Whilst we all hope for full days at school with all the children, the reality is that restrictions continue to be in place.
One bit of good news to come out of the announcement on Monday evening was that the EDB, as of January 11, will allow Primary Schools to bring in 1/6 of their student body for morning sessions. Please note that only Secondary Schools can provide sessions in the afternoon and Primary Schools are only allowed to offer morning (AM) sessions. From what I understand, and have been told, the EDB are being very strict and consistent in terms of enforcing this across Hong Kong schools.
We had several models to explore in terms of bringing in 1/6 of the student population each day. We could have decided to bring in 1 or 2 year groups only for the sessions until CNY, we could have gone with a model where each year group have 3-4 days in a row but ultimately we have decided to go with the model where we run a 6 day timetable and each year group comes in on a different day (please see table below).
New Model
We appreciate the challenges the above model will have for families, particularly those families that have children in different year groups but we simply cannot avoid this given the parameters that have been enforced upon us. Each model had pros and cons but we believe the above model is the most equitable out of all the models we explored.
It means that the children will reconnect with the school, their friends and their teachers regularly until CNY which we think is important. If we went with a 3-4 day block for each year group, it would mean that the first year group in would then have no opportunity to come into school until after CNY. It also meant that if the situation was to worsen and schools were closed, those year groups yet to come into school, could miss out altogether.
FAQS
What about the buses?
I am meeting with the PTA tomorrow morning to discuss the logistics of the buses. There is a lot to consider but we will look to get information out to parents regarding the buses by Friday afternoon.
What time do we drop the children off if we are bringing them to school?
Bus children, assuming we go ahead with the service, will arrive from 8.10-8.20am. If you are dropping your children off, please drop them off anytime after 8.20am.
What time do we pick the children up in the afternoon?
We will call the bus children down to the buses at 12.10pm meaning that all the buses, assuming we go ahead with the bus service, will have left the grounds by 12.20pm. We ask that all walkers and children being picked up by cars get picked up from 12.20pm onwards.
What about the timetable for the day the children are in?
Please refer to your child’s weekly timetable for more information regarding what is taking place on the day that your child is in.
If my child comes to school in the morning, will they have online learning in the afternoon?
Yes, it is the same as before where the children will have learning provided in the timetable for the afternoon.
The message from ESFC mentioned AM and PM classes, why are we only doing AM?
The EDB have been very clear that Primary Schools are only allowed to open for the morning session. Secondary Schools can have a different cohort (group) come to school in the afternoon but Primary Schools are not allowed to.
What if I have another question to ask?
If you have more questions, please email them to office@peakschool.edu.hk and we will look to answer them all by Friday afternoon.