The education journey continues this week, and I am so proud of all students, staff and the wider community. School is much more than a physical building, it is a ‘space’ where learning is visible and progress tangible. School is a space where students explore new concepts and apply prior knowledge to problem solve, reason and create. Although not on campus, ISB staff, families and students of all ages have created this ‘space’ and ensured the learning journey continues uninterrupted.
This week, we shine a spotlight on Year 6 who have been rounding numbers to 10,000,000, comparing and ordering, writing balanced arguments and acrostic poems, engaging in small group reading and expanding their vocabulary, free writing non-chronological reports and exploring new texts, improving spelling, grammar and punctuation, researching eco systems and exploring the extension rebellion whilst discussing inconvenient truths, travelling back 100 years in Brunei, setting goals and responding to feedback. And that is just this week.
We will never lower our standards or expectations for academic excellence. Similarly, we will always ensure school is fun! Memories will be made together that inspire the next generation to lead.
I hope that the adjustments to the way we use Seesaw enable families to access provision with ease. The challenge is to create a simple and accessible system whilst maintaining a broad and balanced curriculum offer open to all. This will never be a process which is ‘complete’, however, we are certainly moving in the right direction.
We have some big plans ahead and welcome continued feedback from parents and students. Our job is to listen and to guide as we navigate these complex times. I know that many families are taking this opportunity to share learning with family members around the world. A reminder that digital content created by students can easily be shared from Seesaw using the three dots at the bottom corner of each post. One advantage of Virtual School is that learning is entirely visible. We know that students of all ages enjoy seeing their content during the Friday Assembly and these are always available on our YouTube Channel.
I would also like to take the opportunity to highlight the Great Work Blogs. One of the hardest challenges of remote learning is enabling students to see the work being created by their peers; to be inspired by the learning taking place within the same classroom or Year Group. The Great Work Blogs brilliantly facilitate this, students can access curated work posted by other students. Look out also for the ‘Connected Blogs’ as this allows you to travel into other classes or Year Groups. This is particularly evident within the House Challenges classes; these are all linked through Connected Blogs open only to ISB students.
Have a restful weekend and remember that our learning provision is available to fit your own family routines. If you require any clarifications or would like to provide feedback of any kind, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Mr Michael Everett | Head of Primary