Maris Stella High

[TonyThomasMum]

I went to school today to see how they dismiss the kids.

There are good and bad points.
Primary one kids board the bus first but wait in the bus for around 20mins before the rest of the students are released.
I come to realise many school buses are fully packed. One parent that I bumped into told me her son Sch bus even have standing students!

The school bus that my son take does not practise putting on the seat belt.
They put 3 boys to two seats. I think that is that reason for not able to use the seat belt. Fairly concern about their safety especially for those that sit near the door.

[mooon17]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows if the P5 big brothers will help the little ones for how long? Is it for this week only?

Thanks!

[PapayaDad]

mooon17:

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows if the P5 big brothers will help the little ones for how long? Is it for this week only?

Thanks!

ds Says 2 weeks.

[mooon17]

Thanks PapayaDad!

[Learning Dad]

beanstalk:

Good grief, your poor boy. Hope he wasn't too upset. You need to tell the school/teacher in charge. My son was asked how he was getting home. Although I had briefed him like ten times, he still had to call me. :roll:


BTW, there IS a coin phone in the school (not sure where) so there is no need to buy a Singtel card. Better they lose a few coins than one whole card.

Cherrygal, thanks for replying about the PE shorts. I think I better go look closer for pockets!

If my memory is not failing...there are 2 coin phones near the General Officer (1 is near the security counter, the other is near the water cooler (opposite General Office), before the staircase up).

There is another in the canteen but that may be too high up for P1 (not too sure as DS did not try that phone).

[vicki]

Dear P1 parents - can i know whats the program for you guys for Day1n2 of this year’s intake?


My ds2 going P1 in 2 years time - just curious wat are the changes vs last year…

Txs.

[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.

[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??