It's not like we don't all speak English. It's that the writers of the papers (and the newspaper, too, for that matter, but I digress....) apparently think you're psychic or have had children doing the same activities in the past and they don't want to bore you with details. 
A couple of weeks ago, Otterboy brought home some papers for an overnight stay in Wellington. It said when they were leaving and how much it costs and when to have the money in and 'please return this permission slip' blah, blah, blah... It didn't mention what adults were going, how many adults were going or even where they were going to stay, but we were to make sure the permission slip was turned in asap. You can bet I emailed the principal and I got a prompt response with all the info I requested before we signed the paper.
I just don't get it...do NZer's send their kids off to anything the school offers and assume it's all ok because it's from the school? If they do, shame on them!
I have emailed both the primary school and the high school in our district and explained that they should quit assuming that parents have gone through these things before. I had a one-on-one with a teacher and explained to her that I have not done this before and giving too much information is infinitely better than not enough.
A couple of weeks ago, Otterboy brought home some papers for an overnight stay in Wellington. It said when they were leaving and how much it costs and when to have the money in and 'please return this permission slip' blah, blah, blah... It didn't mention what adults were going, how many adults were going or even where they were going to stay, but we were to make sure the permission slip was turned in asap. You can bet I emailed the principal and I got a prompt response with all the info I requested before we signed the paper.
I just don't get it...do NZer's send their kids off to anything the school offers and assume it's all ok because it's from the school? If they do, shame on them!
I have emailed both the primary school and the high school in our district and explained that they should quit assuming that parents have gone through these things before. I had a one-on-one with a teacher and explained to her that I have not done this before and giving too much information is infinitely better than not enough.
4 comments:
It is good they ask for permision. I was born in Bulgaria - nobody asked my parents permision for anything there :) Here in America - it is a lot of paperwork to be a parent, but it feels good when the school respects our right to know what is going on. As I am reading your post - NZ sounds like in between :)
Permission slips are best and they do sent out where and who are the people with them, some may have just forgotten... every year i learn how school works, and as my daughter gets older, though at times i still get confuse :)
I switched my kids from a small school, where frankly, academics were better... 1 teacher to 4-5 kids!... but who did NOT communicate for crap! Mostly it was simple stuff, like asking to bring in party snacks the next day - but I worked full time! If they didn't tell me in advance, forget it! I even offered to set the school and parents up with private email/news groups. No. I moved them two years ago. Trust is important, and because I couldn't even get them to tell me the 'simple stuff'... what else was I missing??
I guess we are a people are very trusting, specially with places we have been taught are worthy of our respect and trust. But I agree in this day and age it is wise to be more careful even in this country, but old habits die hard I think I most likely would have just signed the paper, and just known that adults would be there to take care of my little darling as their own. Often I was one of the mothers who went along on camps and outings to take care of everybody elses children as well as my own. And I had masses of fun doing so.
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