Surprise Fire Drill

It is the start of the four days of PSLE marking. I doubt that the girls will really do their exam revision if I leave them at home. So I brought them along with me to work where there is no tv, no computer, no iPad, no telephone, no bed, no fridge. In other words, there is NO distractions for them at my workplace! :) I am cruel, I know lol.
They settled down at the empty work stations just next to mine and immediately started doing their revision - Marieann worked on her Science notes and Juliane did past-year papers on Math. I checked on them once in a while to make sure that they were on track. They were making good progress by lunch time. :) After lunch, we continued with our respective work.
Suddenly at 3.10pm or so, the fire alarm went off. The girls were spooked and asked if they should run. I told them to continue with their work since nobody was moving. :P Then came an announcement that they were checking the situation. Soon after, came the announcement that we had to evacuate the building. Argh. I was right in the middle of work... :(
Not wanting to risk it being a real fire, I told the girls to pack up their stuff and bring them along while I lugged my notebook as I haven't backed up my data for a while now. Won't be funny if I lose my data in a fire. We all moved out in an orderly (but somewhat leisurely, maybe because it was only a fire drill?! Not really the right attitude, I know) manner to the car park area. To make the fire drill exercise more realistic, there was a "fire" (lots of smoke, used a smoke bomb?), an "injured" person, and a fire engine also arrived with firemen to put out the "fire". The "injured" person was attended to while our attendance were taken to make sure everyone was accounted for. It was very hot standing in the sun and we were there for close to 30 minutes. When I was in school, 30 minutes was considered a fail as it was too long a time taken to account for everyone's safety. Actually it is quite shameful that we adults took far longer than school students would in a fire drill to evacuate to safety. :S By 3.50pm, we were allowed to return to our office. 

The fire engine, the Light Fire Attack Vehicle (LFAV aka Red Rhino) and the firemen

It was pure heaven to return to the air-conditioned office after the sweltering heat but it was hard to settle back to work after the interruption. But I think the girls welcomed the fire drill because it provided them with a break and some excitement for the day lol. :P

"I'm Melting"

My colleagues and I were back at the same school for our second day of data collection. Just as the data collection was about to start, the fire alarm went off in the school. The school was having a fire drill! We quickly "evacuated" to the school field, along with the rest of the school. While waiting for the attendance for each class to be taken, my colleague, HJ decided to open up her umbrella as it was really hot at 9+am. She offered to share her umbrella with F and I. But we were kind of embarrassed because being the only umbrella in the entire field, it really stood out lol. As the minutes ticked by, I could feel myself slowly inching towards my colleague's umbrella because it was really hot haha. Just then, the school principal came over to us. Well, the umbrella was like a beacon lol. The following conversation occurred.

Principal: (to HJ) The sun is good for you. I love the sun.
HJ: (with her usual poker face) I'm melting.
Principal: But Vitamin D is good for you.
HJ: No need. I am already melting.
Principal: You don't have to wait here, you can go back to the class first.

Both F and I were dumbfounded by HJ's replies to the P. HJ was so serious in her replies that it was funny. I think I would never have the guts to say something like that to a Principal lol.
HJ, hats off to you!

Fire Drill

I was in counselling with a student today when a loud "RRRIINNGG" interrupted our session. Although I had been warned by the school that there would be a fire drill today at 9:05am, I was still shocked out of my skin. :( I told the student to join her class first while I grabbed my handbag and switched off the electrical appliances before assembling in the field with the rest of the school.

It was interesting watching the fire drill as an observer. I was previously involved in fire drills when I was a school teacher so I was right in the buzz of things. Now I can actually take a step back and observe what's going on with the teachers, school staff, and students. It was interesting noting everyone's reactions - excitement on the students' faces, stressed out looks on the teachers' faces, indifference on the school staff's faces. As for me, an intense look on my face as I try to read everyone's facial expressions lol. Occupational hazard! :P

After half an hour, the normal school routine resumed. I went back to my counselling but now the fire drill became a topic with the rest of the counsellees as it was the most exciting thing of the day haha. Oh dear, what happened to "learning is exciting"?? Ok, ok, another occupational hazard, once a teacher always a teacher lol. :)