This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Make sports day none mandatory in all schools.
To look into opinions and affects of sports day on children and to make sports day optional in all schools.
Especially children with mental health, on the autism spectrum and disadvantaged/less-abled children.
More details
So many children suffer terrible anxiety about sports day. This results in them either missing school and being marked down in attendance or feeling shamed or ridiculed by having to take part. It's no different to making every child sit a maths/science test while everyone else (including other family members) watches who struggles and comes last. Please make sports day optional for those who want to take part.
I want the government to make it optional so that children can confidently remain in school and chose to do something else that day. I hear over and over again the stress caused for so long beforehand and afterwards from sports day. There seems to be only the "sporty" children that enjoy it.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
We can only accept petitions about things the Government or Parliament are directly responsible for.
Decisions about how to deliver the national curriculum on physical education, and whether to hold a sports day, are a matter for individual schools, not the UK Government or Parliament.
Schools, as with all public bodies, are required to make reasonable adjustments for people with a disability, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance on the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 for schools in relation to the provision of education: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/technical-guidance-schools-england
If you are unhappy with your schools approach to sports day, you should raise this with your school or the relevant local authority.
You can find out how to complain about a school here: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school
You can find out who your local councillors are, and how to contact them, by entering your post code here:
https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.