Covid-19 - We're ready for 2020 Term 2

Gershom Aitchison, host · [00:50]What's most important to answer your first question is that on Monday the 4th of May, teachers are going to be back at work finalizing their preparation for the new term. We are not going to be on the physical school premises, and on the 5th of May on Tuesday, the students will be at school, but again, it's going to be schooling from home. We will have an assembly at 7:30 in the morning. The students will receive an invitation to able to attend that meet, so we can all touch sides and make sure that we're ready for the new term. We will be following the schedule that we had in place from last term. While everyone else has been on holiday, we identified with our teachers that because this is a long-term process that we're engaging in for the entire second term, that the teachers needed a fiber line, they need additional monitors so they could have the students on one monitor and work on another monitor. Some of the teachers needed digital pens, especially with the maths and things like that, and they all needed over-ear headphones so that they could communicate well with their students. So we've been putting all of that in place, but I'd also just like to remind parents that what your kids need going into the second term, because this is not going away in a hurry, is they need their own space to work, they need their own computer, they should have a headset, they should have a camera so that their peers and the teachers can see them. We've identified that visual FaceTime is very, very important in the connection in the classroom. Most importantly, they need a stable internet connection, and internet service providers are considered an essential service. If you don't have a stable internet connection, let's try and sort that out, please.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [02:16]As news and announcements unfold and we hear about alert levels and who can go back to school and who can't, there's a lot of confusion. What's the status for Edu Inc?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [02:25]People need to remember that when the Minister for Education addresses the nation on the phased return of grades into schools, she's predominantly addressing the 80% of schools that fall into the government space. She is not necessarily addressing schools like Education Incorporated and other independent schools. We take our gardens from Isasa in that regard. Yes, we will comply, obviously, with going back to school on certain dates, and we have to comply when it comes to the matric exam and any announcements in that space. But when it comes to the phased reintegration of children into the school space, we are allowed quite a lot of leeway.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [03:05]So with all this leeway you have, what is Edu Inc going to be doing in term two?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [03:09]Sticking to value number one, which is everything we do is in the best interests of the children. The situation as it stands right now with the, the COVID numbers continually increasing as we come out of lockdown and go into level four, means that we don't believe that it's particularly safe to be bringing our staff and our children back onto the campus at this point. It's safer for them to remain at home. There's also no real rush for us to be getting our children back to school because our online process of schooling from home has worked so well. Our curriculum is on track. Everybody is doing what they need to do. There is no reason to be rushing back onto campus.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [03:45]So if I understand correctly, irrespective of what the minister announces, for term two, Edu Inc is doing schooling at home. Are there any circumstances under which this would change?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [03:56]You're 100% right, Gavin. Edu Inc will be schooling from home for term two. Circumstances where this would be reconsidered would be instances where Matrix, for example, would need to be doing lab work, some form of experiment work where they needed to be on campus, but we would be giving parents at least a week's notice of a situation like that, and obviously all the correct safety and sanitation protocols would be in place in such an instance.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [04:21]It's also important to add that we'll be guided by the IAB and ISASA when it comes to that, because there are many other schools in the same space with similar decisions to be made.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [04:30]Term one ended a little unusually in that reports weren't sent home on the last day. What's the plan with those now?

Gershom Aitchison, host · [04:36]We chose not to issue reports at the end of the first term while we focused on the teaching and making sure that our learners were actually learning. What we've decided to do is issue reports in the first two weeks of going back to school, and if all goes according to plan, we'll have the reports sent by the 15th of May. Things are going to look a little different for the first term with reports because we're going to add the online learning experience and how the children handled it using certain criteria and also give comments on that from all the teachers. We are also going to send out a form that we'd like parents to fill in, which is going to be part of the report evaluating their kids at home and how they've engaged with the online learning process. It would be very much appreciated if all parents would take the time to fill that out. It's not going to take too long, but I think it's going to give some seriously valuable feedback to the students.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [05:23]I imagine one of the biggest things you're grappling with is assessment from home, and given that term two is usually an exam term, what's the plan?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [05:32]Assessment's a really interesting space to be in right now. And one of the things that we have been looking at over the holidays with the teachers is various different ways of assessing online that allow for fair and reliable assessment to go forward.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [05:45]Gavin, the plan is to continue our SBAs, which are student-based assessments or continuous assessment as we did in the first term, and we are looking into means and ways of doing the more formal assessment, exam type assessment at the end of the term. With the grade 10s to 12s, we've been guided by the IEB and the subject experts. With the grade 4s to 9s, we are using ideas from other schools and their best practice, as well as what we've been doing up until now.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [06:44]we've got a few new faces that will be starting in the new term, and there are students who are doing trial weeks, so there's going to be some new faces in the classroom. The biggest challenge that Jax and I face is to make sure that the trial weeks are meaningful, as they were when you did them at the physical premises, and that we can do the assessments and give feedback properly to make sure that the new additions to our Edu Inc family are the right fit.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [07:05]So at a time where other schools are closing down and facing challenges, you guys are still growing.

Gershom Aitchison, host · [07:09]Absolutely, Gavin, and it's very exciting to see that happen, and it's very exciting to see the support that we're getting from herons and the students as well.

Gavin, intro voice or played clip · [07:16]Jax, any last thoughts?

Jacqueline Aitchison, host · [07:17]Well, from my side, I'm just really looking forward to seeing all the faces again next week, Tuesday. Yeah, make sure your workspaces are ready to go, guys, because you know that once we get going, that pace does not slow down.