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Dear Primary students and parents,
We have just completed the end of the fourth week of the 2021-2022 school year. So far it has been a smooth transition and everybody has tried their best to adjust to the new school year expectations. On this occasion, I would like to thank all parents and families who have been very supportive in assisting us with home-based learning. Thank you for your positivity and willingness to work together with us. We are beyond grateful to have a very cooperative, helpful, and supportive parents community. There is no question that the GJS community has shown incredible fortitude and determination throughout this pandemic.
After 17 months of learning and working from home, we are now finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We have received notification from the Mayor of Tangerang Selatan, that PPKM has shifted from Level 4 to Level 3, thus allowing us to open the school again very soon. Though many of us feel excited about coming back to school, we also want to acknowledge the families that may have mixed feelings. Many are excited and ready for face-to-face learning, yet others might feel nervous, anxious, or unsure about the potential risks it may bring. What we want you to know, that our priority is your children’s and our staff’s health and safety. It is our intention to make the school re-entry safe for everybody and therefore we are making extensive preparation and planning.
As students have been away for more than one and half years from their friends, teachers, and the school day structure; they need to be reoriented to be able to tackle a normal school day. Especially for new students, who have never been to our campus before. Readjusting to being back in the classroom can be a very challenging process. Therefore, it is important for both teachers and parents to work together to ensure a smooth transition to face-to-face learning. Below are some tips that might help you prepare your children before their return to school:
Discuss with your children about the school and what they have been missing to help them see the positives of returning to school.
Go through the GJS re-opening plan that the school has shared to help your child understand the safety procedures. Review them together so there will be no surprises when your child returns to school. Discuss what is different and what is the same before and after the pandemic. For lower year level students, review again how to wear and change their mask properly, how to properly wash their hands and other important health protocols such as social distancing. Make sure they understand why they must follow these health protocols when at school.
Practice routines that might help your child get back on the structured schedule. For example, ask them to sleep and wake up at a time that allows them to prepare for going to school, to help them get a sense of the upcoming new routine. Ask them to start preparing their bag, uniform, stationery, and other important learning materials needed.
When students have started their face-to-face learning at school, please talk regularly about their day and include family time as part of their routine. This way, we can maintain the strong connection they have made with their families during HBL, and ensure mental wellbeing support is available at home.
Prepare health protocol kits that can be ready in their bag before they leave home to school. The kits must include:
Personal tissues, small hand sanitiser, and wipes
Their mask and spare masks. Students must change their masks every 4 hours, therefore it is important that they carry extra masks in their bags. It is advisable to put these masks in a sealed ziplock plastic bag.
Personal cutlery.
Personal praying equipment.
Personal lesson equipment and stationery kits (e.g pencil, eraser, ruler, pencil case, colour pencil).
Please make sure that all items they bring to school are clearly labelled with their name, year level, and teacher name.
Since the canteen will not be in operation, students must bring full drinking water bottles as well as personal food that can not be shared with others every day.
Above all of those, keeping your child’s health is of course will be the priority. A balanced diet, rest, exercise, and ensuring the health protocols are followed at any time, will become key factors for your child’s personal health, thus sustaining your child’s participation in face-to-face learning at school.
We will implement the A-B schedule, where the students in the classroom will be divided into two groups and each group will learn at school at the assigned schedule. In the near time, before students start their face-to-face learning, we will conduct a parent information session that will explain our plan in more detail, as well as allowing parents to ask questions. At this stage, we are still waiting for more guidelines from the Dinas Tangerang Selatan.
Our transition back to school can only be successful if we work together, hand in hand, to ensure students are happy, safe, and healthy at school. So let us work together on this.
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