Sports Day Activities for Secondary School

Sports day is the highlight of the school year for lots of pupils and teachers, so you want to make it an event to remember with lots of activities to enjoy.

There are a few things to consider when planning a secondary school sports day; there are usually far more children in Secondary school than in Primary, and there's a great age difference. Some schools plan to have 2 sports days, 1 for Years 7-9 and the other for Years 10-11, whilst others choose to wait until after the Year 11 pupils have left the school in the summer term and host a whole school event.

Who's Involved?

Is it best to involve everyone, from children to parents, or keep it as a school-only affair?

For Primary schools, the school sports day is usually the highlight of the summer for parents as well as the kids, so the parents love to be involved and join in as much as possible. They're quite happy to join in the races and help on the day.

Once the children move to Secondary school, the kids are quite happy to take part and help with arranging the events independently of their parents, so many Secondary schools host the event during school hours just for the children.

Choosing the Events

Do you choose some elements of the Primary games such Egg and Spoon races and three-legged games, or do you stick with track events and the more adventurous sports activities the children use in Secondary School?

Here are some traditional sports day event ideas;

100m Sprint Race

Use your school running track for one race per year group.

800m Race

Use your school running track for one race per year group.

Relay Race

1 race per year group taking part.
Using your school running track, give your teams a coloured bib and a matching relay baton.
Set out the crossover areas on your school running track.

Discus

Using your school playing field, set out the area safely away from other passing students.
Using a long line tape measure, measure the distance thrown for each pupil taking part.

Shot Put

Using your school playing field, set out the area safely away from other passing students.
Using a long line tape measure, measure the distance thrown for each pupil taking part.

Javelin

Using your school playing field, set out the area safely away from other passing students.
Using a long line tape measure, measure the distance thrown per each pupil taking part.

High Jump

One event per year group
Usually set up as an indoor event with crash mats.
Use your school high jump equipment.

Tug of War

1 team per year group

Teachers Race

Challenge the teachers to a race of their own. Which teacher is fastest; the PE teacher or perhaps a sporty teacher from a different department?

Challenging Games for Everyone

Getting all children involved in the sports day can be tricky and you usually find that some children in the class are a bit more reserved when it comes to sport.

To make sure they're still active and enjoying the day, include a few challenging games that aren't quite as 'sporty' but just as competitive and exciting:

Limbo

Pick up a limbo set and set the challenge for the most flexible students.

Reverse Basketball Throw

Challenge your best netball and basketball players that little bit further; set the rules so they must score goals by throwing the ball backwards over their heads!

Football Goal kick

Get the PE teacher in the net and see how many goals you can get passed them; highest score wins.

Table Tennis

Do you have budding table tennis players ready for a challenge?

Traditional primary games of three-legged race and the egg and spoon race are more likely to attract the children less keen on sport as they see this as a more fun event than a typical racing event. By having some of these games included, you have more opportunity for inclusion of the whole school.

For more games and ideas - view the full range of School Sports Day products available here: