Fast and Furious October

October means exams followed by marking plus tallying of marks and results analysis. Thankfully I was able to complete all before birthday weekend which was filled with celebrations with family and friends 😊

The week after was return of scripts, check marks, go through papers and official end of academic lessons. Which led us to Blended Learning Week with a week-ful of activities and the students ending the academic year on a high.

Last week of October was just as crazy with big meetings small meetings last minute meetings and clearing admin work to end 2025 and be ready for 2026. Of course time is never enough to complete all these and the work is going to spill over to November…

1. 工作是做不完的，该休息时就得休息

Thankful that despite a packed October, there’s always some freed up time to rest (and play pickleball too!). A task to complete, an email to reply, a matter to attend to. There will always be an urgent or important (or both) thing to take your time and attention away. To help myself last the journey, I must first place importance to give rest for myself. When it’s time to rest, we should just rest.

2. What happens at the end of a ‘storm’?

What do you do after going through an exam or a major project or completing an important task? Many people will just chill and enjoy the respite. Take your mind of the ‘storm’ that just passed and just , let it go. It’s perfectly fine to take a break after a storm and enjoy some fruits of labour. One should have a taste of the marshmallows after persevering through the journey and put off any sense of instant gratification.

But for how long? Have heard of kids who were simply allowed to let go and do whatever they want after their PSLE. I have gone for post-PSLE talks where many out-of-control P6 students were allowed to misbehave. The type of helpless looks I got from the teachers is telling me “you know they just finished PSLE right.. can cut them some slack?”

So after going through a storm, am I entitled to some misbehaviour that you must learn to understand and accept?

Or as parents, do we help our kids make sense of their journey? Do we have some time with them to

• Celebrate the Efforts (big and small)

• Give Thanks for the Results (no matter how they are)

• Build on the Learning through Reflection (eg. How have you become a better person?)

• Rest to Recharge for the next milestone ahead

For our own kids, we always try to make time to have meals with them right after their last exams each year. We celebrate the effort put in to last through the exams. Results is secondary and is a by-product of the efforts put in.

With teens, they will probably want to spend time with their close friends right after their last paper. As parents, we do give them that time, but we also impress on them that we will still want to have time with them to celebrate later on. And we do get those precious moments with them 😃

Let’s see beyond the numbers, the As, the scores, and the 排名. Let’s all strive to help our kids make sense of their learning and celebrate life together with them.