Sports Day Letter to Parents and Carers

A ready-to-send letter, with a reply slip, variants for every phase, and a participant-facing version for colleges and universities.

Read this before you send anything

This is not legal advice, and it is not a policy. The photography, consent, sun cream and medical paragraphs are the places where settings differ most and where getting it wrong matters most. Every one is marked adapt to your setting's own policy, and that marker means what it says: check it against what your setting actually does before you send it. Where your policy says something different, your policy wins.

How to use this

Fill-in fields look like this: [DATE]. Every one is in capitals inside square brackets, so in the Word version you can find them all by searching for [. There are seven you must not miss.

Field	What goes in it
[SETTING NAME]	Your school, nursery, college or university
[DATE]	The date of sports day, day and date written out
[START TIME]	When the first event starts
[END TIME]	When it finishes
[LOCATION]	Where it is — field, playground, leisure centre, off site
[REPLY BY DATE]	When you need the slip back
[CONTACT]	Who to ask, and how

Then four you should check rather than assume.

Field	Note
[HOUSE COLOURS]	List them, or delete the house paragraph if you do not use houses
[WET WEATHER DECISION TIME]	The time you will decide, and where you will post it
[SPECTATOR ARRANGEMENT]	Where spectators stand or sit, and whether they need to sign in
[PHOTOGRAPHY POSITION]	Your setting's own position. Do not send this letter without reading that paragraph

Delete what does not apply

The letter carries the paragraphs most settings need. A letter that keeps a paragraph about something you are not doing is worse than one that is short.

What is in this pack

Page	Contents
2 and 3	The letter to parents and carers, with the reply slip
4	Swap-in paragraphs — early years, and primary
5	Swap-in paragraphs — secondary, and college and university
6	The participant letter for post-16, with the entry slip
7	The day-before reminder, both wet weather messages, and the checklist before you send

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · How to usePage 1 of 7

[SETTING NAME]

[DATE THE LETTER IS SENT]

Dear Parent or Carer,

Sports Day — [DATE]

Our sports day is on [DATE], at [LOCATION]. Events start at [START TIME] and we expect to finish at [END TIME].

This letter has everything you need to know, and a slip at the bottom to return by [REPLY BY DATE].

Date	[DATE]
Where	[LOCATION]
Starts	[START TIME]
Finishes	[END TIME]
Spectators welcome from	[TIME]
If the weather is bad, we will decide by	[WET WEATHER DECISION TIME]

Arriving

Children should come to [SETTING NAME] at the usual time and in the usual way. We will take them out to [LOCATION] together.

If sports day is off site, or starts at a different time, use this instead: Please bring your child straight to [LOCATION] for [ARRIVAL TIME]. We will be at [MEETING POINT]. If you cannot get there, please tell us by [REPLY BY DATE] so that we can arrange for your child to travel with us.

What to wear and bring

Please send your child in:

A plain [HOUSE COLOURS] top, if you have one — we group the children into houses, and it makes a real difference to them to be able to see their own team. Any plain top in the right colour is fine. Nothing needs buying.
Trainers or plimsolls. Not school shoes, not sandals, not football boots.
Shorts or jogging bottoms — whatever they can run in.
A sun hat, and
A named water bottle, full. There will be water to refill it.

Please do not send anything valuable. We cannot look after watches, phones or jewellery on the field.

Sun cream adapt to your setting's own policy

If the forecast is sunny, please apply a long-lasting sun cream before your child comes in. [SETTING NAME]'s position on sun cream during the day is: [YOUR POLICY — for example, staff do not apply sun cream; children may bring their own named cream and apply it themselves; or staff will apply cream with written consent]. Please check that line, because it is the one parents ask about most.

If the weather is bad

We will decide by [WET WEATHER DECISION TIME] and let you know by [HOW — text message, app, website, the gate]. If we cannot run the full event we will either shorten it, move it indoors, or move it to [RESERVE DATE]. We will not cancel for light rain, so please dress your child for the weather we have rather than the weather we want.

Spectators

You are very welcome to come and watch. [SPECTATOR ARRANGEMENT — where to stand or sit, whether you need to sign in at reception, whether pushchairs and dogs can come, and whether there is parking.] Please bring your own chair or blanket if you would like to sit down.

We ask spectators to stay in the spectator area during events, so that the children can see where they are going and so that we can keep track of everybody. Please do not call your child over to you mid-event — they will be with their group until the end.

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · Parents and carersPage 2 of 7

Photography adapt to your setting's own policy

[PHOTOGRAPHY POSITION — your setting's own wording.] Settings differ widely on this, and it is the paragraph that causes trouble if it is wrong, so it must say what your own policy says. Most settings say something along the lines of: you are welcome to photograph or film your own child; please do not photograph other people's children; and please do not post pictures of other people's children on social media. Some settings do not permit photography at all. Some ask that you check in with a member of staff first, because there are children present whose images must not be taken.

[If you have children whose images must not be captured, say so here in whatever form your policy uses — without identifying them.]

If your child cannot take part

Please tell us on the slip below. Children who cannot compete still come, still have a job, and still get to be part of their house's day — there is always something to do that is not running.

Medical and medication adapt to your setting's own policy

If your child has asthma, an allergy, a condition affected by heat or exercise, or needs medication during the day, please tell us on the slip even if we already know. We would far rather be told twice. [YOUR POLICY on inhalers, medication and care plans on an off-site or outdoor event.]

First aid and supervision adapt to your setting's own policy

[YOUR POLICY — who will be on site, where first aid will be, and your normal ratios.]

Anything else

If you have a question, please contact [CONTACT].

We hope to see you there. It is one of the best days of the year.

Yours sincerely,

[NAME]
[ROLE]
[SETTING NAME]

cut here

Please detach and return to [SETTING NAME] by [REPLY BY DATE].

SPORTS DAY — [DATE] — REPLY SLIP

Child's name

Class or group

House (if known)

Please tick:

My child will take part.
My child will come but cannot take part in some or all events.
Reason, if you would like to tell us
My child will not be at [SETTING NAME] on that day.

Will you be coming to watch?

Yes — how many of you?
No
Not sure yet

Medical, medication or anything we should know (please write it even if we already know)

My child will bring their own named sun cream.
My child will bring an inhaler.

Signed

Name

Date

Best phone number for the day

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · Parents and carersPage 3 of 7

Sports Day LetterSwap-in by phase — 1 of 2

Swap-in by phase

Replace the named paragraphs. Everything else in the letter stands.

Early years and nursery

Address it to the parent or carer throughout, and expect them to be there. In nursery, sports day usually is the parents' event.
Replace "The day in brief" with a much shorter version: date, time, where to stand, and what to bring. A nursery parent reading on a phone will not get past the table.
Add a sentence about the format: "This is not a competition. The children will run, jump and throw in small groups with their key person, and every child gets a certificate. There are no winners and nobody is timed." Say it plainly, because parents of three-year-olds arrive expecting a race and worrying about their child losing it.
Add a parents' race line, or rule it out explicitly. "There will / will not be a parents' race." If you do not say, you will be asked all morning.
Replace "What to wear" with: usual clothes they can move in, trainers or plimsolls, a sun hat, a named water bottle, and spare clothes. Drop the house colour paragraph — most early years settings do not use houses — unless yours does.
Add: "Please bring your child's buggy if you normally would. There is space to leave it at [PLACE]."
Add the toilet line: "Toilets are at [PLACE]. Please take your child before we start." Experienced early years staff put this in every letter for a reason.
Keep it to one side of one sheet. If it runs to two, cut it.

Primary — infant and junior

The letter on pages 2 and 3 is written for this phase. Send it as it stands.
Infant years: add the spare clothes line and the toilet line from early years.
Junior years: add the house points line — "Points your child wins go to their house, and the winning house will be announced at the end of the day." It raises the stakes in exactly the way the children want.
Add, if it is true: "Every child will take part in [NUMBER] events." Parents worry that their child will be left out, and a number settles it.

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · Swap-insPage 4 of 7

Sports Day LetterSwap-in by phase — 2 of 2

Secondary

Address it to the parent or carer, and send a copy to the student. Students do not read letters sent to their parents, and the parent is not the one who has to remember a kit bag.
Replace "What to wear and bring" with the PE kit requirement in your own words, plus a water bottle and sun hat. "[YOUR PE KIT] and trainers. No football boots. No jewellery."
Add the attendance line: "Sports day is a normal school day and attendance is registered as usual." This is the single most useful sentence in a secondary sports day letter.
Add the arrangement for non-competitors: "Students not competing will be [in lessons / in the spectator stand / helping as officials] — they are not sent home."
Replace "If your child cannot take part" with an arrangement rather than a reassurance. Fourteen-year-olds who are not competing need a job, not sympathy.
Spectators: be specific about where parents may and may not go. A secondary site is bigger and the answer is less obvious than at a primary.
Photography: the same adapt to your setting's own policy marker applies, and add your position on students filming on phones, which is a different question from parents filming.

College and university

Do not send this letter. Write to the participant instead — use the version on page 6. A letter to the parent of a nineteen-year-old is the wrong document, and in higher education you will usually have no right to send one.
If you are a sixth form or college with under-18 students, send the participant version and a short note to the parent or carer covering the date, the times, where it is, and who to contact. Everything else goes to the student.

A note on "setting" and on "parent or carer"

The letter says setting rather than school wherever a nursery, a college or a university would be reading it, and parent or carer throughout. If you are a school writing to parents, replace "setting" with "school" everywhere — it will read better. Keep "parent or carer".

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · Swap-insPage 5 of 7

Sports Day LetterParticipant version — post-16

Who this version is for

Colleges, universities, sixth forms and any setting where the participant is the person who needs to know. Same information, written to the person doing the running. Shorter, because an adult will stop reading sooner.

[SETTING NAME]

Sports Day — [DATE]

Sports day is on [DATE] at [LOCATION]. First event [START TIME], finish about [END TIME].

Signing up. [HOW TO ENTER — form, link, tutor, team captain] by [REPLY BY DATE]. You can enter [NUMBER] events. If you want to compete and have missed the deadline, ask [CONTACT] anyway — we would rather squeeze you in than have an empty lane.

Where to be. [MEETING POINT] at [ARRIVAL TIME]. Check the running order when you get there; it will have moved.

Bring

Kit you can run in, and trainers. No football boots on the track.
A full water bottle. There is water to refill it.
A hat and sun cream if it is sunny — put it on before you come.
Your team or house colour if you have one: a plain [HOUSE COLOURS] top. Nothing needs buying.
Nothing valuable. Nowhere is secure.

Teams. You will be in [HOUSE OR TEAM ARRANGEMENT]. Points go to your team and the result is announced at the end.

Weather. We will decide by [WET WEATHER DECISION TIME] and post it on [WHERE — the app, the portal, the noticeboard]. Light rain, we run.

Spectators. [ARRANGEMENT.] Friends and family welcome / not this year / in the [AREA] only.

Photography adapt to your setting's own policy
[YOUR POSITION.] For an adult audience this usually comes down to: we will be taking photographs for [USE]; tell [CONTACT] if you do not want to be in them; and if you are photographing, ask before you post someone else.

If you have a condition, an injury or need medication during the day adapt to your setting's own policy
Tell [CONTACT] before the day, in confidence. [YOUR POLICY.] You are not required to tell us why you are not competing in something.

Not competing? Come anyway. We need [OFFICIALS / MARSHALS / SCORERS / A PHOTOGRAPHER] and it is a better day from the inside. Ask [CONTACT].

Questions: [CONTACT].

cut here

Only needed if you are not collecting entries online.

SPORTS DAY — [DATE] — ENTRY

Name

Course or group

Team or house, if known

Events I want to enter (up to [NUMBER])

I would rather help than compete. I can [marshal / score / time / take photographs].

Anything we should know, in confidence

Phone number for the day

{{SITE_NAME}}Sports Day Letter · Post-16 participant versionPage 6 of 7

Sports Day LetterShort messages and the checklist

The day-before reminder

A short message for a text, an app notification or a parent portal. Settings always ask for one, because the letter went out three weeks ago and nobody has it.

Parents and carers — primary

Sports day is tomorrow, [DATE], [START TIME] to [END TIME] at [LOCATION]. Please send your child in a plain [HOUSE COLOURS] top, trainers, a sun hat and a full named water bottle, with sun cream already on. Spectators welcome from [TIME] at [PLACE]. If the weather turns, we will let you know by [WET WEATHER DECISION TIME].

Participants — post-16

Sports day tomorrow, [START TIME], [LOCATION]. Kit, trainers, full water bottle, hat and sun cream. Meet at [MEETING POINT]. Running order on [WHERE].

The wet weather message

Write both of these before the day, so that at seven in the morning you only have to press send.

Going ahead

Sports day is going ahead today as planned, [START TIME] at [LOCATION]. It may be wet underfoot, so please send a coat and a change of footwear.

Changed or cancelled

Sports day today is [shortened to [NEW TIMES] / moving indoors to [PLACE] / postponed to [RESERVE DATE]]. [WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SPECTATORS — welcome as planned, limited numbers indoors, or not this time.] Children should still come to [SETTING NAME] as normal and [WHAT TO WEAR TODAY INSTEAD]. We are sorry — we know people had taken time off.

That last sentence matters. Spectators have arranged their day around it, and a cancellation notice that does not acknowledge that reads as careless.

Checklist before you send

All seven required fields filled in — search for [ and check nothing is left
The photography paragraph replaced with your setting's own position, and read by whoever owns that policy
The sun cream paragraph replaced with your setting's own position
The medical and first aid and supervision paragraphs replaced with your own policy wording
Every adapt to your setting's own policy marker either replaced or deliberately kept
Variants for other phases deleted
House colour paragraph deleted if you do not use houses
Reply-by date is at least a week before the day, and is a day you will be in
The reply slip has the date on it, because it will be returned detached from the letter
Read by somebody who was not involved in writing it
Reserve date checked against the calendar
Day-before reminder and both wet weather messages drafted and saved now, not on the morning

What this resource is not

No legal, health and safety, medical or first-aid advice appears anywhere in this resource, and none of it may be read as any. Six passages in the letters carry the adapt to your setting's own policy marker. The suggested photography wording is described as what most settings say and is explicitly not presented as a requirement or as a correct form of words. Where your setting's policy differs from anything suggested here, your policy wins.

{{SITE_NAME}} · {{SITE_URL}}Free to print, edit and use within your own settingPage 7 of 7