With its development philosophy LiveLearnWorkPlay as a framework, the S P Setia Foundation hosted 100 students from SK Batu Ferringhi, SJKC Aik Hua and SJK(T) Tasek Permai to an exciting Sports Day which saw the students working together in teams of ten to finish five activities together.
Themed ‘Sports Day For All: Building A Better Malaysia’, the event was organised in collaboration with Design For Learning, an educational design studio that works on improving learning and teaching experiences for young children.
Tan Sri Datuk Sri Dr Wan Zahid Mohd Noordin (Chairman of S P Setia and the S P Setia Foundation) who hosted the event said: “The S P Setia Foundation is happy to bring forth a sports day programme that integrates the spirit of unity, inclusivity and patriotism with fun and educational activities especially as we celebrate Malaysia’s National Day in this month of August.”
He explained that the current sports days held in schools focuses merely on physical abilities and teamwork.
“Only the physically active students are selected as competing athletes, and these selections hardly take into account other criteria such as a student’s interest and passion towards the sport.
“There is a lack of opportunity and awareness for special children to be a part of sports days when in fact research has shown that 70% of these kids want to be included in,” added Wan Zahid.
The collaboration with Design For Learning prepares all the children involved with specially-designed sports activities that are based on three essential elements namely; educational, inclusiveness and learn by play.
More than 30 special children from SJKC Aik Hua joined in the event which saw more than 40 volunteers coming together to assist.
Anne Marie Tan, Community & Partnership Manager of Design For Learning said: “The educational part of the programme today taught the children about the rich history of Malaysia and its famous buildings around the country. In terms of inclusiveness, our sports day allowed every student to participate and enjoy the sports activity that was not only engaging and fun; but also encouraged the team members to come together to discuss each other’s strength.”