Leadership on the first day of school

On the first day of his primary one, parents were allowed to visit the school to see how the children integrate into the larger community. When sending him to school, I gave him the following charge:

1. Look out for any classmate who needs more help

2. Go ahead to help that classmate

3. Be of great help to lighten your teacher’s load who needs to care for 30 children

After I attended the parents’ talk by the school leaders, the parents proceeded to the school canteen ‘observation area’ to witness their children buying and consuming the canteen food.

But my priority was not to observe Tze Yu, I was observing whether any of his classmates have any special needs. I notice a child who may need more help to integrate into the school. When I picked him up, I saw the ‘school specialist’ talking to the child’s guardian at the school gate. I was pretty certain that I have observed correctly. When Tze Yu came out, I asked him about that child. Indeed, Tze Yu validated my observation. Now that we have completed phase 1 “Look out for any classmate who needs more help”, he can now proceed to phase 2 “Go ahead to help that classmate”.

Over the next 2 days, I checked with him whether he activate to complete phase 2. He was not successful because that child was seated a little far from him. But on the following day, he gladly told me that when the teacher told the class to do a certain activity, that child looked lost. So Tze Yu quickly ran towards the child, tapped on his shoulder and told the child what to do. It is definitely a great beginning for his leadership journey; watch out for your men!

I have sown the seed of leadership in him. Hopefully, he will continue this journey and “Be of great help to lighten your teacher’s load who needs to care for 30 children”.

What is your main focus when your child enters school at P1?