Thursday 27 December 2018

arshi's sec school

We got arshi's secondary school posting results last Wednesday through SMS early in the morning.I think God had decided something for us.We didn't get her top choice of school (TJC) but posted to next preference. Obviously we knew if we didn't get TJC we would get the  next choice as the previous year cop was much lower than arshi's score for Temasek  Sec School..Arshi got into Temasek Secondary School. I had applied for Temasek Junior College as her top choice .But ,we had fear as it was an IP course which means no need to sit for o levels ,but heard the syllabus was much harder to cope than express o level programs.We were confused if we should try forTJC but just tried our luck.Though she got same marks as TJC's cop she didn't get in.She didnt want appeal for TJC.We knew that if we don't get TJC,our next option school will be her school.And as expected we were posted to Temasek Secondary School.She with be studying  in express class.There are 2 other streams NA and NT too in her schooll.Arshi's express stream -it is a 4 year express program leading to o level examination.Her o level results wil determine where she gets place-Junior college leading to A level or polytechnic leading to a 3 year diploma both leading towards university education.We chose Temasek Sec as it is nearer to our house and it is a quite good school too though not one of the top most onlevek schools.Distance was a major factor we considered .Hope Arshi loves her new school and works harder and shines well in the new environment that will be filled with loads of stress,challenges .She will  be entering her teens soon and has to manage her mood swings too.Arshi will be taking bus for the first time to sec school daily as till primary ,she was walking to her school.As she is growing,she has got new additional responsibilities too.I am already afraid of the daily almost 30-40 min one-way bus travel,additional subjects and a committed CCA etc which means she has extended school hours almost daily  compared to her primary school.
We went to her newly posted secondary school this Dec 20 ,a good Thursday morning and registered hers in there.Arshi loves her new school.The student leaders were quite impressive..Almost the whole registration process was done by the student counselor and student leaders.She is eager to attend her new school.I hope she has loads of fun and has good friends there too.She Wil miss her primary school and her friends but at the same time get new ones too.Few of her classmates are in her new school too .Classes aren't segregated yet.Hope Arshi gets good and caring teachers who guide Arshi to move forward in her life.
We have purchased uniforms and books on the same day of registration.
We had to report to her sec school on registration day on her primary school uniform.So mostly this was her last time wearing her primary school uniform officially.





Monday 17 December 2018

Ck dream photography again








Taken today just for fun ...doesn't he really look like enjoying in the slide....


This was taken more than a year back and I remembered about this just now and posting it here. CK sunbathing in beach and having a relaxed sleep.




Thursday 6 December 2018

arshi's results -psle

Last post I had mentioned that arshi is awaiting her psle results and by god's grace she got good marks .she has scored 250 points .Here in Singapore they compute marks and give results as T-score which is not the child's raw (actual score).It takes into account the whole cohort performance and standard deviation apart from our performance.I am still not able  to understand the whole concept of T-score.I always had fear within me what her score would be.I am happy to share she is one of the few students who scored good marks and called on stage to be appreciated.








I went late during her results day as CK was sick with fever that day.Arshi was recovering from flu and CK got it from her.We were given a week's time to select 6 schools of our choice and we had great great difficulty in choosing secondary schools.Here PSLE result slip itself tells us which schools our kids are eligible.There are 3 different streams and each takes a different educational pathway leading to different  destinations.Arshi was offered express stream.We have chosen schools that were near by.There were good schools that were far away but we considered distance as kids will be very stressful with loaded curriculum and CCA activities to do.Secondary school posting results will be out by Dec 19 and they need to report to their new sec school by Dec 20 .Fingers crossed as this is a waiting period for us as we aren't sure if she will get school of her choice.

At this moment I thank all her teachers who have helped her so far .I just pray to God that he blesses her with a great future and whichever school she goes she enjoys it and she comes as a great human being- a school where she will enjoy,excel in her academic activities and at the same timr that enhances her overall character too.She will miss her primary school very much and of course her close friends whom she had been traveling for 6-9 years  so far.

Monday 12 November 2018

Arshi's PSLE year

Arshi finished her PSLE last month. PSLE is a much hyped national level examination for students taking class 6 here .Children are tested based on 4 years of syllabus starting from P3.Arshi has been trained to do consistent work throughout as we believe last minute studies won't be handy in long run.As previous years ,Maths has been her tough subject and this year she spent more time trying to learn her basics. I should mention here that she never went for tuition and would ask her father for doubts and he will try to clarify it to her most of the times.She had been maintaining scrapping to 'A' from last year.She would get above 75 but not much.Arshi is blessed to have a very good Maths teacher Mrs Wang this year who tries to teach Maths in an interesting  way to kids.


I also found her marks in Tamil language has dropped considerable extent.In prelims she did silly mistakes and lost many marks.

Mr Shahdon had been Arshi's form teacher from P3 and though his approach may not be appreciated by many ,he has moulded the kids very well to be independent students. Even myself at times had fear about his teaching methods. But now at this point I feel Arshi needed a teacher like him who helps in channeling kids potential  to some productive results not just academic oriented but way beyond too.

Apart from school revisions she would attempt previous year questions we had bough for her this March.
June I didn't want to travel as I wanted Arshi to give those time for studying. But we had to travel for 2 weeks to India as we had to visit temple for CK.

Arshi had been feeling the stress of exams and PSLE within her and that was shown as she suddenly has breathing difficulties just the night before her prelims written exam and we consulted a doctor and he told us that it was just because of stress and anxiety. She learnt to remain cool and faced rest of her prelims.Her scores were on expected lines.

Her health has been troubling her lately and what started as a simple throat infection that could have been normally resolved by a dosage of antibiotics has dragged and she is still facing its effects.Just after she finished her prelims she has mild fever and throat pain and we saw a doctor.She was prescribed antibiotics and though it seemed she had recovered she had cough cold after she finished her antibiotics. I was giving home remedies and fedac and zrytec to her as I thought it was just a normal cold.I was wrong.She took her Tamil oral with severe cold and a dose of zrytec that morning.But she told me she managed her oral pretty well.Only results will tell us the reality. The next day was English oral.She did her oral and came home with a tired face.Her voice wasn't as enthusiastic as she normally speaks and she was feeling extremely tired.I checked her body and it was burning hot. I rushed her to doctor and found she had 40° C .She was given another dose of antibiotics for 3 days.
3 rd day she developed rashes and the next day we saw doc again.He told it was after fever rash and will go away.4 more days and no improvement. She was feeling itchy throughout. So another doc visit and he told she had fungal infection and gave a lotion to be applied in her body every night.But the condition worsened and her skin became very dry.We had to take her to KK A&E and duty doc too felt it was after fever rash that may take up to 2 weeks to recover. All these incidents just a week after her PSLE oral was finished and she had LC and written exams to be faced.She was suffering from itch and rashes and PSLE on the otgerhand and as a mother it was one of the most difficult times for us.KK had given skin doc appointment as well as 2 weeks MC in case if the rashes doesn't resolve on its own and we had to request for an earlier appointment and saw  skin doctor too the next week and the doc told she had pityaris rosea .The rashes will take  4-9 weeks to resolve.She was given steroid cream and moisturizer .Arshi's condition slowly improved and her rashes were slowly curing up.But all very slowly.She took her Listening Comprehension .Till now her condition isn't fully recovered.and we are following on with her skin doc though there is no more itch.

I never expected that the time when she was to revise vigorously was destined otherwise by God.But we learnt to overcome that too.We realized that continuous study will help at such times.
She wrote all her written exams and told me that they were manageable.

Next week her PSLE results are going to be released. I am more nervous than her.She seem to have given her best and enjoying the rest of the primary school life with her friends.

Whatever be the outcome ,I should praise her for taking exams when she was not in the pinkest of her health.Whatever marks she gets ,its her hard earned marks with minimal parental support. You all should have known about CK and his naughtiness by now. It definitely wasn't easy to study with CK around the house.She has tried to give her best.I have always told her that she need not be the best in her class or school but definitely she can give her best in everything she does. In that way she won't feel guilty of not trying her fullest potential.


I am praying and hoping for her to get good marks that would take her to a good secondary school.

Secondary school selection is another big decision that needs to be made and though we have a few schools in mind we aren't fixed at any school as everything depends on her results and they are so unpredictable.

Saturday 10 November 2018

Deepavali 2018

This year Deepavali was very special as Arshi's exam were over long back even before Navrathri and we were in a relaxed mood.Usually ,Deepavali always falls during exam time or just when the exams are just finished. This year I knew making snacks is going to be difficult as CK is very naughtier than before. So ,I started making snacks more than a week before .I made simple snacks that can be done easily and that are not time consuming.I would do Deepavali sweets and savouries after Arshi has returned from her school so that I know that she will take care of CK if he is cranky and I can concentrate on making snacks. Thus year Deepavali fell on Nov 6 and I started preparation from Oct 28 itself and from then I was making a snack every single day till Nov 5.Nov 2 we went to little India to further soak on festive mood and buy sparklers and Arshi's favorite Ladoos and jangri and also be dazzled by the decorations in Deepavali village and enjoy the Deepavali lights spread across Little India.
Some pictures from our diwali.