P stands for possibilities for this PE teacher
30 Aug 2024
Mr Shang Thian Huat believes in enabling all students to learn important life skills such as critical thinking, adaptability and collaboration through sports. His child-centric approach permeates his programmes, including an innovative house system that incorporates academic and peer support – it empowers even non-teaching staff to guide students.
Mr Shang Thian Huat is Head of Department, Physical Education and Co-Curricular Activities, at Blangah Rise Primary School and a recipient of the 2024 President’s Award for Teachers.
The school was looking for a way to engage a small group of students who had not been attending lessons for a while. “What if the solution could benefit the rest of the student population too?” Mr Shang thought.
It took just one strategic move. The school simply made co-curricular activities (CCA) the first lesson on Mondays, so everyone starts the week playing a sport, learning new skills in a uniformed group or participating in a club activity they enjoyed. It worked like a charm – attendance among the absentees shot up. It’s moments like these across his 22 years as an educator that Mr Shang finds inexplicably rewarding.
Inspiration: Inspiring the young to embrace active living and community service
Mr Shang, once an overweight student, defied expectations by becoming a PE teacher. His teaching journey is driven by a passion to inspire in his students a love of physical education (PE) and sports and to lead an active, healthy lifestyle on their own. He also believes in the importance of inculcating in the young a desire to serve the community.
Mr Shang started his teaching career in a secondary school but is now heading the PE department in a primary school. To make it easier for students to taste success in PE, he breaks lessons up into bite-sized, age-appropriate tasks to suit the different skill levels. As students start to find that they are perform basic skills, such as dribbling or passing, they become more confident to progress to more advanced concepts like attacking and defending; honing their abilities in small groups before engaging in modified games within larger teams.
“In some cases, we need to give the child a bit more time and space to progress.”
Scaffolding his teaching to suit each student extends to those with special needs. Mr Shang had a student with delayed muscular development who would often tire after just 10 minutes of PE, and this made the student not enjoy exercise and sports. Mr Shang simplified the activities such that the student would be able to more engaged, and thus the student was able to enjoy PE and gradually succeeded in learning sports skills.
After one semester of this adapted approach, the student successfully participated in two full PE periods.
“In some cases, we need to give the child a bit more time and space to progress,” says Mr Shang. He sees his role as “cheerleader, coach and counsellor”, to inspire hope, joy, courage and purpose in students across all levels of physical proficiency and learning ability. “No child should be left behind”, goes the popular mantra, to which Mr Shang adds: “Not even in PE and sports.”
An advocate of community service, Mr Shang has collaborated with community partners to implement a school wide Values-in-Action (VIA) programme focused on promoting active ageing and fostering intergenerational bonding. Every month, students from different CCA groups take turns to organise sports and games for senior citizens in Telok Blangah. Through this VIA programme, students learn to bond with the elderly through sports and embody virtues such as empathy, patience and collaboration. As the students engage and impart sport skills to the senior citizens, they are uplifted by the participants’ joy and enthusiasm. This programme fosters a mutually enriching experience for both the students and the residents.
“We were grateful that Blangah Rise Primary School and the community partners organised this monthly programme, which has brought joy to the Telok Blangah community. It is heartening to see students develop patience and love through their interactions with the elderly. Students’ awareness of the needs of the elderly, especially those with disabilities, is shaping a more empathetic and caring younger generation,” says Mdm Sophy, a Telok Blangah resident.
Transformation: Optimising the house system for students to learn new sports
When Mr Shang was looking for a way to increase support for all students after school hours, he leveraged on the school’s house system.
After school has ended for the day, students who participate in the “Modular CCA” programme will engage in self-study sessions with schoolmates from the same house. This has fostered many opportunities for peer support, with students assisting one another with homework and revision.
After studying, students have the opportunity to participate in sports. It was during this time that Mr Shang introduces new sports to the students. In 2022, while observing the sessions, he identified potential among some of the students to form a Floorball team. This provided an opportunity for students from non-sports CCA to compete at the National School Games (NSG). Similarly in 2024, a Track and Field team was formed in time for the NSG.
The absence of these sports as CCAs at Blangah Rise Primary did not deter Mr Shang, who focused on nurturing the students’ athletic potential. “It gives students hope and encourages them to continually explore their strengths and interests!”
Although Modular CCA is an optional programme, a whopping 85% of the school population has signed up. “The programme encompasses elements of friendship, fun, games, and study. Students tell us they love it. So do their parents.”
Reflection: Collaborating across schools for creative problem-solving
Where others may see obstacles as roadblocks, Mr Shang tends to spring over them like hurdles. Obstacles are an opportunity for him to find creative solutions to problems.
In 2023, the school’s football and basketball teams were ready to compete at the NSG but lacked the requisite numbers to form a complete team. Mr Shang sought collaboration with his counterpart at First Toa Payoh Primary School, who faced a similar situation. “We didn’t want our students to miss such an opportunity to represent their school, and thus a combined schools’ effort is needed.” Despite the students being not very familiar with each other, the combined school teams in both football and basketball did well to progress to the zonal quarterfinals.
Mr Shang attributes much of his success to MOE’s close-knit PE fraternity, where it is easy to “reach out and find someone who is an expert in a different domain for help, to learn and to grow together”. The camaraderie among PE teachers is strong. He affirms, “It’s not about my school, or your school; we are a fraternity entrusted with the stewardship and nurturing of our students. What a privilege it is.”
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