It is indeed a time for a shift in perspective. It is a time which will test all of us in terms of forbearance, adaptability and consideration for others. We need to meticulously follow all the directives given for safety in health and at the same time stem the anxiety fed by continuous information over various electronic media.

 It is for this reason that we need to create an atmosphere of normalcy even in this limbo like period with routines that are part of life. Please discourage your daughters to stay up through the night – this is not an extended vacation - our biorhythms need to be maintained. I hope our students are helping with the housework and keeping physically fit and mentally cheerful.

In all probability, you are receiving information from multiple sources about the free online resources being made available by various ITES portals- please explore with your daughter. It is also a good time to share your favourite reading lists with her. We are being flooded with free downloadable PDFs of literary works- share with her – help her to download and read and discuss with you. Reading newspapers online seems to be the only option now. This is an opportunity to get our older students to not only explore national newspapers but also the international ones- international mindedness/ global perspective is not only about visiting foreign countries.

As far as school is concerned, we were determined to keep to our announced schedule of performance analysis and report release. We had completed all the end of term exams for the national curriculum but there were a few papers left for our IBDP yr 1 & 2 students- with praiseworthy support from our parents   we have completed the exams smoothly using the timed assignment facility of Google classroom. The reports of IBDP will be released on schedule. Thus encouraged, we are using the same format for eligibility tests for subject selection of ISC class 11.

In terms of public examinations, IBO has cancelled the written examinations of May 2020. However, because of the provisions of internal assessments (in every subject) that are externally moderated or marked and the norm of Predicted Grades, the students will be fairly assessed with granting of diplomas being unaffected and admission into colleges being under no threat. College admission offices across the globe including India are working out the details. CISCE, that governs our national curricula –ICSE & ISC- is closely monitoring the situation and will instruct us about the exams that are still left to be conducted.  We wish to begin our ISC class 11 classes from April 07, 2020 .

Nobody is in a position to determine when School will be allowed to resume in full force. Our academic session therefore will begin digitally for all segments of the school. Appropriate measures (according to the grade level competencies) are being discussed through internal meetings on digital platforms. Primary and Junior school teachers are creating worksheets , planning activities that can be done at home and also researching suitable links . 

Class 6 to 8 will be taught through Google classroom- they will have  a specially created  timetable of subjects per day and the Google classroom invite link will be sent to the official guardian’s email id as the students in this division are too young to have unmonitored digital access. The Google classroom will have study resources with digital links embedded and there will be short written tasks that have to be submitted intermittently according to deadlines announced by the concerned subject teachers. The uploading of the written assignment will also be under the supervision of guardians.  This will begin from 07 April, 2020.

Class 9 to 12 will have classes based on both Google classroom and the online meeting platform of Zoom. The links will be sent to students and we encourage parents, specially of class 9 to monitor unobtrusively. For Zoom meetings there will be official WhatsApp groups created with subject teachers and if your daughter does not have a mobile number, the parent’s can be used. I request you to understand that this will have to be the mode of working in future so please permit your daughter access. You are NOT required to give your daughter a phone or SIM card for this reason- sharing of resources in a family is  good practice. This will begin from 07 April, 2020 with a timetable created especially for April.

IBDP classes for year 1 will begin from 15 April on Zoom and Google classroom. IBDP year 2 classes are already taking place on Zoom and Google classroom and will continue to do so with the new schedule.

Our IGCSE application is on track and as soon as we hear from CAIE about the certification we shall announce the beginning dates- perhaps in the third week of April,2020. I shall be writing to parents separately about our IGCSE plans.

I have been asked about summer break by many parents and I have been candid in my reply - “I don’t know”.

Stay well, stay positive, stay safe.