Dear Parents
Our online process is up and running and we are reaching out to the vast majority of our learners. The Edmodo classes have been established and the WhatsApp group now function well and are gaining momentum as standalone programs.
I have posted general access to these groups and classes on the school web site. However, they are public pages and we risk privacy and security threats here so I will remove them today. If you need to source any current or past information regarding academic instructions, please contact the teacher directly. If this doesn’t work you may email me at brian@mecschool.co.za
Our expectation is that all learners follow the basic school timetable lessons and times daily with breaks in between (available at https://mecschool.co.za/timetable-software/). It’s not practical to have hard and fast rules as many learners have to share devices and not all have the same access to data and we are flexible in this approach. As parents you need to set your own rules that suit your particular circumstances. Teachers will be available during lesson times to assist learners in a particular subject and to assign new work or reviewed submissions.
The online work for Grade 4 is currently covering English, Afrikaans and Mathematics. We will be adding to this but need to be sure and understand the capacity for these learners to manage the online instruction first. In a number of Grades, we are not covering Art and Culture and Technology, choosing to focus on the primary learning areas and will catch up here later.
I really want to thank all of you for your cooperation, patience and support and compliment the teachers on their willingness and commitment to the online program, and to your children. Like many of you, many of them are parents themselves, breadwinners or single income families. My admiration for them is massive and I applaud their efforts to continue to teach under these really difficult times.
Yesterday I participated in an online ISASA webinar. ISASA have little news to share on the extent of the shutdown or the likelihood of writing exams. There are many, many proposals and much speculation but at the end of the day it’s the Department of Health that will make the call. ISASA did make the point that we must keep teaching regardless and not give up. Hearing what other schools are doing to manage the situation was uplifting and informative and we are undoubtedly in line with what most schools are offering. Certainly the academic year is not over as some might think!
Be assured we are all in good spirits and remain positive.
Stay safe and stay healthy
Brian
Online at home images of our MECS family
