16 March 2020
Dear Parents
COVID 19 UPDATE: ADvTECH SCHOOLS AND THE PRESERVATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
As communicated this morning our schools will not be open from Wednesday 18 March. All activities including tours and excursions and sport events are also cancelled. We will reopen on 14 April 2020 – whether we do so on our school sites or in virtual classrooms will be determined in the next few weeks. The 11 days of schooling that will be missed by some of our schools will, as far as possible, be caught up and we will communicate a new school calendar shortly.
Our three term schools will join the other schools on a modified four term calendar.
Many of you would already know that your children have been participating in digital classrooms. ADvTECH schools make use of a Microsoft product called MSTeams and from grade 4 each child is enrolled in a Team for each subject area. While some other applications are in use too we will be working predominantly on MSTeams, as we are able to support this centrally and we have the skills in all schools to support the teachers who have not made much use of Teams to date – especially those below Grade 4.
For what remains of this week the focus will be on testing and strengthening our virtual teaching capacity through our MSTeams capability – please will you ensure that your Grade 4 to 12 child logs in to each of their class teams at least every couple of days. Our teachers will be posting material periodically – particularly from the 31st when school would have resumed normally. Curriculum coverage will begin again on the 14th. Our teachers will remain at school for this week to ensure that we have all the Teams tested and operating.
New Teams for parents are being set up for the lower grades (000 to 3) and you will be sent your log in details – material will be made available in these teams to keep up with numeracy and literacy. Teachers will engage with you as parents on these Teams. Curriculum coverage will begin on the 14th but we will post material during the break to assist you and develop the habits we will need later.
You may use the stasysupport@iie.ac.za helpdesk if you are experiencing access problems for the MSTeams AFTER your teacher has contacted you to test the Team from home and AFTER determining that your teachers cannot help you – please be mindful that we have almost 70 000 school and tertiary families so please only use this helpdesk when your school is not able to help you.
Please be assured that we will, from the 14th, be prioritizing catch ups for Grade 12 and if we are able to resume contact teaching, we are planning weekend sessions for them. More detail will follow.
If you have a child in boarding school, please try to collect them by Wednesday and communicate with the school if you are not able to do so – we will have staff on site for them until Friday.
Actions required from our parents and communities
1. Please keep your contact details up to date with the school and on STASY.
2. Please monitor your school website and Facebook pages and your sms and e-mails.
3. Please keep an eye out for messages and instructions on the MSTeams testing this week and the resources we will post in the next few weeks.
4. As we increase our use of technology, please keep an eye on your child’s online presence and behavior and contact us immediately in any case of cyber bullying. There is more than enough stress in this situation without us allowing any children to also endure being bullied.
5. Please only use sites such as the NICD and WHO and the new Department of Health WhatsApp for information – there is much misinformation and fake news spreading and it causes harm and distress. Please do not circulate unverified information.
6. Anyone who has come in to contact with an infected person or has personally been in a high incidence region please follow NICD and WHO protocols and contact your health practitioner telephonically. 14 days self-isolation is the very least we expect no matter what precautions you took while travelling and how well you may feel.
7. Please follow all the recommendations from the above bodies in this period to slow the spread of this virus.
8. Please keep us posted if you or a family member or your child are directly impacted in this period.
We join the President in confirming our confidence that the country will prevail as the community stands together.
#flattenthecurve
Yours sincerely