Learning during COVID-19 Period

BACK TO SCHOOL INFORMATION - TERM 2 (2020/2021 ACADEMIC YEAR)

The School Opened on 5th January 2021. The first two weeks will be online for everyone (except for Year 11-13 who will begin in Week 2).

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten will have a phased in-person return to school.

• Week 1 and 2 (5th January - 15th January) school will be online.
• Week 3; 18th January Beetles and Butterflies year groups begin in person classes (10 Weeks of school)
• Week 4; 29th January Busy Bees and Ladybirds year groups resume in person learning. (9 weeks of school)

School Hours duration: (In person)

• Beetles and Busy Bees - 8.30am to 2.30pm.
• Ladybirds and Butterflies- 8.30am to 12.30pm.

Classroom and Outdoor spaces requirements

1. Children in each class will be divided into 2 bubbles (6-8 children) with each having an adult (teacher or class assistant) to lead but the Class tutor remains the overall in-charge.
2. Every child will have a crate for storing their classroom resources and their names marked clearly on each crate. No sharing of resources at all. Further, these resources will be sanitized at the end of each play session.
3. Play area; the slides will be cordoned off. The children will use the field and sand pit only for play.

Prep School:

Prep School will resume learning on online platforms that we have been using this term for Weeks 1 and 2 of the January Term. The Virtual Classes will run from 5th January 2021 to 16th January 2021.

From the third week of term to the end of term, the School will run on a hybrid schedule that will enable us to have just the right number in the physical school to ensure strict adherence to safety protocols. This schedule will be shared with you to enable you know when your child will be attending the physical school. The schedule will take the form described below:

Prep School Hybrid Schedule for Year 1 to Year 6:

• The school has relied on the Parents’ Return to School Survey outcomes which indicate a 67:33% preference for Physical vs Virtual learning.
• The Hybrid Schedule has staggered attendance in a manner that allows each of the classes to have a fair share of physical school attendance against Virtual learning. The detailed schedules will be shared for each year group.
• For parents who indicated preference for virtual learning, we will have their children remain in the online school for the whole term.
• The exception to the hybrid schedule will be the Year 6 class. We intend to have all Year 6 children attend physical school the entire term except for the first two weeks.

Shape of Day:

The Prep School will maintain the schedule of the day that we have been running with the online classes this term. The day also keeps the traditional times, from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, except Friday when the day will end at 3:00 pm.

Health and Safety:

• The School has laid out safety protocols in adherence to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Government guidelines for safeguarding the safety of learners and staff within the school during this period.
• All children will be trained on these safety protocols as well as general health and psychosocial well-being, which will be supervised by all subject and Class Teachers.
• These protocols will be supported by physical facility adjustments that include extra sinks, sanitizer dispensers, liquid soap dispensers, fixed thermometers and a refurbishment of the KS1 ablution block to increase the capacity.

·The School is also developing new protocols that will cover the delivery of Sports, Play, Clubs and Recess activities.

Senior School:

Senior School Schedule:
a) Fully in-person for Candidate Classes - Years 9 to 13.
b) Blended (in-person and online) Year 7 & Year 8. These two classes will alternate in-person and online after one week.

Leveraging on our in-person experience with Years 11-13, we will ensure that January 2021 Term for the rest of the classes will be smooth.

Senior School Day's Schedule:
a) Arrival: 7:30am
b) Morning Prep: 7:30am to 8:00am
c) Class Devotion: 8:00am to 8:20pm
d) Morning Lessons: 8:20am to 10:20am
e) Mid-morning Lessons: 10:40am to 12:40pm
f) Afternoon Lessons: 1:30pm to 3:30pm
g) Student Pickup time: 3:35pm to 3:45pm. Please ensure that your child is picked up no later than 3:45pm.

Pastoral, Health & Safety, Counselling and Chaplaincy Teams have put in place Psycho-social support programs for the students to manage anxieties and transition.

The Sports and PE Department has put in place sports activities that are in congruence with the Government COVID Protocols. This detail will be shared with the students.

Kindly contact the School if you would like a copy of the Back to School Booklet which has all the Health and Safety Information.

Rusinga Schools Access Protocols:

Ensure to review the Health and Safety Protocols to avoid any inconvenience upon entry and while in the School property.

Rusinga Schools Access Protocols

It is important to stress that everyone is seeing changes in their daily lives and adjusting to a new reality and struggling to find a new balance, as this global pandemic has changed the way each and every one of us lives day to day. We will continue to work together as we plan for multiple possibilities ahead.

We are in this Together:

We have been in uncharted territory this year and we have made it this far by collaborating together as a School Family. The reality we are in right now is a global issue therefore we are not alone in this.

Our 6 Core Values are Honour, Adventure, Fortitude, Compassion, Mastery and Leadership. Fortitude is one Core Value we need to keep in mind during this uncertain period. At Rusinga Schools, we provide an encouraging environment to develop the Fortitude necessary to complete this life journey productively, producing life-long learners who are independent thinkers, level-headed leaders, confident and good communicators, open-minded, balanced in thought, reflective, risk takers and democratic. This season will pass and our students shall indeed succeed and be the stronger for it.

We continue to encourage all to remain calm, exercise hygiene and preventative measures against COVID-19.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7