As we enjoy our well earned Tern 3 holiday break, I look forward to the opportunity to speak with our community on the term that was, and, indeed, the extraordinary year we have had to date.
2020 Is a year that has been described many times as ;’unprecedented’ but having come this far into 2020 it’s probably more accurately going to be remembered as a year of our community ‘working together as one’ to get through these immense challenges. As educators we all understand the need for strong positive teacher• student bonds, meaningful peer to peer relationships and parent involvement in the education process especially during times of uncertainty where routines are disrupted and the roadmap ahead is not clear.While remote learning has made it harder for teachers to have the usual one on one conversations with students there is a shared sense that”we’re going through this together”.
Parents have during this pandemic been more closely aware of what is happening in the classroom and friendship groups have moved to a new platform which in many ways has helped to forge stronger connections between students without the usual judgements which might take place at school. We are acutely aware that we all need human connections, and that when the human connections are loose theu the form of engagement also weakens. The staff and pastoral teachers across the school have worked on a range of activities and touch points to keep the bonds between us all closer, not only to ensure academic outcomes but also to look at what learning is important and to look at how motivation, student engagement and achievement can dovetail together. Building relationships between home and schools has underpinned the success and positive feedback we have received during this phase of remote learning.
I thank the Staff, Student Leaders and families for working with us to keep our students connected to the learning process and engaged with a variety of activities both in and out of the classroom.Focusing on cultivating adaptability and positive aspirations will certainly help our students return to school with new levels of resilience, self reliance and independence in cognitive, attitudinal, behavioural and emotional adaptability.We all look forward to having the students back with us shortly.
Dr. Vivianne Nikou
Principal
