Week 8: Distance Learning in Primary

Dear Families,
With the month of May well underway, there continues to be a lot of wonderful learning happening across all grades and subject areas with a handful more of exciting weeks still ahead of us. As always, thank you for all your support these past two months in helping your child to stay motivated, focused, inspired, reflective and organized. We appreciate all of your efforts! On with the updates from Week 8...

What did our students say?

As we have shared consistently over the past few weeks, we can improve with feedback. Thank you to all of the families who have provided suggestions, asked questions, and shared their family's challenges and successes through our feedback survey along the way. Last week, we were interested in hearing the students' perspective so we asked all of our G1-G5 students to complete a quick survey. We inquired into the workload, what they would like to have more/less of, and their experiences with Google Meets. From the 106 responses received, here is what they said...

As a result of the survey, teachers have been conscious about scaling back the workload for the remaining weeks in grades where it was mentioned. Students, overall, have found the synchronous sessions very helpful, providing opportunities to ask questions, clarify instructions, and connect with classmates. Because not all students can attend all specialists at the designated times due to different time zones, some students were not able to share if those subject's sessions were helpful to them or not. In addition to the questions above, students have asked for more time to connect with teachers. As a reminder, all teachers are available between 12:00-15:00 for students to connect with them as well as additional student check-in times and small group work with homeroom teachers throughout the week. We look forward to providing more balance for the students during the remaining weeks. Thank you to all of the students who gave us important information to reflect upon.

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What is coming up...

With the end of the school year just around the corner, we are in the process of supporting our students' and families' transitions, whether to a new school, a new country or a new grade-level.

• Ms Stephanie shared in a message via Seesaw that she will be offering a three-part Google Meet series to discuss transitions for families that will be moving next year. She will use the concept of RAFT (Reconciliation, Affirmation, Farewell, and Think destination) to help students process their transition. If your family will be leaving AISL next school year and you would like your child to attend these sessions, please email Stephanie Sawchuk (ssawchuk@aislusaka.org) so she can set up the sessions with your child(ren). 
• Ms Driekie Smith, our Middle School Counselor, joined the G5 Guidance meets last Monday, 18 May, and will have another session with the G5 students on Monday, 1 June to answer questions that students have regarding their move to Middle School. 
• On Monday, 8 June, we will have a virtual G5 Transition 'Ceremony' recognizing the completion of the Primary Years Programme for our G5 students. Stay tuned for more details to come.
• On Tuesday, 9 June, we will be arranging a 'fly-up' day for our KG-G5 students to visit the grade-level ahead by meeting with the teachers and asking questions they may have about moving to the next grade.

Celebrating students' work

Despite the campus being closed, our Early Years teachers have continued to seek ways to promote the love of learning for our youngest students (ages 3-5). Whether that is through sensory play, journal drawing/writing, math explorations, creative projects or science experiments, there has been something for everyone to tap into for enjoyment, inquiry, and inspiration. These are just a few of the examples shared by our Early Learning Center (ELC) students this past week.

Please keep communicating with us.

As always, we are here to support your child and your family. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or need clarification. We also encourage you to complete the tech support form for any assistance needed with your child's device and/or our distance learning platform.

Until next week,
Darlene Huson, Primary Principal
Tony Potts, Primary Assistant Principal and Tech Integration Specialist
​Christine Kelly, Primary Assistant Principal and PYP Coordinator