Happy Friday everyone, the good news is that there is a firm and agreed date to start reopening some schools and that the r number is now below 1. I am hoping that this will be a starting point for all schools and that we will be seeing everyone’s faces soon. I just don’t know when.
In the meantime, I want to reassure you that our aim is always to provide the best environment and support for all the children, families and staff in RMDS. Please understand that we cannot replicate the in class experience and what we are trying to do is provide the least worst option. No one wants distance teaching to continue any longer than it has to.
Every week we meet in small groups to identify what is and what isn’t working and improve what we can. Thank you to those of you who provide the feedback which coupled with the teachers’ opinions forms the basis of those discussions. Frustratingly, sometimes we have to accept that we can’t do anything and in certain situations provide the least worst option.
This I have found to be the toughest part of this job. What works for one family doesn’t work for another so I try to balance ourselves somewhere in the middle knowing that I am disappointing people.
Our aim with the video chat lessons was to allow for quality content with the flexibility to start when it works in your home and then we are able to use the live classes to focus on connection rather than content and to reinvigorate the enthusiasm of the children. Many parents report that after live chats there is renewed interest in the work and that they get ideas from what the other children on the call have been doing. With that in mind, the older classes have increased the amount of zoom calls during the week. Rang a Trí tried out a live art workshop this week.
Rang a Cúig have been collaborating in small groups to work on projects and Rang a Ceathair are starting a similar project next week. I have been so impressed by their history projects choosing five buildings in their 5km that I can’t wait to see what they come up with.
Rang a hAon tried out a live and interactive Gaeilge lesson. Rang a Sé and their buddies have been having regular show and tell sessions. We are getting to know all the pets of RMDS. Next week on a trial basis, Rang a Sé are going to try out live Maths lessons to see if that improves the quality of the interaction with the subject. We are curious to see if it is very different from the regular video lessons.
If you have any thoughts on how we can better support you and your family please let us know.
In the meantime here are some pictures of animals the children in Senior Infants were making which certainly made me smile.
And in a final wish, let’s hope that we have enough snow for a snowman or two but not enough that we have to contend with bread shortages if the ‘Beast from the East II’ materialises.
Paul
