Other
My daughter, who is in the 1st grade, had an interview scheduled for 10:00 AM, which we booked a week ago. We arrived on time and they made us wait for 20 minutes , we waited at the reception area. At 1:20 PM, my daughter was finally taken in for her interview, which lasted less than five minutes. The teachers then came out and told me that she refused to write anything. I explained that she writes beautifully, including all the letters and her name, but they insisted she refused and that she doesn't follow instructions.
In front of them, I asked my daughter why she didn't cooperate, and she said she was shy and covered her face. The teachers then suggested she might not want to change schools, which is why she didn't want to write. I asked my daughter if she wanted to change schools, and she said she liked the new school and did want to switch.
The teachers then told me they thought my daughter was spoiled and that my way of giving her options and asking for her opinion was wrong. At this point, my daughter started crying a lot, saying she was scared of them. We tried to calm her down, but she got more upset shouting she wanted “homework”. The receptionist tried to give her stickers to calm her down, but my daughter asked for the "homework" (the test they had in their hand). They gave it to her, but then the teacher said she had to leave because she had a lot of work to do.
My experience was terrible for several reasons. First, they judged my daughter, who is less than six years old, in a few minutes, claiming she doesn't follow instructions, without trying to establish any trust, play with her, or chat to build rapport. They went straight to the writing task!
Second, this was a paid interview. 20 minutes of our booked time was wasted because they were late, they spoke with us for only a few minutes before saying they had other work to do. Why didn't they allocate the necessary time for us?
Third, they were judgmental, labeling my daughter as spoiled and criticizing my parenting style after just a few minutes with her in a stressful exam situation.
I find it hard to believe that a well-known school employs such unprofessional staff. Sometimes, a big name doesn't guarantee professionalism.
