Primary One / Entering Grade School Orientation
15 Nov 08 was the day of Orientation for children going to Primary One in 2009. Prior to that, our family was hit by the Fever and Sore Throat Virus, that pretty much explains why I have not updated my blog for days.
My hubby and my elder girl got it first, 2 days later, my boy got it, 1 day later, my baby girl got it…..as for me, I had symptons on the same day as my boy, but I managed to “subdue” it, fortunately. If not, I will not have the strength to take care of my baby girl.
It was fortunate that my boy is well just in time for his primary school orientation, he was happy and the first thing he said to his daddy was that he made a lot of new friends. All parents received a letter from the primary schools on the class number, orientation date and programme agenda.
For Parents
8.30am - Verification of data
9.00am – Address by Principal
9.45am – Talk by Dental Therapist
10am – End of Orientation
For Pupils
8.30am – Arrival of pupils, assemble in school hall
9.00am – Proceed to classrooms, School Tour
The letter also specified some terms and conditions that I especially liked:
“bookshop and school uniform vendors shall commerce sales only after 10am.”
Why do I like this? Simply because by doing this, the school eliminated possibility of parents queuing up and not listening to the welcome speech. It also eliminates a potential frenzy for overly anxious parents.
“you may wish to return on the dates specified on the booklist or opt for online purchase.”
This is good. I can opt not to queue and “fight” with the crowd to purchase the necessary.
“Booklist can be found in the orientation package given to your child…..”
Another measure to combat super anxious parents looking reading through the booklist and not listen to the speech.
My Afterthoughts
Seriously, the orientation programme could have been better if more efforts were made to inform parents what to do next. A simple announcement e.g. “Hi parents, we are going to do this, please keep seated while we run through the names” and “Ok, we are done with this, you may stay to do this or go there to do that…” will reassure me without too many question marks on my head.
The next thought is, the students that are there to help out are very well-behaved. I like that. 
