Dear Parents,
As we close on week 4 of virtual learning, we ask you all to reflect on one thing you are grateful for this week, and share that with your whole family. Encourage your children to do this too! Practices of gratitude help us all stay grounded and positive during challenging times.
Engaging in Virtual learning
We continue to partner with you to recognise the challenges faced by families during this time, and we want to thank you again for supporting your children at home, and for providing us with feedback.
Elementary coaches help desk
Parents, is there a lesson that you need help explaining to your child? Would you like a live session with one of our instructional coaches to help? They are here and available to either directly teach your child (you are welcome to watch) or help you so you can better help your child!
Elementary Parent Coffee
On Tuesday we will host our parent coffee as planned. This will be a virtual coffee via zoom and focus on ways you can continue supporting your child at home during this time.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 596 569 0843
Password: 121875
This week we had over 40 Elementary children engage in the enrichment ‘master chef’ task; congratulations to all these children who helped out by participating in cooking a meal for their family! See their pictures below.
We have also noticed some children are not engaging in certain aspects of virtual learning. Teachers will continue to reach out to you regarding this, and if there is a reason, please let us know so we can help support you better. Report cards will be issued at the end of June and these will mostly be reflective of the work completed during virtual learning.
Report Cards
During these unprecedented times of global virtual learning, all schools are working to author reports that represent student learning in this new environment. As such, AISC end-of-semester report cards will look different to previous years’ reports, and will reflect the learning that teachers have been able to observe and assess as submitted in a virtual learning environment. Parents will see a Personal/Social Emotional Comment that reflects on each student’s engagement and participation in virtual learning. This will be followed by a narrative comment by each subject that reflects the content and evidence of learning by the student. We anticipate releasing reports virtually near Tuesday, 2 June 2020.
Class Placements for 2020-21
Every year, together with counsellors, we review class groupings and re-create new class lists as elementary children move from one grade level to the next. As outlined in our handbook, we prioritise the following criteria when creating new homeroom groups;
- Social groups
- Gender
- Learning needs
- Nationality
- English Language Proficiency
For the past few years we have also sought parental input. While we do not consider direct requests to have a particular teacher, we do welcome input for anything you feel would be important for us to consider when placing your child.
Our form will close the Tuesday following May 1 as we begin drafting class lists. Please do not approach a teacher or counsellor directly; complete this form for any special considerations you may have.
Master Chef AISC
Congratulations to the nearly 40 students who participated in this week’s enrichment project, the Master Chef Challenge! Look at these delicious treats that were cooked up in partnership with parents and kids. Thank you for sharing, and look for our next enrichment challenges next week.
From the School-wide Counseling Team - Helping Children Deal with Grief from COVID-19
COVID-19 has changed all of our lives. And with these changes come many losses. Sherry Cormier, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in grief, says we are all experiencing grief as we watch everything change...our work, businesses, schools, healthcare, and economic systems. We share the loss of daily routines and structure, access to some of the things that help us stay well, a sense of stability and security, face-to-face connections with friends and loved ones, and may also find ourselves weighed down by worries and fears about what the future will hold. Knowing this, it is important that we recognize and address signs of grief when we see them in ourselves or our children. Here are some tips for how to help families, teens, and children as we think about these losses: 1. Know that it’s ok to feel grief right now. Grief feelings may include shock, worry, sadness, anger, and even feelings of acceptance (it’s going to be ok). One day your child might be shocked that they can't go back to school and maybe later they are angry. This is normal. When we accept and understand that we are grieving, we are also adapting to change so that we can move forward and find strength.
2.It’s helpful for us to name the things we are losing - time with friends, a chance to say goodbye, independence and much more. Naming our losses allows us to process them and the feelings that may be associated with them. Encourage your child to recognize and name what they may be feeling a sense of loss about.
3.If you and your family members are “leavers” or “stayers” in the cycle of transition that is common at international schools, you may want to be alert to feelings around that. For students and families who are not returning to AISC next school year, they are losing plans and dreams for their last months here and the chance to say goodbye in person. For the “stayers,” there may be sadness around losing the time they could have spent with their friends who are leaving, and with whom they may not see in the future. Work with your child to find alternate ways to say a proper goodbye or acknowledge a friendship that has been important to them. 4.It is important for adults to take care of themselves. Check in with yourself - how are you feeling? Are you having trouble sleeping or focusing? Be patient with yourself. Take a deep breath. Practice self-care. You can't help your children if you aren't ok.
5.If your children are acting out, keep in mind that fear, frustration, and anxiety are likely at the root of these behaviors. Take another deep breath and keep in mind the developmental levels of students. Here is a link to a document that may help you recognize some typical grief responses and offers ideas for how to support children of different ages. While on the surface, it is talking about grief related to death, it is important to remember that what many of us are feeling right now is a form of grief. This helps us understand what children and teens are going through.
6. The AISC counselors are here for you.
ES: Vanessa Kim kvanessa@aischennai.org, Linda Gerberich glinda@aischennai.org
School psychologist: Nigel Holdsworth hnigel@aischennai.org
Have a relaxing screen free weekend!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Elementary School Leadership Team
Elementary School Leadership Team