ISY Elementary School Blog - June 5th, 2020 Virtual Learning

ISY Elementary Blog

Elementary Update – June 5th, 2020

Sandy Sheppard, Elementary School Principal

Dear all,

Next week will be our last few days of school for this school year. I will send a last blog on Wednesday. I hope you were all able to access your reports, if you have problems please contact the Elementary School office. Next week there will be planned activities around the end of the year, each grade level will have their own plan.

I hope the students enjoyed the assembly this week, it was a lot of fun. It was great to still be able to say farewell our teachers and leaving students. Thank you to Ms. Patty, Ms. Bekka and Mr. Nixon for putting this assembly together.

A big congratulations to the Grade 5 teachers and team for the fantastic Compassion Projects that were shared this week. We have had such a lot of great activities happening to celebrate learning recently e.g. the Grade 4 Passion Projects. Our students have been wonderful participants in virtual learning activities.

Have a great weekend.

Ms Sandy Sheppard

Library book availability during the summer

To help support members of our community remaining in Yangon, ISY will be allowing limited access to the library. Every two weeks there will be a form sent out with the below deadlines. The next deadline for requests is Friday (19th June) at 12:00 noon. The books will then be prepared and will be available to be picked up on Monday the 22nd June from 12:00 noon. The same process will continue every two weeks, throughout the summer. The Friday book request deadlines are as follows:

June 19th, July 3rd, July 17th, July 31st

Library books can be returned to the security team at the front steps at any time.

Book Request Form (deadline 19th June)

Text Books and Musical Instruments

Below is the schedule for picking up Yearbooks. When you pick up your Yearbook please return any textbooks and musical instruments that you currently have. This is especially important for any student who is not returning. Students that are returning may keep these items over the summer if they wish.

Yearbook pick-up schedule

The Yearbooks will be on the front steps and parents or students will need to come and pick them up from there. Names will be checked off and, if you have children in multiple grades, the books can be picked up together even if it isn’t the day for one of those grades. We ask that students do not stay around school to sign the Yearbooks with their friends. This should be done at a later time when safe to do so.

Tues 2nd June – Grades 6-7
Wed 3rd June – Grades 8-9
Thurs 4th June – Grades 10-12
Fri 5th June – Secondary School catch up day for anyone who missed their day

Mon 8th June – Prek-Grade 2
Tues 9th June – Grades 3-5
Wed 10th June – Whole school catch up

If you have already left Yangon but are returning, you can pick up your Yearbook in August. If you are not returning or would like someone else to pick up your Yearbook for you. Please fill out this form.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM:

Elementary Song video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__wHITbKjo&feature=youtu.be

Elementary School Welcome Back Slides

We wanted to welcome everyone back to school and let you know how much we missed our community and how ready we were to continue with Virtual Learning. See the slides here.

PE Newsletter

Mr Wyatt and Ms Lisa put together their first PE Newsletter, this newsletter has important information about the PE program and can be found here.

A Musical Message

Just in case you missed it here is the video made by the faculty at ISY. Wherever you are in the world, you can count on us! It’s on both the Facebook page and the YouTube Channel. Enjoy.

Message from the Director

Dr. Hedger’s third message for the whole community can be viewed here.

Dr. Hedger talks about reimagining school and our commitment to reopening.

Grade 5 ComPassion Projects I 2020

This week, fifth grade hosted ISY’s first ever ComPassion Projects community event. In two live Question & Answer sessions, students, families, and ISY community members celebrated the fifth graders’ learning journeys, as they discussed and explored ideas for how they can demonstrate compassion and take action to create a better future for us all.

Topics ranged from supporting football teams aiming to reduce their carbon footprints, to developing affordable recipes to try to address the issue of malnutrition and poverty. Grade 5 students worked hard for the past few months to discover their passions and explore how they can take action to become forces for positive change. Students have all learned a lot through their research processes.

Our entire community is proud of our Grade 5 students and the compassion they demonstrated through their projects. We cannot wait to see the types of initiatives these young change-makers implement next year and beyond, as they spread out around the world.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the children’s work, please visit the website using this link.

UPCOMING DATES

10th June – Last day of school for the 19-20 school year

EMAIL CONTACTS

Principal – ssheppard@isyedu.org

Counselor – escounselor@isyedu.org

Office – office@isyedu.org

Assessment at ISY in a Virtual Learning Context

All assessment practices at ISY are designed to provide a fair and accurate picture of a student’s achievement and progress in relation to the ISY curriculum standards.

In a virtual learning context, insofar as it is practical, teaching and learning will cover the same content and skills as in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. However, the unique methodology and challenges of online teaching and learning requires a unique approach to assessment.

Assessment at ISY in a virtual learning context will be:

Fair to students,
Strive to develop an accurate picture of what a student is capable of in relation to ISY curriculum standards,
Compassionate to students and acknowledge the unique challenges that each student faces in a virtual learning context.

It is important for teachers to assess student work and to provide feedback to students so they continue to grow academically. However, ISY teachers acknowledge the fact that teaching and learning virtually might not allow for the development of a fair and accurate picture of what a student is really capable of. ISY teachers are also very aware that circumstances beyond the control of the students may mean that students cannot always complete work to the best of their abilities.

In assigning final grades to students, ISY teachers will show compassion to students. This means that teachers will consider past academic performance to assign grades. This permits grades to better reflect what a student’s current academic performance would be in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. In assigning final grades, ISY teachers will also take into account any other circumstance beyond the control of the students that will adversely affect academic performance.

COUNSELOR’S CORNER

Recently, I was asked to describe the 2019-20 school year in one word. I choose thrilling. It has been a rollercoaster of a year with ups and downs, highs and lows, successes and lessons learned. I was further pressed to describe the year’s highs. My immediate response was “the community.” The ISY community is a network of the most amazing students, families, staff and administration I have had the privilege to work with.

As the school year comes to an end, it is important to acknowledge the strength we have as a community. The importance of supporting one and other through difficult times and the teamwork needed to develop strong systems throughout.

We must also acknowledge that some of our members will be leaving us. Thank you to all the families departing our ISY community. Know that you will be missed and that your contributions to this community will forever be remembered. We wish you luck and best wishes in your future adventures. Please remember” “Once a Chinthe, Always a Chinthe!”

To the returning community, I hope the break will offer you time to relax and enjoy some quality moments with your family. Enjoy your summer and I look forward to seeing you in August!

Ms Patty