Physical Education (PE)

Discover how Physical Education at Catholic High School helps students build healthy lifestyles, physical confidence, teamwork, resilience and sportsmanship.

Last updated 20 August 2026

Vision

Every Catholic High pupil will enjoy physical activity and to develop a passion for sports by acquiring relevant knowledge and game skills so as to foster the desire to maintain an active lifestyle and to display the spirit of good sportsmanship.

Mission

Every Catholic High pupil will acquire the necessary fundamental motor skills and movement concepts so that he can participate in a variety of physical activities and games effectively, as well as, as to be guided strongly by the core and school values.

Goals of PE

Physical education seeks to develop in each pupil the ability to

Acquire a range of motor skills to participate in a variety of physical activities
Understand and apply movement concepts, principles and strategies in a
range of physical activities
Demonstrate safe practices during physical and daily activities with respect to
themselves, others and the environment
Display positive personal and social behaviour across different experiences
Acquire and maintain health-enhancing fitness through regular participation in
physical activities
Enjoy and value the benefits of living a physically active and healthy life

Concentric circles showing the Physical Education curriculum progression from core and school values to fundamental movement skills, outdoor education, assessment and review, effective movement, and ultimately an active and healthy lifestyle.

CHS PE curriculum is strongly guided by the core and school values that form the foundation for exploration, acquisition and application of games skills and concepts. With proper planning and the execution of appropriately structured physical activities during physical education lessons, the pupils will be placed in game situations so as to raise their awareness of the need to practise and apply the core and school values. Rather than wait for the “teachable moments” to arise so that pupils will be able to apply the values explicitly, the PE department believes to create deliberate moments through setting of conditions and modification of game rules so that the pupils can be imbued with the values through experiential learning.

The mastery of fundamental motor skills and movement concepts is of utmost importance especially to the lower primary pupils as this will form the bedrock for the upper primary pupils in the areas of games concepts through systematic and progressive extension of skills.

In line with the school vision, that is, the Catholic High student is a leader, gentleman and bilingual scholar of high integrity and robust character, who is passionate about life, learning and service to others. The PE department has devised an Outdoor Education curriculum which is closely guided by the MOE syllabus for all the levels Physical Education lessons. The outdoor education module encompasses orienteering, basic knotting skills, tent pitching, residential camp and rock climbing lessons.

Lastly, with close monitoring and detailed review processes, the departments works towards implementing programmes that will develop every Catholic High pupil holistically.

Examples of Demonstration of 21st Century Competencies in Physical Education

Core Values and Examples of 21st Century Competencies in Physical Education

Core Values	Examples of Relevant Student Behaviour in Physical Education
Respect The student demonstrates respect when he believes in his own self-worth and the intrinsic worth of all people.	Student strives to give his/her best to improve on his/her personal performance, regardless of the outcome of the athletics competition during physical education lessons. He/she owes it to himself/herself to try his/her utmost because of his/her own self-worth. It is also respectful to the other participants to give his/her best during a competitive situation. During a football game, a student bumps into an opposing teammate and knocks him to the ground. The student immediately apologises and helps his/her classmate up. The other classmate acknowledges his/her kind gesture with verbal appreciation and they continue playing. The student accepts his/her performance as his/her best effort without comparison to other students in a physical education learning experience
Responsibility The student is responsible if he recognises that he has a duty to himself, his family, community, nation and the world, and fulfills his responsibilities with love and commitment.	During basketball practice, student helps his/her less skilful classmates by providing catchable passes that are accurate and appropriate for them to catch successfully in order to facilitate skill development and learning. In outdoor education, student takes a keen interest in safeguarding the environment by not littering and maintaining a low-impact treatment on the landscape so as to preserve the integrity of the land and the environment for the community and other participants
Resilience The student is resilient if he has emotional strength and perseveres in the face of challenges. He manifests courage, optimism, adaptability and resourcefulness.	Student is challenged to try a gymnastic activity at a higher level (e.g., balance on a narrow base of support) and persevere on the task even though it appears too difficult at first. Student has to be courageous, positive, adaptable to the challenge posed and be able to greet failure with fresh and renewed challenge
Integrity The student is a person of integrity if he upholds ethical principles and has the moral courage to stand up for what is right.	In playing tag games, an honour code for tagging is established where student calls himself/herself out of a team when tagged, and roles are switched accordingly. Students in teams play games without a referee and students call rule infractions on their own, or solve issues about goal discrepancies without teacher involvement.
Care The student is caring if he acts with kindness and compassion, and contributes to the betterment of the community and the world	Student keeps watch over a partner during a swimming lesson displays a caring attitude and conscientious effort. Student waits his/her turn to return the mat after gymnastics lessons or expresses gratitude when another student returns a stray ball during a striking activity.
Harmony A student values harmony if he seeks inner happiness and promotes social cohesion. He appreciates the unity and diversity of a multicultural society.	In a dance lesson, student gets an opportunity to appreciate the diversity of other races by learning movements unique to them. The student has the opportunity to dance cooperatively with students of other races and ethnic groups.

Signature Programmes from PE department

Under the strong guiding principles of the PE and CCA frameworks, Catholic High School PE Department implements Learning for Life (LLP) programme to focus on real-life experiential learning to develop pupils’ character and values. The name of the LLP programme is “VITALS”, which is the acronym for Values Infused Through Active Learning in Sports.

Through these signature programmes, pupils are able to discover their innate talents and potential on top of the fundamental and psycho-motor skills that they get to learn during their PE lessons.

Wushu Programme

As a SAP school, Catholic High School PE Department works closely with the Chinese Department with the aim to develop effectively bilingual deeply-rooted Chinese values. With that in mind, all Primary One 1 students pupils are introduced to a 5-week Wushu programme during PE lessons and they will learn Chinese martial arts footwork with a simple routine for fitness. Through this programme, students pupils will show appreciation for the Chinese culture, martial arts discipline and moral behaviour.

Our Gentlemen showing off their martial arts skills!

The photo shows pupils practising Wushu movements in a school hall, demonstrating coordinated stances, kicks, and punches. It highlights discipline, focus, physical fitness, and confidence.

Swimsafer Programme

The SwimSafer 2.0 programme aims to develop swimming proficiency and water survival skills to children to minimize drowning incidences in a fun manner.

The six-stage programme includes activities and survival taught at each stage of the programme, and works progressively towards the next stages.

Pupils waiting patiently for a big SPLASH!

The photos show pupils taking part in swimming and water-safety lessons under an instructor’s guidance. They highlight water confidence, safety awareness, discipline, and swimming skills.

Visit to Bishan Active Park

As part of our PE syllabus for Outdoor Education module, we equip pupils with the knowledge, skills and attitude to explore the natural and urban environments safely and responsibly. As such, the Primary 4 pupils will experience a day trip to a neighouring park - Bishan Active Park - so as to have more authentic learning experiences.

Pupils exploring different areas of the park.

Primary 5 Camp

The P5 Camp seeks to develop ruggedness and resilience in our students, and build cohesion amongst them. Using the outdoors as the ‘classroom’ for learning and development, it provides a unique opportunity for them to work together as a small team and to overcome various outdoor challenges.

Through the camp, our pupils will be able to:

develop their character and build leadership skills;
build friendships amongst their team members and actively help one another to achieve team goals in an inclusive manner; and
understand the importance of caring for the environment.

Pupils were supporting each other to get as many of them onto the platform

Sports Day

Besides providing opportunities for pupils to acquire and revisit the skills through physical activities, the PE department also creates platforms for recreational participation such as Lower Primary Sports Carnival and Upper Primary Sports Day. Lower primary pupils will go through a series of games stations that allow them to make use of their acquired fundamental skills such as gymnastics with the inclusion of forward and log rolls; locomotor skills such as running and skipping; non-locomotor skills such as balancing and manipulative skills such as rolling a ball and executing an underarm throw.

Upper Primary Sports day is designed to provide the pupils opportunities to apply the tactics, techniques, concepts and strategies that they have learnt in PE lessons to inter-class games settings. There are four inter-class games, namely Volleyball, Basketball, Floorball and Soccer. Each pupil will represent his class in one of the four games. The four games are chosen with the notion that they are net barrier and invasion games and are part of the revised PE syllabus. Throughout their years of acquiring skills in PE lessons, they will be able to make informed choices on the games that they have demonstrated flair in and to continue to excel in it through this annual event. This will enhance their self-mastery and emotional competencies.

Lower Primary Pupils enjoying their Sports Carnival.

Active Youth Workout (Zumba)

In order to increase physical activity participation among pupils through regular workout sessions, the PE Department collaborates with the Health Promotion Board in the Active Youth Workout. All the Primary 3 pupils participate in Zumba sessions which will improve their cardiovascular fitness through a full-body workout.

Primary 3 pupils dancing to the beat