It's that time of year when schools all over the UK are preparing for sports days.

PE teachers are organising the different races and events. Pupils are practicing. Parents are busy booking time off work so they can go and watch.

But for many children, school sports day is a source of anxiety and stress.

Whether they don't consider themselves 'sporty', hate the competitive element or feel uncomfortable with the whole school and parents watching them, some children would far rather stay at home that day.

Parenting coach Kirsty Ketley says she hears from parents every year who allow their kids to skive off from sports day.

But she thinks it can do more harm than good.

'Teaching them sportsmanship'

'Sports day teaches kids valuable life lessons about how to deal with disappointment and those feelings of not being good enough or not being the best,' Kirsty tells Netmums.

'It's teaching them sportsmanship, teaching them how to support others how to be your peers, be their cheerleaders.'

Kirsty says that allowing your child to skip the day is depriving them of learning these valuable life skills. Instead of letting them skive off, Kirsty suggests taking them to school as normal but chatting them through why.

'Talk to them about mindset. In our house, we talked about "putting the positive pants on".

'Explain that it's not a day you're going to enjoy but you know what, in life, there are lots of days that you're not going to enjoy, but you have to go through and do.

'Validate their feelings'

'You should absolutely validate their feelings. And perhaps you have your own feelings about sports day from when you were a child at school. Perhaps you didn't like it either. And I think sometimes that's where the issue stems from as well.

'But tell your child that by going, they'll get to support a friend who's really good at a race. They get to cheer them on and how good are they going to feel about themselves - flip it around to be a positive.'

Kirsty also recommends reminding your child that it's OK to lose.

'I think it's important that kids understand that losing doesn't mean you're a loser,' she tells us.

'Teach them how to win and lose, but teach them how to do it graciously.

'It's really important that they are allowed to be competitive, but they have to be guided through how to do that in a way that doesn't affect their self confidence or somebody else's self-confidence.'

Mental health problems

But one mum who isn't a fan of school sports day is empowerment coach and podcaster Harriet Shearsmith.

The mum of three thinks if a child is very anxious about sports day, allowing them to stay off could be a good idea.

'Mental health problems in children is a huge issue,' she tells Netmums.

'As a parent, you have to weigh up the balance of "are they going to be overly stressed about feeling really anxious, and is it going to be detrimental to their mental health?"

'If the answer to that is yes, then absolutely, I would tell my child that they don't have to go in. And I would say that they could spend the day doing something more fulfilling, enjoying doing something else.'

'Overhaul sports days'

Harriet also thinks that the way schools approach sports day should get a complete overhaul.

'Sports day shouldn't be a compulsory thing for children to do. One school near me does what they call a Festival of the Fields instead.

'They give pupils the option to join in with typical sports day activities but there is also the option to go and do other things that get kids moving, get them enjoying being outdoors, enjoying moving their body.

'They have a Wii setup, kids can do a drama workshop there's a dance off area and kids can actually get involved and move their bodies in a way that suits them.

'It isn't just expecting them to compete or perform in front of the whole school and often parents and family members as well, which can be a huge source of anxiety.'