She was extremely excited to take part and as she walked out on to the playground with the rest of her class, she almost exploded with joy.

She waved, blew kisses and gave the thumbs-up, before beginning the mammoth task of throwing beanbags into a bucket; carrying a jug of water without spilling any, and doing a mini assault course, complete with tunnel and balance beam.

She managed to do everything successfully, and then it was time for the last race of the day – a sprint across the playground. The children were split into four different groups, and each child was asked if they'd like their mummies to race with them. Hopes of doing a Princess Di and sprinting barefoot to victory were quickly shattered when my daughter announced that she could do fine on her own, thank you very much, and the whistle blew.

With all the parents cheering, the children raced towards the finish line, and my daughter managed to come in first place. I was so proud of her, especially since, when it came to my own school sports days, I was absolutely rubbish. In fact I distinctly remember one race where everyone beat me by a mile. My parents had some encouraging words for me though: "Don't worry", they said, "If the race was shown backwards, you would definitely be the winner."

I do remember having lots of fun on sports days at primary school, with egg and spoon, sack races, and of course the three-legged race. When I got to the secondary school though, everything changed. The thought of all the big kids seeing my feeble attempts at sport left me shaking with fear, and I always opted to sit on the sidelines, cheering on my sporty friend Claire, who I do believe held the record for javelin throwing at our school. The only claim to fame I have was the time I accidentally threw my javelin into the sidelines, sending terrified kids flying in all directions.

I can still here the screams of "Are you crazy?" and "Get off the field!" as I desperately tried to retrieve my javelin. I've always thought all the recent health and safety school rules are way too extreme, but when I think back to my times on the sports field, I think
I probably had a lot to do with them being introduced!