shot put and Javelin)
• Sack race
• Skipping race
• Three-legged race
• Wheelbarrow race
• Tug of war
• Teachers race

You can really make your sports day how you want it to be, with the preference of your pupils always in mind!

But how else can you ensure it runs smoothly and stress free? Follow this ultimate checklist for a safe and successful sports day in schools…

Venue Safety

Before anything, the most essential step to running a safe sports day is being able to provide a safe venue. The Association for Physical Education (afPE) recommends you have your PE equipment inspected on an annual basis to provide a better, safer environment for everyone to stay active and enjoy sports to the fullest.

Having an annual PE equipment inspection avoids the risk of injuries happening, giving parents peace of mind that their children are safe, and teachers the confidence to run a sports day without unnecessary injuries or any legal complications.

This is the perfect moment to book a safety inspection – whether just to prepare for sports day or to meet your annual safety regulations.

On top of this, carrying out your own checks on the day of the event will help prevent the chance of injuries caused by equipment that may have become damaged since your previous inspection. Follow our PE and Sports Equipment Safety Checklist to be extra sure your equipment is ready to be used.

Weather Assessment

With a lot of equipment used in summer being stored outside and exposed to the (unpredictable) UK weather, it’s easy for the quality of equipment to deteriorate quickly. This can increase the risk of an accident happening  if it being used on sports day, or an unfair advantage to the opposing team, if they have looked after their equipment better! So, in the months leading up to sports day, make sure you have suitable storage solutions to protect your equipment from the elements.

Also, make sure to check the weather forecast the week before the event, so you can put in precautions to make it a more comfortable experience for your audience (perhaps invest in gazebos in case the heavens open and your audience gets an unexpected shower, or to shield them from the blazing sun!)

Hydration and Nutrition

Adequate hydration and nutrition are other essential for children taking part in sports day. As uncertain as the UK weather can be, June sports days usually mean that warm weather is likely, creating a risk of dehydration for those pupils participating.

Being hydrated and appropriately well- nourished assists in regulating body temperature, muscle function and helps you to avoid cramps by balancing electrolyte levels.

Supplying your pupils with a balanced meal compromising proteins, carbohydrates, grains, and fruits and vegetables before taking part in the sports day events will give them all the energy and nutrition they need to give the competition their best shot! Similarly, having some light snacks, such as orange slices and bananas for pupils to have in-between races can increase their glucose levels, and give them a much-needed boost towards the latter part of the day.

Prep and Reset

Children often tend to forget that the warm up and cool down are almost more important than the race itself! Going from being static in a classroom for a lot of the day to jumping up and sprinting down a track would shock anyone’s body, let alone one that is not yet fully grown. Make it a priority to prevent injury in your pupils by running a group warm up session. Making it fun and doing it along to music can get their adrenaline rushing, add a social aspect to the warm up and give those growing muscles a dynamic stretch, ready for the races to begin.

Cooling down after exercise aids in dissipation lactic acid (the cause of cramping) making recovery much more manageable. Another benefit of cooling down after sports is the gradual restoration of your heart rate, breathing rate and body temperature back to pre-exercise levels.

Final Tips for Success

Now you have a safe venue, are prepared for all weathers, and your pupils are hydrated and warmed up, it’s time for the final preparatory steps in running your safe and successful sports day.

• Carry out a last-minute walk through of all your event areas to ensure no risk is missed and it is all in place for quick and easy transitions between races.
• Get your drink station set up, with on hand refills for those needing some extra hydration after burning steam in their events.
• Have your playlist and routine ready for your group warm-up and cool-down so you feel confident pupils will be well stretched and ready to go.
• Have a First Aid plan in place and nearby facilities ready for any accidents that may happen (even with a safe venue, children are still prone to the odd slip or trip on the track).
• Have fun!

You are now fully prepared to run a sports day for the history books and, remember, you still have to warm up and cool down for the teachers’ race… Good Luck!