Dear Students and Parents,
I hope you had an enjoyable Tamil New Year!
Save the Date: Celebration of Learning
Mr. Malone is coordinating a virtual Celebration of Learning to highlight the amazing work accomplished in virtual learning to date. Save the afternoon of Thursday, April 30th, from 3:45 - 4:45 pm to attend this event. A document with the relevant links will be shared closer to the date.
HS Production - Wendy & Peter Pan - A Message from Mr. Renato
Before going to virtual school, high school students were working on a production of Wendy & Peter Pan. Wendy & Peter Pan was written and adapted by Ella Hickson from J.M. Barrie’s classic play Peter and Wendy. She was commissioned to write it as a Christmas family show for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK. The play shifts the focus on Wendy as the protagonist and makes the story contemporary without losing meaning.
The production featured moments of music, dance and movement to tell this incredible story of Wendy, John, and Michael Darling flying off to Neverland with Peter Pan and his spunky fairy Tink to search for their missing brother; Tom Darling. There, with the help of the Lost Boys and the fearsome Tiger Lily, they battle Captain Hook and his band of pirates of the Jolly Roger. Meanwhile, Mrs. Darling looks for meaning in her life in the midst of the suffragette movement, putting her at odds with her husband, Mr. Darling.
We have put together a compilation of rehearsal moments and interviews with cast members to help celebrate the production we never got to perform. We hope you will watch the video and celebrate our actors!
Save the Date: April Parent Coffee
This month’s parent coffee will focus on something we hope your teens are getting more of in virtual learning - sleep! Join the HS Counselors on Tuesday, April 28th at 8:45 am by clicking this link (Meeting ID: 969 8213 0856, Password: 5i2tNj) for an interactive dialogue about the importance of sleep and how to support teens in building healthy habits around sleeping.
Introducing Additional Support
We appreciate the efforts students have made to remain engaged and submit their modules on time. As per our intervention plan, we continue to check in with students and families as and when it is needed.
We have recognized that some students are missing deadlines for multiple classes for a variety of reasons. We treat each one of these students as an individual and support them accordingly.
For some students we feel more structured and regular support may be needed. As such, moving forward, should a student not complete multiple modules in the same week and/or not complete modules in the same class over multiple weeks, we provide one-on-one support.
What will this one-on-one support look like? First, an assigned teacher will be connected with the family. This teacher will set up a video conference with the student on Monday morning to help him/her plan the week. In turn, the teacher will check in with the student on Wednesday and Friday to help him/her remain on track. The teacher will also help the student identify and connect with other services that may help, from counseling to tutoring by school personnel to reaching out to teachers during office hours.
We remain committed to keep all students engaged with their learning through May 29th. While the above service is extended to students who demonstrate a need for it, please remember that occasional one-on-one support is available for all students through office hours, by contacting one of our tutors or EAL teachers or by reaching out to our counselors.
Helping Children Deal with Grief from COVID-19 - A Note from Counseling
COVID-19 has changed all of our lives. And with these changes come many losses. Sherry Cormier, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in grief, says we are all experiencing grief as we watch everything change...our work, businesses, schools, healthcare, and economic systems. We share the loss of daily routines and structure, access to some of the things that help us stay well, a sense of stability and security, face-to-face connections with friends and loved ones, and may also find ourselves weighed down by worries and fears about what the future will hold.
Knowing this, it is important that we recognize and address signs of grief when we see them in ourselves or our children. Here are some tips for how to help families, teens, and children as we think about these losses:
1. Know that it’s ok to feel grief right now. Grief feelings may include shock, worry, sadness, anger, and even feelings of acceptance (it’s going to be ok). One day your child might be shocked that they can't go back to school and maybe later they are angry. This is normal. When we accept and understand that we are grieving, we are also adapting to change so that we can move forward and find strength.
2. It’s helpful for us to name the things we are losing - time with friends, a chance to say goodbye, independence and much more. Naming our losses allows us to process them and the feelings that may be associated with them. Encourage your child to recognize and name what they may be feeling a sense of loss about.
3. If you and your family members are “leavers” or “stayers” in the cycle of transition that is common at international schools, you may want to be alert to feelings around that. For students and families who are not returning to AISC next school year, they are losing plans and dreams for their last months here and the chance to say goodbye in person. For the “stayers,” there may be sadness around losing the time they could have spent with their friends who are leaving, and with whom they may not see in the future. Work with your child to find alternate ways to say a proper goodbye or acknowledge a friendship that has been important to them.
4. It is important for adults to take care of themselves. Check in with yourself - how are you feeling? Are you having trouble sleeping or focusing? Be patient with yourself. Take a deep breath. Practice self-care. You can't help your children if you aren't ok.
5. If your children are acting out, keep in mind that fear, frustration, and anxiety are likely at the root of these behaviors. Take another deep breath and keep in mind the developmental levels of students. Here is a link to a document that may help you recognize some typical grief responses and offers ideas for how to support children of different ages. While on the surface, it is talking about grief related to death, it is important to remember that what many of us are feeling right now is a form of grief. This helps us understand what children and teens are going through.
6. The AISC counselors are here for you. HS: Josiah Laposky ljosiah@aischennai.org and Susanah McGlamery msusannah@aischennai.org
And school psychologist: Nigel Holdsworth hnigel@aischennai.org
Not Engaged? What to Do - Repeat Announcement
Some students are finding it hard to remain engaged in virtual learning. This is natural. We are about to start Week Four and fatigue has set in. We also know that we have seven weeks ahead of us and, so, engagement is important!
If you (or your teen) is not engaged in virtual school, what can be done?
As a section, we have an intervention plan in place to help support students early on. We monitor PowerSchool usage and contact students who have not been active for 48 hours. Teachers are emailing students who miss an internal (suggested) deadline to check in and see if help is needed. We are making phone calls and having video conferences with students who are reported as absent or are having difficulty accessing online instruction. This should help keep engagement high. Sometimes students just need a work of encouragement or a personal touch to jump start their thinking and get them back online.
As a family you can help by having an explicit conversation about expectations in the home. What time are teens expected to get up in the morning? What time should they stop working on the computer in the afternoon or evening? What chores are now a part of their daily “to-do” list and when will these be scheduled? When will family, leisure and well being time take place? This will also help keep engagement high.
Further, teachers, counselors, administrators and support personnel are only an email away. Ask for help if you feel yourself (or your teen) disengaging from virtual learning.
Finally, one way to keep engaged is to socialize! Don’t hesitate to join any of the meet-ups on the social calendar and to reach out to your friends to do a virtual hangout!
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
