Maris Stella High

[ptr]

Vicki, do you mean the programme for us parents or the kids? For parents, we were not allowed anywhere but the front office area, not even canteen (or did any parents manage to go in??). I find this rather strict, my friends in mee toh, ACS, Kuo Chuan were all able to at least wait at canteen and managed to snap pics of their p1 kids and observe if they could cope with buying food and eating within prescribed time (from afar). I have no idea what's going on with ds, he tells me he doesnt buy and he doesnt eat from his packed food, the p5 buddy just \"plays\" with him :S. I dont even know what is being sold at canteen and the price range of the food. All this is rather disheartening to me. For 6 years of primary education, I thought it would not hurt to let us parents in for 1-3 days just to help our kids adjust. If proper security measures are in place, there should not be concern. My mom was with me when I went to P1 many decades ago! :sad: Even if you see the papers, there was a pic showing a daddy helping his daughter with her food on the first day of school at the canteen (i forgot the school name).


Dismissal, as other mommies, may have observed, is rather chaotic. On the first day, at drop off, I asked where is the dismissal for my son taking MRT home, one told me central office and one told me side gate. Me and my maid covered both waiting area to be sure.

The admin instructions on paper are clear. By now, I know the PE days, the form teacher name, the class timetable and most of his books have been kept in school based on the DAy 1,2,3 list. But the mysterious part is I dunno where the books are kept. It's not under his desk, it's not in his locker cos the lock is still with my son. So I assume the teacher kept it somewhere which I am grateful, cos ds bag is much lighter now. No joke bringing the bag up that Maris Stella \"hill\".

If you are asking about my son, he said he had fun, and that he was \"disturbed and tickled\" by the boy sat next to him. After some probing, I learnt he was sat at the very last row :S. He told me there were some crying by other boys, but not very clear. He gets home only around 2.30pm and is very hungry and tired. Sleeps by 9pm every night, so there is almost no time for any activities when I get home. We will have to adjust as a family, otherwise, I will not be able to help him with his homework in future.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my observations and feelings and wonder if other mommies feel the same, or have better ways to manage then me.

[ptr]

shchia:

Hi, anyone has any feedback on the school hours. I tot the dismissal at 1.45pm from Wed to Fri is really late for the kids. By the time they reach home, it is at least 2.30pm.


Last year, they have a longer day on Monday till 3.45pm and the rest of the days were dismissed at 1.15pm. Not sure why they need to change.

I heard other schools dismissed at 1.00pm.

Yes, I fully agree, somehow this single session results in longer hours. My friends kids in double sessions get off earlier to make way for pm students. My son reaches home 2.30pm to 3pm. We resort to feed him \"lunch\" on the way home, i.e. he eats on the go. It is really not ideal. And the late lunch is seriously affecting his dinner intake too. I wonder how the kids on school bus cope, they must reach home even later.

[ptr]

One other thing, actually when they say 1.45pm. My son doesnt get out till after 2pm. I sincerely hope the school will review this, I dont think even adults eat lunch at 3pm regularly right??

[cinchua]

Dear Parents,


Anyone who manage to sneak in and have a look at what is being sold in the canteen and their average price, pls post here. My son told me that the queue is very long and for the last 2 days, he bought snacks and soft drinks from the vending machine. I thought the vending machine should be scrap else the children will self-serve on the drinks when they have enough money. He even request to bring lunch box instead.

[Learning Dad]

cinchua:

Dear Parents,


Anyone who manage to sneak in and have a look at what is being sold in the canteen and their average price, pls post here. My son told me that the queue is very long and for the last 2 days, he bought snacks and soft drinks from the vending machine. I thought the vending machine should be scrap else the children will self-serve on the drinks when they have enough money. He even request to bring lunch box instead.

This post seems apt as I was going to ask about the same.

DS1 ate chicken rice ($1) for the past 2 days...not sure wat's he's going to try 2day. DS1 told me that the Q is long & told us that the portion were smaller for P1 kids compared to the bigger boys. I had to ask how he knew, DS1 replied \"I compared lor\" :slapshead:

I told DS1 that if he wants more he can ask for more & be prepared to pay for it.

DS1 said that after the Q-ing, he had juz enuff time to finish eating at the ringing of the bell.

I asked DS1 what else was being sold, he shared it's mostly with chilli [it could be that it's red (but maybe not spicy) like Mee Siam] and Nasi Lemak is being sold too.

[mooon17]

Hi all


My DS also told me that the q at the canteen is very long. Requested for me to pack food to bring. But I suspect that he just want to have more time to play. We realized that he is fascinated by the swings.

I agree that the dismissal time at 1.45 pm is rather late. By the time he eats lunch it’s at least 2.30pm at his student care. And he is one of the first few who had alighted from the school bus. Most of his friends from other schools had finished their lunch already.

Think MSHS is prob the only school who does not allow the parents even a glimpse on the first day. All of my friends could at least bring the child to the classroom on the first day and observe for a little while during recess. Guess there is good and bad about the whole thing. But, as parents, we would like to know the system in place so that we can have peace of mind thereafter.

[cherrygal]

DS prefers packed food so he can eat quickly and go play. If I don’t pack, he’ll be eating wanton mee and putu mayam. Did anyone buy fruit? DS said the cut watermelon was $1 and I got a shock. Not sure if this is true or he forgot to take the change… blur king?

[TonyThomasMum]

Day1 my son queue for Chicken Rice @$1 and left 5 mins to eat.

Day2 he Q at the stall with the shortest queue to buy food. Only 3 people in the queue. Lian Rong Pau @60cents.
He told me the Day2 P5 boy assigned to a group of 3 P1 boys is a different boy from day 1.
He loves to drink soft drinks but surprised that he didn’t buy a bottle from the canteen.
He doesn’t want me to pack food him. I don’t know why.
I packed some biscuits for him to snack while on bus but he also doesn’t want to bring.

[vicki]

Hi ptr - txs for telling me wats happening in P1 now.


Seems like a drastic change as compared to last year.

Last year, the boys were on the catered food scheme - which i tot was a good idea - but there were soooo many parents with complaints (infact there were complains over the years - think if you read earlier postings in this thread you will be able to see - they finally scrapped the scheme sob sob my ds2n3 how?!)

We had parents program from 730am to 1pm? for Day 1 n 2 in the hall. All the boys (P1) had their recess in the classroom so i guess the canteen wasnt overcrowded. Parents just hung by the hall or the canteen… so Day 1 n 2 was good!!

Wow! There’s quite a big change this year - probably due to the catered food scheme being scrapped. But in all honestly, i think there are also alot of schools that do not allow the parents to be in the school - if i rem correctly, Henry Park and De La Salle are some examples (at least per my frens for previous year’s P1 intake).

I wonder if this new ‘structure’ is here to stay!! sigh Was hoping that i could walk ds2 and 3 to their class on the 1st day when they hit P1!!

[vicki]

ptr:

shchia:

Hi, anyone has any feedback on the school hours. I tot the dismissal at 1.45pm from Wed to Fri is really late for the kids. By the time they reach home, it is at least 2.30pm.


Last year, they have a longer day on Monday till 3.45pm and the rest of the days were dismissed at 1.15pm. Not sure why they need to change.

I heard other schools dismissed at 1.00pm.

Yes, I fully agree, somehow this single session results in longer hours. My friends kids in double sessions get off earlier to make way for pm students. My son reaches home 2.30pm to 3pm. We resort to feed him \"lunch\" on the way home, i.e. he eats on the go. It is really not ideal. And the late lunch is seriously affecting his dinner intake too. I wonder how the kids on school bus cope, they must reach home even later.

I tot longer hours cos they embarked on the PAL program - an average of 4lessons (2hrs) per week.