Raffles Girls' Primary

[rivervalley]

Hi,


Lets not forget that school start time in Singapore has been the same for decades. I went to primary school 30 years ago and the start time was the same as now - 7.20 am. I had to wake up at 5.20 am every morning as the school bus came at 6 am. I don't remember my mother wanting to complain to school, MOE or MPs. She just accepted it. I completed my homework in the afternoons and my mother made sure I went to bed by 8.30 pm every night, no staying up to watch TV, chit-chatting, playing.

If generations of Singapore school kids can survive waking up at 5 to 5.30 am throughout their school life, what's so special about our kids that we have to molly-coddle them. Come on, kids are tougher than you think.

Its just plain common sense primary school kids should NOT be sleeping at 10 or 11 pm if they have to wake up at 5 am.

My kids are both in afternoon sessions and they are in bed by 9 pm. They sleep til 8 am every morning. That's 11 solid hours of sleep. I am a working mom and i get home at 7.30 pm. I manage to squeeze in 1 hour of interaction/ homework/reading before 9 pm bedtime.

My husband is a Caucasian and when he first came to Singapore he was incredulous to see Singapore kids running about in shopping centres at 10 pm at night. In most Western countries, kids are put to bed by 7 or 7.30 pm! In fact, he thinks our kids' bedtime of 9 pm is far too late. When my daughter starts P3 he will probably ask her to go to bed at 7 pm

[ooioo]

Hi Tania and rivervalley,


I am just a simple parent wanting to create the best learning environment for my child, when ever it is possible and within my limits, I will try to create a better world and environment for my child.

IF every Singaporean parent were to compare every single thing 20, 30 years ago with themselves, we will never move on or progress, I will never want the class room to be like when I was a student in Primary for my girls.

If something have been the same for 20-30 years it does not mean that it is correct or things cannot be improved.

I would refrain from taking the whole western culture and plonk it into Singapore; looking at the condition of Europe and US now, I dun think it is wise to follow everything the West does.

I am not a Tigermum put I want my girls to live life to the fullest, enjoy every minute possible, and not be wasted on a bus, on waiting for it or just be in sch so early and do nothing.

What really made me angry is schools have rules, bus be there between 6.45 to 7.10am, but bus operator can break the rule every single day and nothing gets done about it, they even have the cheek to "misrepresent" the fact and tell parents the school wants them to be at school BEFORE 6.40am

[KSP]

Last year I did the same thing as those P3 and P4(1st yr xfer) frustrated parents here. Wrote to the P and had a 1hr session with her. Then she assigned the VP/OM to handle it and they later came back with some answers (not solution) which leads to nowhere.


I think for people who stay far from the school need to be mentally prepared that the child will have to lose some sleep for the travel time when deciding the school for P1 or transferring.

There are a few facts that cannot be changed.

1. There must have a min number of students to justify for the bus route, hence pickup time for all the students need to be taken into account. We can't have a bus which just pick 1 or 2 students and go straight to school, right?

2. The bus has to reach school before 6.45 to avoid the traffic, in fact the traffic starts to slow down at PIE/Eng Neo/Dunearn and even worse at Adam/Bukit Timah/U-turn at NYGH. I used both routes before during the morning peak hr that's why i know. We can debate or reason with the school and operator until cow come home but this is the unwritten rule for all bus drivers.

3. The buses have been assigned to pick up workers as well so they too have to leave the school before the traffic starts to build up along the Dunearn. Even if the school change the operator the same issue will still be there. Reason is simple, they can't survive by just ferrying students.

4. If the bus is \"late\", they will be caught in the jam together with those parents who drive their children to school and there is only 1 lane to turn into the school along Hillcrest.

I would foresee more problems for those who stay far if the school decides to start later when they run single session.

1. The bus company has to give up some workers business to acommodate the school timing but allocate fewer buses for the school. Hence, they may combine more students in a bus which result in longer traveling time.

2. Increasing bus fare is almost certain.

Btw, most of the exsiting students will be graduated by then (2016) but this same old and never ending subject will still be discussed by a new group parents :rotflmao:

[mwchua]

I rest my case. Ultimately the onus is for us parents to do something for our girls if external circumstances can’t be changed.


For now, I will have to make sure that my girl sleeps by 9pm which means I have to leave office on the dot, even if it means incurring the wrath of boss & fellow workers. The closely-choreographed mad rush every day will have to continue till a better alternative can be found.

I only blame myself for not thinking through the logistics of this whole arrangement. Thanks to all of you for your kind sharing of experiences.

[ooioo]

Hi KSP, thank you for sharing your thoughts and is good to hear that I am not alone in this and feeling so "pek chek"


I know all the constraints and personally been to see many times myself the traffic on the ground from 6.30 to 7.20am

Actually my wish is just for the bus to arrive at 6.45am instead of 6.30am now. Can you imagine if all private parties can fault the rules of your school, do you still trust the school or its establishment?

Like i say if something does not change for donkey years does not mean that it becomes impossible to solve.

If we all work together to get more people involved, I really really think we can do it, parents and the RGPS alone cannot do it, but with more stakeholders involved I know we can if we come together to try.

[KSP]

If u take a step back and think again, why not let dd sleep at 8.45 instead of 9 (just quoting an example) to gain that 15min.


But don’t get me wrong as I still feel that everyone has the right to voice their concerns to the school.

[soonlee.012396ng.012396resources-sg.012396com]

For parents who place speed more than money (ie money is no issue), the transport company can arrange for a bus to just fetch and ferry your girl. If I did not hear wrongly from my girl’s driver (he is the "chief"), it is $500 per month.

[Funz]

I think all of us if given a choice will not want our kids to waking up so early in the morning.


I for one like I said earlier would love for schools to start later. But I know of many who say otherwise as it will pose many problems to their schedules.

I do not mind paying a higher school bus fare if it means my kids can have another 30mins in bed. But there are many others who do mind or cannot afford.

We can ask the schools not to open the gates until 6.45am sharp or even later, but what is to stop the buses from rushing there as fast as they can, to be the first one in and out of the gate and that may mean them arriving early enough to wait for the gate to open.

I have also experienced how leaving the house 5mins earlier/later may not mean I arrive at the school that corresponding 5mins early or late. I leave at this time I arrive 15mins before the bell goes off. I leave my house 5 mins later then usual, DD will be late.

I asked DD what time does she arrive in school most of the days, she says usually about 6.45-6.50am. The bus picks her up at 6.20am. There were a couple of times when DD said they were almost late for school. All because along the way, some students were a little late and bus driver had to wait or double back.

This is not the first time that parents have brought this issue up. If it could have been so easily resolved it would have been solved by now. Problem is with any change, the implications are more then just more rest hours for our kids.

[ooioo]

Hi KSP,


I am understand where you coming from, why I won’t let this go because my girl is not the only one being affected in this case.

I sincerely believe every single day, thousands of students in Singapore suffers the lost of precious time, which can be use for being with their family, because MOE and the bus companies here sucks big time.

One girl is just 15 mins, but its 250 days of school a year, times just a bus of 30 students, how much time is that?

It is just wrong to let this continue to go on like this.

[ooioo]

Hi Funz,


Thank you for joining the discussion and that you agree with us that a child should have enough rest and wake up later.

Up till now, I am not sure if this problem have ever surface to the higher authority, I understand the limited power of the school.

I feel the problem will just get worst and worst, as bus operator demand earlier fetching time, more and more parents give up and send their child themselves by car, and this just make the traffic problem worst.