Sports day cancelled due to health and safety

A school sports day has been cancelled over health and safety fears, because teaching staff are worried that the children could trip up on the uneven playing field. The head teacher of Holmbush First School in Shoreham, West Sussex, has written to parents to tell them that the annual event has been called off to avoid accidents.

Rebecca Jackson told them that the surface of the school’s playing field could be “too dangerous” for the traditional sack, egg-and-spoon, wheelbarrow and three-legged races.

She said there were concerns that cracks and holes in the surface could cause the young children to “trip or fall”.

But parents have said the decision to ban sports day, which was scheduled for July 14, is “ludicrous”.

Louise Powell, 32, a physiotherapist, was unimpressed when her daughter Maisie, five, came home from school with the letter.

She said: “The school produces a newsletter every month. The latest issue said they’ve cancelled sports day for health and safety issues because the ground is uneven.

“I’m absolutely furious because we were so looking forward to it. We were excited because it would have been Maisie’s first sports day, it’s really upset me. It’s ludicrous.

“I did sports day on ground that was uneven. Our playing field was on a slope and I know my husband did his on ground that was probably uneven. “When we were kids, you just got on with it.”

She added other parents and children were equally disappointed.

Another mum, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Part of the fun of school sports days is running about and falling over all over the place – especially the three-legged race.

“You are expected to fall over when you take part in a three-legged race, that’s almost the point of it.”

However, Mrs Jackson has defended the decision. She said the field, which has recently been acquired by the school, was used as farmland and is not yet ready for use by the 267 children.

She said: “The school has not had a sports day before and we were hoping to organise one this year because we have had some playing field access. “But we have inspected the field and it’s not yet ready to be used for sports day because of cracks and holes in the surface, which could be dangerous and cause children to trip or fall.”