Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary
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embel:
Hi, can understand your frustration over the art competition saga. Any parent would be upset too..Sure, we can definitely seek clarification from the teachers when we have doubts. But the point is, why can't the teachers give clear and correct info the first time round? In fact, my child's teacher even admitted that she decided to inform the class about the test only because she received some queries whether there would be a project (because in term 1, during parents' workshop, the HOD announced there would be a project in term3, which will constitute 10% of the overall.) Meaning to say, if those few parents didn't approach the teacher, she would not even mention about the test? Then mention wrong topic some more! My child did badly, but I didn't confront the teacher or did anything. Just take it as our fault for not doing consistent revision.
To share another experience-
My child won the first prize in one of the school's competitions. My son's work was clearly displayed near the general office with the other prize winners of all the levels. But during the prize-giving ceremony, another student was announced as the first-prize instead. After getting over the initial surprise/shock, I told my son \"never mind, it's not about the trophy, as long as you know you did win; anyway your work is already displayed\". But my son said, \"it's my first time winning something and it deprived me of the chance of going on stage\". So I approached the HOD. Took them about 1 week to sort things out. i asked whether they can at least announce my son's name and give him the trophy on stage during assembly. But of course, they just quietly asked that student to return the trophy and then quietly gave it to my son. A school not courageous enough to admit its mistake publicly, and a school not caring enough to consider a child's feelings. To adults, a trophy is just a trophy, but to a young child, the chance to walk on stage to collect a trophy means so much more.
I am a hands-off parent. I trust the school and teachers to do what they are supposed to do. I trust their teaching. I trust their marking. I don't re-count the marks when they return the exam papers for checking. I just sign blindly and return. I trust them - I do. But when it concerns my children's emotional well-being/self- esteem/self confidence, I can't ignore.
The above is for sharing only. No attacks please.
Having said that, there are indeed many responsible and caring teachers in the school too. Especially this Children's Day. A number of teachers made a tremendous effort to make meaningful gifts and pen personalized notes of encouragement to the students. My kids appreciate them very much.
Yes, agree that it's totally reasonable to expect teachers/school to give correct information upfront. But as our experience shows, this does not happen all the time. What I try to do is to get my child to be more proactive and clarify with teachers when instructions are lacking or not clear, wherever possible. Agree that it's difficult for working parents to follow up constantly since I am one myself. We'll just have to try and manage as best as we can.
Also agree the ph does have good and responsible teachers. My kids have been fortunate to be taught by some of them. Hope they will continue to stay around longer in the school.
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cool_hi:
Sorry, think i forgot to mention that i only realised the confusion on topics, on wed evening, 1 day before the test on thur, when that mummy sms me to clarify..
Even if i email the teacher, i don't think i will get an answer in time
& the other 2 mummies i know are from same class with same info as me(in fact, I was the 1 who sms them to inform them of that email,if not, they probably won't know about the last minute test!! coz they commented why inform through email?esp they do not check regularly!!)
another mummy in 1st class, but i didn't bother to ask(trusting our info should be correct) esp i need to work late that night..
Anyway, never mind la..over liao
Ya, sometimes these things are just beyond our control.. -
Joyfulhands:
Agree too!TravelMummy:
Hmm, my kid went through 6 yrs of Pei Hwa with me being a super uninvolved parent (which turned out into a blessing, I think), not really ever being on top of things cos I am always travelling on work. Just thought I'd leave it to the school who will feedback if there is anything wrong. I was at every parent teacher meeting though. Over the years, I am sure things must not have been perfect, the kids may have occasionally been tested for something they are not prepared for and there would probably be surprises that they did not expect. I think its no bad thing, cos in life, you are often dealt with a curved ball and you should know how to cope. The ones who can and are resilient are distinguished from those who can't. These will show in the marks and those who do well rightly deserve it, cos all their classmates operate by the same rules. Despite my laissez faire attitude, Pei Hwa did well by my kid and he turned out pretty alright. I have never criticized their teachers, and when push comes to shove, always take the side of the teachers. As a result, they are always grateful and managed to train my kid up in the things that mattered - discipline, respect, self- control. Now that my kid is in Secondary school, I can see the great foundation PH has laid in him and are content because I don't really have to worry. I have another kid who started at Pei Hwa whom I transferred to another even more branded school with a feeder so I don't have to worry about P6. Its a great school with much better communication channels but there are times I regret I did not let her complete the studies there and assimilate the values that a wonderful SAP school like that can impart. Your kid is in a good place. Don't worry. If he /she sometimes get less than perfect teachers, just train him to be flexible, adjust and cope, and more importantly understand that in life, we dont get our ducks all lined up in a row. Next year, he will get better ones. There are plenty of good teachers in PH. Wishing you & your kid all the best.
I like your parenting attitude. Sometimes by not holding on too tightly to the string of the kite (an analogy to our kid) will do our kid some good. Life has its fair share of occasional, little setbacks, and it is not always bad for the kid.
For the record, I don't even know about the term 3 science test, and only knew after DD came back home and told me. Well.. I figured that it's only 5%, so if she has to use that 5% in exchange for a lesson learnt, so be it. (The other 5% is for the practical test, and both adds to 10% for term 3 HA.) Anyway my mindset is that if my kid has to learn her mistakes the hard way, it could be any HAs, CAs or SAs, as long she learnt it before the PSLE and not during! :xedfingers: -
Joyfulhands:
Really surprised to read that PH has started CA2 written test for science. It used to be just practical test for \"CA2\".TravelMummy:
Hmm, my kid went through 6 yrs of Pei Hwa with me being a super uninvolved parent (which turned out into a blessing, I think), not really ever being on top of things cos I am always travelling on work. Just thought I'd leave it to the school who will feedback if there is anything wrong. I was at every parent teacher meeting though. Over the years, I am sure things must not have been perfect, the kids may have occasionally been tested for something they are not prepared for and there would probably be surprises that they did not expect. I think its no bad thing, cos in life, you are often dealt with a curved ball and you should know how to cope. The ones who can and are resilient are distinguished from those who can't. These will show in the marks and those who do well rightly deserve it, cos all their classmates operate by the same rules. Despite my laissez faire attitude, Pei Hwa did well by my kid and he turned out pretty alright. I have never criticized their teachers, and when push comes to shove, always take the side of the teachers. As a result, they are always grateful and managed to train my kid up in the things that mattered - discipline, respect, self- control. Now that my kid is in Secondary school, I can see the great foundation PH has laid in him and are content because I don't really have to worry. I have another kid who started at Pei Hwa whom I transferred to another even more branded school with a feeder so I don't have to worry about P6. Its a great school with much better communication channels but there are times I regret I did not let her complete the studies there and assimilate the values that a wonderful SAP school like that can impart. Your kid is in a good place. Don't worry. If he /she sometimes get less than perfect teachers, just train him to be flexible, adjust and cope, and more importantly understand that in life, we dont get our ducks all lined up in a row. Next year, he will get better ones. There are plenty of good teachers in PH. Wishing you & your kid all the best.
I like your parenting attitude. Sometimes by not holding on too tightly to the string of the kite (an analogy to our kid) will do our kid some good. Life has its fair share of occasional, little setbacks, and it is not always bad for the kid.
For the record, I don't even know about the term 3 science test, and only knew after DD came back home and told me. Well.. I figured that it's only 5%, so if she has to use that 5% in exchange for a lesson learnt, so be it. (The other 5% is for the practical test, and both adds to 10% for term 3 HA.) Anyway my mindset is that if my kid has to learn her mistakes the hard way, it could be any HAs, CAs or SAs, as long she learnt it before the PSLE and not during! :xedfingers:
As for whether to hands off or not by parents, it really depends on the child. if the child is independent, disciplined and self motivated type, then it is ok not to be involved. however I think this applies to the minority of the children only. For the rest, the parents should still actively guide the child. it is better to play safe than to regret later. -
embel:
Sure, we can definitely seek clarification from the teachers when we have doubts. But the point is, why can't the teachers give clear and correct info the first time round? In fact, my child's teacher even admitted that she decided to inform the class about the test only because she received some queries whether there would be a project (because in term 1, during parents' workshop, the HOD announced there would be a project in term3, which will constitute 10% of the overall.) Meaning to say, if those few parents didn't approach the teacher, she would not even mention about the test? Then mention wrong topic some more! My child did badly, but I didn't confront the teacher or did anything. Just take it as our fault for not doing consistent revision.
Must state this. I am not siding the school in this case!
Actually the topic was quite clear if we had attended the briefing at the beginning of yr. The slides are in Mconline and the followings are stated:
Term 3 - Toy Making (10%)
- Individual and group work
@Individual work
- Identify appropriate materials based on characteristics and function
- Draw and label the parts of the toy
- Explain choice on material for each part of the toy
@Group work
- Present individual design within a group
- Choose the best design
- Build the prototype
- Test out the prototype
The above was subsequently changed to a written toy making test in asking the kid to choose the materials they would use if they were to make a xXxX. Our children had to do exactly those listed under @Individual work.
We were unsure at first if it's the same as the briefing slides, thus decided to text Tr with some parents emailing her. To make things easy, she emailed all parents to tell us the change. I guess the change was due to time constraint. Too time consuming to make individual toy and also, may not be fair for the kids to evaluate one another's toy.
Knowing parents in different classes do help if they are willing to share. I have frens whose children are in other classes asking me too and I even share the compo and oral info with them. Vice versa too. Anyway, nothing to hide in this case as the info is in the website. (Though I know there's one class whereby the teacher told the kids \"cannot share\".) -
Joyfulhands:
Joyfulhands,
I like your parenting attitude. Sometimes by not holding on too tightly to the string of the kite (an analogy to our kid) will do our kid some good. Life has its fair share of occasional, little setbacks, and it is not always bad for the kid.
For the record, I don't even know about the term 3 science test, and only knew after DD came back home and told me. Well.. I figured that it's only 5%, so if she has to use that 5% in exchange for a lesson learnt, so be it. (The other 5% is for the practical test, and both adds to 10% for term 3 HA.) Anyway my mindset is that if my kid has to learn her mistakes the hard way, it could be any HAs, CAs or SAs, as long she learnt it before the PSLE and not during! :xedfingers:
Can see you really bo chap. The kids brought home the HA Plan for Term 3 3rd week of Term 3. Last 2 weeks were stated as H.A for Science. I thought it is CA2 at first too. Still asked my neighbour if her grandson had CA2 for Science last yr.
Not that I want to chap. Cos of my bo chap, I got calls and msgs from DS's teachers.
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Scary:
I guess I'm a stupid parent. I can't deduce that a supposedly toy-making project would end up to be a written test about Materials. When the HOD announced that there would be a project and will provide more info later, I just take it as it is. When there was no news about it later, I also take it as it is. When the teacher informed us 2 days before the test that it would be on Diversity, I still take it as it is. I trust the teachers and let them do their job. But then.... Stupid me. No wonder my kids are not in top class.
Actually the topic was quite clear if we had attended the briefing at the beginning of yr. Since it's toy making, it had to be materials. The unclear part was the way it's being conducted. Supposed to be individual making the toy, followed by group's evaluation of the toy. It was subsequently changed to a written toy making test in asking the kid to choose the materials they would use if they were to make a xXxX.
We were not sure at first if it's the same as the briefing slides, thus decided to text Tr with some emailing her. To make things easy, she emailed all parents to tell us the change. I guess the change was due to time constraint. Too time consuming to make individual toy and also, may not be fair for the kids to evaluate one another's toy.
Knowing parents in different classes do help if they are willing to share. I have frens whose children are in other classes asking me too and I even share the compo and oral info with them.
But never mind lah, I am not one of those parents who place academics as top priority. I am working, with 2 kids, and no maid. I can't be bothered and have no time to hound teachers for this and that info, much less hound them and argue with them to give additional 1-2 marks for tests/exams. In fact, I don't even know this silly Materials tests was MCQ, short answer or what, because the teacher only returned the paper to the students to take a look, and collect back, and didn't do corrections..
Overall, as long as my kids are happy in the school, that's all it matters. Just that once in a while, something crops up due to miscommunication and is irritating. -
embel:
I guess I'm a stupid parent. I can't deduce that a supposedly toy-making project would end up to be a written test about Materials. When the HOD announced that there would be a project and will provide more info later, I just take it as it is. When there was no news about it later, I also take it as it is. When the teacher informed us 2 days before the test that it would be on Diversity, I still take it as it is. I trust the teachers and let them do their job. But then.... Stupid me. No wonder my kids are not in top class.Scary:
Actually the topic was quite clear if we had attended the briefing at the beginning of yr. Since it's toy making, it had to be materials. The unclear part was the way it's being conducted. Supposed to be individual making the toy, followed by group's evaluation of the toy. It was subsequently changed to a written toy making test in asking the kid to choose the materials they would use if they were to make a xXxX.
We were not sure at first if it's the same as the briefing slides, thus decided to text Tr with some emailing her. To make things easy, she emailed all parents to tell us the change. I guess the change was due to time constraint. Too time consuming to make individual toy and also, may not be fair for the kids to evaluate one another's toy.
Knowing parents in different classes do help if they are willing to share. I have frens whose children are in other classes asking me too and I even share the compo and oral info with them.
But never mind lah, I am not one of those parents who place academics as top priority. I am working, with 2 kids, and no maid. I can't be bothered and have no time to hound teachers for this and that info, much less hound them and argue with them to give additional 1-2 marks for tests/exams. In fact, I don't even know this silly Materials tests was MCQ, short answer or what, because the teacher only returned the paper to the students to take a look, and collect back, and didn't do corrections..
Overall, as long as my kids are happy in the school, that's all it matters. Just that once in a while, something crops up due to miscommunication and is irritating.
Hi embel, please see my edited post. Think you saw the one before I edited. Actually the info was in the slides that the HOD showed us that time. When we asked the Sci Tr initially, her reply was, \"See the briefing slides.\" -
Scary:
Scary,
Joyfulhands,
Can see you really bo chap. The kids brought home the HA Plan for Term 3 3rd week of Term 3. Last 2 weeks were stated as H.A for Science. I thought it is CA2 at first too. Still asked my neighbour if her grandson had CA2 for Science last yr.
Not that I want to chap. Cos of my bo chap, I got calls and msgs from DS's teachers.
Don't scare me lei.. Hahaha.. None of my DD's teachers called me, so I take it that my DD is ok & I need not over worry
And yes, we (DD & me) like your DS' teacher 
He is in very good hands!
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Hi joyful hands/scary,
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