Update from the Principal - Oct 16 2020 | October 2020 | British International School of Ljubljana

Dear Parents,

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the well wishes to the member of staff who tested positive for Covid. During the drop off this morning, it was very much appreciated to have so many parents supporting what we have done in the past 24 hours. This has been a challenging time for everyone involved and at the centre of this, we aim to make the environment as safe as possible for all of our students.

I have included below some useful updates and reminders to support you during this time.

Yesterday we had a surprise visit from the Ministry of Education, as part of the ongoing comprehensive checks nationwide in preparation for the online learning next week in Slovenia.

The inspector visited our school and completed:

A comprehensive check of our documentation
Q&A with the Principal
Tour of the school
Coronavirus guidance check
Check of signage for Coronavirus prevention measures
Security and procedures check
Average students in a class, student safety and cleaning of the school
Monitoring of transition around the school, health and safety and lunch arrangements

We received a 100% compliance check at the end of the visit, with no areas for concern or targets for improvements. We are delighted with this high-quality external verification from the Ministry of Education about our procedures and processes at school during this time, signed and stamped to validate the great job of our staff and students. I look forward to sharing this report and further content with you during the next coffee morning.

As per protocol, the teacher from Year 10 who has tested positive for Covid has been sent home. I'm sure you can appreciate that we respect the privacy of all students, teachers and parents in this situation, and it is why schools communicate the name of the year group only. This is the reason why all secondary students are on online learning as a precaution today as the teacher was in contact with secondary students at some point this week in all Key Stages 3-5. It is to be as safe as possible for our Secondary students as we transition to online learning on Monday 19th October.

We shared similar NIJZ guidance previously:

If students show symptoms, they should stay at home and then contact the doctor immediately for further advice.
Many doctors will not test if there are no symptoms.
Anyone (teachers and students) who has been in direct contact with someone who is positive has been sent home as a precaution only.
Teachers have had temperatures taken systematically.
Teachers go home if they have any symptoms, if these develop, they get tested.

As the number of cases in Slovenia continue to increase, from Monday 19th October, year groups including Year 6 and above will follow the online learning programme.All students will follow the normal timetables scheduled for the day. The lessons will be delivered by the use of Zoom by our teachers and resources uploaded to Canvas (our online learning platform). All students are expected to be ready online at 7.50am to interact with their classroom teacher/form tutor.

Attendance and participation during this online learning time is monitored and will be used in the future to contribute to the progress and student reports. Any student absence should be reported using the usual procedures.

Students have been informed how to contact teachers if they have any questions.

Please check your emails for further updates as this continues to be the best way to send out clear and consistent communication to all parents. If you have any specific questions about the learning in your child’s year group, please contact the classroom teacher/form tutor first.

Early Years and up to and including Year 5 will attend school as per normal.

Our aim today was to make the first day as smooth and safe as possible for our Secondary students. Secondary students will have an opportunity to collect their exercise, text and workbooks on Monday 19thOctober. The time slots will be sent out so that we avoid larger groups in the building at the same time.

Option 1

On Monday 19th October between 7.15am and 8.00am is the time slot to pick up books for Years 7, 8 and 9.
On Monday 19th October between 2.00pm and 2.45pm is the time slot to pick up books for Years 12 and 13.
On Tuesday 20th October between 7.15am and 8.00am is the time slot to pick up books for Years 10 and 11.

Option 2

Alternatively, please contact your tutor/classroom teacher if the above time is not convenient to arrange for another collection time.

Option 3

Please contact your tutor/classroom teacher if a sibling (in Primary) is able to take home the books at the end of the day as per normal at pick up.

Please note that from Monday 19th October, there will be supervision for the following year groups only:

Early Years supervision until 16:30
Y1 supervision until 15:40

All other students (Y2-Y5) must be collected at the end of the school day from 14:50-15:00.

The aim is to make the environment as safe as possible for all of our students, to minimise the risks and to ensure the continuation of on-site provision for our primary students. We will continue to review the situation as per recommendations and guidelines from the Ministry and NIJZ.

I ask that you continue to check your email on a regular basis, that messages from the school, your classroom teacher/form tutor are arriving and that your inbox has enough space.

During this time, we use email as the primary method of communication. For further weekly information, please view our 'Newsletters' and the 'Update from the Principal' here.

All students and parents will receive a weekly email from their tutor/classroom teacher. This teacher is the first port of call for any questions.

Mr Kokalj, our school Canvas Lead, has put together a useful guide for parents and students accessing Zoom and Canvas. Please read through the guide, as this might be referred to by your classroom teacher/form tutor in their emails.

As mentioned in my previous Coffee Morning, the first online PTA Meeting will take place on 21^st October from 9:30 on Zoom. I look forward to speaking to you then, please use the following link to join the meeting and add it to your calendars: https://orbital.zoom.us/j/99891243368

If you are interested in being on the BISL PTA Committee for the 2020-21 Academic Year and beyond, please complete this interest form to let us know.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support during the coming weeks as we navigate this next phase together.

Kind regards,

Paul

Paul Walton

Principal