Batu Caves in October 2016

Woke up on Public Holiday, and wonder how to spend the day and suddenly hubby suggested to visit Batu Caves. Our last visit there was about 2 years ago. 

ok, right, lets get ready and yeah..we start our journey.

we reach the destination in less than 30 minutes as it was a public holiday and still early in the morning at about 9.05am.

the place is still as magnetic as usual, only a bit set back due to a major renovation was going on. there are widening the stairs and some other renovations that expected to be completed by next Thaipusam.

it was really tiring to climb all the stairs but happy to be greated with pleasant calmness up there. 

getting down from the caves, we were greated by many pegions who always wondering around. the community here makes sure they are all fed all the time 

there is a small animal park at batu caves also. for those with kids, no regret to go here as the fees is cheap- only RM7 per adult and kids are free. moreover the park are kept clean and your kids can feed the birds and fishes there. at selected time in a day, there will be a cultural show also.

we were all tired and hungry by 12.30pm and go chow look for food. 

Shambala Kidz Leadership Preschool

Hi there!

The purpose of this blog is to share my personal experience with Shambala Kidz Leadership Preschool.

yes, I am the proud mother of that little boy. He was with Kinderworld Smart School last year and was awarded as the impressive young learner by the most honored Dato Seri Gobind Singh.

It was with much pain that I have to remove him from that school and enroll him with Shambala last year October due to work. I always want to put him in the school which is nearer to my workplace. 

well, my experience won't be same with all the parents as some might be happy with them. our fingers are not all the same size, but the reason why I am writing this blog is for parents who is considering this place for their children. at least you need to know their pro's and con's from a parent's view, right? I am unlucky that I don't have the opportunity to read any review prior to enrolling my son. I try to keep this as brief as possible as I am not writing a thesis here.

I register him on 25th October 2015, paid deposit of RM2,840.00 
on 28th November, I receive a WhatsApp from the supervisor as below

bear in mind the reason I put my son near my working place is that I can send and fetch him, I never need transport service and never requested. I was so shocked to receive this kind of message. 
He starts schooling in Dec 2015. 
On 7th January 2016, the school asks me to pay additional RM490 for supplementary fees which they never informed parents earlier. 

for me, this is a hidden cost. I just invested a huge sum 3 months ago. they should include this cost in the registration itself, and not asking now and then, when I request for an explanation, was replied as below;

After few weeks, Again I received a WhatsApp to top up RM 400 and when requested for confirmation, replied as below;

It is so simple thing, and they have mixed up so many times.

Oh ya, once I have requested for the couch's contact number and was replied like below;

Seriously no idea why? perhaps they don't want the teachers to leak the schools secret (I guess only)

Then, they have closed the school few times due to health ministry request. Tomorrow close, today evening only tell parents. I got to take EL many days with salary cut (I need to apply 3 days early for annual leave)

Apart from these, the school will organize field trip 4 times a year. quite fun for kids but parents need to pay RM95 for each trip. mostly the places they bring is educational but I think the ticket price for kids won't exceed RM25 but we need to pay RM95. (probably need to cover the teacher's price also)

OK... lastly I decided to remove my son from Shambala due to his studies deteriorates and also my work place move to Damansara and same as before, I need to place him in a school near my work. The school rejected to refund the fees paid for November and graduation fees of RM380 (collected in June) due to short notice. then they offer to refund the graduation fee provided I remove my article about them. I simply refused.

Well, here is the summary of all above;

Pros of the school;

~good location, easy access

~has big playground (kids love it) but my son had fallen down once and broke his teeth

~my son likes the foods given except the sushi

~they have personal guard (he is an ex-policeman)

Con's of the school;

~inexperience supervisor who always mixed up things. parents need to be extra alert

~my son's interest in learning has decreased tremendously though they claim all their couch are very experienced.( this is very sad as I am paying very high)

~conservative way of teaching (my son was punished for talking and playing)

~during parent teacher's meeting, teacher will only say what my son can do and what he cannot do, never give suggestion and motivation to improve on what he lacks off

~some teachers never try to understand the children, instead they just want the kids to follow their instruction and punish if they don't. 

~100% profit oriented. the supervisor once compares the school fees with tenancy when I ask for a refund of the deposit and concert fee. Their main focus is to earn profit, not educating

~when parent's need help..sorry, they will talk about school rules (I kena many times)

~secretive-they won't let the teachers share their contact details and owner of the school always hide behind the scene when parents need any clarification.

~they will totally ignore you if they cannot answer you (also kena many times)

~high turnover of teachers

~maid run away few times (heard they didn't pay her salary) not sure true or not

overall, I am very unhappy with the school but this is my personal view, as I say not all our fingers are the same size. some parents might have the different opinion. 

Currently, my son is with a better school near Subang, I am glad that I took him off from Shambala Kidz.

thank you for reading...cheers