Written by Stephen Davis.

As the Director of Sports at Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar in Negeri Sembilan, I am so fortunate to work in a school which offers students over 80 acres of fantastic sporting facilities, from rugby, cricket, football, and hockey pitches to basketball, netball, squash, badminton, and tennis courts. With three swimming pools, two gymnasiums, dance studios, and athletics fields, plus access to golf and horseback riding, the students at KTJ are in immersed in a world of sport.

Sports and physical education (PE) play a crucial role at KTJ, which is shown by the high participation rates in sporting activities; some students do three or four different sporting activities a day! KTJ actively promotes sport as it holds numerous benefits in the development of our students.

We believe that an active child is a happy and successful child. There is scientific evidence to support the fact that children who are active and exercise on a regular basis have higher concentration levels and are therefore able to maintain a high level of focus during classroom-based activities. Not only does sport help with a student’s academic achievements, but it can also aid in their physical and social development. Sports, games, and PE all encourage teamwork, communication, leadership, and compassion, as well as the development of motor skills, coordination, speed, agility, cardiovascular fitness, and balance.

For example, in KTJ Primary, we offer our students one lesson of PE per week. In this time, we focus on developing core skills, such as balancing, throwing, and catching. We do this through playing fun games, DAVISas well as through more structured team games. Our students also have one lesson of swimming per week, either in our learner pool in the Primary School or in one of the two larger pools in the Secondary School.

All of our primary and secondary students enjoy the benefits of an extensive extracurricular program which opens the door to being able to participate in different sports every day. This is all under the guidance of well-trained and experienced expat and local PE staff in addition to a variety of specialist coaches for squash, badminton, fencing, dance, martial arts, and others.

KTJ offers students the chance to play competitive sport in addition to PE class time and extracurricular activities. Students compete with great enthusiasm and camaraderie in inter-house sports, such as athletics, cross country, and swimming, as well as team sports like basketball, football, hockey, and netball. KTJ also participates in larger state and international tournaments. Whatever the standard of participation, the main aim is that our students enjoy the experiences they have during PE class and have fun participating in sports and games throughout their school life.

PE and sports at KTJ serve to provide a springboard to a variety of new and exciting opportunities that establish the foundations for lifelong health and fitness – and therefore success and happiness – as adults.

Come and see KTJ kids in action in our extensive campus! You can book a tour by contacting [email protected].