COVID - 19 13.10.2020

Dear Parents and Students,

Late Monday 12th October, the Government announced a range of new measures to combat the rapid spread of Covid-19. The Education Ministry told us that we must close the school building to all 1st Stage students from Wednesday 14th October to Monday 2nd November. From 14.10 until 23.10, the physical presence of pupils in schools is therefore prohibited. This means that from tomorrow, Wednesday 14th October, all lessons for 1st Stage, 2nd Stage and High School students at Sunny Canadian will take place online until Friday 23rd October. 

The week from October 26th to October 30th is a holiday as planned and no teaching will take place.

We hope that everybody will be back at school on Monday, November 2, 2020  as announced by the Ministry of Education.

This document contains very complex information on all stages of our school. Please choose the parts which applies to education stage for your children.   

Thank you very much for all your support in this challenging time. Our teachers are ready to provide children with the best possible on-line education.  

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your VP.

KG: novotna@sunnycanadian.cz

ZŠ 1. stupeň: cintlova@sunnycanadian.cz, pospisil@sunnycanadian.cz

ZŠ 2. stupeň: cintlova@sunnycanadian.cz, wade@sunnycanadian.cz

Gymnázium: reditel@sunnycanadian.cz, wade@sunnycanadian.cz

If your child is currently in quarantine, please contact reception ASAP to agree on the collection of books and other learning materials.

Kindergarten

The Sunny kindergarten remains open. Children visiting the morning and afternoon clubs in the English (7:30- 8:30; 15:15 - 17:30) and Czech (7:00-8:00; 15:00 – 17:00) program must wear face masks. Teachers will use their respirator masks during classroom time and in school corridors for safety.  When the weather allows, teaching will take place outdoors. Please dress children in suitable clothing every day (warm coats, hats, scarves etc).

In the case of a positive Covid 19 diagnosed child or kindergarten teacher, the school will immediately inform parents from the particular class and the Regional Hygiene Station of the Central Bohemian Region (KHS) about the current situation. KHS will inform us of the subsequent procedure, which we must legally follow. In previous cases, quarantine has always been ordered for the entire class.

In the event of a teacher's illness, the school will follow the current staffing options to replace the teacher. Combining individual classes will be very much the last solution, about which the parents will be informed immediately.

If it is necessary to start online lessons in kindergarten in the English program, 45-minute online meetings will be organized twice a day in Google Meet, each morning from about 9:30 and each afternoon from about 13:30. The most suitable time for online teaching in a class will always be consulted with the parents, as well as the setting of rules for online teaching. The content of the online lessons will be, for example, singing songs, making simple products, light exercise, reading fairy tales and preschool preparation for our pre-first students.

In the case of closing the Czech program, the teachers will organize distance learning using Google Classroom. The preschool teachers will also offer regular online meetings in small groups, also in Google Meet.

First stage of elementary school

Students should connect to the virtual classroom using the appropriate room code (see attached). Students should log on to all lessons, every day. Online attendance will be taken at the start of lessons for grades 3-5, so please be on time. Grades 1 & 2 attendance will be taken at the end of lessons. The compulsory on-line classes are organized based on the daily time table.Parents will be able to decide how many online lessons are acceptable for their children.It is the responsibility of the parents to communicate this information to the teachers, Excusing absences and Information about all the classes can be found on Škola online. For all lessons, students must turn on their cameras and microphones, unless the teacher tells them otherwise. Normal grading procedures apply for all classes online, including Effort, Participation, and other class-specific skills. These marks will appear as usual in Skola Online. In every way possible, these lessons will be ‘normal’. If students are absent, parents must excuse their absences like normal. If a teacher must miss a lesson for some reason (like medical), the class may not be live, but the teacher will provide the independent student work in Skola Online and contact the students and parents concerned. This will not happen regularly. Naturally, if a teacher will be absent for a longer period of time, we will arrange online substitution cover for this teacher.

All extra language lessons, certificate preparatory courses, tutoring and preparatory courses for JPZ will also take place online. Codes for these lessons are included in Skola Online. If you have any trouble logging into a class, our reception staff will be available for help at 734 827 106.

As we have discussed previously, some lessons like PE, Art  and Practical Workshop will be taught in a different way. These lessons should be accessed by students at the beginning of the  lesson based on the time schedule because the teachers will come online during the last 10 minutes of the lesson to give feedback and have real-time chats with the students about the project they just completed. For example, if at the start of the PE lesson Mr. Aston’s video tells students that today’s topic is yoga and links to a 30-minute yoga video for students, then students should complete the activity during the lesson time and join the last ten minutes of live link conversation with Mr. Aston. Again, teachers will be in contact with you regarding the specifics of their grade level as each is different regarding what children can achieve independently. We understand that everyone’s home situation is different regarding access to art supplies and PE area to play in, so we are trying to make these lessons as accessible as possible to everyone. Teachers may give your children other options for these lessons, such as doing PE later in the day or sending in a picture of time spent on physical activity. 

Parents, please support younger students with logging on and checking that the technology is working. We ask that you treat this lesson as close to the real classroom and allow your children to work independently during lessons. Students should have a calm, quiet space and have all their books for the day’s lessons ready to go, so they don’t waste lesson time looking for them. Students must practice the routine we have normally: get up, get dressed, have breakfast, arrive on time, and start studying. We look forward to continued learning with you!

For parents who apply to us for a ‘nursing allowance’ (supporting your child at home so you are unable to go to work full time), the Government is now approving a procedure whereby the application for a benefit will not require confirmation from the school that it is closed, only a declaration by the parent will suffice. But please wait until it goes through the whole legislative process before applying.

Second stage of elementary school

Students should connect to the virtual classroom using the appropriate room code (these will be published in Skola Online). During this period, attendance in Skola Online class books will be taken in each lesson during the first five minutes of class. Grades for students will also be recorded as normal in Skola Online If the student does not attend a class, it is necessary for parents to excuse this absence. For all lessons, students must turn on their cameras and microphones and follow the teacher’s instructions.  If a teacher has to miss a lesson for some reason, the class may not be live, but the teacher will provide the independent student work in Skola Online/ Google Classroom and contact the students and parents concerned. This will not happen regularly. Naturally, if a teacher will be absent for a longer period of time, we will arrange substitution cover for this teacher.

We ask that parents allow their children to work independently during lessons, without adult assistance or the presence of parents in the room (just like in their usual school lessons). All students should be able to work as much as possible in an environment that allows them to study without interference from younger siblings, pets or excessive outside noise. Students should have a calm, quiet space and have all their books for the day’s lessons ready to go, so they don’t waste lesson time looking for them. Students must treat online learning like a normal school day; get up, get dressed and have breakfast in time to start studying. For older students, can parents please check that they are attending lessons and are awake in time to start at 08:00 every day. Missed lessons will be counted as normal absence unless we have information from parents to excuse absences.

At the end of today, teachers will ensure that grade 6 & 7 students take with them the books that they will require to work online for the next eight school days. If your child is currently in quarantine or in grade 7 or 8, please contact the school reception to arrange to collect any necessary books or resources.

You will find the lessons access codes that students will need to attend online lessons via Google Meet in Skola Online at the end of today. Teachers will continue to set work for students via Skola Online or Google Classroom. Teachers will continue to take lesson attendance via Skola Online. Students are expected to attend all lessons according to their normal schedule. Most lessons will be taught as normally as possible. If you have any trouble logging into a class, our reception staff will be available for help at 734 827 106

All extra language lessons, certificate preparatory courses, tutoring and preparatory courses for JPZ will also take place online. Codes for these lessons are included in the attachment.

Some lessons: PE, Art and Practical Workshop, will be taught through a combination of taught lessons and short instructional videos with online teacher follow up. This is to allow students to properly complete the sort of practical tasks that are not possible while looking at a computer screen. For these lessons, students will view the video, complete the task and then return to the online lesson for the last 10 minutes of the lesson to feedback to the teacher. These lessons should be accessed by students during the correct lesson time because the teachers will come online during the last 10 minutes of the lesson to give feedback and have real-time chats with the students about the project they just completed. For example, if at the start of the PE lesson Mr. Aston’s video tells students that today’s topic is yoga and links to a 30-minute yoga video for students, then students should complete the activity during the lesson time and join the last ten minutes of live link conversation with Mr. Aston. Again, teachers will be in contact with you regarding the specifics of their grade level as each is different regarding what children can achieve independently.

We understand that everyone’s home situation is different regarding access to art supplies and PE area to play in, so we are trying to make these lessons as accessible as possible to everyone. Teachers may give your children other options for these lessons, such as doing PE later in the day or sending in a picture of time spent on physical activity.

High school

High schools were the first to prohibit the physical presence of pupils in schools on October 5, 2020 and since then the students have been provided with interactive online education.

We check daily that everything is going well, and we thank the students for their discipline in connecting on time to their online  classes. We are proud of the dedication with which the  students have been involved in their  online learning and that they are fully aware of its importance.

The week of October 26 to October 30 will be the autumn holidays. No lessons will happen during this week.

Students can connect to their lessons using the  codes that were provided. We are sure that our students are taught and provided with a high quality experience, rich in learning and catering for most of their individual needs . If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the director at reditel@sunnycanadian.cz, or the VP for the grammar school, Mr. Paul Wade: wade@sunnycanadian.cz.

Here, too, it is necessary to excuse any absence with regards to the online teaching on Škola online.

We ask students to turn on the cameras and microphones during the lessons and to actively cooperate with the teacher. Work in an environment that allows you to fully concentrate on your work without distractions.

The teaching of some lessons, such as physical education or art education, take  place by using a combination of shorter instructional videos, the subsequent connection of a teacher at the end of the lesson as well as the control of students' work. This method allows students to complete their work without having to look at the monitor at all times.

Of course, we will continue to closely monitor the status of  government regulations and the possibility of high school students returning to full-time teaching. Meal orders for high school students in the school canteen were canceled until the end of October 2020.

A final word for all stages…

We wish you all good health and we already miss you very much.

In the event of any changes to the government regulations, we undertake to inform you immediately.

We are looking forward to having our children from kindergarten tomorrow and we are pleased that regular full-time teaching remains at least for them. We are constantly disinfecting all the premises. We have furthermore  freed up additional funding for the purchase of additional germicidal lamps with the function of disinfection and air purification, as we would like to have lamps for all classes. Unfortunately, there are currently  not  as many of them available  on the market as we need. The lamps we have are insufficient and we would appreciate it  very much if anyone of you happen to have contact with the manufacturer- this would help us speed up the purchase process.

We believe that the students will quickly get used to interactive online teaching again and we thank the teachers for their tremendous flexibility, diligence and the energy that they put into their teaching every day.

Unless there are any changes, we look forward to welcome each and every one back on November the 2nd, 2020.