As I am writing this, all the departments in our school are working full out to prepare for the return of our Year 11 students on the 24th of June. It’s impressive to see how many safety measures have already been put into place to ensure that the students can return to an environment that has been designed for optimum safety!
Obviously, as a Head of Primary, I am hopeful that the return of our Year 11 students, signals the return of more year groups in the near future. We are waiting for more announcements to come from the Ministry of Education in regard to this. It seems reasonable to assume that they will be assessing the school’s ability to adhere to the SOP (Standard Operational Practise) whilst at the same time monitoring the further control of the number of cases in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the Primary School, despite the fact that no return date has been set yet, is preparing itself for the safe return of our students. We are confident that all the necessary procedures and guidelines will be in place and that the structures to check on those procedures and guidelines will also be implemented. In short: we will be ready to ensure the maximum safety possible for our students!
Some parents have asked us what the situation for them would be like if they do not feel that they want their child to return to the school building yet. It is too early to go into details, but I can confirm that this is an option that will be available to parents and that online learning would still be supported where required. We do hope however that we can greet as many children as possible back into their classes upon opening.
On Friday, all the AIMS (the Alliance of International Malaysian Schools) Heads of Primary came together for a meeting to discuss online learning provisions and ‘Return to School’ procedures. There was an opportunity to compare practises form different international schools in Malaysia, from all over the country and from various different fee ranges.
I left that meeting with a great sense of pride, being reconfirmed that we are indeed offering a provision that at the very least equals what some of the most reputable schools are doing and, in some ways, exceeds what they currently offer their students. The same is also true when it comes to preparing for the safe return of our students. Listening to the preparations in progress of the various schools, I realised that the people in our school have done a great job at getting us where we are now within a short space of time. A great deal of thought has gone into the TISPC design of ‘the new normal’ and that process will continue to ensure the safety of our students upon return to Bandar Bukit Puchong 2.
In the previous newsletter I praised our teacher’s imagination and creativity when facilitating learning on-line. Over the last two weeks we saw more examples of this on the screens at home.
Year 1 has been learning about rhyming words in English. They learned to identify rhyming words in stories and nursery rhymes. They also recorded themselves reciting the nursery rhyme One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Year 2 has been learning about Myths and Legends in History - Mythological heroes and creatures.They linked their IPC history task to narrative writing in Literacy. The children wrote their own Myths and Legends story using characters they have learned about and also showcased an entertaining puppet show!
Year 3 has been learning about the history of Chocolate - a topic every school child loves! The teachers have made a fun video for the students to help them learn how important chocolate was in the ancient world.
Year 4 students have started learning about Discussion Texts as our new English genre. Students started the genre by carrying out discussions about given topics and giving reasons for their perspectives. After internalising the model text with the help of a picture map and actions, they recently strengthened their understanding of the words in the text by playing charades. The model text used in English is linked to our IPC unit called “Explorers & Adventurers”, it discusses the idea of allowing trolls to explore Earth. In IPC, students discussed and learnt the different reasons why explorers travelled to faraway lands and researched on how exploration affected different parts of the world. We also started learning Multiplication. Students took part in a virtual ‘Multiplication Olympics’ to compete their way through the times tables.
Year 5 students have been learning through the 'Lens of History' during the study of Myths and Legends during an IPC Learning session. They have been researching aspects from the past and creating timelines via the study of Myths and Legends stories.
Year 6 has started venturing into a new IPC unit called ‘Space Scientists’. Students are very much interested in exploring about Earth and Space after launching our Year 6 Spaceship virtually during their Entry Point last week. The Year 6 teachers made online learning more interactive and enjoyable for students as they started exploring new vocabularies, sharing new knowledge and queries through different online learning platforms and tools. Students are also enjoying the English lessons on Information Report, analysing different mentor texts and adding bulleted points to graphic organisers.
