Here We Want and to Social Interact with Family and Friends Are Joys We Now Miss
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Belvedere College SJ Headmaster’s Weekly Parent & Student Update Friday, 24th April 2020 1 Message from the Headmaster 2 Online Learning Resources/Feedback 3 Guidance & Chaplaincy 4 Co-Curricular 5 Useful Resources ¢ Message From The Headmaster Dear Parents and Guardians, Welcome back after what will undoubtedly be the most challenging of Easter “holidays” in history. I hope you, your family and friends are safe and well. Our thoughts and prayers are with those suffering bereavement, anxiety and stress due to the impact of this pandemic and particularly with the Leaving Certificate students across the country who are experiencing the added stress of uncertainty and deferral of the exams. We extend our condolences to the Jesuit community, a number of whom died over the Easter. May their souls find peace and comfort in God. This is a defining period for us as a country, for us as a College and for each of us as educators and parents. The only thing a fish will never discover is salt water, because it takes it for granted. Similarly, the day-to-day pleasures of being able to go where we want and to social interact with family and friends are joys we now miss. In my conversations this week with Rhetoric students, a number mentioned that they missed school; school is way more than just class. The human interaction, the jokes, the camaraderie and sense of routine and belonging provided by the school environment is something many look forward to graduating from, but now miss terribly. I want to thank my teaching colleagues and the IT department for adapting to what was an initial closure for two and a half weeks after St. Patrick’s Day, to an indefinite closure period announced on Good Friday. Every family, those of the students and the College staff, is experiencing stress, anxiety and facing different challenges. We are endeavouring to support and work with all members of our community. This is a time for unity, close cooperation and resilience. I want to thank the many parents who took the time to email staff expressing their appreciation for the work staff were doing. Such encouragement is greatly appreciated and helps sustain staff energy and morale as they learn how to use IT effectively and cope with the impact of the crisis on their own families as well. In the days since we returned after Easter, we have finalised the plans for a comprehensive and sustainable learning programme during this prolonged period of closure. This required significant staff input and the evolution of educating students using IT will continue to evolve. Maintaining student engagement and motivation over a prolonged period is challenging and requires a consistent engagement by parents, students and the teachers. Feedback is essential and in my conversations with students I explained that now, more than ever, they need to engage with their teachers in providing feedback on what is helping their learning. In turn they need to apply the feedback they receive to improve their level of achievement. ¢ Message From The Headmaster Therefore, we have taken the feedback from staff, students and parents and are introducing a new school timetable from next week. Much of the feedback from students noted that they had plenty of work and were getting feedback and support from their teachers. What they missed was interaction with their peers and teachers. To sustain motivation at home, which not a school environment, is challenging. It is neither feasible or educationally sound to have students and teachers sitting in front of a screen all day. However, a blended approach, using various interactive approaches works over a prolonged period. Professor Anne Looney, (Dean of the Institute of Education) at our Strategy meeting yesterday, commented that this is a global educational experiment which is unprecedented and which will require adaptability and innovation. Never before have schools and universities faced such an environment. She hosted the first DCU talk on distance learning on Tuesday and we include the link for further talks. The new timetable supports students and staff in ensuring that the organisation of learning is well managed, until the end of May, for all year groups. There will be teething problems and nothing is a substitute for the physical experience of school. However we will find solutions. There will be additional classes arranged by individual teachers with their classes from time to time, but these will be notified. The advantages of this timetable are: • Students and teachers have a more structured, balanced level of work each day. A register will be taken at the start of each block lesson and shared with the Form Tutor • Clashes between subjects are minimised • Parents have a clear outline of the online lessons each day. We appreciate your support in ensuring your child follows the structure of the day • Students have a clear plan and deadlines will be easier to meet with time built into every day, and a day when there are no lessons in order to complete assignments and meet deadlines • All staff have flexibility, where needed, to be available in the afternoons or when there is no session scheduled for a Year Group, to offer feedback or extra lessons via Teams • It is easier to monitor student involvement and understanding of work set and topic covered. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions during these block lessons Teachers will run their classes for the block lesson, giving input at the beginning for as long as required and the ¢ Message From The Headmaster students will then be set work for the remaining time. Not all lessons will be the same as normal classroom practice. Teachers will be available for feedback and to answer questions. Some teachers in Rhetoric will continue to run classes to finish the course as planned and students are required to attend all sessions. In the event that a teacher cannot make the timetabled slot due to family or other exceptional reasons, the class will be rearranged or the teacher will set work for the block and will then organise a feedback slot via Microsoft Teams to connect with the students. Students will be informed via Flexibuzz. Over the past three weeks of school, various correspondence has been sent to both students and parents about appropriate etiquette for online lessons and I would urge you to read through this with your son; the behaviour of our students online has been excellent and with more lessons moving online I am confident this will continue. You may have read that teacher representative bodies have expressed concerns regarding live online classes, therefore it is vitally important that students behave in an exemplary manner when using IT. Failure to do so will result in serious disciplinary consequences. The announcement that the Leaving Certificate is scheduled to take place in late July is welcome in that it provides us with a timeframe. As soon as we receive details of the proposed return to school for any students we will provide these. We are planning for the return of Leaving Certificate students during the two weeks prior to the exams but as yet we have not received any DES information. To date there has not been an implementation plan and until there is confirmation by the DES of such plans, I would advise you to ignore speculation. We only issue official information from the DES. I stated previously that the responsible use of social media is something which adults should model for young people. Therefore I am reminding everyone that there is often speculation, inaccurate information and a lack of perspective in some chat groups, which results in activity that does little to support people meeting the challenges of this crisis. Frequently such chatter increases anxiety and frustration for all concerned. We will continue to take feedback from the Student Council and Parents Association when planning with the staff. Finally, May is normally the month of Graduations in the college for TY students and Rhetoric. We are determined that there will be Graduations to mark these important milestones. Obviously they will not take place until it is permitted. Therefore, they are postponed, not cancelled. But rest assured, they will happen and the joy ¢ Message From The Headmaster of the celebration will be all the greater having been through this experience. I want to congratulate all our students, particularly the Grammar and Rhetoric students who have had to deal with such uncertainty. You have been excellent and I have no doubt that this term will be an excellent opportunity to show your commitment, resilience and self-discipline. Well done also in reaching out to fellow students socially online, and not physically! It is important to make sure nobody in your Form is left out when you organise an online gathering. If such form gatherings are not happening, take the initiative and be responsible in all your communications. Our meetings continue online, Chaplains, Guidance Counsellors, Form Tutors and Year Heads continue to provide outstanding pastoral support and their meetings have moved online. Our learning curve in using Teams, which is the College supported platform, has been steep, but we are getting there. I want to thank the parents who have volunteered their skills to help. Such a unity of purpose will ensure that we not only meet the challenges but will emerge a stronger community. Finally, we have a busy term ahead and hopefully the spread of the virus has been contained though tremendous challenges remain. Patience and determination will see us through this and we will look back on this from a better place. Sincerely, Gerry Foley Headmaster Weekly Liturgy The Pastoral Dept have created an online weekly liturgy to continue to pray as a community just as we do each Friday at the College mass.