Yesterday was the last day of school for Semester 1. The teachers will be meeting the parents these 2 days to give out the report books and talk about the children's performance, etc.
12.30p.m. I went down to the office to look for Mr W, the P, to submit my resignation letter. I had wanted to submit my resignation letter last Friday, but he was not in school. Then because of Jerome's sensitivity to numbers, he said that it was not good to submit it yesterday (May 24- sounds like I'm dying of hunger in chinese). So after class, when I saw his car at his usual parking lot, I quickly grabbed the chance to see him.
First, we talked about something else... my pupil. I presented him with a big A4 white envelope containing samples of a pupil's work. It was a case of trying to persuade the parent to send the child to a special school as she is not learning much in school. At 11 yrs, she still can't write a simple sentence independently, eg, "My name is ________________." And she's suppose to take the PSLE next year...
Then I presented the smaller envelope to him. He looked at me puzzled. I mumbled "my resignation letter..."
He opened up the envelope and read the letter and the resignation form (Yap, there is actually a resignation form downloadable from HR. There are boxes to tick for the reasons to leave. There are options that include stress, long hours, distance, etc. I wonder if people do really tick the real reasons. Anyway, I've selected others and stated family affairs. There should be one for Trying to Conceive) So as he was reading, I was feeling nervous, anticipating his questions that will follow. I'm afraid I'm going to cry...
Finally, he looked up and asked "You are leaving the service?"
"Yes." I replied with a forced smile, trying to blink back the tears I could already feel.
"For good?" he asked again.
"Well... at least for the time being." I replied.
He then suggested that I should take no pay leave to settle the 'family affairs' istead of just resigning unless I'm thinking of getting another job after leaving. It will be difficult to return to the service after resigning. I'll have to go through the interview process again, etc... So go home and discuss the option with husband first but submit the leave form asap...
So in the end, I walked out of his office with my resignation letter still in my hands...
13 years ago
Hi Sheryl
ReplyDeleteChance upon your blog when searching for a yogurt cake recipe. You have a lovely blog and I have another good blog to visit! :-)
Hmm, u did not make it to resign huh? Well, I was an ex-chinese teacher. I resigned from the Ministry in 2005. In 2008, I was re-appointed again as full-pledged teacher. The 1st time I resigned was due to family affairs like u. My P accepted my resignation but made a lot of sacarstic remarks. I couldn't be bothered with her. Then in 2008, I resigned again in Dec as I couldn't adapt myself in the sch environment at all, esp. the ranking system. I can say I detest it. However, it is not too difficult to get back to full-time teaching in the same sch, provided that there is still vacancy and also your P must be willing to write a letter to MOE stating that the sch needs you. I was re-appointed that way. Right now, I am giving full-time tuition and it is much relaxed and have more freedom. Hope my sharing ease your 忐忑不安的心情。Yes, your P's suggestion make sense unless you are thinking of teaching again after settling your family affairs. However, a teacher's life is so hectic and long hours, will you hv enough quality time with your baby in his/her growing years?
Sorry for being so long-winded for the 1st time posting a comment here. Pardon me :-P
All the best
Esther
http://esther247.blogspot.com
Dear Esther,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blogs and taking the time to share your personal experience. Yap, you're right. Teaching is hectic and I hardly have a life after school. Leaving the service for the time being allow me to spend more time with my family and doing other things that I enjoy doing and pick up some new skills.
Teaching is my first job and I can't think of myself doing something else really. But then again, I have very little time and energy left to try doing other things at the first place. :P
Anyway, I've just submitted my NPL application and the resignation form together. In case, the NPL is not approved, I'm still resigning.
Just wanna keep myself occupied and busy with other things next month onwards :) Look out for updates on my food blog cos I should be updating it soon :)
Btw, I've popped into your blog too :)
Thanks for popping in. All the best to your future endeavours. It is good to take a breather to rest and explore the many possibilities that are ahead of you. 走出去，天空还是一样蓝，或者更蓝。与你共勉之:)
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