From the Director
Thank you to all of you who attended the meetings earlier in the week regarding re-opening in hybrid mode; your thoughtful questions and support for the school were fantastic. Likewise, thanks so much for the tremendous response to the learning mode survey. We are processing all of that data this weekend and will then be in touch soon next week to let you know about our initial cohort allocations. Remember, you will have an opportunity to apply for a change of cohort next week and for secondary students to be provided with supervision during their mid-day break.
As I remember saying to you on a number of occasions, either here or in online meetings, there is no satisfactory way of arranging hybrid learning. We have had to make tough choices about what we will compromise on and what we will not. For us, it has always been of paramount importance that children should have direct contact with a teacher throughout their school day, whether online or in-person. Likewise, we have always put safety and wellbeing very high up on our list of priorities. I hope those of you who are secondary parents are pleased to note that your secondary children retain the same teachers, and indeed timetable, as they have currently. Dual learning (students online tuning in virtually to the in-school classes) will take some getting used to for both teachers and students in secondary but it does mean that the students at home are accessing exactly the same learning as those at school. We did not feel the same approach was appropriate in primary school but I am delighted to confirm that we are able to offer 100% in-person learning to all children who opt for it in Pre-kinder, Kinder and Prepa. I am absolutely delighted about this because the lack of socialization for these young children has been one of the biggest negative consequences of this lockdown.
Thank you all for your patience. There is lots more information to come next week that I know you are on tenterhooks for. One piece of news I can confirm here that I hope you will be pleased with is that we have decided to relax our attitude towards school-wear during hybrid. A letter and policy will be coming out to you first thing on Monday explaining exactly what our expectations are in primary and secondary but I can confirm that children will be allowed to wear their own casual clothes providing they are compliant with the guidelines that we will publish on Monday. We have made a very strong case to MinEd about Grade 11 hybrid plan, which, as you know, allows for students to move (within a specifically allocated building) to their subject specialist teachers. I am confident that I will have confirmation for you early next week that this has been approved.
Finally, I want to add my congratulations to those of Mr Burdett below for the MUN team who attended the Virtual MUN Conference. As I understand it, their award places the ABC in the top 3% of attending schools. Go Bulldogs!!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Stephen Lang
Director
From the Head of Primary
We will be sharing lots of information with you this week about the next term, please keep an eye out for emails and read them carefully. Class teachers and the primary management team are always happy to answer any questions.
BACK TO SCHOOL DURING COVID-19: TIPS FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS
Going back to school after the summer holidays can be challenging in the best of times. Now that we are returning back to school after a year, under COVID-19, it could be even harder. The good news is that there are many things that you can do to support your children with going back to school during COVID-19.
Deciding whether to send your child back to school has been a very difficult decision for our parents, and each family must do what is best for them and their circumstances. There are many students whose maturity and learning style are sufficient for successful virtual learning. This is why we are creating an excellent online provision for those staying at home.
For those who have decided to send their children to school, when feeling anxious it is good for us to remember the benefits:
• Your child learns best when physically at school
• Your child benefits from seeing peers and participating in other school activities
• School allows independence from home, along with daily structure
Normalize mask-wearing
Some children will be able to wear masks easily but others may have a harder time. Consider the following exposure and desensitization strategies for the KN95 or N95 masks:
• Try giving your child some of the newer child-friendly designs to choose from or get them to help decorate a mask.
• Create an exposure hierarchy to understand your child's fears. From least scary to most scary it might be: seeing others wear a mask, seeing a mask, touching a mask, putting on a mask for short periods of time and putting on a mask for longer periods of time.
• Teach distraction strategies like distracting with music, videos, video games to help pass the time while wearing a mask.
• Practice calming strategies like deep breathing, going outside, going for a walk, etc.
• Consider motivating kids to get used to wearing a mask by pairing it with something they enjoy, like allowing video game time (within your limits) while wearing their mask.
Help your child continue to cope
• Stay connected to your children. Children do best when parents spend quality time with them and listen, validate and empathize with their feelings.
• Model healthy coping. Children do best when they learn healthy ways to cope with adversity, such as following public health recommendations with masks and physical distancing.
• Attach positive meaning to the pandemic. Children do best when they can have a positive meaning of a situation. You might say: “On one hand, this pandemic has not been easy. On the other hand, we’ve been able to have a lot more fun times together. And learn new things such as how to cut each other’s hair!”
Ease your child's worries
Does your child seem to have fears and anxiety about returning to school? COVID-19 restrictions (such as restricting parents from entering the school) may lead your child to feel more isolated.
• Ask about their fears, and try to reassure or problem solve. Ask: "What worries you the most?"
• Validate and accept your child’s feelings about the situation. You might say: " “I can see why you might be feeling worried about this.”
• Give your child a sense of control. Explore in more detail. Try to listen without interrupting. Say: " “Tell me more…”
• Make sure you get up early and have plenty of time on the first morning, so that you are not rushing and have time to answer their questions
• Establish a goodbye ritual. When it's time to say goodbye to your child, give them a final hug, kiss, say goodbye, and talk about when you’ll see them next. Don’t just say “Goodbye!”, but bridge the separation by talking about when you will see them next.
• Have you dropped off your child? Try to take some time just for yourself, whether it's going for a walk, to the coffee shop, having tea with a friend, or just going home to nap.
• Check in with your children about how the day went. If your child isn’t ready to talk, then ask them later when they are ready. You might ask: “How did your day go?” “How did it go with wearing your mask?” "What was hard, what was easy?"
Marianne Taylor
Head of Primary
Dates for your Diary
PRIMARY
March
Friday 26th - National Day of Life, Peace, and Justice
Friday 26th - Virtual “T-shirt Day”
Monday 29th to Friday 9th April - Easter Holiday
April
Monday 12th - School resumes after the Easter Holiday
Monday 12th - INSET for staff (no school)
Tuesday 13th -INSET for staff (no school)
Wednesday 14th - Transition day for Early Years (Pre-Kinder y Kinder) + Primary new students (by appointment)
Wednesday 14th - Term starts Online for 1st to Grade 12
Monday 19th - Week A for Cohort X
Monday 26th - Week B for Cohort Y
From the Secondary Leadership Team
Dear Parents and Carers,
Lower down in the Weekly you will see more information about our upcoming hybrid learning model, but I want to start this week’s update with a moment of reflection on last week’s Resilience Day. This was originally an acknowledgment of how hard our students, parents, and staff have worked to make a success of online learning, but on Friday afternoon it became clear that we were really celebrating the strength of our community. On behalf of the staff, may I thank you for showing up in such numbers to be with us as we looked back on an entire year apart, and looked forward to being together again in just a few weeks’ time.
Parent Teacher Conferences
This week we held parent-teacher meetings in a new format, adapted for online learning. I hope the parents of Grade 8 and Grade 10 students found it a valuable experience. Prior to the government’s reopening announcement, we had planned for more of these days for the other year groups in the summer term, and we will now carefully consider the benefits of doing so during hybrid. In the meantime, if you participated in either Parent Teacher Conference and have any feedback (positive or negative!), please email me at matthewburdett@abc-net.edu.sv
ABC wins awards at the Model United Nations
Last week the Model United Nations team participated in the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) Conference, the largest conference in the world for secondary school students. Based in New York City and supported by the United Nations Headquarters, this year's conference was held online, with over 3,000 students participating worldwide in two different groups.
Fiorella, André and Pablo received the Award of Merit in the category of Committee Contribution & Performance; this means that our students were among the top contributors in their respective committees, proof of the hard work they put towards preparing for this conference. We look forward to participating in more MUN conferences in the future and representing the ABC to the best of our ability. Congratulations to Fiorella Lima (G9), André Mejía (G9) and Pablo Ventura (G10), under the guidance of Ms Valdés.
Here are some pictures of the conference this year.
Hybrid learning preparations
Our surveys indicate that the vast majority of Secondary students will be attending hybrid lessons in person - thank you for this vote of confidence in our policies and protocols.
Survey outcomes
We are hugely grateful to all the parents who replied to the survey, which is now closed. It has been an enormously positive response. We will be in touch with you in the coming days to inform you of the Week X / Week Y bubbles that your child is in, and give you further information about how you can request a switch if you require it.
Next steps for Secondary
Parents should keep reading the hybrid portals for more information:
English http://bit.ly/ABCHybrid
Spanish http://bit.ly/híbridoABC
Both can be easily reached via our homepage at https://www.abc.edu.sv/
We will contact students and parents as soon as possible regarding the status of our plan to allow Grade 11 to attend lessons in-person. We will also be sharing further information with you soon to suggest how we can all support one another to remain healthy and safe during hybrid learning, including what we are doing as a school to keep your children as safe as possible and with more details on the practicalities of the hybrid phase.
With warmest wishes for the weekend and the week ahead,
Matt Burdett
Assistant Head of Secondary- Curriculum
Dates for your Diary
SECONDARY
March
Wednesday 24th- English Dept Oral Exams G12
Friday 26th - Last Day of Term
Monday 29th to Friday 9th April - Easter Holidays
April
Monday 12th - INSET for staff (no school)
Tuesday 13th - INSET for staff (no school)
Wednesday 14th - Term starts online for Grades 6-12
Thursday 15th- World Arts Day
Monday 19th - Hybrid system starts for selected students in grades 6,7,8, and 9 (pending confirmation)
Monday 19th- Hybrid system starts for Grade 11 (pending confirmation)
Thursday 22nd- Earth Day
Friday 23rd- Secondary DVa (Theme: Earth-a Tribute, will be streamed on YouTube Live at 5:00 pm CST)
Monday 26th- Friday 30th- Book Week
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