A Message for Parents

Dear parents,

Some of our parents and other family members are working so hard during the coronavirus pandemic in health and social care, key public services, public safety and utilities, communication, food production, distribution, shops and many other necessary services.

An enormous thank you to them for their sacrifice, their work is highly valued and we are very grateful to them!

There are no reports about any of our school community being infected or becoming ill so far.

There is no greater priority for me and our teachers than the safety and well-being of our school community.

As we have done for almost three decades, we continue with the best practices for this new mode of teaching, through planning engaging lessons and activities and arriving at all decisions with one driving consideration – the best interests of our students and of their growth and development. We will keep improving the online learning process; this week we will try introducing video conferences in upper classes to better support our students’ needs.

To help our entire community, stay informed of developments and follow the safety measures.

Should you have any questions or concerns, I and our teachers are here to support you.

Irena Steblaj
Head

Second Week of Online Learning

Dear parents,

We are staring the second week of online learning. First of all, I would like to commend our students. All our initial expectations were exceeded. Our students did really well during the first, very challenging week, of online learning. The reports from our teachers and the students’ work displays their effort, dedication and responsibility. Observation of the students’ work shows a lot of knowledge/understanding and elevated thinking skills. Their creativity has no limits.
I am very grateful, too, that there have not been any reports of anybody being infected up until now.
We do not know how long this situation will last. We cannot control it, we cannot control what others do or think about it. But we can contribute and have a positive influence by following all preventive measures and being disciplined and responsible, with our optimistic attitude, kindness and support for one another.
The list below may help your child organise their learning more effectively.

A check list for more effective learning: 
  • I have a designated  earning space in my house.
  • I read instructions carefully and seek help and support if needed.
  • I read the feedback I get from teachers and take the appropriate action.
  • I demonstrate ethical behaviour and practice.
  • I regularly start working on time, work persistently and finish my schoolwork by the deadline/s.
  • I look after my health (exercise, sleep enough, have a healthy diet, relax) and the health of people around me – I do not contribute to stressful atmosphere with my behaviour. 
Stay at home. If not necessary, avoid going to places where there are other people. Protect the health of your family.

Best wishes,

Irena Steblaj
Head

A Message for Parents

Dear parents,

I am very happy and grateful to report that I have not received any information about anybody being infected by coronavirus in our school community as yet.

Let’s follow all instructions for prevention, especially social isolation and think of safety and a healthy lifestyle.

Our teachers and I have received a lot of supportive and positive messages in the last few days. Furthermore, I hope that parents who expressed concerns understand that it is very important to be actively and responsibly involved in the online learning, which is quite challenging for some students at the moment, but, in the long term, crucial for their future.  We want to support families to raise resilient and confident children.

I am monitoring students’ work all the time and it gives me great joy to see their dedication and good results. Our teachers are very satisfied with their response, it is in fact much better than we expected, when we initially planned the online learning process. It seems that because of the restrictions of public gathering the closing of schools might last for a fairly elongated period.

As the online learning process appears to be functioning well, we will continue in the same way next week. Many families have to share a computer or only a few computers for work and school work and we have families with many members, so video conferences would probably not be feasible.

There are some ideas for weekend family cultural events online below.  Our PE and AP teachers keep sending ideas for promoting a healthy and active lifestyle. Join your children when they exercise or dance.

Have a pleasant and safe weekend!

Best wishes,

Irena Steblaj
Head
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A Message for Parents

Dear parents,

I have been receiving a lot of positive feedback from parents and our teachers, but also some e-mails from parents who think that their children are under great stress because of the workload of online learning.

I STRONGLY BELIEVE that being active and working hard is much healthier and productive than procrastinating, lazing around and having too much time for worry and self pity. It is important that children are busy, and show responsibility and agency, especially in the situation we are in at present. Postponing work and stressing about the situation will not do them any good. It will be very difficult for them to catch up with their school work later and, consequently, it will be even more stressful.
These are difficult times for everyone, but our students will get used to working on their own efficiently very quickly, and it will be a very good learning experience for them.
Our students work very hard in school. They have from five to seven lessons plus homework almost every day. In school, teachers pace the lessons accordingly and encourage them. Of course, it is more difficult for them now because they have to learn to do everything on their own, but children adapt very quickly. Being persistent and organising productive activities at home is a very good investment for the future.
Our team takes this situation very seriously; we want to offer our students the same quality programmes as they get when in our school building.  We want to make certain that this interruption of regular school processes and practices will not affect our students’ final results and that all of them will finish this school year successfully and on time.
Be assured that our team is available to help and support your child/ren through online learning. If you and your child/ren need any help or have any questions, we are there for you.

Tremendous thanks for your help and support!

Think of safety and stay in good spirits.

Best wishes,

Irena Steblaj

Head