Month: March 2020

Dear Parents,

We have been reviewing our schedules of essential people in school and for everyone’s safety, we will now be reducing the number of people and the numbers of days we are open. Last week we had to have quite a lot of people in clearing up after the storms, but now this week, with almost everyone working from home, and meetings held on-line, we realised we could considerably reduce the number of people actually in school.

To keep essential services going we will now be open 2 days a week on Sunday and Wednesday from 8.00am to 1.00pm. The services that are open on these days are:

• Registrar.                              Personnel.
• HR.                                         Telephonist.
• Nurse.                                   Cashiers.

There will also be a few cleaners and housekeepers to keep public areas clean and some of the maintenance staff for routine work. Security continues to operate as normal.

If you need to speak to any of the above departments you can phone on Sunday or Wednesday. You can also email info@alsson.com at anytime. This mailbox is monitored daily and your enquiry will be sent to the relevant person. Teachers, of course, are all working from home and they are in contact with their students and Senior Leadership Teams by phone and on-line. If you need to contact someone for any educational reasons, remember you can email your child’s teacher(s). Finally, if you wish to come to school to deal with a financial matter, make a payment or collect a trips refund you will be allowed in as all accounts enquiries are dealt with through the glass windows of the cashiers’ desks and therefore safe for you and the cashier.

And by the way…… if you do have to come to school you will find sanitizers everywhere: at gate 4, in the main reception and outside all key offices and public facilities.

Stay safe and try and stay at home!

 

 

March 25, 2020

Dear Parents

Following the announcement from the Prime Minister on March 24th, school will remain closed for the next 2 weeks. Children are expected to continue with the online learning tasks set by their teachers.

We appreciate the support that parents and families are giving to this process. We thank all of you for the feedback you provided us through parent surveys. We are taking efforts to be responsive to feedback received from students, parents and staff so that online learning is a smooth and rewarding experience for your children and their families. Our focus in the coming two weeks will be to improve upon what we have been doing. This will include:
● Continuing to improve learning tasks to ensure they are age-appropriate, interactive, relevant and can be completed independently by students.
● Providing more opportunity for students and teachers to interact through video or audio conferences
● Improving communication with parents and students through short video or audio messages
● Reaching out to families of students who are struggling, falling behind or not fully engaging
● Providing students and parents with some engaging health and wellbeing resources via a specially compiled website
● Introducing digital school life / school spirit activities for students

We thank parents for their continued support in these challenging and unprecedented times. We will continue to update you regularly with developments and you will receive more detailed information for the weeks ahead from the relevant leadership at school. Please continue to follow the usual channels of communication to contact school.

Stay safe and we wish you and your families well at this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Allison Fleet & Matt Topliss
School Principals

Dear Parents

Please note that the school admin offices are operating daily next week from 8am till 1pm

Thank you

Dear Parents,

Over the past couple of weeks we have been preparing for online learning in the event of a school closure.  Our teaching staff are ready to transition quickly to online platforms and the use of various digital learning technologies in order to ensure your child continues his/her learning and progression through our school curriculum.

The information and guidance below is intended to support you as parents in helping ensure your child’s learning continues during school closure. You and your children will receive more specific information today from relevant leadership teams within the school.

The information you will receive will provide detail of:

• When and where learning is to occur
• Lesson content
• Types of learning activities
• Student, staff and parent expectations
• How to get help should you need it

You will also receive a general tip sheet outlining how you can support your child’s online learning. Please take time to read it and discuss it with your child.

Please be advised that communication lines will remain the same.  Queries over teaching and learning activities should be directed to the class or subject teacher in the first instance.  Queries over access to the online learning platforms should be directed to the relevant office staff.  Contact details will be outlined in forthcoming communications to you.

As a parent, your involvement in your child’s learning and development is important.  It is especially important now. Please take time to set routines as a family, and take any measures necessary to ensure the emotional, physical and academic well-being of your child.

Sincerely yours,

Allison Fleet and Matt Topliss

School Principals

Saturday 14th March.

Dear Parents,

We are sure that you have all heard that by Presidential decree, all schools are to close for two weeks from tomorrow.

We have anticipated this and have already put measures in place for students to be able to continue lessons at home via e-learning. Tomorrow, we will send you comprehensive information about how this happens and what to do if you or child need support.

Similarly, as communication is going to be somewhat difficult in the next two weeks we will also send you a list of who to contact for what and how to contact them.

Most importantly, we need to be sure that all parent information and contacts are up-to-date so please will you fill in the Google link https://forms.gle/YPT2jhasWthZuMzW7 if you think any of your information, and in particular email contact is not up-to-date in the school. This really is essential so we can communicate easily.

E-learning will begin on Monday once we have completed all the final details tomorrow.

Difficult times for all of us as a school community and for the country. We will be in contact with you tomorrow with all the information you need.

With best wishes

Colin Rogers, Karim Rogers, Soumaya Amr, Allison Fleet and Matt Topliss.

Directors and Principals

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Dear Parents,

Following the very dramatic weather this weekend we are announcing the that school will be CLOSED ON SUNDAY 15TH.

We have several major problems for us to make that decision:

1. The school is always cleaned and made ready every Saturday. We know that many of our cleaners will not be able to get to work tomorrow and this is particularly serious as we do a deep clean each Saturday because of the virus.
2. The city is currently in a very serious state and it is unlikely that all the problems on the roads will be solved tomorrow. We do not want to try and bring in 2,200 children and staff on Sunday when the road conditions are very dangerous.
3. The access roads to the school are completely flooded including the parking and bus areas. Inside the school we are dealing with large amounts of water in playgrounds and on sports areas, let alone the water that has come into the school from the plazas and courtyards. We’re doing our best, but we need to be sure power systems and waste pumps are working and everything is safe before the children come back.
4. Finally, we could be facing a big problem if half the children and half the teachers get in on Sunday. It will be simply chaotic trying to look after the students.

With all best wishes. We hope the storm has not affected you too badly.

Colin Rogers, Karim Rogers. Soumaya Amr.

The Directors

Dear Parents,

Please be informed that the School will be closed this Thursday March 12th as per the Ministry’s decision due to the impending weather conditions.

Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for understanding.

Please note that tomorrow, Wednesday is a regular school day.

 

Dear Parents,

As you all know, we have taken precautions this week because of the CoronaVirus (COVID-19). Whilst it does not seem there are many cases in Egypt, obviously, we need to be careful.

Some updates.

• All the students who went on the Mediterranean cruise are fine and because they had been to Italy, the Ministry of Health is involved. The Ministry phoned all of them at home 2 days ago to check they were well. The not so good news is that with the Ministry involved they have to complete the 14 days home isolation, but these are the rules.
• At school we have paid particular attention to cleaning and encouraging the children to wash their hands. We have also stopped signing in school staff with fingerprints and are now using cards.
• The clinics have been very active following up on children and staff who had travelled abroad during the holiday and checking their temperatures. 37.5°C or more and we take action. No one, so far this week, has shown any flu-type symptoms.
• We have set up a temporary isolation room near to the second clinic in the Sports Hall and anyone (child or adult) that seems to be unwell or is hot is checked in that clinic and if necessary, isolated. So far, we have only had one case of a cold – good news.
• We were pro-active and cancelled overseas trips, and this week the organizers of the Italy football trip have cancelled, as have the BSME games in Abu Dhabi and the MUN in Greece. Other countries like France, of course, are not possible.
• Not everything is cancelled, some events like sports day will be rescheduled and we are already thinking about when (possibly early next year) we can run some of the trips.
• We have plans in place and are ready for on-line learning if needed. We are particularly aware that our senior students in both schools have exam deadlines coming up.

 

• Should I be really worried for my child?

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. If a child catches the virus it is unlikely to be any more serious than a cold or flu.

• Why is there such concern?

Because currently there is no vaccine for the virus and if a family member gets the illness they can easily pass it on to other members of the family and friends. Unfortunately, as we have seen worldwide it can travel fast, so in places like schools, many children can quickly become infected.

• How can I protect my child and family?

Over and over again medical authorities are emphasising hand washing, and being less affectionate(!) less hugging and kissing! Masks don’t do much except special masks that are made for health care workers.

We’ll send you a regular update to keep you informed and please, please, check reliable websites and sources of information, not rumours and wild opinions! In the meantime we do recommend the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/common-questions/

With all best wishes.