Pat's Schoolhouse

[Kabby]

hi pat,

thank you for taking the time to reply to us.

I saw the new menu, am satisfied with it, and ds2 is happy too.

Hope everything will be settled soon and all the children will be well and back at school learning happily as they always have been.

[Laisee]

Pat Koh


Thanks for replying here.

If a mass food poisoning with potential loss of life is not enough to make a parent upset ( not angry, that’s wasted emotion …) and concerned then I’m not sure what kind of parents we would be.

From your comments I see that pats will be preparing food in-house at each school from now on I.e. "permanently". Does this include cooking of the food each day? Will there be any food pre-cooked elsewhere and brought to the schools? Will microwaves be used to reheat food cooked or prepared in advance?

Also, would it be possible to use an external agency or company to review hygiene and cooking arrangements at all schools so that we could be sure that everything is 100% in order. This would provide something more substantial for us to rely on than expressions of regret and wishes for the sad events not to happen again.

Thanks in advance for your feedback

Thanks in advance for your feedback

[DesertWind]

Dear Ms Patricia Koh,


Am very surprised but very much appreciate your comprehensive reply to the parents here. My child is not with Pats. but am still very interested in this pre-school. Your reply has cleared up quite a lot of my doubts and generated goodwill in me.

Thank you very much and may all the affected children and teachers recover well soon!

Best regards.

[patkoh]

verykiasu2010:

empressplace:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]2. If you surf the websites of KU and PSH, there is no way you could contact anyone directly via email except http://www.patschoolhouse.com/contact-us. Who is the guarantee that such web-form filling will be read ? By who ? They don't even have a whistle-blower email (which is a popular thing among US companies)

I have used the [email protected] email and received a direct personal email from Patricia Koh herself. I was very surprised. And subsequently I have written to her on another unrelated matter and received a prompt reply from her. I have found Patricia Koh to be even more responsive on email than the school principal!

Patricia Koh's mobile is also given out to parents in the latest school letter pasted on the communication book regarding this food poisoning incident. As a parent, I have not found it difficult to get in touch with management if that is a concern.

If any of us had found a problem with Mum's Kitchen's food prior to this incident, I don't think there is any difficulty getting this through to Patricia Koh herself. It is not in Knowledge Universe or Patricia Koh's financial interest to risk PSH's business reputation by continuing to use a questionable caterer which includes non food items in the food. The question is more of - whether management could have selected a better caterer or supervised Mum's Kitchen better or whether making more effort in having inhouse cooked food would have been a better decision.

Thanks for sharing this.

KU may not know what is happening at ground level. Pat's financial interest ? ahem, I shall not say anymore, because I do not want to be accused of making suspicious remarks. Thanks again for sharing your experience.

Usually when the founder of a successful business has sold out, the tendency is the increasing lack of attention to the business by the ex-owner who is tasked to remain to provide continuity to the business, willingly or unwillingly, due to overarching financial interest of the new owner who paid for it.

I am NOT implying anything about PSH. Just my observation having being involved in many M&A over the last few decades. Everytime we read about such M&A touting synergy, economy of scale etc .... we have doubts. And American pre-school is very different from Singapore pre-school. Investor's financial interest will be the sole yardstick to measure how good was the deal entered into. Vendor would be under extreme pressure to ensure all the financial kpi are met, and the demands on Vendor will be very unforgiving. Between meeting those financial kpi in black and white and the perception of quality in catering, it will be obvious which is easier to give way

Once again, just some common market place observation. Not implying anything about PSH.[/quote]Hi Verykiasu2010, like yourself, we are indeed appalled by such comments made by a ‘teacher’ about the way we serve food at the school. Our teachers can attest to the fact that I am very much concerned about everything that goes on in our schools and for that matter, food is something that I pay close attention to. I have personally spent time teaching our cooks how to prepare food and even to bake cakes using a special wok and given them tips on making food presentable to children even though the food was catered.

We have replied to her post and have asked her to contact me directly concerning such accusations.

As for Pat’s Schoolhouse being part of the Knowledge Universe family, you will be happy to note that I dropped everything that I was doing in the United States to return home to manage the crisis with the team. How can I not be involved? How could I have just ‘pocketed the money’ and walked out? In fact, I do take offence to such comments.

Pat’s Schoolhouse is my baby and even if Knowledge Universe has a major interest in Pat’s Schoolhouse, they have trusted me to continue to take care of their new baby. We are in it together to help Pat’s Schoolhouse provide the best education and care for our children for the next generation.

As for the organisation chart, let me assure you that Knowledge Universe is a great company with a mission to provide quality global education for young generations so as to ensure that we all have a better future. All those involved in Knowledge Universe and have a part to play will know their roles. No one is just reliant on one person to run one of the world’s largest Child Care providers.

So, if you wish to learn/clarify more about myself, Pat’s Schoolhouse or Knowledge Universe, reach me at via http://www.patschoolhouse.com/resources/ask-pat. I will surely make time for you for a cup of coffee.

[verykiasu2010]

Hi Patricia Koh


Thanks for replying over this ksp. Sorry if you feel offended. Never my intention to do so. At no time had I implied you have "pocketed the money’ and ‘walked out’. I took pain to emphasize / say that I am not implying anything on PSH, and that it is a general observation of marketplace behaviour.

It is evidently clear that you are smart and shrewd by ‘meeting’ us here to counter any unfair and unfounded accusations. From management point of view, this is very effective crisis management. Yes, I also read in the mainstream media that you flew back to SG immediately, to prove your concern and hands-on care.

Thanks for coffee and wish you all the best to restore shaken confidence.

Verykiasu2010

[patkoh]

Laisee:

Pat Koh


Thanks for replying here.

If a mass food poisoning with potential loss of life is not enough to make a parent upset ( not angry, that's wasted emotion ...) and concerned then I'm not sure what kind of parents we would be.

From your comments I see that pats will be preparing food in-house at each school from now on I.e. \"permanently\". Does this include cooking of the food each day? Will there be any food pre-cooked elsewhere and brought to the schools? Will microwaves be used to reheat food cooked or prepared in advance?

Also, would it be possible to use an external agency or company to review hygiene and cooking arrangements at all schools so that we could be sure that everything is 100% in order. This would provide something more substantial for us to rely on than expressions of regret and wishes for the sad events not to happen again.

Thanks in advance for your feedback

Thanks in advance for your feedback

Hi Laisee,

Yes, my heart goes out to our children and families who have been affected by this unfortunate event. It has been painful for me too to see our children suffering. My two grandsons were suffering too.

We started out in 1988 with In House Cooking at all our centres to centralized Kitchens in 2007 for some schools. Only in July 2010, did we decide to move to letting those who are in the food business take care of our growing needs. The decision was an expensive one as we had already invested much in fitting some centres as a central kitchen. We were very certain that we made the right decision as Mum’s Kitchen had 15 years of good track record and able to meet our requirements.

Since we have had the experience of cooking in house since 1988, we will be working with our team to put it back in place. None of our children’s meals will be precooked and brought into the schools. Our cooks will be cooking from our in house kitchens. There will be no reheating of food in microwaves for the children.

Please check our website for updates for more news on such matters. Please rest assured that this has always be high on our priority list – keeping our centres safe for our children. This is just an unfortunate event in our lives. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

[Kabby]

Hi Pat,

Can I take this opportunity to ask you about the Gym Bus at Jubilee Park?

Is that bus operational? Can it actually be operated along the roads? I was wondering if it can make stops at other centers, especially Arena, since Arena has no outdoor playground?

[Un-Kiasu Singaporean]

Hi! I am in no way affliated with Pat’s Schoolhouse or am a member of their organisation. My kids just go there. I just think that these ‘allegations’ mentioned about Mrs Patricia Koh are really unfair, unjustified and totally uncalled for so am speaking up. She doesn’t deserve this offensiveness. It is not a crime for a successful business to be sold in order for expansion to occur. Who knows? Maybe she feels like she is getting on in age and the family members have other interests? It doesn’t mean that she isn’t committed in its operations. What basis do you have to judge that objectively? It just shows that you haven’t really been to a Pat’s Schoolhouse before…Have you thought about asking for the organisational chart from them? You know ask and you shall receive,seek and you will find. As for accountability, you should know that all public companies have transparent procedures. I am sure that there are other management members on her team. Do you honestly think that one Mrs Pat Koh can divide herself and run all over the island? So of course I think it’s safe to assume that she has an operations team in place.


As for surfing the websites have you actually bothered to drop them an email at their specified address? Did someone not reply you in reasonable time? No one can gurantee anything but if you haven’t tried you can’t accuse. If you actually go on their website you will find out contact details of the principals of each branch. Everyone calls them up to make a viewing appointment. They are pretty prompt in answering in my experience.
So far the other parents that I know of have no such problems coz’ we love the Pat’s family environment which is rare in many preschools.

Just feel that because of this food poisoning scare which is really regrettable all the Pat’s haters have jumped on the bandwagon to throw in 5cent 10 cents to really rock the boat even more. Seriously everyone has a choice. If you don’t like Pat’s and not believe in their brand of education then feel free to place your child elsewhere. Just don’t diss Pat Koh in an anonymous online public forum. I really feel for her. Despite that her coming online to address these accusations just make her look more magnanimous as a founder. I salute her for taking the plunge and radicalising early childhood education in Singapore in those days…food poisoning scare or not…

[Un-Kiasu Singaporean]

To @Happychildren who claims she is a Pat’s teacher. I don’t really think you are who you say you are. Why? Dedicated Pat’s teachers are not so free. By the time they finish work, they look like they hardly have any energy left as they are usually drained from giving their all to the kids. You’re probably not a full-day teacher. Once they reach home, they begin planning their lesson resources and doing lesson prep. I’m sure there are too many things on their minds like parents-showcases and portfolios that already take up their memory space so I don’t think that they would be bothered to come here and if they even know this forum exists.


Besides, Pat’s staff should be grateful coz’ they save their lunch money as the school feeds them for free daily. If you don’t like then don’t eat…go hungry or go to the kopitiam and tah-pow. No one is stopping you.

From what I observed from my kids experience, the teachers are not of low-quality even got overseas grads and good uni qualifications. You just need to ASK the Principal whatever you want to know. Mrs Koh cares about the children in Pat’s and she has a good heart. You just need to have the opportunity to experience it for yourself.

[Laisee]

Pat,


Thanks for answering the questions on how the food will be prepared in the schools from now on. This helps to regain a little of the trust that parents should expect when they place their loved ones in the care of others.

For those who would blindly accept any assurance, or think that changing schools is a solution, please understand that salmonella can be fatal. Too late then to change your mind or ask for more information.

Hoping this is the last incident of it’s kind for the schools and a quick recovery for those still affected or in hospital.