K3B Excursion to the Beach

Suzhe is a very urban school!  Many kids in Hong Kong don't really get to go to the beach very often, so the K3 outing this year was a morning at the beach.

 It really doesn't matter where they go or why - the kids love any kind of outing!

 K3B is a particularly small class as there are only 30 students and two teachers, whereas most K3 classes have 45 kids and three teachers.  Katy's head teacher this year is Lu Laohi, and her assistant is Qiu Laoshi.  Today's outing was even smaller than usual.  There's a fever sweeping through the class so only 22 kids were on the outing.

Katy's had some anxieties since our little rhyme performance upset last week.  She was not looking forward to this outing.  The teachers, being very Chinese and traditional, seem to really be emphasising to the kids that they are big kids now so they can't cry or want their parents.  Of course, this is just like a red rag to a bull for Katy, and makes her very anxious.  The teachers trying to prep Katy by telling her that her Mummy is not allowed to look after her and must look after some other kids really didn't help!  She actually cried and begged not to go on the outing.

So, Rick and I decided that we would deal with it by having Dada come along too.  What a great Dada!  Katy of course then told the teachers, who then told her that this is not allowed - only one parent is allowed at a time.  So we decided to deal with it by ignoring that message from Katy and just playing it be ear.

Well, it all worked out.  The teachers were glad to see us both and have us along.  I was appointed official photographer.

And Dada was appointed official class mascot and fun person.  The teachers were very impressed at how eagerly and enthusiastically Dada got into the sand to play with the kids.  The kids loved having strong arms there to help make sand hills.

And Katy was happy as a clam, secure and confident with both parents nearby.  She wasn't clingy or anxious at all!  Which just goes to show that parents know their kids best at the end of the day!

We really didn't have much time at the beach.  The kids LOVED playing in the sand and the teachers really had to work hard to get them up and running around for some races.

 Afterwards, we enjoyed some snacks.  I had prepared quite a lot just in case I needed to smooth ruffled feathers from having both Dada and me there...the cute boxes of Mandarins and cut up musk melon were a big hit with the parents, teachers and kids.  And the kids loved the Pocky chocolate covered peanut sticks!

All in all, it was a really pleasant morning with the kids, and a great opportunity to spend some time with Katy's class before we leave...