Compulsory Overseas Trip

[Augmum]

mrswongtuition:

Nani, I've seriously not heard of any compulsory travelling just because it's part of the curriculum. Can PM me which school is this? I would love to check out their rationale for making the trip 'compulsory'.

how abt secondary schools overseas camp or immersion programme???

can they (ie the sch) made it compulsary (if we willingly forgo the whatever CCA points under enrichment)

my main concern is just like what Nani had stated
it's all abt safety...........
i think no other teachers can replace we, as parents of the child, in terms of thoughtfulness and safety,
bearing in mind that they have to look after a group of kids, not just 1........

[mrswongtuition]

Augmum:

mrswongtuition:

Nani, I've seriously not heard of any compulsory travelling just because it's part of the curriculum. Can PM me which school is this? I would love to check out their rationale for making the trip 'compulsory'.

how abt secondary schools overseas camp or immersion programme???

can they (ie the sch) made it compulsary (if we willingly forgo the whatever CCA points under enrichment)

It's always encouraged, not compulsory or 'forced'. Check with school teachers directly. Sometime the kids choose to say it's compulsory cos they want to go.

For most trips, we actually announce to the school and wait for sign ups, which means it's not compulsory. Unless your child is very bright or outstanding and the teachers would like your child on the trip, else we seldom ask the child to join on individual basis.

[girlmum]

[quote=\"mrswongtuition\"]


I was constantly keeping an eye on them even during 'free time' when they were allowed to explore the shopping centre to buy their gifts. Even when I called my hb, he could hear the stress in my voice. To add to my hb's displeasure, I had to pay for the trip on my own cos the school had maxed out their budget subsidizing the kids and could not afford to subsidize for the teachers. Imagine having to pay thousands of dollars to take on such stress! But I did not mind cos I saw how much the students learnt and gained from the trip. Plus how some of them matured and learnt to appreciate their family while being away for so long without their family.

mrswongtuition,

Indeed it must be extremely stressful taking care of them, ensuring their safety and well-being. I :salute: you. It's a blessing to yr students having you watching over them. I used to bring my K2 students for outing too. Had to head count every now & then as there are plenty of them wearing the same uniforms. (abt 10-15 classes on every outing) worried that they might follow the wrong group/teacher. This had actually happened during one of our outings and I had to bring the child back to the teacher.

I'm also learning to let go now that my DD1 is in Sec 2. On 1 hand - want her to learn to be more independent and appreciate family (most importantly appreciate ME :evil: ) On the other hand - fear for her safety. I guess ALL MOTHERS feel the same way too.

[mrswongtuition]

Girlmum, for every trip we plan, there’ll be a CIP component in it. We brought the kids to an old folk’s home to help out and chat with the old folks. Some of them cried cos they were reminded of their grandparents and their family. I had to stay on the bus to comfort them. Some of them were brought to the room where the old folks there could be living their last minutes or hours. Many came back to the bus crying. Total of 30 kids, I ended up on the bus comforting 27 of them. The last three held their tears till it was time to head back to the hotel.


All of them pestered me to allow them to call home (cos we had an agreement that they can carry with phones with them for emergency but they are only allowed to us their phones during allocated free times). Cos we informed the parents during the pre-trip briefing about the allocated call times so that they know when to expect their calls. All called home (those without HP used my phone) and I could see the change in them. All mellowed out and became more respectful and appreciative towards their parents.

BTW, I had some parents who were worried like mad and kept SMSing me every hour to get updates. Esp when there was a typhoon warning while we were there. Thankfully, the landslides occured after we flew off from the airport, else we would have been stranded there for another 3-4 days!

[phankao]

nani:

mrswongtuition:

Schools plan such trips for the kids to gain exposure. It's really different from our regular excursions in SG. They also got to interact with students from other countries and backgrounds. It's something that quite hard to achieve without leaving SG.

Yes. Those are Immersion trips that are not complusory. ?

I don't think an overseas trip can be made compulsory. Gee, what if your child does not have passport? Then compulsory, the child also cannot go. I know of someone who didn't have money even to pay for the passport for her child and the school actually didn't manage to get approval to pay for this \"petty\" expense and in the end anothe parent offered to pay for it! But yeah this is secondary and not primary school. So no, the school cannot force a child to go.

[Augmum]

mrswongtuition,


u're indeed a caring and responsible teacher
if every1 of them is kinda like u, then we, mothers, are more willing to let go.........

how abt UG (uniform group),
are those camps ( ever heard in pulau ubin) made compulsary.....
i understand that the pupils are told it was compulsary

some sch outing forms does not even have a opt-out option for parents
it simply states the outing info and wants parents to aknowledge, that's it........

plankao,
oh......u give me a good idea......
i better not renew my gal's passport just in case it is made compulsary

[julongmum]

Being parent, i fully understand the predicament on the decision whether ‘to let go’ our children away from us. I even heard abt parents drove tailing the buses that fetched students to the camping site (as the camping site was quite remote though in SG).


My salute to mrswongtuition !!!

[mrswongtuition]

julongmum:

Being parent, i fully understand the predicament on the decision whether 'to let go' our children away from us. I even heard abt parents drove tailing the buses that fetched students to the camping site (as the camping site was quite remote though in SG).


My salute to mrswongtuition !!!!

Jln Bahtera camp? It's really remote. Even when I had to drive there for camps, I was also very scared and insisted that my male colleague followed me in my car

No need to salute me. I'm a mummy too and can understand how precious every child is


Augmum, although there's no 'opt out', you can choose not to sign the consent form but write a letter to inform them that you are not giving your consent and cite your reasons. We've encountered many such cases before. Don't worry that the school will 'force'. As long as you don't make payment or sign the form, they won't let the child go.

[nani]

Augmum:

i think no other teachers can replace we, as parents of the child, in terms of thoughtfulness and safety,

bearing in mind that they have to look after a group of kids, not just 1........

That's my exact same sentiment! I'm not saying that teacher is no good, but we can't expect them to keep an eye on everyone. There comes the word \"neligence\"?? How??

[nani]

mrswongtuition:

BTW, I had some parents who were worried like mad and kept SMSing me every hour to get updates. Esp when there was a typhoon warning while we were there. Thankfully, the landslides occured after we flew off from the airport, else we would have been stranded there for another 3-4 days!

see...we don't need this kind of stress!! Why organise this kind of trip, that may causes the staff (teachers) stress and create worries for the parents??