Daily PE for All

Centre of Excellence
Aspirations of a PE teacher

MITA (P) 052/05/2008 August 2008 Vol.13 No.1


COVER. Studies have
shown that children who
undergo daily physical
exercise in primary school
not only perform better
academically, but also grow
up to be more physically
and emotionally healthier.
Seng Kang Primary School
shares her experiences as
she enters the 5th year of
implementing daily PE.
Contents
Daily PE for All ……………..2
East Zone Centre of
Excellence @ Park
View Primary School ………5
Aspirations of a
PE teacher (part 1)...…….....7
Aspirations of a
PE teacher (part 2)...…….....8
Ultimate Frisbee @
Hougang Secondary ……….9
One West Floorball Club….10
The Singapore Physical
Education Association is
committed to the promotion
of sound physical education
and healthy lifestyle.
Towards Professionalism in
Physical Education
Editor’s Comments
Young or old, male or female, despite our
individual differences, as PE teachers we
share a common goal of developing our
students through physical education. In
this issue we hear from two SPEA
outstanding PE teacher award winners,
as they share about their dreams and aspirations for
their students. Also, read more about daily PE for all –
an ambitious venture by Sengkang Primary School
that has more than proven itself. Do have an enjoyable
read!
Dr Lee Kok Sonk
Message from the President
Let me begin by saying a very big thank
you to the outgoing committee. I must
commend them on an excellent job over
the past years that they have led the
SPEA; my committee and I will certainly
strive to live up to the high standards that
they have set. One thing we hope to achieve is to
enhance the professional experience of all members.
We will seek to create opportunities to promote
interaction between our PE teachers via avenues such
as learning journeys. As a whole, we hope that SPEA
will forge ahead as a cohesive unit as we seek to
promote physical activities, health, and sports
throughout the nation!
Mr Goh Ek Piang
SPEA Members
President: Mr Goh Ek Piang
Vice President
(Research and Publications): Dr Lee kok Sonk
Vice President
(Planning and Development): Dr Lee Peng Hui Bervyn
Honorary Secretary: Ms Chow Mei Peng
Asst. Honorary Secretary: Ms Chang Tsai
Treasurer: Mr Yong Tze Woon
Committee Members: Mr Patrick Tan Song Huey
Mr S Sivalingam
Mr Gurmit Singh
Mrs Helen Low Kwee Fong
Ms Chamanpreet Kaur d/o Jaspal
Singh
Co-opted Members: Mr Andrew Stephen
Ms Audrey Cheang
Dr John Tan
Mr Robert Tan
1
 PE used to be something that students
would dread, but at Sengkang Primary
School, not only do students enjoy it, it is
something they look forward to every
morning as they go to school:
Daily PE
for ALL
@ Sengkang Primary school (SKPS)
INTRODUCTION
The Sporting Culture Committee (SCC)-
headed by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of
Community Development, Youth and Sports
& Ministry of Transport, graced the press
conference at SKPS to promote sports as a
way of life for Singaporeans. He also
highlighted SKPS daily PE lessons with
sports infused into their everyday lives while
announcing the recommendations of the
SCC.
This has sparked a lot of interest among
the sporting community in schools as to how,
and why, SKPS implemented the Daily PE
programme in their school.
RATIONAL
The school undertook an envisioning
journey in 2003 to refine its programmes.
One of the main foci of the journey was to
listen to the needs of its stakeholders, in
particular the pupils. The results of a
thorough feedback process showed that all
pupils from Primary 1 to Primary 6 indicated
a common and obvious need; they wanted
more of a Physical Education (PE)
experience.
The physical and medical benefits of
sustained long term physical exercise have
long been tracked for its positive impact. In a
One of the
many
activities that
make daily
PE an
enjoyable
experience for
students at
Sengkang
Primary
School
tracking study conducted by Stephens (2001)
with a group of pupils who had undergone
daily physical exercise in elementary school
found that as adults, the participants tended to
be more confident, less likely to suffer injuries,
had lower heart rates and better high-density
lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol levels. They
also performed better in academic coursework.
This strong correlation between long-term
physical education and health benefits, and the
alignment to SKPS’s 7 Desired Outcomes of
HEALTHY PUPILS, spurred the school to
embrace a dialogue with various stakeholders
on ways to develop pupils’ physical, affective,
social, mental and health education domains.
With a loud ground call from pupils and with
the consistent research support on the benefits
of daily physical education, a daily PE
programme was implemented in SKPS.
2
Implementation
To ensure the success of implementation of • PE Leaders
Daily PE for All, the school consciously Pupil PE leaders are explicitly trained to
considered the following structures: manage equipment from stores, assisting
• Integration of PE Schemes of Work teachers in class management during class
PE schemes of work are integrated with health movement and lessons. In doing so, they
education to provide a holistic physical display competencies related to leadership
education. This complements the approach and initiative.
taken that physical, mental and health • Re-design of School cum PE attire
education domains are closely intertwined for The previous uniform required pupils to
total wellness and not as separate entities. change into their PE attire and that caused
Pupils learn at least 12 sports skills and many a series of problems such as loss of
dance variations, with increasing depth and curriculum time, extra uniform needed to be
breadth of the developmental schemes of work. brought to school and pupils forgetting to
• Creative use of facilities & resources bring their PE attire. The school took a
The school’s existing facilities and resources structural change for a set of attire that
such as the bus bay, foyer, parade square, could double up as a PE uniform. With
field, hall and basketball court, are fully utilized stakeholders involved, the quality of the
as venues for PE lessons on a daily basis. fabric (as in quick-drying cotton fabric) and
• PE Assessment Rubrics aesthetic appeal, such as it being smart-
Using the MOE banding criteria for PE, the looking, were taken into consideration in
school went a step further to define rubrics that the uniform design.
supported the schemes of work. Now, pupils
are assessed half-yearly with a clearly defined
PE grade.
• Timetabling
The timetable is carefully and painstakingly
planned to maximize facilities and equipment
available. Trained PE teachers, either posted
by MOE or creatively recruited by school, are
deliberately matched to teach upper levels
where the PE syllabuses are more demanding.
Classes of the same level have PE lessons at
the same time, wherever possible, to facilitate
mass activities. We have also extended PE
beyond 10.30am with creative use of facilities.
• Deployment / Recruitment / Training of PE
teachers and PE-inclined teachers
With the support of teachers who are PE-
inclined, regular in-house training programmes
are conducted for them. They are groomed to
meet the demands of the primary PE syllabus.
The school has formed a partnership with
Physical Education Sports Science (PESS)
Department, National Institute of Education
(NIE), Singapore Physical Education
Association (SPEA) and Singapore Sports
Council (SSC) to look into PE programmes for
the long-haul. Moreover, comprehensive PE
resources are built to support the competency
level of our teachers.

3
 Impact and Results

Overall 90
PFT Pass
Year National
Rate (%) 89
Average (%)
88

PFT Pass Rate

2003 83.1 85.3
87
2004 85.0 87.0 86 School

2005 87.0 86.4 85 Overall

national
84 Average
2006 88.1 86.2
83
Figs not
82
2007 88.7 available at
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
print

Challenges
The school is now into her 5th year of
implementing Daily PE. Whilst this
structural and programme innovation has
been much touted by overseas and local
educationists, the school is working on
some considerations that lie ahead:
• Increasing skills acquisition of pupils to
cover a range of learning outcomes from
games concept approach, fitness
conditioning, fundamental movement,
health education to creative dance;
• Increasing teaching capacity of teachers
in PE for delivery of effective lessons to
deliver specified learning outcomes;
• Integrating character building with Daily
PE to imbue values in pupils; and
• Enhancing HOlistic Physical Education
(HOPE) as a key strategy for our strategic
thrust on Physical Development.
Conclusion
Throughout the past 5 years, the Daily PE
programme has met with positive feedback
from student, staff, and parents alike.
SKPS looks to carry on this innovation into
the future, and hopes to be a model for
other schools wishing to adopt a Daily PE
programme as well.
Reference
Stephens, L. (2001). Tracking the Long-
Term Benefits of Physical Education.
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation
& Dance, 72(3), 5.
What do you think about the
Daily PE programme? Would
you like to see it implemented in
your school? Send your
comments to the editor at
lee_kok_sonk@moe.gov.sg

Conferences
3-6 November 2008 Calling all conference/
12th World Sport for All Congress.
event organisers…
Venue: Genting Highlands, Malaysia. Send your date, venue and contact of
Further details: your conference or event to
www.sportforall2008.olympic.org.my lee_kok_sonk@moe.gov.sg
4
 East Zone Centre of Excellence
@ Park View Primary School
SPORTS FOR ALL, THE “EZ”
WAY!
The East Zone Centre of Excellence
(Sports) at Park View Primary School
was officially launched on 22 May 2008
by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of
Community Development, Youth &
Sports and Ministry of Transport.
The steering committee hopes to
create opportunities for primary school
students in the East Zone to have a
broad-based exposure to a sporting
culture and provide broad-based
support at all levels for both staff and
students to further the development and
enhance the performance of the key
identified sports of Hockey, Netball and
Soccer. The Centre of Excellence (COE)
signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Football
Association of Singapore (FAS), the
Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF)
and Singapore Netball Association
(SNA) to further develop these 3 sports
in the East Zone.
Guests and participants at the launch
event were impressed by the Wushu,
rope skipping and artistic gymnastics
performances by pupils from Park View
Primary School, Anglican High School,
Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School
(Primary & Secondary), Chung Cheng
High School (Yishun), Canberra
Secondary School, Greenwood Primary
School and Griffiths Primary School.
After the exciting performances,
guests and participants were invited to
attend the sports clinics conducted by
5
Wushu performance by pupils from Park View
Primary School Wushu Team.
Mr C Kunalan, Assistant Professor,
Physical Education Sports Science
(PESS) Department, National Institute
of Education (NIE), on “Olympics is
Coming to Town” and Mr Gobinathan
Nair, Assistant Director, Exercise
Physiology Department, Singapore
Sports School, on “Physiological
Issues and Challenges in Training
Young Athletes for Team Sports”.
Learn to Play Centres were
organised for guests and pupil
participants keen to try out new sports
activities. They could either try their
hand in Tchoukball, Unicycling,
Juggling, Fun Hockey, Kidznet Netball,
Archery and Rope skipping. The more
sports inclined pupils took part in the
Mini Hockey Tournament, Mini Netball
Tournament and Soccer Skills
Challenge Circuit.
The incredible support shown by all
guests and participants truly made
“SPORTS FOR ALL, THE EZ WAY!”
 Aspirations of a PE teacher

By Michael Kwok Weng Meng

SPEA Outstanding PE Teacher
Award 2008 (Secondary/JC)
Pioneer Junior College
"Mr Kwok, did you go to university?"
"Then why did you become a teacher?"
"Of all subjects, why teach PE?"
"Don't you think it's a waste? I mean, you have a degree and end up teaching PE?"
Ever since I became a PE teacher in 1999, countless batches of students have asked me these same
questions over and over again. However, each time these questions are asked, I still take a moment
to reflect on my true reasons for wanting to be a PE teacher and more importantly, to examine my
personal philosophy of PE. To me, PE is education using physical activity as the medium to impart
values and life skills. It is through physical activities that I teach my students values like respect,
integrity, honesty and fair-play. It is through physical activities that I encourage my students to
appreciate their own abilities and not to discount themselves just because they perceive themselves
to be smaller, slower or less coordinated than their classmates. This philosophy has guided me over
the years and shaped how I conduct my PE lessons.
While having a personal philosophy of PE is important, having fellow PE professionals who share
the same passion for teaching PE helped me to sustain my own passion for teaching. Over the years,
I have had the privilege of working for two outstanding PE HODs who have been role-models for
me. When I was posted to Dunearn Secondary School in 1999, the then-HOD PE was Mr Lee Keng
Wai. Although he was not trained in PE, he always made sure that he was prepared to teach his
lessons to the best of his ability. He was humble and never felt that it was beneath him to approach
me, then a beginning teacher, for feedback on his PE lessons. In 2001, I was posted to Pioneer JC
where the HOD PE then was Mrs Koh-Lim Ai Lay. Leading by example, her lessons were well-
planned, with clear objectives and catered to a range of ability levels. She believed that such
standards were necessary in order for PE not to be marginalised. Now as HOD PE myself, I have
incorporated aspects of both their approaches towards PE into my own PE programme.
Besides teaching, one of the other aspects of my career that has given me great satisfaction is that of
coaching my own athletes. On the training field, I am the coach; off the training field, I am a friend,
confidante, mentor and teacher. Coaching gives me the opportunity to establish a closer rapport
with my students to help them achieve both sporting and academic success. As a teacher-coach, I
am probably in the best position to balance the demands of training around the students' academic
schedules. I believe that there are no trade-offs between doing well academically and achieving
success in sports. As in teaching, coaching also presents ample opportunities for imparting values
and life skills to my students. There are many teachable moments that occur during training and in
games. In my role as a teacher, I have used these moments to impart valuable lessons to my
students. There will always be ups and downs in teaching and coaching, however I always remind
myself that a job is what I do to earn a living but a calling is what drives me to impact lives.

7
 Aspirations of a PE teacher

By Ang Swee Chong

SPEA Outstanding PE Teacher
Award 2008 (Primary)
Elias Park Primary School

My ambition to be a PE teacher can be traced

back to my childhood days in the late 70s. I was an
overweight and clumsy child then. Like my more
endowed friends, we were often rejected or last to
be picked for games by our more athletic peers in
the playground or during PE lessons. We started to
associate sports with ‘failure’ and gradually lost
interest in physical activities. Fired by my childhood
experiences, I was determined to make a
difference when I grew up. Hence, PE became the
career of choice.
I wanted to make quality sports & PE experiences accessible to every child regardless of
their shape and size. Thus, I worked my way up to a HOD position and implemented many
school-wide initiatives that have brought about a more inclusive sports culture. Our Modular
CCA programme is one such example. The programme allows 100% of P3-6 pupils to pick up
to 8 Sports & Games during their primary school years. This is also a talent identification
platform for the schools niche sports.
Another notable initiative is the Mass Modular PE programme where we pair a trained PE
teacher with an untrained one. This has resulted in 100% of pupils having access to quality
PE lessons conducted by trained PE teachers.
In light of the current TLLM initiative, my next goal is to
implement the Sports Education Curriculum Model where
there will be enormous possibilities for PE to contribute to
the character development of our pupils.
My classic advice for PE teachers is this: Whenever you
find yourself being bogged down by challenges in your
work life, revisit your purpose for choosing teaching as a
career in the first place. For me, nothing rekindles my
passion for teaching more than the warmth in my heart
when I feel connected with my pupils and the satisfaction of
making a difference in their lives.

Do you have an interesting experience as a PE

teacher to share? Let us hear about it and if your
entry is published you stand to win a $50 Nike
Voucher!
8
 Ultimate Frisbee
@ Hougang Secondary School
"..the team sport of the future, combining the running of soccer with the stamina of hockey and the
cutting, jumping and passing of basketball..." The National Post, Canada
What is Ultimate? To date, the seniors have brought the lower
secondary students into the team, diligently
Who in the world names a sport ‘Ultimate’?
imparting skills to them in an attempt to repeat
Any English teacher will probably tell you that
their success at this year’s tournament.
you can’t call a sport ‘ultimate’ – that’s an
adjective! But what else can you name
something after, except the adjective that best
describes it? Well, at least that was what a
group of college students in the US thought
after they invented a game using a flying disc,
more commonly known as a ‘frisbee’, much in
the same manner as basketball was invented.
Ultimate Frisbee, or ‘Ultimate’ for short, has
gone through various stages of evolution since
its inauguration about 40 years ago, and its
popularity has grown rapidly here, with
Singapore hosting many regional tournaments
annually.
The championship winning team from Hougang
HS Ultimate
Secondary School
Introduced last year as part of the “Engaging The Spirit of the Game
the Disengaged” initiative, which aims to get
disinterested students involved in school- Ultimate stands apart from any other
based activities, Ultimate Frisbee has competitive sport by what is commonly known
developed into a full-fledged CCA in Hougang as the ‘spirit of the game’. Contrary to popular
Secondary School. The sport was taught for belief, this has nothing to do with alcohol
just one lesson during regular PE classes, and consumption, but rather the fact that there are
interested students who were not attending a no referees or umpires, even in elite
CCA regularly were invited to come for training tournaments. Players call their own fouls and
sessions conducted by a volunteer coach. settle disputes on their own. This aspect of the
game is strongly emphasized and used as an
avenue for character development of the
students. Not only do the students express joy
at learning the proper throwing techniques,
they learn good sportsmanship and fair play.
Wen Hao, the team’s web manager
commented how it is “not whether a team wins
or loses the game, but whether players have
Junjie demonstrates the correct way to “attack” the disc learnt from the experience”. However, general
sentiments from the team, as voiced by
After just 2 months of training, this fledgling
teacher-in-charge Mr Sunny Ng, is the hope
group of secondary 2 and 3 students took
that the sport will be recognized by CCAB, and
part in the Singapore Juniors Ultimate Open,
hence be brought beyond a recreational level.
defeating 7 other teams to emerge as the top
Hopefully, this is something we will see in the
junior team in Singapore!
future!
Visit HS Ultimate at http://hougangultimate.blogspot.com or learn more about the sport at www.singaporeultimate.com
 Floorball is one of the fastest growing sports in
Singapore. Combining the skill and stamina of
hockey with the fast paced action of NBA
basketball, this game has attracted a large
following of students and adults alike. This issue,
we hear about one of the pioneer floorball clubs
in Singapore, the One West Floorball Club.
One West Floorball Club was formed in 2007
to promote the game of floorball to the students
in the West. The club also aims to provide a
platform for students to participate in
competitions at a higher level, beyond the school The club currently trains at Swiss Cottage
competitions, i.e. National Floorball League and Secondary School but come November
the various carnivals and competitions organised 2008, we will move to our new home at
by Singapore Floorball Association. Yusoff Ishak Secondary School.
ONE West Floorball Club aims to nurture
champions of character through the deliberate Our Motto:
teaching of values through sports. Every member We are fighters
in the club is part of our family and we provide
social and emotional support, beyond just Our Mission:
participation in sports. The club actively involves Nurturing Champions of Character
the parents of our members and numerous through Sports
partners in the character building process of our
members. We aim to use values taught through Our Vision:
sports to relate our members to success in A Champion, A Youth with Character & A
studies, career and life. Socially Responsible Citizen
Since our inception, the current active strength
of our club is about 50 boys and 40 girls. The Our Philosophy:
age range of our members is from 7-21 years. "The most important thing is not to win,
The alumni and walk-in members tallies to but to take part; just as the most important
another 50 boys and girls. These members are thing in life is not the triumph, but the
from a wide range of school, which includes attempt. The essential thing is not to have
Keming Primary School, Swiss Cottage conquered, but to have fought well."
Secondary School, Yusoff Ishak Secondary The Olympic Creed, 1894
School, Bukit View Secondary School,
Serangoon Gardens Secondary School,
Millennia Institute, Republic Polytechnic, Ngee Contact Us:
Ann Polytechnic and a few others in the West Mr Siva Gopal Thaiyalan:
zone. siva_gopal_THAIYALAN@moe.gov.sg
Mr Shashidaran Kaneson
shashidaran_kaneson@moe.edu.sg
10