What if medical problems arises during PSLE

[sall]

ppnqq:

:shock:

Thanks for the feedback. Is that your experience? But sometimes we don't even have the voice to talk when having sore throat so how to read and talk for oral? Then the written ones, already feeling very sick, probably may also feel giddy, mind empty, how to do? No deferment allowed?

My dd had a bad cough just before last yr's psle oral. I was in full panic mode and her tr advised me to get doctor's letter and give it to oral examiner on the day of oral exam. Luckily for her, she recovered the day before the orals.
During the written exams, her allergy problems resurfaced and she couldn't sleep until very late. So the next morning, I woke her up late so that she can have 1 more hr of sleep. Then she had stomach upset problem. So reached sch at 7.55am every day of psle. As long as they reached sch before 8am, it's ok and trs won't scold.
I read that one student had to take his papers with high fever, but some 'compasssion' marks and more time will be given.
I'm not sure what happens if student fainted or v v sick.... can check with sch trs.

[ANobleNerd]

sall:

ppnqq:

:shock:

Thanks for the feedback. Is that your experience? But sometimes we don't even have the voice to talk when having sore throat so how to read and talk for oral? Then the written ones, already feeling very sick, probably may also feel giddy, mind empty, how to do? No deferment allowed?

My dd had a bad cough just before last yr's psle oral. I was in full panic mode and her tr advised me to get doctor's letter and give it to oral examiner on the day of oral exam. Luckily for her, she recovered the day before the orals.
During the written exams, her allergy problems resurfaced and she couldn't sleep until very late. So the next morning, I woke her up late so that she can have 1 more hr of sleep. Then she had stomach upset problem. So reached sch at 7.55am every day of psle. As long as they reached sch before 8am, it's ok and trs won't scold.
I read that one student had to take his papers with high fever, but some 'compasssion' marks and more time will be given.
I'm not sure what happens if student fainted or v v sick.... can check with sch trs.

From my observation as ex-teacher, a lot of kids show up with stress symptoms like allergy, stomachaches, general queasiness for the PSLE. It's inevitable that their body will react to such stress that is given to the paper. Their natural immunity is also low during this time, and there will be kids suffering from nightmares and insomnia.

I think as parents, we need to run interference in the weeks leading up to the paper and impose rest and encouragement so that they are in a better form to take the paper. Schools usually load a lot of paper work on the P6s in the lead up, and I personally don't think it helps.

[sall]

Parents should make sure kids have enough sleep. Immune system will be affected by lack of sleep. 2 months before psle, avoid deep-fried food, eat lots of fruits and vegetable, drink enough water,avoid crowded places, exercise regularly. But sometimes, they are so stressed that they will still fall sick even with all kinds of precautions.

[Sun_2010]

It doesnt help that exams ( for most schools i think) are held in air con halls. So if one child is having a bad cold , it can easily spread to more kids . And added to that the cold symptoms are far worse in an air con room.


Last year DD had mentioned that there were few children sneezing and coughing on the first exam. By the time it was Science exam many more were down with cold. DD herself had it and she complained that her nose was very runny.

[walterp]

verykiasu2010:

Oral exam : probably more time given, (or may be another date ? not sure on this)


Written exam :

if hospitalised : take exam in hospital, may be more time allowed depending on cases

if writing hand is injured : either a teacher will write your answer while you dictate the answer to the teacher, or more time is given, and definitely some compassion marks will be awarded

common cases of flu, fever, stomach upset, but write in with medical cert - from anecdote from other parents, some compassion marks are possible but not possible to defer exam date.

if illness is due to communicable disease like chicken pox, HFMD, etc, SARS protocol will kick in

Last PSLE oral my DD at RGPS (was the only one of the entire cohort) was not feeling good that morning. Nevertheless she attended the exam hall s and was advised not to take the English oral and reported sick immediately to get MC. With the MC, she was excused for both Chinese and English Oral (consecutive day). She took both her English and Chinese Oral in the school conducted by MOE Invigilator just before the PSLE written paper. Of course the qns would be different.

For written exam, it is bit tricky especially if it is a last minute kind of emergency. To take or not to take ... worst still if the candidate cannot even get out of bed. That is why the Preliminary exam results are extremely important if MOE has to refer to it. And also that why DSA is also important. If your DD/DS has any CO/WL from DSA it is always a safeguard especially those very good student or GEP student.

my 2 cents worth.

[ppnqq]

walterp:

verykiasu2010:

Oral exam : probably more time given, (or may be another date ? not sure on this)


Written exam :

if hospitalised : take exam in hospital, may be more time allowed depending on cases

if writing hand is injured : either a teacher will write your answer while you dictate the answer to the teacher, or more time is given, and definitely some compassion marks will be awarded

common cases of flu, fever, stomach upset, but write in with medical cert - from anecdote from other parents, some compassion marks are possible but not possible to defer exam date.

if illness is due to communicable disease like chicken pox, HFMD, etc, SARS protocol will kick in

Last PSLE oral my DD at RGPS (was the only one of the entire cohort) was not feeling good that morning. Nevertheless she attended the exam hall s and was advised not to take the English oral and reported sick immediately to get MC. With the MC, she was excused for both Chinese and English Oral (consecutive day). She took both her English and Chinese Oral in the school conducted by MOE Invigilator just before the PSLE written paper. Of course the qns would be different.

For written exam, it is bit tricky especially if it is a last minute kind of emergency. To take or not to take ... worst still if the candidate cannot even get out of bed. That is why the Preliminary exam results are extremely important if MOE has to refer to it. And also that why DSA is also important. If your DD/DS has any CO/WL from DSA it is always a safeguard especially those very good student or GEP student.

my 2 cents worth.

So for those who are neither?

[Mum1113]

Just for sharing…more like for parents especially those super-involved type, not just for the PSLE kids :


Sis took hers last year literally (sorry I mean of course her DS), and sis was the one who fell sick before PSLE 2010. As she was very involved in the preparations as much as her DS, but her falling sick actually made her DS worried for her. Being sensible child, he assured sis not to be unduly worry as preparations were done well before hand.

The point here is to share and remind parents including myself, to also not just make sure our kids have super-duper rest before the BIG day, ample of water replenishment to rid-off any ‘potential’ heatiness, have a clear mind and always keeping a positive attitute.
This can be done when leg-work / hand-work of all preparations are functioning well beforehand.

Just 2 cents sharing.

[Chenonceau]

I grow a herb in my garden called echinacea. I have 4 plants at any one time and the moment someone in the family feels a flu come on, I dig up the root, wash thoroughly, microwave it in some water and get the person to chew and swallow plus drink the water.


Those with gardens can grow the herb. It is most effective AFTER it has flowered. In my experience, it takes 2 years to flower.

Those who don't garden can visit a herbal shop at the basement of Great World City. They sell echinacea teabags there. My sis-in-law takes those to shorten the duration of her flu.

You can read of my experience with this herb here... http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-echinacea-roll.html

Parents may find it useful to standby this herb in the lead up to exams. The other thing I do is to use astragalus in all my weekly soups in the lead up to exams (6 weeks or so). This herb increases white blood cell count and thereby improves immunity. Chinese medical halls sell astragalus as bei qi.

Both astragalus and echinacea are part of traditional American Indian herb lore. Astragalus is also part of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

[schweppes]

Chenonceau:

I grow a herb in my garden called echinacea. I have 4 plants at any one time and the moment someone in the family feels a flu come on, I dig up the root, wash thoroughly, microwave it in some water and get the person to chew and swallow plus drink the water.


Those with gardens can grow the herb. It is most effective AFTER it has flowered. In my experience, it takes 2 years to flower.

Wow, an echinacea plant!! Can I ask where did you buy your plant?

[Chenonceau]

schweppes:

Chenonceau:

I grow a herb in my garden called echinacea. I have 4 plants at any one time and the moment someone in the family feels a flu come on, I dig up the root, wash thoroughly, microwave it in some water and get the person to chew and swallow plus drink the water.


Those with gardens can grow the herb. It is most effective AFTER it has flowered. In my experience, it takes 2 years to flower.

Wow, an echinacea plant!! Can I ask where did you buy your plant?

I had seeds from my trip to USA a couple years ago. I raised mine from seeds. Hard to grow this in tropics. A lot don't make it. Need half perlite and half TREF mix and direct sunlight for at least 4 hours a day. Root tastes like ginseng. Snails love it. I lost at least 5 plants to snail attacks.

You have PM.