Primary One Registration

P1 Registration

I can’t believe it! It’s my turn this year for the Primary One registration – an important milestone in a child’s life that usually gives parents the jitters. The MOE has just announced the Primary One registration phases and dates HERE.

Registering one’s child at a reputable primary school in Singapore has been a hot topic year after year, which is why the MOE has developed a system of phases to allocate children into various primary schools. This system also causes a lot of anxiety to parents, particularly to those who are not qualified under Phase 1 and Phase 2A.

I’ve witnessed the stress that my friends went through in order to enrol their kids into a premier primary school of their choice. I had the first discussion with V on this topic about two years ago. I thought that we should always plan early to avoid disappointment. After all, it’s our prerogative as parents to give Edison the best that we can – particularly in educational matters.

Most parents are looking for a good primary school with the following criteria:

  1. Proven track record of outstanding PSLE results.
  2. Also excel in non-academic areas, i.e. sports, arts, etc.
  3. Has a dedicated team of principal and teachers.
  4. Has a good learning environment.
  5. Has a good school image, i.e. discipline, success stories, etc.

Primary school is an important milestone that will affect the choices that our children will have in the years to come. So, it’s never an easy decision for the parents.

For us, we’re also looking for a primary school with good record of PSLE results and a good learning environment. We also prefer a co-ed school because I heard a lot of stories about bullies in an all boys’ school. Lastly, we prefer the school to be within 1-2km from our house to minimize travelling time.

After short-listing our preferred primary schools, we did a bit of research to see how intense the competition is to get into these schools. We didn’t sign-up as a parent volunteer so we’re likely to end up in the dreaded balloting process.

After exploring all the possible options, one major decision that we made was to relocate. Our journey to find a new home that is near to our preferred primary school for Edison came to a conclusion last year when we made a booking for a new apartment unit at Bartley Residences.

Our new place is within 1km from that school; in fact it’s just a short walking distance. So, the biggest advantage is the minimal travelling time for him in the next five years, and maybe nine years because that school is also affiliated to a secondary school.

Based on past years’ record, the balloting process starts for applicants staying within 1 to 2 km from that school. Our new place is just within 1km, so hopefully we can secure a place for him without balloting.

Just two more months to go for that BIG DAY. Who else is registering for Primary One this year? Have you made your choice?

Cold Storage Kids Run 2013

As you probably know, I’m really not the running type but thought I’d give it a go because Little Edison is really looking forward to the run. The first time I saw the Cold Storage Kids Run advertisement on the newspaper, I asked him if he wants to participate and he was all “Yes! Yes! I want to run!”

So, when I told V about our participation, he didn’t look excited as he probably thought that I will back out at the last minute. The day before the run, he asked me for the 99th times if I’m for real and my answer is still a firm YES!

On the day itself, he saw me packing an umbrella into our backpack. He couldn’t stop laughing and he said, “Dear, if you’re so scared of the sun, why you want to go for the run?”

“Aging woman is afraid of the sun, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot run.” I replied. Luckily, he didn’t see me slapping on SPF sunscreen before we stepped out of the house. Else, he will have another round of laughing.

The ‘kan chiong’ spider in me woke up super early yesterday because I dreamt that we couldn’t find a parking space and hence missed the run. So, we left our house at 7:45am, one hour ahead of our reporting time.

Kids Run 1

When we reached the Esplanade at 8:10am, there were ample parking lots. We took a slow walk to The Padang and took some pictures. The atmosphere was awesome. It made me feel like a 7 year-old kid looking forward to my school sports day.

Kids Run 2

Because of the blazing heat, we reported to the holding area early to get some shades. He was in the Sunshine Orange Chase (Fun Run 800m for 5, 6 years old). We were seated in the first row of the holding area and waited for about 20 minutes before we were released to the starting point.

Kids Run 5

Little Edison looked a little tense now due to the long wait. I was so worried that he will ask to go to the toilet five seconds before the flag off time. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

The moment the race started, he took off enthusiastically without even looking back. I ran behind him to make sure he wouldn’t fall, but he was too fast. Believe it or not, this boy can actually run faster than me. Somewhere at the 600m mark, I was screaming “Boy, slow down. Wait for Mama!” He continued to run and reached the ending point ahead of me.

Here’s my little champion looking extremely pleased with his first medal ever! He was so proud of it.

Kids Run 3

Despite the crazy heat and sweating like a pig, I really enjoyed myself too. I haven’t been to such run for a long time and I’m glad to be able to run with my son this year. I feel that Cold Storage Kids Run is a very meaningful running event that aims to encourage families to exercise and have a healthy lifestyle.

Hopefully after this event, we can continue to run together as a family. As for Little Edison, he couldn’t stop admiring his gold medal for the rest of the day. Looking forward to the run next year!

Kids Run 4

If you’re interested to view more pictures of the event, check out the Kids Run website.

 

$100 OTO Cash Voucher: Winner Announcement!

A big THANK YOU to everyone for taking part in the $100 OTO cash voucher giveaway contest. A winner has been selected via random number generator.

winner

Congratulations, Fang Wenli! You won a $100 OTO cash voucher! Please send me your address and contact details via e-mail or FB message.

For the rest of my readers, thanks again for participating. There will be more giveaways in the future, so please “Like” my Facebook Page if you want to receive updates from my blog.

Mother’s Day Gift from the Heart

This morning, I woke up at 7am. It is Mother’s Day. It is a very beautiful morning.

I look at this Mother’s Day card that my son made for me. I think mom of all ages love hand-made and heart-felt gifts. This little card from my son touched me so deeply. I’m sure he put in a lot of efforts to make it; there are a handful of Chinese words on the card.

Gift1

Gift2

May 2013

Thank you, dear son! Your Mother’s Day card is really priceless to me!

Every mother deserves this special day! Here’s wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day too!

M-O-T-H-E-R

“M” is for the million things she gave me,

“O” means only that she’s growing old,

“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,

“H” is for her heart of purest gold;

“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,

Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,”

A word that means the world to me.

- Howard Johnson