International School of Como
an-inspired-school-grey

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Following the additional ministerial decree published on March 9th confirming that all schools, nationally, will be closed until permitted by government decree, our ‘virtual’ schools will therefore continue to operate until this date. 

The implementation of this has been met positively as we have strived in the face of adversity to continue the education of our students; acting quickly to leverage the technology and e- learning capabilities of the Inspired group and supporting the skills required for independent learning.

A huge thank you extended to the entire school community of students, parents, guardians, teachers and non-teaching staff for your support in making this a success.

 

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students of IS COMO

We are grateful for the professionalism and flexibility demonstrated by our teaching staff and look forward to working together with you to continue to support your child’s studies. If there are any issues with the work please liaise directly with the relevant teacher (who will be online) or Ms. Whittle jwhittle@iscomo.com  for Primary or Mrs.Pearce npearce@iscomo.com for Secondary.

Guided online learning will be provided for students of all ages for as long as the school remains closed from 08:30-15:50 CET, Monday to Friday. To reiterate, our priority remains to continue to support the children in their education.  We will be constantly monitoring and reviewing the situation to ensure appropriate provisions are put in place to achieve this. Arrangements will of course be extended should they be required. 

 

 

FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS

For Primary Students in PK-G6:

The primary portals for online interaction will be Class Dojo , which all Primary students already have access to. Should you have any technical difficulties in accessing Class Dojo, please contact Ms. Whittle jwhittle@iscomo.com

All students are expected to engage each day with all of the learning tasks set. Teachers will be available via email / Class Dojo from 08:50 – 15.30 each day this week to answer questions / give advice / feedback on work.

  • 8.30:  teachers upload a morning video to set the day onto Class Dojo. PYP coordinator posts a morning message to parents
  • 9.00:  the students work through the activities which are posted on Dojo the afternoon before.
  • Every class has a 30 minute Google Meet throughout the day.  
  • EY are breaking their 30 minutes into a morning 15 minutes and an afternoon 15 minutes and dividing the groups to make sure everyone has a chance to participate.
  • From 10:30 to 14.30 there is always an assistant teacher available online to contact via Teams if there is a need for individualized support.
  • 15.30:  star jumps, snuggle up and read, sit and reflect etc...
  • Specialist teachers have a set day they post so the parents know when to work on each subject.  
  • LS and EAL teachers and assistants have contacted the students, they have Google Meets each day to complete Toe by Toe and specific programmes.

 

 

FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS

For Secondary Students in G7-G13:

The primary portals for interaction will be ManageBac which all Secondary students already have access to and Blue Jeans which is a Skype/Zoom piece of software that allows a link to be sent and hold a class with multiple participants.

To use Bluejeans, teachers will send a link and code to students on Managebac and students need only click on this link and enter the code at the appropriate time to enter the online classroom. Should you have any technical difficulties in accessing ManageBac, please contact Mrs. Pearce npearce@iscomo.com

The usual school timetable for each grade will be in effect from 8:40 to 15:50.

 

 

School Closure

Expectations for learning – Secondary School (IB Middle Years and Diploma Programmes)

MYP – Grades 7-13

1. Learning will proceed according to the existing Secondary School timetable in the form of online lessons, readings and tasks posted on ManageBac.

 2. Each teacher will set up work for their class on ManageBac up to 5 minutes before the beginning of each timetabled lesson for that class.

3. Students will be expected to provide some feedback on work done in that lesson, so that teachers can monitor learning. All student work should be submitted on ManageBac by the deadline.

4. Each teacher will have an online conference call with each of their classes during the course of the week and during their regular lesson time.

  • This will be done through the conference call system called “Bluejeans”.
  • The time and instructions for the online live call will be communicated to students through ManageBac.


5. During the suspension of classes this week, teachers will be available for students to contact them with requests and queries for feedback from 8:30 to 15:30, Tuesday to Friday via email and Managebac.

6. If students fail to complete online engagements for sessions where they are present, teachers will as usual record this as ‘N/A’ (which will regrettably be counted as a ‘zero’ again as is our usual practice).

7. At present internal Diploma deadlines remain unchanged, and teachers will offer online support to Diploma students completing their Internal Assessment and any other form of coursework.

 

 

It is essential that all students, especially those in DP examination classes, engage fully with the learning experiences provided by their teachers. It is recommended that students be in a quiet space at home with their devices connected to the correct platforms from 08:30-15:30 (albeit taking the usual breaks of course). 

Thank you for all your support.