Commentary: Fretting about your child going to Primary 1? Here’s advic

Commentary: Fretting about your child going to Primary 1? Here’s advice from a principal

The P1 Registration Exercise can be SLOTXO either a stressful experience or a non-event, depending on the expectations and options that parents have when choosing a primary school.

Some put in great effort to enroll their children in their school of choice. Inevitably, a few will face disappointment if they are unable to secure the place they had hoped for.

But no matter the result, our role as parents is to ensure our children are confident and look forward to school.

I understand how worried parents can be over how ready their children are, as a mother myself.

It has been almost a decade since my son first entered primary school. Little did I expect that he would put up such huge resistance to entering the school gate.

Throwing his oversized shoes at me, he created quite a scene, heightening everybody’s anxieties, especially mine. It took a school staff to calmly and firmly lead my son in, still sobbing, but no longer struggling.

Throughout the rest of the day, I had to steady my own nerves, worrying over how he would manage while in school.

A few weeks passed. But before long, my son was looking forward to school, all smiles and no tantrums whatsoever.

As a school principal, I have experienced many more "first days of school". This day is as exciting for the children as much as for their parents. Or as worrying. Or as petrifying.

This is why my team and I spend a considerable amount of effort every year to provide support to Primary 1 children and their parents.