Hello PSII families.
In
light of the most recent announcement by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health
Minister Adrian Dix, we now know that the school will be affected as we
re-open after Spring Break on Monday, March 23.
1. International Travellers
Anyone
who has travelled internationally over the break is required to
self-isolate for at least 14 days upon return to BC. That includes the
USA. For our travellers to Japan, since they return to Victoria on March 15, they will need to stay home until March 29, and can return to school on Monday, March 30 if they are well.
For all other learners who are travelling or have travelled, please do the math yourselves and be sure to self-isolate and stay home from school for at least 14 days and return only if you are well.
2. For people who cannot attend when we returnWe know that many people were/are travelling over the break, including teachers and learners. As all of these people will be self-isolating for the required 14 days upon return to BC, this will mean that a good number of people will not be able to attend the school site when we return on March 23. We also know that there may very well be other learners or learners’ immediate family members who will be experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID 19. They will also be required to self-isolate for 14 days. Right now, we are making plans that will allow the least amount of interruption to learning.
As an inquiry-based school, much of what people are working on is highly-personalized. There are also some group sessions and direct lessons. We will be sending information early next week on how we will use online solutions to allow us to say connected as much as possible over the days where people are away. Fortunately, we already use Trello and an online portfolio, both of which can be accessed anywhere by any kind of connected device. We are also investigating the best tool to allow real-time person-to-person connection for conversation, group discussions, lessons, tutoring, and assessment meetings. Once we have all the details sorted, we will let everyone know what we are using, how to use it, and how to get support if there are any problems.
3. Ever-Shifting Sands
Contrary
to popular belief, we do not own a working crystal ball. For that
reason, all of this could change at any time. Please watch for updates,
and be sure to refer only to reliable sources. I will stay in touch with
you via email and the website if/as things change.
4. The Original MessageIf
you are like me, you will want to see what the Provincial Medical
Health Officer actually said. Here is a link to her press conference
from the afternoon of March 12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84BGlFvriU&feature=youtu.be
Thanks
for your patience as we sort this out. If this isn’t a test of the
“innovation” part of the name of our school, I don’t know what is!We will also be sending out a short online survey
to find out when we should expect to see your child returning to
school, based on travel, health, family health, etc. That will be coming
to you early next week. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.
Best,
Jeff