School Update – 3rd April
Dear Parents, As we go into the April break for the next two weeks, we would like to address some […]
Dear Parents,
As we go into the April break for the next two weeks, we would like to address some of the questions raised in the Parent Survey regarding Continuing Student Learning (CSL). We have now concluded two full parent surveys. Details of the second survey can be seen here.
We welcome the feedback through the surveys. We’d like to remind you that the most effective means of communicating regarding your child(ren)’s learning continues to be through their class or subject teacher and the Leaders of Learning in Primary or Heads of Year/Faculty in Secondary. We appreciate this is a difficult time for all of us, but we need to keep the communication professional and courteous through the appropriate channels as we all work to support student learning.
CSL Purpose
We aim to ensure continuity of learning whilst our students don’t have physical access to their teachers and school facilities. In line with current best practice, the school has long since moved away from teachers lecturing from the front of the class. In a regular lesson at Bangkok Patana, the students will experience a number of short, direct teacher-led activities, some online work, collaborative tasks and some independent work. With CSL, we seek to retain this experience as much as possible. However, we all need to recognise that it is impossible to fully replicate the learning and the learning environment that we can offer on campus when students and teachers are physically together.
Some core principles of CSL are:
- Learning both on and off devices
- Personal connections that maintain relationships and reduce feelings of isolation
- Establishing daily routines that provide stability in times of uncertainty
- Providing a platform for timely and needs-based communication, including feedback, to support learning
- Ensuring that we establish and follow effective student safeguarding guidelines for online learning.
For your reference, here is an article on CSL that was published in Patana News.
Platform – Why Microsoft (MS) Teams?
A number of parents are asking why we chose MS Teams as our main platform. We reviewed a number of platforms to determine what would best suit our needs. We chose MS Teams because it has seamless, deep integration with our existing platforms. For example, students have a single sign-on to access the school’s Firefly, Office 365, Google Suite and other applications regularly used in school. We know that other platforms such as Zoom offer excellent video-conferencing but currently, they cannot offer the wider functionality of MS Teams.
The key aspect of MS Teams is the word ‘teams’ itself. All of our classes/subjects, faculties and Year groups are able to work closely with each other in real time, whilst campus is closed. At the same time, every individual class whether in Primary or in Secondary can also work as a team. Additionally, we recognise the social importance of students being able to chat more generally for well-being, just as they would on a normal school day, which MS Teams provides.
CSL into Term 3
Should you require further help with MS Teams, please click here. Our CSL provision across the whole school will continue to evolve in Term 3. This will include prioritising face-to-face contact between students and teachers online where appropriate. We will continue to seek your valuable feedback as always.
You will be receiving a detailed letter from the Primary and Secondary School Principals that includes suggestions of activities for students during the April break. CSL will resume on Monday 20th April 2020.
A reminder that all schools in Thailand are mandated to be closed until 30th April. We remain hopeful that school will be able to open shortly after that. In addition, as of today, there is a curfew across the country from 10.00pm until 4.00am.
Wishing you all a safe, family time over the April break.
Best wishes,
Senior Leadership Team
