Message from the Principal
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,
As promised please find below the links to the Years 7-9, Years 10-11, Years 12-13 student survey feedback. We are pleased to see the data for frequency of teacher contact, which is face-to-face online contact every lesson or every second lesson. This is in line with our expectations. Clearly there is further calibration to be done with regard to the amount of work being set, with approximately 20% of students feeling it is too much.
This week we also celebrated our Year 13 IBDP Art Exhibition with a stunning exhibition of student art work. The pieces are truly beautiful and bursting with creativity. A huge congratulations and well-done to our talented students, your work is breadth-taking! Of course none of this can happen without the support and mentorship of our Art Department. A huge thank you to our Art teachers also and in particular to Mr. John Doherty the Head of Department who will be retiring from ESF at the end of this academic year after 20 years of service. John has worked with generations of Sha Tin College Art students, nurturing love, passion and appreciation of Art. Our walls will be adorned for many years to come with the artwork of his students which is a fitting legacy and a testament of his commitment to Sha Tin College.
Going forward please note the following:
1) In response to the increased number of Covid-19 cases emerging in HK as a result of inbound travel we are reverting to a strict work-from-home policy for next week. There will only be business-critical staff on campus and the campus is closed to students and visitors. We are hoping the following week to be able to permit the final groups of Years 11 & 13 students to come onto campus to complete their coursework. We would ask any parents/guardians or students who have been out of HK not to come to the campus until they have been back in HK for 14 days symptom-free.
2) As you may have heard two days ago the UK government cancelled this year’s GCSE and A Level examinations for students in England and Wales. We are currently in touch with our IGCSE and GCSE examination boards to understand what this means for us. As you can imagine getting clarity on this may take some time. Our international examination boards have indicated that exams will go ahead and our advice to students currently is to continue to prepare. As soon as this situation is clarified we will contact you. Any specific questions can be directed to Ms. Kellie Fagan our VP Curriculum.
3) A huge thank you to our PTSA for reminding us all in the midst of this pandemic that we should think of others. Their donation drive in aid of Impact HK collected surgical masks, hand sanitizer/alcohol and cash. Thank you to all our families for their donations and thank you to our PTSA for so effectively role-modelling the importance of Giving as part of our 5 Ways to Wellbeing! See this link for a thank you from our PTSA.
4) As our Year 12 Parent/Teacher Conferences are taking place online on Wednesday March 25th from 1pm – 4pm all period 4 classes for Year 12 teachers on that day will be cancelled. Year 12 teachers will advise students affected. Year 12 parents/guardians will have received a letter from Mrs Rogers VP Teaching & Learning for instructions on how to sign-up for these conferences. Obviously this is a totally new experience for us all so your patience while we experiment with this approach is very much appreciated. Conferences with teachers, most of whom will be conferencing from their homes, should not be recorded without the express permission of the teacher in line with data privacy.
5) Mr. Jim Lewis has always been a mover and shaker and no less so this morning when he hosted our first year level assembly via Zoom! It was wonderful to be able to catch up with the whole of Year 11 as a group. It was interesting to note however that very few students automatically switched on their cameras. As a follow-up from last week we are continuing to request students to switch on cameras. Some students are shy and don’t want to be seen on camera. Honestly, many staff feel like that also. However, to try and make the online learning experience as engaging as possible students should switch on cameras as requested. As a reminder students should not record classes without the express permission of the teacher in line with data privacy.
6) A few Parents/Guardians of Years 7-8 have been asking for curriculum overview information. These are available on CAT (Curriculum Analysis Tool) through our Datahub. Please see this link from Senior Leader Dr. Kathryn Reed on how to access CAT.
7) A few Parents/Guardians also raised through PTSA that the SMART daily summary is sent out at the end of every day. We are looking into how we can adjust this. In the meantime please be aware that parents/guardians can access SMART live through the Datahub and can see the work for the day as it is being entered.
8) Thank you very much to our hardworking School Council and PTSA who both conducted their meetings with us this week via Zoom. Business continues as close to normal as possible!
It has certainly been another eventful week. However, thank you as always for your support. With an anticipated rise in the number of Covid-19 cases now expected in Hong Kong in the coming weeks everyone here wishes you all continued good health.
Kind regards,
Carol Larkin
Principal
Attachment
Online Learning Feedback – Y7 – 9 Students
