SK School Transfer

I really really want to rant – but I’ve become too tired and too fed up to care about ranting anymore. It has come to a stage where ‘I just don’t want to talk about it’ coz even the thought of this whole ordeal makes me tired.

BUT, I feel the need to inform some parents out there who might be going through a similar phase, in hopes that they don’t have to go through what I have gone through.

Ever since our possible shift to Miri got confirmed, I have been gearing myself up and checking online and asking relevant folks about the process & procedures including the things needed for School Transfer. I checked with friends who are teachers who have been in school for many years; I spoke with the school office clerks; I spoke with the kids’ class teachers; even the PK HEM in school. One thing was profoundly interesting from all their advices – there is no proper system in place.

Each party gave me their advice – and each a different advice. One said to go Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri (Shah Alam for Selangor), the other said go to PPD, and another said just go to the Schools.

Thinking that going to the Schools (plural – as my kids go to different schools. not coz I kiasu/kiasi, Convents are for girls only) would be nearer, I went to the schools first. Which turned out to be a good move, because all I needed to do was to fill in the school form for transfer of school. So, here’s the gist of my journey, minus the drama & headache.

Process:

1. Know/Decide which School you want to transfer your children to. Get the School’s information i.e. Address & Contact number.
   
2. Go to the current school, fill in the School Transfer form. (Document: School Transfer Form, prepare copies of child’s MyKid card, birth cert, and parents’ IC) – Better yet, CALL the current school, and ask to confirm which documents they will require for this process. So that you don’t have to run around like I did.
   
3. Collect the signed School Transfer Form, and send it to the PPD (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah) in that state. In our case, it was Miri AND Kuching. Because we have not yet shifted to Miri that time, but it took time to process the documents, Ayl brought the documents to PPD Miri first when he was on one of his business trips. He was advised to send one copy of all documents to PPD Kuching for authorization. So, ensure you have a few original copies from the school.
   
4. Make sure to get the contact number for the PIC in PPD, so you can call to check on the status of the transfer. We called to check a few times, and then got the confirmation that our transfer was authorized and confirmed from PPD Kuching.
   
5. While this process was happening, I went to the schools to meet up with their respective class teachers to inform the teachers on the transfer. At the end of the day, before the Student leaves the school, the class teacher is to hand over the Student’s records and information.
   Now as a parent, I have entrusted this task of handing over the documents wholly to the class teacher. What documents or records or compulsory paperwork that is to be handed over – I wouldn’t know anything; only the teacher knows. But it’s ok, I shall blame myself for being ignorant and too reliant on the teachers. And because of that, I am still paying the price because some documents were not handed over, and now it is causing complications and giving me grievances until today.
   
   IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO TAKE NOTE OF:
   A. KAD KESIHATAN
   B. BUKU REKOD AKADEMIK
   C. PAJSK
   D. LAPORAN PBS
   E. MARKAH UJIAN PSIKOMETRIK (for Std 6 students)
   F. MARKAH UJIAN TERAKHIR (only if it’s not in the Record Book)
   or you could find their results online at https://sapsnkra.moe.gov.my/ibubapa2/ Only if the teacher has input the latest exam results in the system. If the Student’s name has been transferred to the new school, you might not be able to view it anymore.
   G. FAIL PERIBADI PELAJAR
   H. LAPORAN LINUS/PRESTASI SUMATIF KSSR
   
6. Call PPD, and get their confirmation on the transfer. When the transfer is confirmed, we are to submit a copy of the stamped & signed School Transfer Form back to the respective schools before the children leave school.
   
7. After the shift to Miri, we went back to PPD with the intention of collecting back the signed Transfer Form, but was informed that the form that they have was not signed; and they handed to us the unsigned form. We were advised to just go to the school that we applied for, and speak to the people in the school Office.
   Perhaps things are more relaxed here in Miri compared to back in Selangor, the clerk took our unsigned Transfer Form and checked in the system and confirmed that both my children’s name are in their school system.

Since Arielle will be going to Form 1 next year, it was crucial that she has all her documents with her. But, her class teacher missed out a few important records and now we have some complications about how to obtain it now. Complications being her name has been transferred to the new school so the teacher from the old school was not able to retrieve it from the system; the teacher in the new school was ‘too busy and caught up with work’ to log in and print the records; and today being the last day of school.
…….. *patience *patience….. I shall not go into ranting mode.

So, that’s about the gist of it! MAKE SURE you check and double-check on all the documents above before your children leave the school. If not, thou shall hunt the class teacher down everyday until you have everything you need BEFORE leaving school permanently. Not sure why I am the one who needed to do the chasing down and up…. IF there was a system in place, IF people did their jobs right… IF IF IF ….

– Don’t make the same mistakes I did –

Even the Bible teaches us to learn from the mistakes of others.
Proverbs 21:11 –
New International Version
When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

New Living Translation
If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

King James Bible
When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.


Jadi, pandai-pandailah kalian. I hope this information is helpful! Oh, and if I have missed out anything, teachers out there – please feel free to enlighten. TQ

List of things to get for School

When Arielle first started school, we bought her the nicest pencilbox she wanted, you know the ones that has a lot of buttons to press and some small compartments will open; it has a compass and a detachable pencil sharpener – cool stuff like that, which comes with the latest cartoon (no, not Frozen) and then we got nice 2B pencils, quality erasers and a nice fancy ruler. For her bag, we got her one with wheels at the back so she didn’t have to lug her heavy bag on her small shoulders. Her grandma bought her a Tupperware bottle. First child and first grandchild going off to school… everyone was excited and excited for her.

Just one week in, she’s lost all her pencils. Another week in, her eraser is gone and is replaced with one of her friend’s; her ruler as well. Meanwhile, her pencilbox is slowly missing its detachable pieces. Sighsss…. this isn’t the end tho. After we replenished her pencilbox with new stationaries, they lasted for nearly 2 weeks max.

When Ashton started school, he didn’t have as much fancy stuff as did Arielle; we just decided to be wiser 🙂 But, we still got him some quite expensive stationaries to use in school. We rationalized, since he has most of the time took better care of his own things and is better at keeping them in proper, that he would also bring this positive attitude with him to school… naturally.

How wrong we were… (#facepalm)
He turned out to be worse.

his school shirt which he ‘accidentally spilled’ an opened marker pen on.

 

his school track pants which ‘his friend used a scissor on’.

Should I also mention, he managed to use a whole bottle of glue in one day at school (must’ve had a massive collage session during art lesson), break his plastic ruler AND PENCILS! into small pieces just coz he can, tear pages from his school exercise books to make his very own ‘origami’ and lose bottles after bottles of water bottles he brings to school everyday. He also broke 2 of those schoolbag with wheels and is now with his 3rd schoolbag, which is a backpack (coz no more wheels for you!) and the school year isn’t even done yet. (inhales……… exhales) 

So, what have we learned?
Here’s my list of ‘smarter’ stuff to get for School.

1. School Bags – we bought Arielle an ‘Astrokid‘ bag, one with wheels and is ergonomic for her back which lasted for nearly 3 years. I would recommend this bag, even though it is quite steep in price (retails for at least RM250) but if it means not having to keep buying new bags within a year itself, why not? Not so sure if Ashton was the one using it though…hmmm.
2. Pencilboxes – we don’t buy them anymore… hahahaa…. we just use those free/gifted ones in whatever shape or colour they come in. Our friends were nice to provide them as gifts knowing that they’re attending school now.
3. Stationaries – Mr DIY is our best friend. We buy erasers, pencils, rulers, sharpeners, glue etc in bulk and slowly, very slowly ration them to the kids when theirs’ run out. Sometimes I refuse though, esp when I just gave them a new one… the day before! Why is it so hard for them to be responsible for their own stuff?
4. Water bottles – originally we bought those BPA free ones, and they had Tupperware/Rubbermaid/Bro’s as well. After many lost ones, we just went to get some from Mydin and kept a few in storage just in case. Or they use whatever that we have; bottles gifted from company/banks. Sorry, too bad!
5. School attire – it is always wise to buy more than what they will wear, and keep for ‘just-in-cases’, especially their school shoes. We were fortunate to have extra ones for Ashton’s ‘accidents’.
6. Hair accessories – if you have daughters, going to public school would require black, white or blue hair ties/clips/hairbands etc. and the stocks for these has to be infinite…. yes, infinity and beyond.

So…. (glass raised) here’s hoping we as parents become smarter together, and avoid having to waste precious time and resources, including raising more responsible kids. Cheers!

 

Teaching

I’m sitting here teaching Arielle Mathematics, and waiting for her to respond to me … simple maths like how much is left after $$ amount is spent – basically, it’s addition/subtraction. Since she’s taking a long long time to think, I thought I’d cool down a bit by writing down my thoughts and ask myself some questions:

1. Why am I getting so agitated/frustrated?
2. Why am I raising my voice?
3. What does she learn in school when she can’t do a simple Q like RM1 – 0.45sen??
4. Is it because I have not followed up with her close enough?
5. Why do I feel like I’m gonna bleed through my ears, mouth and nose??
6. Is this normal when teaching one’s own child?
7. Should I be praying for more patience?
8. Could it be due to the fact that I’m also trying to swat that one-single-super-annoying mosquito that’s been trying to feed on me with the batt-operated racquet under the table?

And guess what? I also happen to see this just this morning… what does it even mean?? no homework?

 

*hands up* Can we please shift to Finland, please? Lesser mosquitoes there too.

Update 29/Sept

Ash’s teething now at 11months; he gave us a REALLY REALLY hard time these past few days and nights. i checked and 2 teeth are coming out from the upper gum; must be so painful for him. we slept at 2am for 2 nights, but not before having to endure his loud crying and whining. it was really such a trying time for all of us; whatever we did was wrong – he just couldn’t stop crying. on Monday night, i didn’t know what else to do and i was tired, so i just let him lie on our bed and cry. there were no tears, just a lot of loud whining and tantrum throwing.

Thank God it was over yesterday (thanks to those who prayed), and today his fever was gone and his temperament was much much better. at the least, i didn’t have to carry him everywhere i went, which made it easier for work around the house.

Any of you know any effective home remedies other than teething gel to soothe the ‘gum-ache’? it got so bad that we ended up rubbing some DOM (brandy) on his gums, coz we heard that rum helps but we didn’t have any so… (shrugs) that was the next best thing. that was Sunday night, and on Monday night, I took a full shotglass of DOM, just to spike the milk (well, MY milk) but he was so caught up crying and whining that he didn’t take the bait. hahaha…

Bottle Feeding ~ Breast Feeding

Now that I have tried both, here’s my 2cents.

When I first had Arielle, my firstborn, my ideal plan to breastfeed her was shattered. Not only because she was admitted immediately after birth to NICU due to her having congenital pneumonia, I had a traumatic birth experience and my wounds were too painful for me to make frequent visits to the hospital. We got the wrong kind of breastpump (the one that looks like an old horn; Don’t Ever Get That!!) and the nurses in the hospital fed her with the bottle. When she got back home to us after 10days, she has gotten used to the bottle and didn’t want to latch on no matter how we tried. And believe me, how we really tried; just thinking about it now makes me wanna crack up with laughter!! (even though it was really serious matter then).

So, what to do… formula it is then for my dear firstborn and formula till she was 2 years old. We didn’t have much money then, and if you’re a parent, you will know that formulas can cost a FORTUNE! So we bought Dumex brand (they have a few in range) and we got the one closest to our monthly budget. I’m not sure if it’s due to the milk or the weather or because she has a history of pneumonia, but our dear girl got sick nearly every month. I don’t mean just the common flu; most times she’s on antibiotics and a few times she has to go on the ‘gas’ to clear her lungs.

With Bottle Feeding (BoF), we had to have hot water AND boiled water everywhere we went. Thus, we carried a big bag that contained one thermos flask of hot water, a Tupperware bottle for the boiled water, 2 empty milk bottles and a cannister for the formula with the exact measurement. This we lug to the malls, the playground, the church, etc EVERYWHERE and it prolly weighed like a tonne what with all the water we have to carry.

The biggest problem ever we faced for BoF, was when we travel. I’m not talking about travelling within Malaysia itself, because most sundry shops/hypermarkets/supermarkets carry all types of formula milk. Think further…

What happens if you run out of formula milk when you’re in an 18hr flight?

What happens when the milk you used to give your baby, is not sold at the place of destination that you travel to?

What happens if the water in the hot water flask has turned cold? How are you going to make the milk?

These are some of the things we had to consider every time we go out of the house. And because I was careless, we ran out of milk once – not in a flight but when we went travelling once (by car); it was a public holiday and everything was closed! We had to hunt for the only shop that was open in a totally strange and new place to get formula milk, it was strenuous and crazy. don’t even mention to me about GPS; it was one of the reasons we got crazy as well.

So, when Ashton came along 10months ago (btw, I’m still BrF him, woohoo!), I tried again to BrF and let me tell you… it wasn’t without a lot of tears and self-doubt and frustration. those 4weeks after his birth was one of the biggest trials in my life! At first it was a matter of latching on correctly so that he gets the right amount of milk and I don’t get sore, then it was trying to gauge how often he wants to feed and for how long. And then there was also the ultimate Question of all: Do I have milk??

He was crying and frustrated and so was I. Because I was new with BrF, I don’t know when it is time for him to feed after the last one, but when I waited till he got hungry, he was so impatient that he’s forgotten how to latch on. And because he’s not getting milk, he’d cry and cry and I would fumble and get distressed. This cycle went on for what seems like an eternity! One of the random ways I did to help him latch on was to make some formula milk in a cup and spoon him the milk, which I converted to using a syringe later on. This at least helps to calm him down because he’s drinking something. I could take the easy way and just shove the bottle in his mouth, but I didn’t want to risk him getting nipple confused. The other thing was not to wait until he was hungry, so I timed his feedings 2 hourly.

I’d say the biggest inconvenience of BrF would be nursing in public. But now that I have the nursing poncho, I do it everywhere I go whenever the need arises. 🙂 I got mine from here.

nursing poncho with Ashton inside

Compared to BoF, I only had to be mindful to bring the poncho in my bag whenever I go out. Of course there are also the diapers and wet wipes, but at least they’re not as heavy and bulky.

I relate BrF to the 3 P’s.

Patience – because it takes a longer time to feed the baby as compared to BoF.

Perseverance – when it gets tough like the first few weeks after birth, it’s easy to give in to BoF.

Pain – now that Ashton’s got teeth, it’s OUCH!! but most times, it’s my arms. 🙂

So which do I prefer? Needless to say, it’s Breastfeeding!! I’ve witnessed myself the benefits of it. How now can I not advocate it? For those of you mothers-to-be or a new mother… let me just encourage you. BrF is the best for baby and for you!

www.starfall.com

holding a pretend microphone, i interviewed Arielle.

‘What is your name?’

– My name is Arielle (she previously said ‘Arielle is Girl’ when asked in front of everyone in Children Church, hhahaa… don’t ask me why)

‘How old are you?’

– 3 years already.

‘What do you like?’

– Arielle likes Pumpkin!

Super cute when she’s being so nice and when Ash’s asleep.

there’s a meaning behind the ‘pumpkin’ she’s talking about. it has to do with www.starfall.com. this site was introduced to me by Annette when we were still in Bratislava.

it’s a children’s site for learning English, for ages 2 and above (i’m judging from my own daughter’s competency here) in a very fun and interactive way. there are games and activities to assist learning shapes, colours, the alphabets and phonics, which ultimately leads to reading.

what i like about it is it’s interactive, it has songs to attract my preschool daughter, it focuses on the phonics of every alphabet (even on every click!) and the lesson plans are very interesting. it teaches us the correct pronunciation of every word we use in English (no Manglish here la ya). what’s more? IT’S FREE!!!! it’s a free tool i get to use everyday to homeschool my preschooler. my daughter loves it so much she bugs me everyday for it! (her fav is the Pumpkin) 🙂

so, if you’re looking for a tool to teach your kids English – here’s a very good one; just get online!