Dear Parents, we will be writing over the coming days with regular updates on how the home learning experience is unfolding for your children and our staff and I know that in this newsletter there are examples of what we hope to achieve. Today I would ask just two things of you.
- Please be patient with your children and our teachers on Monday! We are all stepping into the relative unknown. As a school we have been preparing for a possible school closure and a prolonged period of home learning provision since late January, however Monday will be new for us all. I am sure we will see some fantastic examples of home learning and engaging learning that none of us imagined possible, but we will also face challenges as children (and staff) learn how to interact in this new learning environment. Any IT support issues your children are facing such as forgotten passwords or usernames can be resolved with an email to it.servicedesk@thebritishschool.pl where our four IT technicians will be as quick as possible to help your children solve their issues.
- Social distancing. Countries that have most effectively confined the spread of COVID19 have achieved this through everyone practicing common sense social distancing habits. With this in mind, can I ask that you read the ‘tips’ below, provided by a leading neonatologist in Poland and shared with me by a concerned parent this week.
For parents of children and young people who treat a break in school activities as a vacation or an opportunity to spend time with peers - it's dangerous because they can infect each other and transmit the virus.
- Remember, the virus can be asymptomatic in young people, but it can easily be transmitted to older people for whom it is very dangerous.
- Let's take care of our children, let's organiSe their time at home. Let's take advantage of these moments to honestly listen to and build relationships with our children, let's give them our attention.
- Let's remember how important discipline and prevention are at the moment - isolation and avoiding contact with other people is a difficult test, but it is necessary for us.
- Unfortunately the first victim of a COVID-19 died in Poland - the patient was 57 years old, she was a resident of the province of Wielkopolska.
PLEASE:
- Avoid clusters of people - shops, public transport - are places where the risk of infection can be high. Let's settle matters by phone or electronically.
- Remember to disinfect and wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.
- Do not touch with your fingers, face, lips or eyes with your hands.
- Let's wipe our cell phones with disinfectant liquid.
- Let's take care of the elders, parents, grandparents.
- Let's stay home.
Alun Yorath
Principal