Sunday, 6 July 2014

Meet the Teachers day/ Report card day

6  July 2014

Dear Parents
The turnout was excellent despite a rather short notice and on a busy Friday 4 July 2014 morning. I saw many parents waiting patiently for their turn  and some classes  with queues of more than 10. Teachers did their best but classes had to continue leading to some meetings taking place at one end of the classroom while teaching continued at the other end.

The highlight of the day was the teachers /parents dialogue held at the auditorium from 10 am. It was a very lively and informative session  with multiple questions from the  floor and in depth answers from the panel especially  Deputy HM Madam Say.


Some of the questions raised were- (Q: question   A: Answer)

Q1 : Lack of or late notice for events
A1 : Switching  of computer system and maintenance vendor leading to delays in issuing notices. (Answered by teacher Wong)

Q2: Why most activities have to pay fees-
A2:
i)                 Need to engage professional coaches such as fencing , badminton etc
ii)                Extracurricular activities for standard 1 to 3 are technically optional so fees are payable
iii)               From standard 4, students are required to participate in at least one extracurricular activity  so the school provides some activities at no fee
iv)               Being a SJKC,  we need some contributions from the parents.

Q3: What is LH’s mission statement in light of the implementation of KSSR? Please explain the performance indicators  of the 6 bands?
A3:Writers note-It is rather difficult to give a fair and  accurate summary  of Deputy Madam.Say’s insightful and in- depth  explanation of what LH is doing to prepare for the  school based assessment  policy .I will try to prepare a more thorough report once our Parents Academic Research Team (PART)   has had the opportunity of discussing with Dep Madam Say and other teachers in charge of the program

Q4: Why is tuition compulsory
A4: Paraphrase Madam Loke- LH has the best tuition method. Some of the external tuition centers are not up to date with the best tuition practices being conducted in LH .
A4: My response- LH has good academic track records, the teachers are experienced and they do deliver based on the previous academic results of the school. Parents should likewise take a keen interest in the contents of the tuition classes to ensure that they do not become an extension of the normal classes. Tuition cannot be compulsory.

Q5: Why do Standard 6 students have to attend Saturday tuition classes?
A5: Saturday tuition is to allow more time to concentrate on Sekolah Kebangsaan BM papers .With a BM pass, students will not have to sit for Remove class. And students are more prepared when attending secondary school at SMK
                              
Given the lively exchanges and constructive questions and responsive replies, parents were generally pleased with the dialogue.   

I certainly hope that there will be more similar events in the future for parents to understand LH’s teaching  philosophy and mission statements. Deputy Say said she would be happy to engage with parents on a regular basis to update/explain the academic programs of  LH.

Earlier, I have mentioned that we have a Parent Academic Research Team which was formed by a number of parents who have experience in primary and secondary education sectors as well as keen interests in a more  holistic education system. If anyone is interested to know more about PART, please drop me a line.
Again , a big THANK YOU  to all the parents and staff who participated in the Parents and Teachers dialogue.

Happy Parenting
Ken Koo
Chairman

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