Good Morning ISHCMC Community,
We hope that you are well and have had a good weekend. We
are pleased to let you know that two of our three teachers who have been
detained since Spring Break at quarantine facilities were released yesterday
and the third will be released this morning. All three have remained negative
for Covid 19.
Yesterday the People’s Committee issued communication No:
1156/UBND-VX which extend the period of school closure to April 19th. This
came as no surprise given the transport directives, closure of shops and the move
towards increasing social distancing policies. Hence, ISHCMC will continue with
home learning and teaching from home until this date. On the school calendar, April
2nd is a national holiday celebrating King Hung’s birthday and April
3rd is a school holiday giving families a long weekend. Given our
present learning program teachers have been asked to provide work for
students to follow on Thursday and Friday to support you as a family, and to
allow students to consolidate, recap and reflect upon their learning. Please
use this work as you see fit. If you believe your daughter/ son needs a break
from technology then use the long weekend to achieve this goal. Teachers have
been given the option of being online but this is not an expectation, as they also
need a wellness break from teaching from home. All students will be assumed to
be present and working on both days.
As we have already informed you the IB Diploma examinations
for May have been canceled. You may have been wondering how Diplomas would be awarded
this year. On Friday we heard from the IB that they will be using vast historical assessment data to ensure
that they follow a rigorous process of due diligence in what is a truly
unprecedented situation. They will be undertaking significant data analysis
from previous exam sessions, individual school data, subject data as well as
comparative data of schools who have already completed uploading requirements
and those who have not. All schools have been instructed to upload all
internal assessment and predicted Grades by April 20. Hence the IB will be maintaining
its reputation, rigor, and value of the Diploma.
To complete this morning’s update we thought that we would
share this untitled poem by Kitty O'Meara that was shared
with us and is going viral on social media. It is a lovely poem and links with
the NY Times article that we are also sharing with you, What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change. The two link together very well in their
provocation that as we human suffer and recover from Covid 19, are forced to change
our way of living, this allows our Earth to recover from our misuse and mistreatment.
This is well illustrated in HCMC with the beautiful days, blue skies, clear
visibility and low AQI readings. So the question arises; do we have to be
suffering a global pandemic to enjoy the beauties of nature, or is it possible
for us to reflect and use this moment to change our relationship with our Earth
for the better?
Kitty O’Meara’s Poem. You will find this being circulated in many different formats and linked to different events in human history some going back to famines in the 19th century. The truth is that Kitty O’Meara is still alive today and is in fact a housewife living in Madison, Wisconsin, US.
And the people
stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made
art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And
listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their
shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in
ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again,
they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and
created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
Here is a video link to
the poem that could be used for a short meditation or mindfulness activity
together as families on Thursday and Friday.
Have a good week.
Keep safe and healthy,
Yours,
Adrian
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