SINGAPORE: When the primary section of Maris Stella High School (MSHS) moves to a partial single-session for a few years, Mr Jared Lim faces a potential logistical headache.
He will have four sons in Primary 1, 2, 4 and 5 in 2028. The older two children will be in the morning session, while the younger two start lessons in the afternoon.
It means Mr Lim would have to think about sending his children to school and picking them up at staggered times throughout the day.
"We can’t be going back and forth if they finish at three or four different timings in school," said the father of seven, adding that both he and his wife work full-time.
The move to a partial single-session is a temporary one, to be implemented when the school shifts to its holding site at the former MacPherson Primary School at 2 Mattar Road while the campus at Mount Vernon is being rebuilt from 2027 to 2029.
The school will look to increase its Primary 1 intake after the move to Mattar Road. It will also become coeducational and take in girls in 2027.
MSHS (Primary) will revert to a single session when it moves back to Mount Vernon, tentatively in 2030.
Parents are thinking about how to navigate logistical issues even before the partial single-session is implemented.
Mr Lim, an alumnus of the school, said he and his wife have taught their children how to get home from school by public transport.
The holding site is close to Mattar MRT station on the Downtown Line, while the permanent site is next to Bartley MRT station on the Circle Line.
"Fortunately, the MRT (station) is next to the school itself, so we’ve followed them, we’ve guided them," said Mr Lim.
"Singapore’s transport system is pretty efficient so we don’t worry about that part of it, but we try to pick them up when they reach the stations on their way home."
His older children will wait for their younger siblings to come home together on public transport.
Mr Lim also plans to send his only daughter – the youngest child – to MSHS (Primary) in 2030, when the school is projected to reopen at its permanent site and return to single session.
The silver lining is that with the school turning coed, it will solve "a lot of logistical issues" for the family since she can go to the same school as her brothers, he said.
Another alumnus, Mr Royston Png, is happy that the school will be rebuilt to provide better facilities. But it also means that his son, who is Primary 3 this year, will move to the holding site in his PSLE year.
"It’s only disruptive because it (will require) more time to get to the school," he added.
Since the start of the year, his son has been coming home from school on the MRT – a 15-minute journey.
"So it’s an adjustment in the sense that we need to teach him how to get to school and come back himself," he said, describing the move as an inconvenience.
As he hopes that his son will move on to MSHS (Secondary), this inconvenience could drag on.
The secondary section will also shift to a temporary site while the campus is being rebuilt. According to Google Maps, it will take his son 40 minutes to get to the secondary school’s holding site, compared to the current 15 minutes.
"If the school could have let me know earlier, it (would have affected my decision) about sending him to Maris Stella," Mr Png said.
The family moved closer to Maris Stella because the schools near their previous home in the east were difficult to get into. His son also has classmates whose families moved to live opposite the permanent campus.
"I know people that sold their house in Potong Pasir ... and moved to Bartley just to allow their son to walk to school," he said.
For another alumnus Gavin Gan, hearing that the school was going to be rebuilt was not a surprise, but the decision to make the school coed was.
He praised the decision to do so, saying that it would "improve social circles for the kids since they're able to interact with both boys and girls".
Mr Gan, whose two sons are in Primary 3 and 6 in MSHS, said his sons currently take the MRT to school.
Teachers, too, will have to face adjustments.
MSHS principal Boy Eng Seng told CNA on Tuesday that some teachers will teach in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and others will only teach in one session.
"For those who teach both sessions, their reporting time can be later depending on their timetable. This will ensure that the working hours of all teachers are equitable," he said.
"These different working hours may meet the needs of different groups of teachers, and the school will try to find a good fit for everyone."
The school has yet to plan for this new arrangement as the move is more than two years away, he added.
It will learn from other primary schools that had to implement partial single-session when they were at their holding sites.
"MOE will also be supporting and advising us on our manpower planning," said Mr Boy.
The decision to open up the primary school to girls will better serve the needs of residents and benefit daughters of alumni, said Mr Boy in a letter to parents on Monday.
General secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union Mike Thiruman said that teachers should be provided additional resources and flexible work arrangements to "smoothen this transition".
The union will also be working with its members to identify concerns and see if there is a transition period for teachers to adjust to the new arrangement, he told CNA.
"While in the past, there have been dual-session schools, we do hope the leaders at Maris Stella would be able to assess the workload of these teachers and discuss with the teachers how best to schedule their timetable, so that they have ample time to fulfil their other duties," he added.
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He will have four sons in Primary 1, 2, 4 and 5 in 2028. The older two children will be in the morning session, while the younger two start lessons in the afternoon.
It means Mr Lim would have to think about sending his children to school and picking them up at staggered times throughout the day.
"We can’t be going back and forth if they finish at three or four different timings in school," said the father of seven, adding that both he and his wife work full-time.
The move to a partial single-session is a temporary one, to be implemented when the school shifts to its holding site at the former MacPherson Primary School at 2 Mattar Road while the campus at Mount Vernon is being rebuilt from 2027 to 2029.
The school will look to increase its Primary 1 intake after the move to Mattar Road. It will also become coeducational and take in girls in 2027.
MSHS (Primary) will revert to a single session when it moves back to Mount Vernon, tentatively in 2030.
TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
Parents are thinking about how to navigate logistical issues even before the partial single-session is implemented.
Mr Lim, an alumnus of the school, said he and his wife have taught their children how to get home from school by public transport.
The holding site is close to Mattar MRT station on the Downtown Line, while the permanent site is next to Bartley MRT station on the Circle Line.
"Fortunately, the MRT (station) is next to the school itself, so we’ve followed them, we’ve guided them," said Mr Lim.
"Singapore’s transport system is pretty efficient so we don’t worry about that part of it, but we try to pick them up when they reach the stations on their way home."
His older children will wait for their younger siblings to come home together on public transport.
Mr Lim also plans to send his only daughter – the youngest child – to MSHS (Primary) in 2030, when the school is projected to reopen at its permanent site and return to single session.
The silver lining is that with the school turning coed, it will solve "a lot of logistical issues" for the family since she can go to the same school as her brothers, he said.
Another alumnus, Mr Royston Png, is happy that the school will be rebuilt to provide better facilities. But it also means that his son, who is Primary 3 this year, will move to the holding site in his PSLE year.
"It’s only disruptive because it (will require) more time to get to the school," he added.
Since the start of the year, his son has been coming home from school on the MRT – a 15-minute journey.
"So it’s an adjustment in the sense that we need to teach him how to get to school and come back himself," he said, describing the move as an inconvenience.
As he hopes that his son will move on to MSHS (Secondary), this inconvenience could drag on.
The secondary section will also shift to a temporary site while the campus is being rebuilt. According to Google Maps, it will take his son 40 minutes to get to the secondary school’s holding site, compared to the current 15 minutes.
"If the school could have let me know earlier, it (would have affected my decision) about sending him to Maris Stella," Mr Png said.
The family moved closer to Maris Stella because the schools near their previous home in the east were difficult to get into. His son also has classmates whose families moved to live opposite the permanent campus.
"I know people that sold their house in Potong Pasir ... and moved to Bartley just to allow their son to walk to school," he said.
For another alumnus Gavin Gan, hearing that the school was going to be rebuilt was not a surprise, but the decision to make the school coed was.
He praised the decision to do so, saying that it would "improve social circles for the kids since they're able to interact with both boys and girls".
Mr Gan, whose two sons are in Primary 3 and 6 in MSHS, said his sons currently take the MRT to school.
Related:
SOME TEACHERS WILL TEACH BOTH SESSIONS
Teachers, too, will have to face adjustments.
MSHS principal Boy Eng Seng told CNA on Tuesday that some teachers will teach in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and others will only teach in one session.
"For those who teach both sessions, their reporting time can be later depending on their timetable. This will ensure that the working hours of all teachers are equitable," he said.
"These different working hours may meet the needs of different groups of teachers, and the school will try to find a good fit for everyone."
The school has yet to plan for this new arrangement as the move is more than two years away, he added.
It will learn from other primary schools that had to implement partial single-session when they were at their holding sites.
"MOE will also be supporting and advising us on our manpower planning," said Mr Boy.
The decision to open up the primary school to girls will better serve the needs of residents and benefit daughters of alumni, said Mr Boy in a letter to parents on Monday.
General secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union Mike Thiruman said that teachers should be provided additional resources and flexible work arrangements to "smoothen this transition".
The union will also be working with its members to identify concerns and see if there is a transition period for teachers to adjust to the new arrangement, he told CNA.
"While in the past, there have been dual-session schools, we do hope the leaders at Maris Stella would be able to assess the workload of these teachers and discuss with the teachers how best to schedule their timetable, so that they have ample time to fulfil their other duties," he added.
Continue reading...