Parents use video to dispute school races Britain

Coming last in the three-legged race or making a hash of the high jump is traumatic for any child, but at one school’s sports day the tears and tantrums can also be heard on the sidelines.

Parents of pupils at Ysgol Mynydd Bychan, a primary school in Cardiff, have been criticised after some videoed events and used the ‘‘evidence’’ to dispute results.

Sian Evans, the head teacher, wrote to them telling them to stop trying to change the official standings, and that the ‘‘teacher’s word is final’’.

‘‘The members of staff at the finish line, and nobody else, have the absolute final say as to the first, second and third-place positions,’’ she wrote. ‘‘Unfortunately, during the last few years parents have approached members of staff with evidence that they had filmed on electronic devices such as iPads in order to prove that their child should have been awarded a higher position in a particular race, and comments also appeared on Facebook.’’

Others described the parents’ behaviour as appalling, and accused them of ‘‘setting a terrible example’’.

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘‘The most important lesson that children should be taught is to respect the decision of the referee or judge. This behaviour is shocking, and it is a sad reflection of parenting . . . that some people are so caught up in whether their kids come a second ahead in the three-legged race.’’

Ysgol Mynydd Bychan, a Welsh-language school with 200 pupils, holds sports day at the National Indoor Athletics Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Evans said there was ‘‘a strong possibility’’ that the school would have to consider changing the ‘‘competitive nature of our sports morning’’ if parents flouted the rules. – The Times