Covid-19 End of 2020 Term 1

Unidentified speaker, intro voice or played clip · [00:59]So Jax, over the last week, you've had your finger on the pulse and had numerous conversations with parents and children. What's the mood, what's going on, what's on people's minds this week?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [01:09]There's still a lot of anxiety, Gavin, surrounding curriculum, and the children are contacting friends from other schools, and that's sometimes not such a great thing when they are being privy to rumors and all sorts of nonsense coming, you know, through social media, and they start wondering whether or not they're actually going to be promoted this year, whether or not we're actually going to get back to school at all this year. So I would like to reassure our students that we will continue with our curriculum as normal. You will be assessed meaningfully, so it's business as usual, guys. We're going to get the job done. It's just going to look a little bit different. I'd also like to really reiterate the importance of the face-to-face communications with the children. And parents, when the kids are on holiday, please keep asking them and just checking in with them that they are still touching sides with their friends. It's come up a few times in conversations that I've had where the children have asked if they are able to keep using the hangouts and the chats to have video conferencing and video chats with their friends from school, and that's an absolute yes. In fact, we strongly encourage that they do.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [02:39]The biggest thing is that parents are very scared that they're going to be stuck with their kids for four weeks locked in a small space and they're not going to have anything to do. There's always things going on in the holidays in terms of school expectations, specifically with the grade twelves. Grade tens and elevens also have a little bit of, and it's usually project work to do over that time. So just a couple of highlights that I'm going to give you about what we're planning and what's happening in this space, and that has been communicated to the students. Mr. Arquette is going to be available between one and two daily during the week for his history and math lit students, specifically for the matrix. Mr. Singer's got some biology projects focused on the process of doing project management, et cetera, for his grade sevens and eights. Dr. Makings has scheduled a couple of lessons for her grade ten to twelves for life science and physics, and they've got work to do and some projects to get through. Mr. Moody is doing revision with the grade twelves, especially on the first terms work so that they're not losing all the work and effort they've put in. And what he's really, really excited about is he's going to be doing some data handling with the grade nines to elevens using real data and statistics on the COVID. So it's not just a, a theoretical, there's something real that's happening so they can actually see data and statistics in action. And then Mr. Butler, Mr. Arquette, and Mr. Morrison have created a music Google Classroom and have started issuing house challenges to people who are on that group, and anyone who's interested or has any music inclination are welcome to join and see where that goes. And then myself, I've already scheduled some fortnight and CSCO competitions. The captain and vice captain, Mercedes and Brennan, are going to be sitting. And there'll be an inter-house competition happening or competitions over the holidays. I'll be checking in with the robotics club because we've got our WRO specs and challenges for this year, and even if it happens a bit later, we'll still have the same challenges. And then I'm going to do some online coaching and teaching with the investment club for the Ellen Gray Investment Competition that some of the senior kids have started this year with Mr. Tumo. So Miss and Mrs. van Skalkwijk would like the kids to still hear Afrikaans during the holidays and have lined up a whole lot of movies that will be available for them to be able to watch, and the grade 12s will be starting with the Geeta, which is a generalized, project for the year. Mr. Morrison will carry on with ongoing SBAs for geography, and myself, Mr. Aitchison, will be doing SBAs with the life orientation students. There's some physical activity they need to do and record, also pushing a little bit of community service if they can be creative during the holidays, as well as some tasks that the grade 12s need to do over the course of April.

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [05:13]We've already done quite a lot of work in capturing the thoughts and the feelings of our students during this really unprecedented time. And we thought it would be a good idea to formalize this by creating some form of a, a time capsule project. The idea would be that the children get to express their feelings and their experiences in a medium of their choice, and then they display this time capsule in the reception when we all get back to school. An example of the type of thing that the children could do to express their experiences would be things like writing a story or a play, making a movie or some form of documentary, submitting a journal. It could be a written journal or a digital journal. They could create some kind of artwork, a painting, a sculpture, even a comic book, and as far as the little guys go, even a Lego build. Anything that really tells the story of their COVID-19 experience that they would like to share with future students of Edu Inc. Very simply, all the submissions would be given extra credits to the subject most relevant to their chosen medium when we get back to school. For example, a poem would be assigned points for, for English or for language. A Lego build would be assigned points for technology. movies, documentaries, creative arts, for example. Comic books could be either language or creative arts, depending on what the child has decided to do. Best examples from each grade would be chosen for the display, and then house points given to those as well. So the idea behind this project would be to capture the mood, the feeling, the experience of what we've all gone through at this time, because we are going to be talking about it for many, many years to come.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [07:08]Yes, I don't want students to think that the work that they're going to be doing during the holidays is punishment. It's not at all. I think it's irresponsible not to do something to keep all the hard work we've done in the last three and a half weeks alive. I think that the whole idea behind this is just to keep you stimulated, keep you engaged with school, keep you connected to your schoolmates and your teachers. You're also still going to have a lot of downtime and relax time. This is not as rigorous and stressful as a normal school day, but we do need to keep your brains occupied and busy.

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [07:35]And I think a message for the metrics at this point is an important one. Guys, it's time to really dig deep. Regardless of being at home, even if you're at school right now, you would be working through this holiday. There is a lot to get done. You're fully aware of your situation, and, and guys, this is where the going gets tough. For the rest of the school, just keep doing what you're doing. Maintain your reading and your typing. Keep going on those Udemy courses. So guys, if you finish one Udemy course, don't be afraid to go and tackle another one. I'm quite sure your parents will be more than happy to help you set up another course, download another one for you, and just keep going. A great example of this is our Udemy queen, Hannah, in grade eight, who has, I think, to date, done around about 18 courses, so it would only be appropriate to finish off this podcast hearing from Hannah.

Unidentified speaker, intro voice or played clip · [08:24]Hi, everyone. I'm Hannah. I was asked to speak to you all about the Udemy courses I've completed. So far, I've finished 18 courses. These courses range from business studies to math to beauty and even dance. I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed. What makes me continue doing these courses, you may ask? Well, I like the diversity of the courses, the fact that I have plenty options to choose from, and they give me insight into what I could do in terms of my future career. The inspiration behind most of the topics I've chosen is that I really have a passion for business, and I want to pursue a career in business when I'm older. I want to understand how businesses run, what makes them tick. So doing numerous business courses will help me understand these concepts. Something I feel I need to tell everyone is that the Udemy courses aren't there just for that certificate. Instead, these courses help you understand what you are learning, and if you need any help from a teacher or for them to add comments onto your notes, all you need to do is ask for the help. You certainly don't have to fly past a topic and act like you have everything under control, because I don't. I certainly believe that I've learned a lot from these courses, and I hope you have too. I've been encouraged by three special people to keep going and show these courses who's boss. These people are Mrs. Aitchison, Mrs Ostrowick, and my best friend Lulu. Thank you again for your support. I would like to wish everyone the best of luck during the last week of school and hope that you all keep shining. Now go finish your course.