Ngee Ann Primary

[Coolkidsrock2]

KP29:

As for recess, i m pretty sure my DD manages to finish a bowl of noodle soup or rice. But the portion is so pathetic (i've seen it) n not enough even for a P1 kid. DD told me the same thing too.

My kids take 2 portions of food and a packet of milk for recess. After being \"very hungry\" on the way home for a couple of days, DS now packs a light snack to eat on the way home and this had been so for the last few years. DD already graduated from the school.

DS reaches home at about 3pm on normal days and will take a nap after lunch and bath. Homework for my kids had been minimal and they normally start at around 9pm as I normally reach home after 8.30pm. They are in bed by 10pm.

[alwayslucky]

Aeomi:

Hi, just wondering if any of the other parents with kids in P1 have the same problem? With the introduction of the PALS programme, the P1 school hours have become really long, from 7.30am to 1.45pm most days. There is only a 30min break at 10.15 for recess.


My poor son has to wake up at 6am to be ready for the school bus at 6.30am. He eats slowly so has only a cup of Pediasure and a slice of bread or a scrambled egg at 6.15am. We pack sandwiches for him at recess but he is either but he is either busy playing or talking to friends and he takes only 1 - 2 bites! By the time he returns from school on the bus it's already 2.30pm. He only has lunch at about 3pm or so after dilly-dallying a bit. That's a good 9 hours between proper meals!!

Dinner has to be at 7.30pm latest so he can get to bed by 8.30pm to get enough hours of sleep.

For a 6 year old who is just adapting to P1 life I feel it's really tough. He has to learn how to wake up super early, gulp breakfast at an unearthly hour, learn to go to toilet and eat fast at recess and have a super late lunch, followed by dinner 4 hours later!

Working adults have a decent lunch hour and I'm sure no one expects to eat breakfast at 6.15am, then lunch at 3pm! I know there's been some feedback to the principal but what can the school do? MOE expects schools to function this way.

Sorry for this long post...just wanted to find out if there are other parents facing similar problems...

My son has already lost >2kg since starting P1 by the way.

We have to appeal to MOE for guidelines changes.

[chloecube]

Coolkidsrock2:

KP29:

As for recess, i m pretty sure my DD manages to finish a bowl of noodle soup or rice. But the portion is so pathetic (i've seen it) n not enough even for a P1 kid. DD told me the same thing too.


My kids take 2 portions of food and a packet of milk for recess. After being \"very hungry\" on the way home for a couple of days, DS now packs a light snack to eat on the way home and this had been so for the last few years. DD already graduated from the school.

DS reaches home at about 3pm on normal days and will take a nap after lunch and bath. Homework for my kids had been minimal and they normally start at around 9pm as I normally reach home after 8.30pm. They are in bed by 10pm.

hi,
DS is in P5 and DD in P2, by the time she came out from school, she is already screaming hunger.
my helper will let them eat at one of the block void deck before taking a bus/cab home. i stay in Tampines.
by the time they reach home, they have to take a shower immediately. weather is too hot.
if they have homework, they will need to complete them before i reach home ard 6plus.
DS has plenty of hw daily from school. beside school work, he also have tution work to do. but i make sure he has at least 1-2hr of leisure time everyday. he can do whatever he likes, most of the time is on his hp playing games with his classmate.
for DD is still younger, so i let her relax a bit more..

[daniel_tancl]

Hi all,

my twin boys are in 1Love, also facing the same situation:-
Wakes up at 6am - 615am, force feed them with Pediasure + Egg + Ham/Cheese (otherwise they will take ages to finish everything), they are so tired that they simply lie down on sofa and continue sleeping after breakfast…sometimes we even have to help them with uniform so that we can leave by 6:55am latest for the journey to school takes 20m - 25min drive (luckily though)… they can have an extended sleep in the car…We packed milk and snacks for their recess so that they don’t have to queue up and buy food, and they can eat the packed food at own pace (also because from our observation on P1 day 1, the food they bought was pathetic both in quantity and supposedly quality)…by the time they reach the student care…it is already 2:55pm!! Lunch only at around 3:15pm…Just hope that the kids will adapt to it…

Trying to connect to other P1 parents…if you are keen, can PM me…we can exchange information regarding our kids’ homework, difficulties, etc…

[Aeomi]

I can see that many of us have the same issues! I am meeting up with my son’s form teacher later to talk about some issues. The suggestion to have a mini-break for some snacks and water is a good one. I’m not sure if the school will be willing to have such a major change as shortening school hours. I’ll talk to her and let all of you know the outcome.


When my son first started out in P1, they were not even allowed to drink water while waiting for the bus. After we fed back to the school at least this is no longer an issue! Hopefully they will consider an additional 10-15min break in class.

[KP29]

Yesterday, my DD told me "Mummy, have you written to Ms D (form teacher)? She never told me I can eat my biscuit in class."


~ felt so bad when I heard that… Because I had told her on Monday that I had written an email to her teacher to request for a short "snack-break" in class. She must have been so looking forward to having that break.

I just told my DD that Ms. D hasn’t replied me yet, so I’m still waiting. Anyway, another forummer told me to air via the school’s feedback page and I’ve done that as well. Would be good if there are more of such same feedback to the school.

So sad that our kids have to suffer (unnecessarily) from hunger pangs…

[KP29]

I just received a reply from DD's FT. Not sure if it's because someone picked up my feedback and passed it to her, she did apologize and said she overlooked my earlier email.


Anyway, she replied me saying that she'll monitor my DD in class and also for my DD to tell her when she's hungry. She'll allow my DD to take a snack in class.

Don't think it'll work though because when other kids see this happening, they'll likely want to follow suit.

I think the feedback page is useful. Parents, do send in your feedback to the school on this issue. Collectively, we should be able to persuade the school to listen to us.

[terry]

:sad: Im facing the same issue with my ds in 1Tenacity. Im oso doing mostly wat u guys r doing to cope.

He wakes at 6.20am and we leave the hse latest by 7am. It takes 20mins to drv to sch depending on the traffic. Tho i stay relatively near but morning rush hr is a killer. Its difficult to make him eat a complete bfast once he wakes cos normally, just awake will not hv much appetite even for adults. Smtimes he takes cereal with milo or bread or a pc of cake. But qty is v little to last him till recess. Smtimes he really no appetite so he will eat in the car or drink a packet of milo in the car.

These past wk, he told me he eats 2bowls of noodles during recess, so i gotta gv him extra $$. Evday he tells me v hungry when i pick him up. He has his lunch abt 2.30-3pm. At first i insisted he bath then eat, but i see him so hungry so chg to eat first then bath.

He oso lost abt 1kg. Now all skin and bones.

I oso dun understand y sch ends so late. Cos when i drv pass chij and haig girls, tkps, all the children alrdy left sch liao. I reckon their sch ends abt 1 or 1.15pm.

Nw he is able to zzz early by 8pm cos not much hw. Imagine, for a 7yo, by dinnertime, they will be awke for more than 12hrs liao without a nap. I oso cant tahan. Wanna bring him for tuition oso heartpain.

[terry]

Just tried to get into the feedback pg. cannot leh.

[KP29]

terry:

Just tried to get into the feedback pg. cannot leh.

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I sent an email to [email protected]