There’s more than enough room for everyone during a PE lesson in the standard-size basketball court at Nee Soon East Park.

Just ask Ms Tan Soh Leng, our Head of Department for Mother Tongue, about her experience with her pupils. “Instead of teaching them vocabulary from picture cards, we can have our lessons in the park and pupils can remember more vividly from the flora they see around them,” she recalled.

Another lesson that comes alive in the park is Physical Education (PE). The jogging track, basketball court and fitness equipment like monkey bars and balancing beams are perfect for egging our pupils on to stay active and fit. Head of Department for PE Mr Alex Devadass sees the park environment as a new stimulus for the pupils. “We hope to conduct PE lessons in the park at least once a fortnight for every class,” he said, “so that they can be exposed to new opportunities for healthy living.”

Making the most of ball games.

The park also offers new scope for CCAs, class activities and school events. During a Leadership Camp for school prefects in June 2007, the school used the park area to carry out team-building activities, which the pupils really enjoyed. One Pri 4 prefect Sherman Soh said, “There was more than enough space for all of us to mingle. The activities could be conducted very freely. I hope we have another activity there soon!”

Pupils have more sun and space to run around.

While our kids certainly appreciate having the space to run around in, we also use the school’s adoption of the park as a platform to teach them a little social responsibility. As our Principal, Mr Ng Yeow Ling, explained, “We hope to nurture in our pupils a sense of belonging to the community and care for the environment.” Just as often as they use the park for learning and play, North View Primary pupils play their part in gardening efforts and other programmes to care for the space.

Getting together for a PE lesson.

For instance, during the Leadership Camp, our prefects organised themselves to embark on a park-cleaning effort. Even at the official park adoption event on 10 March 2007, we held a clean-up activity where our pupils fanned out to collect litter and spruce up the park. One Pri 6 pupil, Sakina, reflected later that she felt proud “because we successfully cleaned up the park.”

Whether we’re bringing classroom learning into the park, or learning from the park into the classroom, it’s an added dimension that spices up learning for our pupils. After all, a little sun, fresh air and civic involvement has always been good for the soul.

Contributed by:
Mrs Sreeletha Prasad, Subject Head, Tamil Language & Malay Language and Partnerships
Mr Alex Devadass, Head, PE, CCA & Aesthetics Department
North View Primary School