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Playgroup and Nursery

Parents Orientation Programme Session: 2017-2018

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An Oath of Honour

With all my heart, I solemnly swear that I shall walk the path of a righteous being.

I shall respect with love, my parents, my elders, my teachers and my peers

I shall heed the advice of my elders and love with purity those who are younger.

In service to my nation and its people, I shall dedicate myself, regardless of what cast or creed they may be.

I shall follow the principles of my institution and honour its values, and those of my family and those of my nation.

I shall champion our unity, our sovereignty and our honour. So help me God.

Help me with the iron strength of conviction that I may make this oath my way of life.

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Playgroup Parents Orientation Programme Session: 2017-2018

• Student Parent Guide is expected to be read and followed meticulously for a smooth school life of your child.

• In addition, the following points regarding this institution need to be discussed.

1. School Building a. This institution is housed in five different

locations in Dhanmondi, under the banner of Sunnydale and does not have a sister-concern anywhere else.

b. The construction of Sunnydale’s permanent campus is underway at Bashundhara, so till the time Sunnydale finally moves to its own campus, parents’ mental preparedness for any change of location at any time is expected.

c. As we are still in rented buildings, provision of air-conditioners is almost impossible. Your child must be informed that it is not always

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possible to get air-conditioned surroundings everywhere during hot summer days.

d. In order to maintain a smooth flow of movement outside the school gates and into the surrounding areas no shade is provided for visitors or parents. It is expected that after the pick-up and drop off people and traffic would leave the area immediately.

e. Detailed traffic rules have been meticulously mentioned on page no. 13 of the Student Parent Guide. Everyone’s cooperation will be highly appreciated in this matter.

2. The First Week a. Children should be prepared mentally for

schooling to begin much before the opening day. Sudden introduction to schooling may result adversely.

b. Collection Card will be provided on the day of the stationery submission. Your child must wear it to school from the very first day so that it is easier for their Class Teachers to

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identify and address their new students by their names from the beginning.

c. There is no proper school uniform for Playgroup and Nursery but the general specifications mentioned in the Student Parent Guide should be followed. Please do provide a set of clothes in your child’s bag every day, to be used in case of a mishap.

3. Basics for Every Day a. As the children remain here only for a short

duration, it is wise to provide them light, homemade tiffin only. Avoid sending liquid or heavy tiffin such as ‘khichuri’ sausages, etc. Chocolates, chips and fizzy drinks are not at all allowed.

b. Please refrain from sending fancy stationery in your child’s school bags because overly colourful and fancy stuff calls for distraction.

c. On rainy days they must come in rain coats; vehicles are not allowed to drive into the premises to drop off children. In fact, rain

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coats, (labeled with name, class and section) should be sent every day in their school bags during rainy season.

d. School collection cards must be shown to collect children; following this rule is mandatory even for parents. For the safety of children this rule is very strictly followed and no personal requests are kept.

4. Your General Responsibilities a. Please inform the Class Teachers if your child

is left-handed,on the stationery submission day. The child should develop the feeling that being left-handed is as okay as being right-handed and they should be encouraged about using their left hand, if it is the case.

b. Make sure that you check your child’s school bag and the diary every day. Most of the notices are generally given in the school diary.

c. God forbid, if there occurs any change in your marital status at any time of the year, please do inform your child’s Class Teacher

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about it. It will be beneficial for the child because he might need altered attention, to face the crisis, which we may provide if informed. The Fact Sheet that you are being given today needs specific information in this regard.

d. These days because of working parents spending less time at home, our toddlers pick up their language from the house maids and hence they learn to speak in non-standard way. Please make sure you are the one for them to learn to speak when it comes to accent and speech words. They should be able to speak in easy ‘Cholitobhasha’ (Standard Colloquial Bengali) when they start their regular schooling.

e. Reading at home is mandatory for later accomplishments of your child. Therefore make reading a part of family time and read your child a little story every day. It can be either at bedtime or any other fixed time to develop the habit of reading in your child. It

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should be the responsibility of both parents; if Ma remains busy then Baba should read to the child.

Please also make sure to tuck your child into bed early so that they get a full night’s sleep to wake up afresh and energetic next morning. These days parents do not mind if their children stay awake till midnight whereas doctors recommend at least 9 to 10 hours sleep every night for a preschooler.

f. Any special information and concerns regarding your child can be shared at the outset, i.e. today, especially in regard to any special educational needs, medical needs or issues at home.

5. Your Child’s Character-Building a. You are the key to your child’s learning. Please

use the character quality words at home with your children and also greet people whenever possible. They can learn to exchange Assalamu Alaikum, Good Morning, Namashkar, Hi, Hello

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and kind words such as thank you, please, may I and sorry from examples set by you.

b. Do not encourage and listen to their complaints against others, rather ask them why they become the one to be pointed at. However personal discretion and reasoning must be used in such cases as bullying, abusing etc. and you may bring up the matter into your child’s Class Teacher’s knowledge.

c. Research shows that self-control and delayed gratification are essential life skills and can be taught too. The rewards for those who could learn this right from the age of four are many.

d. Keep your cool and do not lose patience with family members, domestic helps, guards and drivers especially in front of your children. Rowdy behaviour and vulgar language leave a very negative impact on children. Rather exhibiting your patience during critical issues and a congenial atmosphere at home help them

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to learn to keep their cool when they face any adverse situation.

e. Help them create a bonding with relatives from both rich and underprivileged backgrounds. Moreover, they must learn to give due respect and time to their Grandparents too.

f. To instill values and responsibility has always remained a top priority in a child’s education. However, we believe that a larger part of teaching ethos and norms of life remains a duty of parents mostly because children spend more time with them. Whereas, at school a child is taught various subjects such as Mathematics, English Grammar etc. and alongside a school only reinforces the quality traits that children practice at home with their parents.

They should practice to be a good human being before they strive to fulfill their dream of achieving all A’s later in life.

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g. Similarly the feeling of patriotism should be inculcated in them right from a very young age and this also, to some extent, is parents’ responsibility.

6. Your Child’s Safety, Your Priority a. Sexual abuse of children by pedophiles,

close relatives or domestic helps has unfortunately become an awful reality. Please create awareness for you and your child’s safety. I would suggest you to better watch Indian activist cum actor, Amir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate’s episode about Child Sexual Abuse, available on the program’s website and on YouTube. The insights you will get after watching this eye-opener will help prevent such cases.

b. Prevention is better than cure. It is a subtle advice, therefore, to avoid getting your children dropped and picked up by drivers and guards etc., esp. if it is a girl child. If both of you are working parents then entrust

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the task of pick and drop to a reliable person related or known to you personally.

c. Be very vigilant if you leave your child in others’ supervision at home or outside. Later, make a subtle enquiry to encourage the child to open up about any indecent advancement or exposure they might have experienced. But then again, they should not also misconceive that they were in unreliable custody. Mothers must train their children about safe and unsafe touch and about personal safety when not under parents’ supervision.

d. Children should not be exposed to husband–wife private intimacy. Even a 2 year old can guess something different in such activities. Similarly watching adult movies and Indian daily soaps should also be avoided especially in front of your children.

e. Hyperactivity in a child calls for extra attention. In such type of cases teachers do

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try to provide help and counselors are there too for proper assistance, however, to treat their child’s condition is entirely parents’ responsibility. It should not be assumed the duty of the school to tackle the hyperactivity in a child.

f. And now the burning question of today’s world! Should we expose our children to the gadgets, i.e. Smart-phones, laptops, etc.? No matter how you would take it, I would suggest you to limit your own use of Smart-phones in front of your children and put a BAN on its usage by them. Studies have found out that its use and overuse only lead to a lot of repercussions – addiction, depression, obesity being only a few of the many of them. Even Steve Jobs did not let his children use iPads !

7. Miscellaneous a. Usually a child’s section is not changed when

they get promoted to Nursery, however, all hyper or unruly type of students do need to be put in equal numbers in every section to

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maintain the class decorum. No consideration is given in this regard.

b. The date of birth in the Birth Certificate of your child that you have shown at the time of their admission cannot be changed in later years.

c. You may make suggestions, write about your concerns or make complaints in writing anonymously or using your name. We appreciate rational feedbacks for better performance at all times.

d. Stationary Submission Day in Junior Section 1, as you know, is on July 10, 2017. There is no need to bring your child on that day.

e. Fee Payment Method: Only online payment through Dutch Bangla Bank Payment Gateway is acceptable. Please follow the Instruction Manual step by step that has been provided to you for making online payment. A Few points to note:

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You need to have a DBBL Nexus Card or one of the Debit/Credit card listed in the Instruction Manual.

For Nexus Card you need to have a DBBL Account. If you already have an account at DBBL then there is no need to open any new account.

If you want to open a Student Account at DBBL then please go to the Bank with necessary documents.

Maintenance charge for any Student Account is free.

For every transaction DBBL will charge Tk. 10. Fee payment by any card other than DBBL

Nexus will cost 2 percent extra. For any further queries please contact

Sunnydale Accounts Section.