Because of the screw up, the swimming school has very kindly offered to do a make up lesson for Ace because the teacher, L, says that Ace lacks confidence and needed fine tuning and a one on one lesson will be very helpful for him.
This meant that we had to bring him to the class.. but it also meant we finally got to see how swimming lessons are like here in Dubai and how they are different from the ones that Ace attended with Mr Loke, his swimming teacher in Singapore.
 |
| Gearing up for the lesson:) Wanted to ask if you can see his muscles but I guess all you can see are his ribs:) wahahahahahha:) |
Updated on 11 Dec 2012:
The school screwed up and Ace missed his lesson again!
Made me fuming mad... but it is a long grandmother story so I lazy to type it out again.. I shall thus copy and paste my complaint letter....
From: Angel Chua <123456 yahoo.com="yahoo.com">
To: Horizon School Info
Cc: Max Yahoo <123456 yahoo.com.sg="yahoo.com.sg">
Sent: Sunday, 9 December 2012, 23:52
Subject: School Bus Mix Up AGAIN!:(
Hi
I
am writing again because my son was sent home on the school bus again
even though I told him that he had a swimming lesson today and I was not
even informed when he was sent on the school bus.
At
the start of the term, due to Ace's swimming form being misplaced, his
name was not on the list for swim class and he was sent home on the
school bus while I made my way via a ONE HOUR JOURNEY to pick him up.
Before he
boarded the bus then, he requested the school nurse to CALL ME and
inform me so
that I would not make a wasted trip. The NURSE did not call and I wrote
in to feedback about this.
The
school took action to find out what went wrong and what may have caused
the incident only to find out that Ace's form was misplaced and his
payment was not sent to Desert Sports but to the accounts office because
apparently I am suppose to label that the money is for Desert Sports
and just labeling it as "SWIMMING" is not enough.
However, the school did not address any of my other concerns about why the school nurse did not call me to inform me that my son was on the school bus even though my son asked if she could do that.
However, the school did not address any of my other concerns about why the school nurse did not call me to inform me that my son was on the school bus even though my son asked if she could do that.
Fine, I left it at that... thinking the school may have given feedback to all involved to prevent this from happening again.
Two
weeks ago, I when I picked Ace up from his swimming class, I was told
that there will be a make up swimming lesson on 9 Dec to make up for the
National Day holidays.
Afterward, I received an email from Desert Sports:
From: Lisa Hancox
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2012, 16:17
Subject: HS Swimming End of term dates
From: Lisa Hancox
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2012, 16:17
Subject: HS Swimming End of term dates
To the parents of Ace,
Following
the recent closure of the pool (Monday to Wednesday) and National Day on the 2nd December (Sunday) DSS are pleased to announce that we are arranging an extra week of classes from the 9th to 12th December 2012 to make up for the lesson cancelled.
The after school paid swimming lessons will therefore finish on Wednesday 12th December, please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any queries.
We look forward to seeing your swimmer in the water!
Best regards,
Lisa Hancox
Therefore, I specifically told Ace that he is having swimming lessons today.
Imagine my surprise when the school bus called me because MY SON WAS HOME ON THE SCHOOL BUS!
By
then, my husband had already driven half an hour from his office to
Horizon to pick Ace up! And so he had to drive another half an hour back
to office all for nothing!
I
tried to find out what happened from Ace and I also called the school
nurse to find out what happened. Apparently, at the end of his lesson,
Ms Roberts told the class that there are not after school activities
today. Which is true for everyone else except Ace. I guess she may not
have known that there is a make up lesson for the paid swimming lessons
as all other activities
have
ended. It may have been Ace's fault that he did not check with Ms
Roberts at this point and just accepted things. But he is just a kid and
one with low situational awareness. I would the expect the adults to
guide him along.
Then
Ace went to the school hall and the school nurse told me she was
surprised to see Ace as she has marked him out of the school bus list
today. Besides, he was not changed into his swimming gear (he did not
change because he assumed what Ms Roberts says is true.) The school
nurse said she asked Ace why he was not dressed and if he had swimming
and Ace said he did not have swimming today (as per what he assumed from
what Ms Roberts said).
Even though there was a disparity between the two info received, the school nurse told me and admitted that she should have checked to verify if Ace has swimming lessons BUT SHE DID NOT.. because, in her words," doing so would mean going down to the clinic or the office and it would mean a delay in the setting off of the school bus which will result in complains from other parents about why their children are home so late." (Does that seem like a good reason NOT TO DOUBLE CHECK?)
Even though there was a disparity between the two info received, the school nurse told me and admitted that she should have checked to verify if Ace has swimming lessons BUT SHE DID NOT.. because, in her words," doing so would mean going down to the clinic or the office and it would mean a delay in the setting off of the school bus which will result in complains from other parents about why their children are home so late." (Does that seem like a good reason NOT TO DOUBLE CHECK?)
Before
Ace went on the bus, he asked the school nurse if she could call me to
inform me that he will be on the bus because we told
him we were going to fetch him after his swimming class. When I asked
her why she did not call me, her response was that it was important that
she sent the children off. The school bus, she says, needs to go off at
2.30. Ace reached home at 3.30pm.. was there not enough time for her to
call within that one hour?
I
am extremely displeased at what has happened. This is not the first
time this happened. It is the SECOND TIME within the last 4 mths! Each
time a screw up like this happens, that means time and money wasted for
me and my husband. Ace's swimming lessons are paid lessons and i am not
sure if desert sports will be able or even willing to
make up lesson for Ace since it is no fault of theirs that Ace missed
today's lesson.
Which
brings me to another point. The other time, when the school nurse
called to inform me that Ace was having a running nose, I specifically
told her to ask Ace to take out his jacket and wear it as he was feeling
cold. When Ace came home, he was still not in his jacket because he had
forgotten about it. The school nurse did not inform him.
I
understand Ace takes responsibility as well for his own things and I
told him that he should have checked with either his teacher or the
school nurse and if he did not understand or was not sure what they were
saying, he should have verified with them. It is also his
responsibility to take out his own jacket to put it on when he is
feeling cold.
But
he is in a school setting where I expect the adults who are involved in
his education to take care of him and guide him along and not be led
along by him.
I cannot believe that I am here complaining AGAIN about the school i was full of praises for in the previous year!
I would like to know:
-
why there was no list circulated to Ms Roberts to let her know that Ace
has a swim class today. I remembered that last year, Ace was always
telling me about him checking if he has activities against a list that
his form teacher held. Ace is always reminded that he has an extra
lessons on days where he has extra lessons.
- why did the school nurse NOT have a way to check efficiently or quickly if Ace has a swim lesson today when she was at the school hall? Shouldn't a system to do that be worked into the "operating procedures"? Don't you agree that telling me that checking with the office or checking her list will make other children late is a VERY LAME EXCUSE? If there is this possibility, she should have brought all the information along with her. If she is given a list and there is a chance that she might need to refer to her list, why did she not bring the list along with her to the school hall. Or she could have used her mobile phone to make a call. She told me that she had ticked him off as not going on the bus today. She must have received this information from somewhere and why is it that she does not trust the official information that she received from the school but trusts Ace implictly EVEN THOUGH ACE ALSO ASKED HER TO, "PLEASE CALL MY MUM.. so that my dad wun come and pick me up for swimming" . Why is it OK to send Ace on the bus even though there is obviously some miscommunication involved since she has different information on hand to work with? Why is it even OK for her not to do her job of double checking?
-
Why is it that the nurse did not call me AGAIN.. despite being
requested to do so since the last saga. Why did she not ask Ace to put
on his jacket even when I told her so? Am I wrong to presume that this
is part of her duties and her job? I really wonder if this boils down to
miscommunication, poor work attitude or a lack of genuine care and
concern for the children's welfare. (But of course, I am comparing her
to the wonderful school nurses in Horizon last year.)
- what exactly happened after the last time I provided the feedback. Did the school pass the message to the nurse?
I
am really disappointed that this happened again. I was upset the first
time it happened. And even more so given that this is the second time
this happened! In fact, I was so upset, I did something I have never
done in my whole life! I actually called the school nurse and started
shouting at her! I don't usually shout at people unless they are my
children!
I
have since apologized to her for being rather ungracious and she has
also apologized to me (in the end after giving lame excuses which only
serve to make me even more mad) and assured me that this will not happen
again. I contemplated letting this end there but decided to write to
you in the end as I do not want to take any second chances of this EVER
happening again.
I
have excellent experiences with the previous school nurses
who always took the initiative to check and to call me regardless of
whether Ace asked them to do so and therefore equally high expectations
of the service standards. Given that the school fees in Horizon has gone
up and not down, is it not fair for me to expect at least the same
quality of services?
Yours,
Angel
--------------
I was really livid! I was so angry I called the nurse and screamed at her.. intially I just wanted to find out what happened.. when she gave me lame excuse, I scolded her as if she was a little child! I have never done that to someone I dunno in my entire life! When I look back, I think I may have over reacted.. but well, what is done cannot be undone. At least I am proud tat I dun try to be nice anymore. The ending is that she told me she is sorry and assures me this won't happen again. I also apologized to her for screaming at her.
I think it is a lesson for Ace too because Mr Low Situational Awareness Blur Like Sotong when questioned by different people either says he cannot remember or just anyhow provide a story... I suspect it is cos he has low SA, he doesnt think this is impt and never remember the details of what happened and partially, he is afraid to tell the truth in case people get angry at him. I explained to him that if we want to sort this out, he has to tell the truth and tell it with accurate details and not give vague response like "I forgot" when his teacher asked him about it the next day. Have to say exactly what he forgot.. I forgot can mean, I forgot I have swimming lesson.. or I forgot what I said... or I forgot what happened.
Another friend who has been doing the POV workshops that I used to do just got back from another workshop.. I posted about this on FB about how I was mad the person gave me lame excuses and she asked me, "So what 'lame excuses' have you been giving others?" Hai.. if apply what I learnt and assume that everything I see in this world is a projection of myself. I think maybe I am also tired of giving myself lots of excuses for still playing the role of a victim about all the disadvantages of STILL being in Dubai because I guess I just still want to be right and make everyone else.. god included.. WRONG. Thanks Jo.. it is good awareness:)
Previous Post:
Our Little Petunia
No comments:
Post a Comment