Settling In

Salam my lovelies,

We wish you a blessed Ramadhan. May our sins be forgiven and new Light on the Straight Path come our way during this holy month.

Alhamdulillah for all your prayers and kind wishes for our relocation. We now live within walking distance to school and have so far saved many precious hours of travelling time. Sometimes, it feels like we are living in a boarding school as quite a few neighbours here share the same ideals of living close to school too. We see part of the school community members at our common area outside of schooling hours so our children are somewhat on their best behaviour when we are at the park or pool. Running into a classmate or school teacher is almost a daily serendipity!

Alhamdulillah also for the defect liability period that The Townhouse is still covered for. We have saved thousands of ringgit in defects rectification so far. They seem like minor defects and perhaps inconvenient to arrange for the defects team to come over all the time but being the house-proud folks we are, follow-up with the management team is worth it. They have been accommodating all our requests so far, and we are thankful for their co-operation.

The Big School has been a blessing too. The Principal is new and already implementing a host of improvements and best practices for which The Other Half and I agree is worth every sen of school fees we are paying. Even the Parent Engagement Officer is on top of her work so induction and updates have been timely. It is sad to know she is going to be handing the portfolio to someone new but we are glad she will be moving to a teaching position now that her certifications are in place. She is going to be one wonderful French subject teacher!

The support network in The Big School is strong with direct involvement from Principal and Heads of both Secondary and Primary. There is also a formally registered Parent Teacher Association with 15 office bearers. Every Friday, there is a morning coffee session for any parent to speak directly to them about any issues we may face. In the last fortnight, we have discussed good digital citizenship, creation of safe and happy environment to produce great learners and general improvement to safety/traffic/parking/meal plans/next academic year. Breath of much needed fresh air in our case as these features were sorely lacking in The Former School.

The Class Parent Support WhatsApp groups in The Former School were friendlier and warmer though. The parents were vocal, closer and not suppressed in posting/sharing their views and comments. Everyone seemed more close and united. I guess in The Big School, all parents have direct communication with the school with prompt replies and actions being taken, so the Class Rep WhatsApp group is somewhat less significant. 

Girl is slowly undoing her lackadaisical attitude acquired from her previous school and pulling up her socks here. She is more academically engaged, but I must admit she is relearning her social skills with all these new people she is meeting. Digital citizenship wise, she is being trained on her boundaries and responsible self-stewardship. May she overcome her forgetfulness and tone down her feistiness.

Bean is making new friends! His personal learning assistants/shadow aides are at hand and during the one week they were on holiday, he has been self-sufficient despite misplacing his iPad Pro on the first Monday and ended the week on Friday by tripping over himself and came home with lacerations and bruises. Luckily, the School Nurse is reliable. Oh, may Allah swt grant The Other Half and I more patience and courage when his symptoms kick in on his "off days".

As we unpack more boxes and make good this new home, we pray Girl and Bean (including us parents) will grow healthily, safely and happy here.

Take good care and have a wonderful month ahead.