By Domnic Dass
‘Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.’
Mike Singletary*
This year marks a significant milestone for the Sports Education Programme (SEP) with the inclusion of Special Education (SPED) schools. Introduced in 2007, the SEP is a collaborative partnership between the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and the Ministry of Education (MOE), with the objective to encourage the young to play more sports and to provide more opportunities for them to do so.
To date, 384 out of 387 schools have already opted into this programme that provides them with an additional $10,000 for sports participation.
One of the SPED schools, which has benefitted from this dollar-to-dollar matching grant, is Chaoyang School. By making sports an integral part of the school curriculum, administered through regular Physical Education (PE) lessons or Co-Curricular Activities, the school has endeavored to provide every child with a holistic education.
A significant change to the school’s CCA programme took place in 2008. The programme that was conducted after school has since been incorporated into the extended curriculum hours. ‘Only a handful of pupils who could stay behind after school hours were able to participate in the CCA programme previously. Now the entire pupil population from the morning session (the upper primary pupils, aged 10-12 years old) can benefit from the programme,’ shared Mrs Low Siew Ting, the Principal of Chaoyang School.
On top of activities that include popular sports such as swimming, the children are given the chance to kick and dribble some balls, or try their skills at athletics during the PE classes. The CCA programme further enhances the offerings of sporting activities by including games such as bocce, wushu and, of course, Singapore’s all-time favourite sport - soccer! The children simply love it! The pupils will also be thrilled to know that the school is introducing two new activities under SEP in Semester Two. Skipping and juggling are two great and fun games that the pupils can choose to play on their own, or with their friends at just about anytime, anywhere!
Mrs Low is a firm believer that the sports involvement does help in the pupils’ development. The children tend to be calmer and more focused after PE lessons and CCA. The children are able to learn important values such as discipline, perseverance and teamwork through sports. They are also able to gain more exposure and build their self-confidence when they participate in competitions. On top of that, the kids pick up a sport that they can continue to play as a recreational activity, even after they leave school.
Indeed, sports is a universal language that everyone and anyone speaks. Able-bodied or otherwise, sports gives the opportunity to all to play.
* Mike Singletary, a.k.a., Samurai Mike, is a famous former linebacker in American football, who made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
TPT will like to say a big thank you here to Chaoyang School and the Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) for their kind contribution and support!
There are many ways that you can extend help to people with special needs – you can volunteer your time and energy, donate funds, be a sponsor or get your company involved. You can drop a note to APSN at hq@apsn.org.sg