Open Day

DD's school held an Open Day last Saturday. It is the day for parents to meet the class teacher, discuss their child's progress with the teacher and collect the report card.

DH and I left home quite early, at around 7.45 am because we didn't want to end up joining a long queue. We had a quick breakfast at a mamak shop in Kelana Jaya. DH had roti telor and coffee, and I had roti canai and teh tarik. After breakfast, we headed towards DD's school.

We reached the school just after 8.30 am. We saw DD's class teacher, Pn. Aida, standing on a chair reaching for a wall fan switch. I greeted her, and she pointed to a basket placed on a desk near the door and said to me "Ambil nombor." I took a card at the top of the stack. My queue number was no. 1.

While Pn. Aida was getting herself settled in, DH and I busied ourselves reading the charts, timetable and notices that were pasted on the wall. Other parents of Class 1G had not arrived yet.

Then Pn. Aida called us to join her at the teacher's desk. She pulled DD's report card from a stack in front of her and handed it to me. She asked whether we'd like to know DD's position (as I wrote previously, a child's position is not written in the report card). We said yes we'd like to know, and Pn. Aida took a sheet of paper from somewhere on the desk and searched for DD's name. (Remember the feeling when the doctor asked whether you'd like to know your unborn baby's gender? It felt something like that. You're not sure whether you'd like to know, but at the same time you can't wait to find out).

After she revealed DD's position to us, we discussed with her about DD's progress in school. I was relieved to find that DD is doing well and as the teacher said it "tidak mendatangkan apa-apa masalah" (she's not a difficult child). She pays attention in class and asks questions whenever she doesn't understand what's being taught.

Anyway, let's take a look at the report card. Obviously I've left school a very, very long time ago because the report card used to be a lot simpler during my time. Now? The children are assessed on so many things. They even have to go through oral tests for Bahasa Melayu and English. If I'm not mistaken, I took my oral tests only when I was in Form 5. Well, certainly not when I was in Standard 1.

The so-called report card actually consists of 4 booklets:






















From the top left, they are:
1. Buku Laporan Penilaian Kemajuan Berasaskan Sekolah (PKBS)
2. School Based Oral Assessment English Language Pupils Achievement Report
3. Rekod Pentaksiran Lisan Berasaskan Sekolah (PLBS)
4. Laporan Adab Belajar


The PKBS is an empty booklet with pockets to slot in each semester's results. Since this is DD's first semester at primary school, only 2 sheets of paper have been slotted in: 1 for the results and another 1 for teacher's comments and parents' signature. The results are in the form of grades and marks (where applicable) for the following:
Bahasa Melayu - Lisan, Bacaan, Kefahaman
English - Lisan, Bacaan, Kefahaman
Mathematics
Science
Pendidikan Agama Islam
Music
Pendidikan Seni
Pendidikan Jasmani & Kesihatan

At the bottom of the page, the marks for 4 subjects (Bahasa Melayu, English, Maths and Science) are totalled up and averaged. This average determines a child's position in his/her class and in Year 1.

The Pupils Achievement Report and PLBS show the grades for English and BM oral tests respectively. The students are graded on 4 dimensions: Grammar & Vocabulary, Pronunciation and Intonation, Fluency & Rhytm, and Ethics & Mannerism.

The final booklet, the Laporan Adab Belajar contains individual teachers' assessment of a child for the following 4 subjects: BM, English, Maths and Science. For each subject, the students are assessed on 8 dimensions which include homework, classwork, behaviour, attitude, mastery of subject, application skill, efforts to gather informaton from various sources, and cooperation with other students. The scores are totalled up and averaged.

I've signed all the reports in the 4 booklets. DD has returned those reports to Pn Aida today. Having looked at the reports, I realise that school life is much more complicated for kids these day as compared to during my time. I mean, they are being assessed on so many aspects. If we're not careful, school can be a stressful experience for the kids.

As for me, I'm glad that DD is doing well in school. But I'm reminding myself not to be too strict with her at home. It's hard enough going through so many assessments at school, I'm sure she deserves more leisure time at home instead of constant nagging to study. She needs a place to chill out, recharge and feel free to behave like a 7 year old child that she is.