Sports Day Report

Overview

This 45-minute writing session is designed for Year 5 students (aged 9–10) to craft an engaging and well-structured report on their recent sports day event. The lesson directly supports the English programmes of study within the National Curriculum for England, particularly targetting writing for different purposes, structuring texts, and grammatical accuracy.

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National Curriculum Links

Writing (Year 5):

• Pupils should be taught to:
  • Plan writing by discussing and recording ideas.
  • Draft and write by organising paragraphs around a theme.
  • Use devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs (e.g., adverbials of time, place, number).
  • Use organisational and presentational devices (headings, sub-headings, bullet points) to structure texts.
  • Evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness, proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary for precision and impact.
  • Use relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or with an implied (i.e. omitted) relative pronoun.
  • Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely.
  • Use a range of sentence structures to achieve particular effects.
  • Proofread for spelling and punctuation errors (e.g., commas after fronted adverbials).

Spoken Language:

• Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers.
• Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:

1. Plan and write a chronological, clear, and informative report about the recent sports day using appropriate structure and language.
2. Use paragraphs effectively to organise ideas about different sports day events, including the bean bag throw, obstacle race, hockey relay, throw for distance, 100m race, egg and spoon race, relay race, and parents race.
3. Employ a varied sentence structure, including expanded noun phrases and relative clauses, to add detail and clarity.
4. Use organisational devices such as headings, subheadings, and bullet points to enhance readability.
5. Edit and improve their writing by checking for consistent tense, accurate punctuation, and correct spelling of subject-specific vocabulary.

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Resources

• Whiteboard and markers
• Writing templates with headings/subheadings (sports day events)
• Word banks with conjunctions, expanded noun phrases, and relative clause starters
• Photos or short video clips from the sports day (if available)
• Lined paper and pencils
• Exemplars of a short sports report

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Lesson Structure (45 Minutes)

Introduction (8 minutes)

1. Begin by recapping the recent sports day activities to consolidate memories. Use photos/video excerpts to prompt discussion.
2. Explicitly explain the purpose of a report: to inform readers about an event using clear, formal language and an organised structure.
3. Display and discuss the learning objectives.

Teacher models briefly how a report’s introduction sets the scene.

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Main Activity (30 minutes)

Part 1: Planning (10 minutes)

• Use a shared writing approach: on the whiteboard, create a mind map of the sports day events, listing the bean bag throw, obstacle race, hockey relay, throw for distance, 100m race, egg and spoon race, relay race, and parents race as subheadings.
• Elicit descriptive vocabulary related to each event from the class (e.g., “competitive,” “fun,” “challenging,” “exciting”).
• Guide pupils to add who participated, what happened, when, and where.
• Introduce sentence starters using relative clauses and expanded noun phrases to enrich descriptions.
• Pupils independently complete a planning template organising ideas under subheadings.

Part 2: Writing the Report (20 minutes)

• Pupils write the report using their plan, focusing on:
  • An engaging introduction (setting scene, date of event)
  • Well-organised paragraphs (each paragraph about different events)
  • Use of varied sentence structures and cohesive devices (firstly, next, then, finally)
  • Headings and subheadings to structure their writing
• Teacher circulates, supports, and prompts pupils to use new vocabulary and sentence techniques.
• Encourage pupils to underline expanded noun phrases and relative clauses within their drafts.

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Plenary and Assessment (7 minutes)

• Invite 3–4 volunteers to read their introductions or a paragraph aloud.
• Conduct a class ‘spot the technique’ quiz: identify an expanded noun phrase or relative clause and explain its effect.
• Pupils peer-assess in pairs using a simple checklist:
  • Is the report in the correct order?
  • Are paragraphs clearly signposted with headings?
  • Is there evidence of descriptive detail?
  • Has the pupil used a variety of sentence structures?
• For homework or next steps, pupils revise their report, focusing on correcting punctuation errors, especially commas after fronted adverbials and accurate spelling of event names.

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Differentiation

• Support: Provide writing frames with sentence starters and word banks. Allow scribing or sentence dictation for pupils with writing difficulties.
• Challenge: Encourage more able writers to include complex relative clauses and conjunctions to vary sentence openings, or to include quotes/interviews from participants as part of the report.

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Assessment Opportunities

• Formative assessment through observation during planning and writing.
• Use of checklist during peer-assessment to gauge understanding of structure and language features.
• Evidence collected: final drafts evaluated for paragraph organisation, use of grammatical forms, and spelling accuracy.

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Extension Ideas

• Create a class display showcasing the reports with photos and diagrams from sports day.
• Use camera or voice recorder for pupils to present their reports orally, practising clear diction and intonation, linking to Spoken Language objectives.
• Introduce subheadings that explain the significance of each event (e.g., “The Competitive Spirit of the 100m Race”).

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This lesson capitalises on a real, recent event to inspire purposeful writing, meeting key Year 5 writing criteria and encouraging pupils to refine their crafting of reports with accuracy, clarity, and creativity.