School Bookshop and Front Office

3rd Feb - 7th Feb 2014

It is very frustrating for a child to keep going back to the same bookshop every day to find out if the Notebook that ran out of stock has been replenished. The bookshop lady does not even treat the child seriously. What's wrong with this people? In the meantime, he gets scolded by the teacher for not having the Notebook.

And it has been more than a month since I paid and placed an order for his school T-shirt and track pants and yet the school has not even sent out the order yet. When I enquired, I was told that they can't order in small quantities, they have to collate all orders before giving it to the supplier.??? Can't they think of better ways of handling things. 

I wish schools' front office staff were more professional, so far those I have encountered talk to parents like talking to a child or something.

He Makes It To The Control Class

3rd Feb - 7th Feb 2014

This week, in the first two days, he came back with loads of 'copying' homework. I think he enjoys this 'copying' business as he gets to :-

(1) think about other things like his Japanese anime characters while copying as this is a passive activity requiring no brain function

(2) use and fiddle with his correction tape as he erases his mistakes in copying - I saw him assemble and dismantle the correction tape many times - some obsession with the tape

(3) does not need to refer to us (his parents) if he is uncertain 

This week he related an incident that he found strange. He said his classmates including the non-Malays 'salam' one of the teachers. He did not salam as he was not sure of

(1) how to salam

(2) why he should salam

(3) what to say after the salam

(4) the meaning of the whole thing.

His friends wanted to know why he did not salam the teacher, they explained it is a mark of respect to the teacher. We had earlier told him not to do anything that he is not comfortable with. When I asked my sister who is a primary school teacher, she said it is a common practice in national schools as salam means the student wants to get the 'restu' of the teacher, sort of seek her/his blessing.

Personally, I think schools should just be kept secular minus all the religious and cultural demands on the kids.

The other important thing about this week is that my boy finally got selected to the control class, which means he has to switch to the morning session. In fact the few boys who got selected were asked not to come to school on 6th and 7th Feb as beginning 6th, many students, mostly Malays, entered his class. At the end, the whole class was full and more desks and chairs had to be put in to accommodate this second batch of intake. 

He will start his first class in the morning session on 10th Feb 2014. 

No CNY Celebration at the SK

27th - 31st Jan 2014

The SK school was closed from 30th Jan till 3rd Feb 2014, giving a total of 5 days off in a row. There was no celebration of Chinese New Year here. 

As his brother at SMK had the 4th Feb off, this boy refused to go to school on 4th Feb saying that it was unfair. Kids logic. Anyway, he got his was as their father didn't want to drive to and fro just to send one boy. 

Welcoming the Horse Year at SMK

27th - 31st Jan 2014

This was the week of Chinese New Year, meaning holidays for the kids. The school closed on 30th and re-opened 5th Feb 2014 giving a total of 6 days off in a row. There was a big performance by the various clubs/societies to welcome the Horse year - all students got to watch this wonderful show. Seems the martial arts groups were the most outstanding as they skillfully showed of their techniques.

The Carnival

25th Jan 2014

Both primary and secondary school celebrated the school's anniversary by organizing a carnival. The VIP was supposed to be the Prime Minister himself as he was a former student, but he could not make it. The schools worked so hard to prepare for the PM's visit but it ended up with the Director of KL's Education Department officiating the carnival. 

The atmosphere in the primary school (my 10 year old's school) was alike a Malay wedding with students playing 'kompang' and holding the 'bunga manggar'. The children in uniform such as the prefects, scouts and red crescent societies were there lined-up to salute as the VIP passed. God knows how long they practised to get their salutes right. The climax was a performance of Malay, Chinese and Indian traditional dances by the pupils. The Chinese dance had no Chinese pupils and Indian dance had no Indian pupils. Some of the boys wore make-up and were dolled up like girls. I think the female teachers must have got carried away, or could it be the parents' who prepared the boys? The boys did well and looked cute, but the dance itself was not well coordinated/choreographed. I suppose there is only so much the teachers' can do.

I notice a trend of treating kids like kids in this school. They were always told what to do, instructions and instructions, never talked to like thinking human beings. The teacher plays the role of a parent rather than the educator. 

The carnival saw many groups selling food, drinks, merchandise, books, insurance plans?, etc. Some creative ones put up game stalls, and a mini petting zoo (more like rabbit-petting). There was also a horror house which saw many students queuing to enter. It was more excitement for the secondary boys as the neighbouring secondary girls' school were also in the queue.

Also at the secondary school level, there was the usual band display, quite impressive. This was followed by a cake cutting ceremony. The speech by VIPs were preceeded with the customary doa recital. I sometimes wonder what the non-Muslims do when the doa recital goes on, do they pray to their own God, fiddle with their mobile phones, look blank...wouldn't it be great if some acknowledgement were given to the non-Muslims who are obviously present, like please join us in saying a prayer in your own way for example...I looked at my boys and they stared stone-faced into space. I guess they have learnt to adapt.

Well, I took the opportunity to check out my kids' classrooms and here is what I found...

Standard 4 - the classroom had tables and chairs for about 34 students, a big number. My boy has got a seat right in front to the left side of the teacher. I am not too happy about this as it means the board is not in front of him but rather on his side. Where he came from, only the weak or the most disruptive kid was placed close to the teacher and all others were subject to rotating seats. 

There was nothing much educational on the notice boards. Worst of all, the classroom was strewn with rubbish on the floor and inside the desks. My boy told me it is usually like this when he enters the class. I also noticed an Islamic educational poster on the board. As for the curtains, they looked centuries old and badly in need of washing. I would love to volunteer just to spruce up the classroom a bit..

Now moving on to my other kids' school..

Form 1 - The class room has high ceilings and bay windows, so it is spacious, airy and has the potential to be best-looking. This image however is marred by the presence of rubbish such as torn papers, pencils and old books as well as leftover food and styrofoams in the desks. I checked my son's desk and yes, it was full of  rubbish. I asked him if it was always like this, he said yes. Most stuff are left by the Form 4 morning session boys. I think the last subject teacher or Class Monitor of both morning and afternoon sessions should do a check inside the desks before letting the boys go. All pupils who leave rubbish behind should have their names on the demerit list.

When I left, I was saddened, if this was one of the better schools in KL, what about those without the title?

Finding His Place & Peers - Standard 4

20th - 24th January 2014

This week, my 10 year old wore his scouts uniform for his first Scouts activity. The teacher got all the Scouts to gather in the school field and asked each boy to step in front and recite the Scout's oath. He didn't know this was coming so he didn't get it right. When I asked him if the teacher had given him the oath to memorise, he said no. I have to find it myself I guess.

After about an hour of Scout activities, the children were asked to join their respective clubs/societies. He had earlier signed up for Maths & Science but he said he ended up in a classroom where the teacher gave them an essay to write, entitled "Aku Seekor Monyet" ( If I Were A Monkey). Puzzling, don't the teachers check on the kids?

The week went well for him because of two boys who he is now close with, T and K. He hangs out with them often. Sometimes T and him walk around the school field looking for leaves. Also this week he managed to do many things on his own, including buying his own books.

I saw a boy teasing and berating another boy about why he does not speak in Bahasa Melayu. I heard the reply from the harassed boy too, he was trying to be polite when he said, "because my name is Alex.". This exchange actually took place in front of the harassed boy's father whom I guess didn't want to get involved. To this, the boy who was harassing said," cikgu kata kita mesti cakap Bahasa Melayu" (teacher said we must speak Bahasa Melayu).

Hmm, scary, as my own son is not really that good yet in speaking Bahasa, simply because he is out of practise. I am sure he will catch up soon. I think SK school kids should be encouraged to speak both languages, and the only place where most Malay kids get opportunity to speak English is in school with non-Malay speaking friends, so why not make use of it? In fact, why not allocate 2 days in aweek as 'English Speaking Day'.

School Timings & Endless Copying - Form 1

20th - 24th January 2014

Since we are nearing the end of Jan, you would think we would have sorted my kid's timings for his extra-curricular activities. Well, we haven't. So, we dropped in the school to speak to the teacher in charge of Co-Curricular activities. According to him, some of the clubs/societies have yet to commence anything and as and when they do, it will be announced to the students. The house practise is not scheduled to start till mid-Feb. As for uniformed bodies, it falls on Week 1 and 3 of the month which means for Weeks 2, 4 and 5, my kid has to come in on a Sat for the activities. Looks like one parent has to be home permanently to provide transport. I don't know how other parents' are coping.

The ideal situation will be for a single session school that starts AM and finishes PM. where all extra curricular activities are slotted after school hours and lunch. As the school does not have the space to accommodate all students, right now, the Form 1 & 2 kids (13 & 14 years old) are placed in the afternoon session, hence the messed-up timings.

This week my kid brought home a Geography assignment and he said he needed to type and print out. I was happy to hear this, finally, some work where he can use some brains to work on. But alas, what he had to do was to type out some info from the text book (exact words as in the book) then use the computer graphics to draw a bar chart in colour and print it out. So what he printed was an exact copy of what was already in the text book...what teaching method is this, just blindly copying everything there is in the book?

Chasing after a Time Table - Standard 4

3rd week - 13 till 17 January 2014

This was tough, his class teacher either tells him to wait or forgets. Every day he comes back with the same answer, I haven't got it. Why ?

1. Teacher didn't come into class today.

2. I am not sure how to ask in Bahasa Melayu.

3. There were no lessons today because of Maulidur Rasul celebration.

4. I asked my friend to bring his but he forgot.

Hope he gets it soon.

My boy witnessed a fight in the Science Lab. Seems it was a punching in the face and the back kind of fight, ended up with  bleeding lips. One of them was a prefect!

The school issued a letter to us parents that Thursday was a movie day for non-Muslim kids. The Muslims were involved in the Maulidur Rasul celebration. Many non-Muslim parents didn't even send their kids to school. But my kid said this was the best day ever, even better than his old school, because the kids were sent to the air-conditioned Media Room to watch the movie "Avatar'.

For his co-curriculum activities, to my surprise, the parents were not given any letters to indicate which clubs or games to join. Instead the teacher asked the kids to select and my kid chose Golf (of all games!), Maths & Science Society and Scouts. Soon after the selection, the teacher gave a golf lesson in the classroom.

I wish there was some way we parents can communicate with teachers and the school without us having to show up in person in school.

Awaiting final placement and the art of copying - Form 1

3rd week - 13 till 17 Jan 2014

We heard that the Form 1 students will only know their final placement in classes in Feb 2014. I suppose the school anticipates some students to leave for boarding schools first before finalizing. This means a great deal to us parents as we can't yet make transport arrangements as we don't know if he will be given the morning session. Actually, it will save us a lot of headache if he went into morning session. This is because he can just stay back in school for the extra curricular activities.

In the meantime, he is bringing back lots of homework. More like copying everything there is in the text book into his exercise books. I noticed this a few times already - hope it comes to a stop soon. If teachers think that by copying the child actually reads and understands it, oh boy, are they wrong....it is more like the kids copy fast to get it done with without thinking of what they are copying at all.

Copy, copy and copy. 

This week was short with two public holidays - Prophet Muhammad's birthday and Thaipusam.

Life for a New Transfer Student

2nd week - 6-10 Jan 2014

Unlike my 13-year old son who had a better managed school, my 10-year old Standard 4 kid was not so lucky. 

This was mainly because of language problem. He could not find friends who spoke English like he did in his new class. The teachers too, everyone of them except the English teacher, spoke Bahasa Melayu. He said the BM the teachers spoke at times did not even sound like the normal BM one studies in the books. I guess some teachers use their local dialects version of BM. Poor boy. 

As miserable as he was, his luck changed on his 5th day of school. A teacher announced one morning that he was being transferred to the first class and just like that he went. Here, many of his classmates speak English and most are prefects.

I think he will soon learn to adapt better here. I immediately noticed the increase in his homework. This kid of mine is one that disciplines himself, he does not need reminders from anyone, he does his work on time and is particular about punctuality. He is the ideal prefect candidate, let's see if the teachers' notice this of him. 

On the downside, the class teacher has yet to give him his new time-table. He requested from his friends but most keep it at home. I suggested he get his friends' phone numbers so that I can call their parents' and check but they refused to share the tele numbers. So he ended up carrying a heavy load each day. 

The other nuisance is the purchase of T-shirts and tracks for students. The procedure is for parents to place the order with the office and the office handing them to the student. It's been more than a week since I placed the order and my kid has yet to receive the sports attire. Everytime there is PE, he gets stressed because the teacher smacks his back for not wearing his proper attire. If only teachers respect and take time to listen to the kids......My husband went to the office to personally collect but they said the same thing that they will hand over to my boy. Totally frustrating.

Well. overall I guess we are thankful that they recognised him enough to change his class, so we will patiently wait and see..

The school is still in chaos, less parents but still unruly. Somewhere some discipline has been lost.

Trying to Fit In Into Form 1

2nd week - 6 -10 Jan 2014

This was a full school week. It was a week of trying to fit in in the new surrounding for my 13 year-old. 

He was the only student who came from a private school background so he could not immediately fit in. All other students had similar background which is they came from the same national primary school. 

So knowing my son, he did what he does best ....observe everyone and everything.  When I asked him how was his school, he shared the following with me.

(1) Usage of Bahasa Melayu

Where he came from, everyone spoke English. The medium of instruction was English. Here in national schools, the speeches during assembly were in Malay and all subjects were taught in Malay except English, Maths and Science. 

(2) Presence of CCTV 

He spent his first 2 days counting the number of CCTVs in the school. Strange yes, these are the sort of things I wouldn't even notice.

(3) His classmates speak English including the Malay boys

So I knew it is just a matter of time before he fits in.

(4) Little Discoveries

He found a boy in his class who went to the same kindergarten with him. He found another boy who went to the same taekwando class with him in our housing area.

(6) Love thy canteen

He loves the canteen as food is plenty and cheap - especially the drinks.

(7) Obsession with football

Everyone in his class had interest in football - and for PE lessons the teacher tells the boys to play football while he does his own thing. My boy hates football but had no choice but attempt to play.

(8) The cane is in

The Afternoon School Senior Assistant goes around with a long thick cane. Yes, a CANE. And she uses it and means business. Finally some age old discipline in place, I am all for it.

(9) Greeting teachers

Getting into the culture of greeting teachers as a group - at the start and end of each lesson, the boys sing it out aloud. He finds this strange.

(10) Homework time

Most teachers dipped straight into their subjects - with some giving homework. For History, I noted a lot of homework on just copying pages of what is already in the textbook. If this trend continues, I will have to bring it up with teacher just to find out the need for this.

(11) Teacher in black

The shock of seeing his English teacher in black garbs leaving only the face exposed. But speaks good English. 

(12) Result out

He did well in his Maths diagnostic test -with only one mistake. Seems students who do well will be offered the morning session which is a control class. If offered, we have to decide whether to change him to the morning session. Not sure what is in store here.

(13) Choices for Co-Curricular

After discussing with us, he finally settled for Badminton as his choice for Sports Activity; Computers as his choice for Club/Society and Scouts as his Uniformed Body. These are all compulsory extra-curricular activities; with one more being Community Service which the teacher will decide for the students later. Looking at the schedule, it looks like he has to come in by 10.30am every day from Mon till Wed and occasionally be ready to be called on Sat. This spells a transportation nightmare for us parents.

(14) Raising the school spirit via school song
My son was so changed after a briefing by the older boys and prefects on the importance of feeling the school spirit. They were taught the school song and all sang the song passionately. He was impressed with the older boys - the way they spoke English and conducted themselves. He came home that day and practised the song repeatedly on his own.

The First Day of School for a Year 4 Kid

The 2nd of Jan 2014 was a big day for my 10-year old. He was one of 7 new students enrolled in this national school. The others were from other national schools and one from a Chinese school. 

His first day was terribly chaotic. The school runs two sessions - one morning and the other afternoon. Both sessions are managed by two different groups of Headmasters and teachers, each maintaining a different office in the school compound. 

As my boy was registered for the afternoon session, when we went in, the morning boys' parents were all around the school. Most were Standard One kids' parents - hanging outside the classrooms, in the school office, canteen and just about everywhere. Understandably, they were there to witness their kids' first school experience. 

The ventilation in this school is not that good as the compound is small and seemed congested. So everyone was profusely sweating, including the teachers and office staff. Tempers were raised and I heard teachers shouting and screaming to the kids to assemble. Some even told the kids to tell the parents to leave.

Well, finally I managed to send off my boy to the school's big hall for their first assembly of the year. The hall had leaking roof and there was a pool of water on the wooden floor. Somebody had even placed a plastic pail to catch the dripping water. My heart sank when I saw this - I mean shouldn't this type of thing be repaired before re-opening school. Of course, parents were quickly shooed away from the hall.

While waiting for the assembly to finish, I managed to chat up a parent. Coincidentally she lived near my housing area. Her son was also a transfer student. She shared the same concern about parking and standard of education in Malaysia.

After about 40mins., the children came out of the hall. Everyone was sent off to their classes except the new kids. They were asked to gather and sent to the last class in the respective standards as the school has yet to ascertain their levels. So my boy ended up with a bunch of unruly kids who loved noise and fights. He got his time-table and managed to befriend another boy who was also new in the class. Unfortunately, that kid was not able to speak English although he understood the language. 

Good news :-

(1) He got his Pinjaman books - all brand new as there is a change in the Syllabus.
(2) The office staff tried their best to keep their cool and managed well. They answered all type of questions from so many parents despite the chaos.

Bad news :-

(1) Stuck in the last class.

(2) Most lessons were left without teachers.

(3) The Class Monitor could not control the other boys.

(4) Some teachers screamed at the boys just to quieten them down.

(5) My son was depressed as he could not find anyone who spoke English and because he missed his old school and friends.

(6) The canteen is small and little choice of food. Nobody queud for food as recess was 20mins only.

(7) The toilet was dark so he didn't enter.

(8) All teachers were Malay which is something he has slowly to get used to.

(9) He was upset he got caned (a stroke on the upper arm) during assembly as he didn't wear his tie - for goodness sake it was just his first day, I haven't even bought it...of course the teacher didn't know. 

(10) The children just ran about everywhere - there is no fear of teachers.

(11) The tables and chairs were old and rickety.

(12) The curtains were dirty.

Well, that was his first day. We were told we can't change his classroom yet as they haven't gauged his level. I just hope things get better soon... in the meantime, I need to keep his spirits high.

The Orientation for Form 1 Students

We went for the orientation. First, we were asked to queue according to the classes. All students who obtained straight As in UPSR were allocated one class. The queue here was short. We were given several forms to fill up and return, including one on my boy's dental records. We paid our school fees about RM80 which included his tie and school badges. 

Then the students were taken by the prefects to their respective classes for briefing by their class teachers and to sit for a Maths diagnostic test. The parents were sent to the Hall for briefing by the Headmaster, the head of PIBG, the Counselling teacher, The Co-Curiculum master and the Student Affairs master.

The Headmaster's voice was soft and he was not good at positioning the microphone near his mouth, so his speech was not effective. Luckily, he had summarised his speech in his powerpoint presentation so we did get the gist of what was said. The PIBG guy spoke clearly and kept his speech short. The Student Affairs guy was loud and spoke as if he was addressing a group of children and not parents. Please never underestimate the intelligence of parents. We take note of everything. But he was firm in his stand on discipline. The Counselling teacher had a word of advise to parents which was watch for changes in our child's behaviour after 6 months of entering Form 1. From her experience, this is when they establish friends and form gangs - and if he happens to fall in the wrong group, it spells disaster for everyone. Another Counselling teacher advised parents not to forget to hug and kiss our boys especially as they near puberty. The Co-Curiculum guy gave a lengthy speech but I lost him quite early in his speech as it was too detailed and the timing of the activities' schedule was just too many to fathom. 

The school had also invited some of their famous clubs to do practice sessions so we got to hear and see the band play, the wushu boys' actions and the cadet corps screams'. Well I suppose every school want to showcase their best to parents. At this time, one elderly parent actually asked me what was the point of joining the band. She has a point actually but I guessed the presence of the band did create a positive uplifting vibrancy. And it is more about acquiring a skill and discipline. 

Finally we went to the bookshop to get the exercise books. My son was given all his Pinjaman books too. Some were in bad condition. Some were okay. I plan to plastic wrap all.

The good news ?

(1) This is supposed to be one of the most sought after schools - so I suppose my boy is in the right place. We were actually reminded of this, as they said for every student they expel, there are 10 waiting to get in.

(2) The HM said that Maths and Science will be taught in English - that is a relief.

(3) Most of the kids speak English so my boy should be able to fit in. 

(4) There are plenty of choices for Uniformed Bodies, Clubs and Societies, Sports and Martial Arts activities' to choose from.

(5) The Ministry had introduced Community Service into the Co-Curriculum this year.

(6) The classrooms are spacious and ceilings high so ventilation is good.

(7) The canteen has several food stalls and price is cheap. 

(8) Most parents speak English including the Malays.

The bad news ?

(1) Parking is a nightmare and so, we have to figure out how to sort out the transportation as we go.

(2) My son still misses his old school so he is still holding himself back a little.

(3) The co-curricular activities are compulsory - so he has to select one from each category (1) Uniformed Bodies (2) Clubs/Societies (3) Sports (4) Community Service. These activities start at 10am throughout the week, so although technically he is in the afternoon session, he has to come in early almost every other day to attend these activities. We still don't know how we are going to manage this as school buses/vans only stick to the school hours.

(4) The school lacks trees in its compound so the main assembly area is left open and hot.

(5) Although there is a slightly better mix of races here, you can still count the number of Chinese students, which is something my son has to get used to.

Well, that's about it on the orientation.  When I asked him how was his classmates, he said they were only interested in talking about football, which is the one sport he doesn't like.

Finally, we get the school

After two weeks, we went back to the District Education Office where we had put in the application for our second son to enter a national school. We were both such nervous wrecks, just thinking what we were to do if we weren't given what we asked for. So when I saw the name of the school given to my son, I was happy. We gathered what went right for us was that we already had one boy in the same school at secondary level, so usually if one sibling is already in, it gets easier for the other sibling.