We are pleased to share our plans on how our school will be offering Remote Learning to pupils whilst the school campus is closed because of the Coronavirus COVID-19 virus. We fully appreciate how much teaching and learning from a distance has presented challenges for families in these unprecedented times, and we are truly thankful for the positive response and participation we received from many of you and your children during the past weeks.

As a leading school, our priorities include ensuring that teaching and learning should continue and that academic objectives be met, especially as our children and families face this unprecedented disruption to our lives. We will be sticking to the formal academic term structure as defined on the School Calendar, even if pupils and their teachers are not physically together and we will be trying our best to have as much ‘school’ as possible. Thus, we will include extra-curricular activities where possible in a virtual setting. All of this should put us in a good position for resuming normal school programmes when school campuses are allowed to open again in some form when the Lockdown Restrictions are eventually eased.

Having spent the past four weeks closing out Term 1 while at the same time, preparing for the introduction of Remote Learning, we are now happy to share that:

  • an appropriate online system has been identified
  • teachers have been empowered with devices and connectivity
  • training of our teachers is being done enable them to deliver lessons and mark pupils’ work in a manner that does not compromise the standards we have set over the years.

As we communicated at the end of Term 1, the Remote Learning Programme will be in place for the scheduled start of next term on Monday, May 11. In order to ensure that academic progress is not lost for our examination class of Grade 7, their program will start today. Our position is that they should continue to be prepared for their national or international examinations later this year. During the next weeks, the system will be trialled with various other classes as we get them ready for the start of term.

The Remote Learning Programme will involve pupils logging into our Student Portal, where they will find various lessons uploaded by their teachers, along with assignments that they will have to work on and submit. The teachers will also be available at certain times for questions and follow-ups by pupils. From time to time, teachers will host live teaching or revision sessions with their classes using other systems like Zoom, Google Meet, etc., but we anticipate that these may be hampered by issues of load shedding, bandwidth (bundles) and other realities of life in Zambia.

Information and instructions of how to log into the Student Portal will shortly be sent out to the email address of each child. We will also share such communication with parents and guardians in order for you to assist the children get started and to keep abreast with the programme.

This ambitious Remote Learning Programme will require your assistance in supporting your child. Some of the things you can do to assist include the following:

  • Help your child to get access to the internet as often as possible.
  • Make sure that your child has a Gmail email address known to their Class Teacher and keep up with communications between them and their teachers.
  • Provide your child with regular access to a device, preferably a computer (Windows pc or Chromebook).
    • A smartphone may prove to be too limited to deal effectively with some of the scope of Remote Learning Programme.
  • Help them download and install necessary programmes for web browsing, viewing pdf files, etc. We recommend free programs such as Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, which are easily accessible from your child’s Gmail login.
  • Procure the textbooks and study guides as advised by teachers.
  • Take an interest and ask how things are moving along. A parent’s positive thoughts and comments go a long way in motivating them.
  • Provide a conducive atmosphere and environment for teaching and learning within your homes.
    • E.g. TV, music, video games and other distractions should not be on while children are doing schoolwork.
    • Identify or agree appropriate locations within your home where schoolwork can be done effectively. We strongly discourage children to be lying in bed while working.
    • Arrange adequate timetabling of shared resources if children have to share devices.
    • Provide snack breaks and a chance to stretch their legs.
  • Help the pupils to be disciplined about their studies and to maintain a consistent schoolwork routine. Assignments must be submitted by their due dates in order for marks to count towards the child’s academic record.
  • Some staff may require you to assist by ensuring an assessment is done by your child under ‘controlled conditions’ (access to textbooks or within a given time).

Finally, we ask parents and guardians to continue their positive approach to this Remote Learning Programme. The COVID-19 Outbreak has turned all of our lives upside down, but with this programme, we can work together to ensure that the children’s education is one of the least disrupted parts of life.

In addition, as we all recognise our primary role of preparing children for their futures, this episode will be one where the technology that will be with them in years to come is fully embraced and harnessed to overcome the limitations and challenges that we face.

There will be a fair amount of learning to be done by all three sectors of the School: the pupils, their educators and you, the parents and guardians. It is our hope that, as parents, you will show the strongest commitment to playing your part in alleviating the negatives of the situation we all face, and continue to set an example to our children of how the best can be made of adversity. 

We are pleased to share our plans on how our school will be offering Remote Learning to pupils whilst the school campus is closed because of the Coronavirus COVID-19 virus. We fully appreciate how much teaching and learning from a distance has presented challenges for families in these unprecedented times, and we are truly thankful for the positive response and participation we received from many of you and your children during the past weeks.

As a leading school, our priorities include ensuring that teaching and learning should continue and that academic objectives be met, especially as our children and families face this unprecedented disruption to our lives. We will be sticking to the formal academic term structure as defined on the School Calendar, even if pupils and their teachers are not physically together and we will be trying our best to have as much ‘school’ as possible. Thus, we will include extra-curricular activities where possible in a virtual setting. All of this should put us in a good position for resuming normal school programmes when school campuses are allowed to open again in some form when the Lockdown Restrictions are eventually eased.

Having spent the past four weeks closing out Term 1 while at the same time, preparing for the introduction of Remote Learning, we are now happy to share that:

  • an appropriate online system has been identified
  • teachers have been empowered with devices and connectivity
  • training of our teachers is being done enable them to deliver lessons and mark pupils’ work in a manner that does not compromise the standards we have set over the years.

As we communicated at the end of Term 1, the Remote Learning Programme will be in place for the scheduled start of next term on Monday, May 11. In order to ensure that academic progress is not lost for our examination class of Grade 7, their program will start today. Our position is that they should continue to be prepared for their national or international examinations later this year. During the next weeks, the system will be trialled with various other classes as we get them ready for the start of term.

The Remote Learning Programme will involve pupils logging into our Student Portal, where they will find various lessons uploaded by their teachers, along with assignments that they will have to work on and submit. The teachers will also be available at certain times for questions and follow-ups by pupils. From time to time, teachers will host live teaching or revision sessions with their classes using other systems like Zoom, Google Meet, etc., but we anticipate that these may be hampered by issues of load shedding, bandwidth (bundles) and other realities of life in Zambia.

Information and instructions of how to log into the Student Portal will shortly be sent out to the email address of each child. We will also share such communication with parents and guardians in order for you to assist the children get started and to keep abreast with the programme.

This ambitious Remote Learning Programme will require your assistance in supporting your child. Some of the things you can do to assist include the following:

  • Help your child to get access to the internet as often as possible.
  • Make sure that your child has a Gmail email address known to their Class Teacher and keep up with communications between them and their teachers.
  • Provide your child with regular access to a device, preferably a computer (Windows pc or Chromebook).
    • A smartphone may prove to be too limited to deal effectively with some of the scope of Remote Learning Programme.
  • Help them download and install necessary programmes for web browsing, viewing pdf files, etc. We recommend free programs such as Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, which are easily accessible from your child’s Gmail login.
  • Procure the textbooks and study guides as advised by teachers.
  • Take an interest and ask how things are moving along. A parent’s positive thoughts and comments go a long way in motivating them.
  • Provide a conducive atmosphere and environment for teaching and learning within your homes.
    • E.g. TV, music, video games and other distractions should not be on while children are doing schoolwork.
    • Identify or agree appropriate locations within your home where schoolwork can be done effectively. We strongly discourage children to be lying in bed while working.
    • Arrange adequate timetabling of shared resources if children have to share devices.
    • Provide snack breaks and a chance to stretch their legs.
  • Help the pupils to be disciplined about their studies and to maintain a consistent schoolwork routine. Assignments must be submitted by their due dates in order for marks to count towards the child’s academic record.
  • Some staff may require you to assist by ensuring an assessment is done by your child under ‘controlled conditions’ (access to textbooks or within a given time).

Finally, we ask parents and guardians to continue their positive approach to this Remote Learning Programme. The COVID-19 Outbreak has turned all of our lives upside down, but with this programme, we can work together to ensure that the children’s education is one of the least disrupted parts of life.

In addition, as we all recognise our primary role of preparing children for their futures, this episode will be one where the technology that will be with them in years to come is fully embraced and harnessed to overcome the limitations and challenges that we face.

There will be a fair amount of learning to be done by all three sectors of the School: the pupils, their educators and you, the parents and guardians. It is our hope that, as parents, you will show the strongest commitment to playing your part in alleviating the negatives of the situation we all face, and continue to set an example to our children of how the best can be made of adversity. 

As a modern school, we are certainly looking carefully at how technology will continue to be part of our teaching and learning in years to come, especially as we come through the tests of the next few months.