Students to take NAPFA test in alternate years from 2014
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SINGAPORE: Singapore students will go through the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) test once every two years instead of annually, from next year.
This is one of the changes the Education Ministry is making to its assessment of physical fitness in schools as it prepares to implement a new Physical Education (PE) syllabus over the next three years.
NAPFA is an annual physical fitness test which assesses their ability in activities from sit-ups to long-distance running.
But from next year, only those in Primary 4 and 6, Secondary 2 and 4 or 5, and Junior College Year 2 will take the test.
The idea is for students to have more time for other activities, instead of just preparing for NAPFA.
Muhammad Aqil Dany, Primary 4 student at Yio Chu Kang Primary, said: \"I like playing games during PE because you get more exposure to your friends, you get to know your friends better in sports, and most of all, you get to exercise on your own.\"
Educators are not worried that students' fitness levels will fall behind.
This is because this new change complements the new PE syllabus, which will pack more games and outdoor activities into PE lessons.
Jasni Mahmood Jasmin, head of department for PE/CCA at Yio Chu Kang Primary, said: \"The children, they really run a lot during the lesson - of course meaningfully. So because of that, it helps to build their stamina.\"
With the new syllabus, MOE will also use new assessment methods that it says are more holistic from 2016.
Instead of getting graded from A to F, students will get descriptive feedback on their performance during PE lessons.
The six areas the assessment will cover are: students' participation level in PE, attainment in range of physical activities, demonstration of values and attitudes during PE lessons, performance in NAPFA and Body Mass Index, and students' self-directed physical activities with their family and friends.
In the last area, students will give an oral report to teachers what physical activities they have been taking part in with family and friends - in hope of getting them to take ownership of their own physical fitness.
In the case of NAPFA, students will be given performance bands such as \"Outstanding Performance\" and \"Needs Improvement\" instead of getting grades A to F.
Ong Kim Soon, deputy director at Ministry of Education, said: \"It helps to motivate the child towards self-improvement as well as improvement in various components of fitness, rather than just looking at whether (they) pass or fail NAPFA.\"
MOE hopes parents can do more to help their children develop active and healthy lifestyles - for example, by bring their children outdoors more, encouraging healthy eating habits and paying attention to what their children are learning during PE lessons.
- CNA/fa/xq -
I :nailbite: at this part
\"In the last area, students will give an oral report to teachers what physical activities they have been taking part in with family and friends - in hope of getting them to take ownership of their own physical fitness\"
dd1 has been pestering me for swimming lessons.........maybe this is a sign for me to get off my butt and do something abt her request. LOL
Something related, with more exposure to outdoor activities under the sun, I wonder should I get lenses that will protect the eyes fr sunlight.
I never realise that eyes can be gradually damaged by sunlight. -
Do students spend much time preparing?
I donch remember spending much time to prepare for such tests. I think no one really bothered during those days. -
Fitness is a regular thing to ingrain in the kids' mind, so it is not a good idea to make it biannually just because of the preparation.
Instead, children who are not fit should be encouraged to join the school's fitness club as a CCA to improve the items for NAPFA test. If they do not want to, it is a choice and cannot expect PE to cover all the training.
It would be more alarming if the school finds out every 2 years that the fitness level of the children has dropped. To me, to cope with a stressful lifestyle, fitness is the only way.....we have too many cases of people dying suddenly after exercising even with yearly assessment, the most recent case a 26 year old after a marathon.
Is this an outcome of the SG conversation? :?
The only change I would agree is to do away with the Gold, Silver, Bronze and keep it simple to Fitness Qualified(like the health book checklist) or Needs improvement in ___________ area (point out the area whether is sprinting, running, stretching or jumping etc...so one can focus to improve that point in the following year) And when there is improvement in the following year, reward a star for the effort put in against that item to boost morale. -
[quote]But from next year, only those in Primary 4 and 6, Secondary 2 and 4 or 5, and Junior College Year 2 will take the test.[/quote]
Why in the years when students are busy with certain milestone exams/streaming...why not P5, S1, S3, JC1...hmm..
[quote]Instead of getting graded from A to F, students will get descriptive feedback on their performance during PE lessons.[/quote]That means fewer girls can feign cramps, no more room for kids with 小姐、公主病.
[quote]...students' participation level in PE, attainment in range of physical activities, demonstration of values and attitudes during PE lessons...[/quote]This is a good change. Encourage the introverts to get out of their shells and mingle with the extroverts. Also force some whiny or self-centred kids to be a good sport and team-mate.
But am wondering how some fragile & ladylike girls who just can't play 'rougher' sports like netball, basketball, volleyball will survive... How about some effeminate male introverts who can't be as tough as some boys? Will they get \"Needs Improvement\" because they are born bookish? hmm...
[quote]students' self-directed physical activities with their family and friends.In the last area, students will give an oral report to teachers what physical activities they have been taking part in with family and friends - in hope of getting them to take ownership of their own physical fitness.[/quote]Sounds exciting to me. Is this somewhat like Show & Tell? Will pr sch children of very busy FTWPs, single parent families, troubled families (dad doesn't talk to mum kind), low-income families (no bandwidth to do sports with kids on weekends due to shift work) be disadvantaged? Will such parents initiate to seek sports companions for their children so they hv something to report?
Would a P4 kid of such busy parents be just sharing: \"Last week, I stayed back in school to practise wushu with 3 of my classmates...\"
What happens if the kid doesn't like to mix with friends after school to play sports?
How about kids who hv pre-existing medical conditions like heart murmurs? Exempted from oral report and everything else, like in previous years...
Do they need to demonstrate the physical activity or just share the bonding experience will do? Am curious to find out more after MOE releases more info in later stages.
[quote]In the case of NAPFA, students will be given performance bands such as \"Outstanding Performance\" and \"Needs Improvement\" instead of getting grades A to F...rather than just looking at whether (they) pass or fail NAPFA.\"[/quote]Broad banding sounds good for non-competitive children. But I remember we were fairly determined to \"sit and reach\" to a certain benchmark every year for own self-achievement purpose. Sometimes, we strove to better our classmates' score, esp in shuttle run. We applauded classmates who could jump over 2m for instance. We also cheered friends on when they were attempting IFAH. And did we practise for NAPFA? You bet! 2.4km runs can be 'practised' at the public stadium...hahah!
Future teenagers are likely to repeat all these tests with a new bunch of classmates (S2 vs S4 vs J2).
Also, they are expected to be able to bond and forge team spirit with new team-mates fairly quickly.
Lastly, we might see more teenagers actively trying to demonstrate their team leadership skills to their teachers during PE lessons, so as to score in the \"demonstration of values and attitudes\" category.
Much like during BMT, an OCS-aspirant tends to behave in an overtly \"proactive\" manner, speak louder than others to get everyone in line, cheers others on until it becomes contrived even.
OMG, I'm sounding like a cynic here! :evil: :evil: :evil: Maybe I attended too many corporate leadership outdoor teambuilding/trainings in the past. When everyone knew the training instructor was looking out for such traits, trainees would pretend to be very \"siao onz\". Like when we were climbing ropes, someone would shout something as contrived as \"Maria, jiayou! You can do it! C'mon, Maria! That's the spirit, Mary! Yes! Kambatte!\" -
1st things 1st. Before we talk about fitness tests and games and letting kids try out new stuff, make sure that all teachers do not ‘steal’ the PE periods for other things.
DD’s school is ok but for DS, since P1 he has been complaining, no PE, no Art, no Music. Most of these periods are taken up by form teacher for English or Math. -
Jetsetter,
You speak my mind.
Son is clumsy in sports.
When in games requiring team members to be sufficiently ‘skilled’, it is no wonder he gets to be reserved most times or second choice.
Napfa is different. It is a challenge to oneself. He puts in daily trainig on sit ups to hit his target when he realised he fell short. His friends cheered him on during 1.6km run despite they themselves giving up the run and were walkig and it is hearteng to know of such.
I was one of those who went stadium to train for 2.4km, didn’t enjoy group games and constantly reminded that my body mass index is not ideal. Now that my son, similar to me, needs to be subject to such assessment reminding him that he is too thin. -
PE used to be fun & simple - Playing, relaxing, learning some new sports.
Now I feel so stress just looking at the areas they are going to assess. All these values & attitudes demonstrated during PE - do they intend to form some overall report for DSA (character) in future? So PE time cannot be 'naughty/play a fool' liao, machiam kena under surveillance :roll:
Like overkill IMO. :skeptical: -
DS never trained for NAPFA. His goal is just to pass. There was one day he told us that he ranked 27 within 2 cohorts. We were so happy until he said \"... from the back\"
Anyway, he told us that his tips for running is to treat it as a marathon. Run slowly, save the energy until the last tens of metres and then sprint. Ok, that is the tips from somebody ranked 27... from the back! :rotflmao:
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