Active for life

The physical education program is an important project developing basic human movement skills for children, such as running, throwing and catching. These skills are essential in developing a child’s confidence to participate in physical activities, sports and games.

Physical literacy’s journey of discovery

The core philosophy that underpins physical education at Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong is that each student is entitled to develop physical literacy through physical experience. Every child is encouraged to value and take responsibility for engaging in physical activities for life by developing motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding. This is simply translated into a progressive PE curriculum which focuses on: head — cognitive understanding of physical literacy; heart — character development and effective elements of physical literacy; hands — practical application of the knowledge and understanding acquired through physical literacy.

Our head, heart and hands program begins with our toddler cohort and extends to Year 13. Knowledge, skills and understanding are aligned within the Dulwich physical education curriculum and blends with the experiences offered through the co-curricular sports program.

The physical education program team aims to develop a positive culture of understanding related to physical literacy — We inspire, enthuse and have an incredible amount of fun in the process of learning. The following projects are to be implemented in 2019.

• Go APE (active physical education)

Students will be immersed in a range of fundamental practices that consolidate and develop core motor skills. We aim to reduce fixed seat learning time and enable students to increase activity and engagement in lessons. Our mantra is: “get ‘em in, get ‘em going, get ‘em thinking, get ‘em doing it at home and get ‘em coming back for more.”

• Heart and sole (and soul!)

Students from Year 1 to 6 participate in fitness testing (of each other) as a precursor to engaging in a range of alternative health activities such as aqua aerobics, cardio drumming, boxercise and yoga.

• Dulwich Activity Bag

Students in Year 1 and 2 classes are provided with a Dulwich Activity Bag to take home on a rotational basis. The bags contain many fun physical activities with instructions for juggling balls, French skipping bands and pretzel yoga cards. The project encourages students to connect with people in their community and link all elements of physical literacy (head, heart, hands) to play. This is “homework” that all children will love to complete, and in doing so, will bring “play” back into the home.

• TRYathlon

Our TRYathlon event inspires students to experience a range of physical movement activities on land, water and on wheels. The project has a service learning theme culminating in advocacy for health and wellness in our community. Students learn that all people, able-bodied or otherwise, can find a physical activity within the community.

The acquisition of physical literacy is a lifelong journey. The development of fine motor skills in our early years is as essential as refining movements to adapt to our aging bodies in adulthood. We aspire all young people at Dulwich College to engage in daily physical activity, with increasing levels of intensity, to impact positively on their health and well-being. We help students build connections between fitness, mindfulness, exercise, health, neuroplasticity and nutrition, so they recognize and meet developmental milestones.

(The article is contributed by Rachel Crossland, head of Primary PE at Dulwich Pudong.)

YCIS Puxi’s sports for all: No one gets excluded

One of the strengths of the sports program at Yew Chung International School of Shanghai Puxi is the broad range of activities available for students.

This is ideal for those still searching to find a sport or activity they would like to participate in. It also means they can enjoy playing some of the alternative sports on offer, such as frisbee and touch rugby. Students learn the key skills and tactics of the games, and new sports are perfect for beginners.

Some schools’ sports clubs generally cater for their top athletes but not at YCIS Puxi.

The school has a range of different levels within each sport so students can learn and enjoy by participating at an appropriate level of competition.

For the school’s younger students, teams are arranged on the base of a pupil’s experience level, while the senior students have a Division One and Division Two team. This means students of either skill or experience can enjoy a healthy and active life by being part of a team.

Beyond participating, YCIS games also bring in large crowds of students who cheer on their classmates, so the sports program is supported by the entire community. One of the sports in which YCIS has been extremely successful is touch rugby.

Touch rugby is a fairly recent sport for the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools organization, and YCIS was one of the first schools to help get this lesser well-known sport up and running.

Over the six years the school’s touch rugby has been running, YCIS has continuously finished in the top three places at the annual ACAMIS Competition. Not only that but YCIS has won the competition three times. Last year, the tournament was held in Hong Kong. The YCIS team performed superbly well and defeated all but one of the other schools.

Next year the school hopes to go one place better.

If you have any questions about sports at YCIS or getting your son or daughter more involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the school and connect with us. One of our favorite things is seeing students find joy in discovering a sport they like. Furthermore, we are happy to help parents and students find their fit.

(The article is contributed by Geoffrey Slade, head of physical education at YCIS Puxi.)

Channeling enthusiasm, sportsmanship and fun

The goal of physical education at Concordia International School Shanghai is to encourage a student’s enthusiasm for physical activity and channel it toward improving motor skills, building sportsmanship and having fun.

With nine health and physical education specialists across four school divisions at Concordia, students enjoy the benefits that activities have on their physical and emotional health.

Physical education starts at 3 years old with specialized music and movement classes focusing on motor skills development. These active, music-filled sessions help our youngest learners to improve their movement and balance. As students grow, physical education teachers introduce them to more complex games and activities.

After school, there are sports and athletic activities offered to students from elementary to high school. At each level, sportsmanship is developed and competition introduced in appropriate stages.

Elementary school students can participate in activities that increase stamina and focus such as swimming, dancing, kung fu and zumba. They also may opt to participate in team sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball.

Middle school sports are broken into semester one and two activities, which allows students to choose from 11 different sports.

Interschool competitions are also available to middle school students.

In high school, students have three seasons with 13 competitive sports to choose from. As a member of the Shanghai International Schools Activities Conference and the Asia-Pacific Activities Conference, Concordia athletes can compete in sports tournaments with schools in Shanghai and throughout Asia.

Playing sports and staying fit should be an integral part of every child’s life, and there is something for everyone at Concordia.

In PE classes, students have an opportunity to play several games. At recess and after school, students are able to invent their own games or practice skills they’ve learned from a PE teacher, coach, friend or parent. It’s important young children play a variety of games, find things they enjoy and develop skills and abilities that help them to excel.

(The article is contributed by Annie Hall Paulson, elementary school health and physical education specialist at CISS.)

Golf is par for SSIS course

One of best ways to raise students’ interest in sport is through competition.

SSIS primary students from both Xuhui and Minhang recently competed in the cross campus drive, Chip and Putt Challenge. This event brought together students, ranging from 10 to 13 years old, to test their long and short games’ skills against their peers. The competition was exhilarating as the difference between first and second was just a few yards in the longest drive contest.

Besides having golf as part of their physical educational curriculum, students at SSIS can choose golf as part of their cross-curricular activity or after school program. With the latest addition of an indoor putting green and simulator to the golf learning center, students can now practice their game all-year-round.

This year will mark the second year the golf team will visit the Sun Island Kunshan Golf Club. The biggest benefit of on-course practice and competition is that our junior golfers quickly realize the difficulty of performing well under pressure, which encourages them to put in hours of practice to reach their full potential.

With the golf season in full swing, SSIS is proud to host the first Drive, Chip and Putt Challenge open to other international schools this year. SSIS will also host the inaugural 9-hole Invitational Tournament at the Sun Island Kun Shan Championship Course in the 2019-20 school year.

(The article is contributed by Alexander Ku, sports and activities coordinator at SSIS Primary School.)