Speech

Grade 12

Parents

March 31, 2020

Dear Huamei Parents:

I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during these difficult times.

I have been the principal of our school for four years, and I must say that I have never been as proud as I am now. Even though we have always worked effectively, efficiently and productively over the years, I cannot believe how well our learning community has come together during these difficult times.

I would like to bring you up-to-date with what we have been preparing and doing behind the scenes to deal with the situation.

We all left Guangzhou on January 18 on our usual Chinese New Year break; little did we know what awaited us. Little did we know how many drastic changes would happen in our lives. Some of us left, with just a little duffle-bag, equipped with beach wear, to go to an exotic destination and enjoy some rest and relaxation. As you know, a teacher’s job requires continuous giving, and holidays are desperately needed in order to refresh, rejuvenate and recharge the teacher’s “batteries”, so that they can return with much needed energy, to start giving 100% once again.

While we were away for the break, new measures were starting to take effect inChina, and for good reason, in order to battle the Covid-19 outbreak. Industries closed down, schools were closed and isolation measures were implemented. It was a serious situation, so the Huamei administration team sprang into action to create a backup plan.  

The solution, of course, was Online Schooling. Our team had to quickly research appropriate platforms that would be easy for students and teachers to use. From the beginning, we set very high expectations and specific requirements: teachers and students had to have the opportunity to meet daily for classes, and we also needed an environment where teachers could easily post assignments and resources, and students could post their work. I am pleased to say that Huamei is one of the few international schools that implemented the “live classroom” approach, while many other schools chose to just post assignments and prerecorded videos.

We selected a combination of platforms that were previously tried and tested; we chose to go with Zoom, EasyClass and Schoology for class work, and WeChat and email for communication. Our school administration team quickly created a virtual school timetable that brilliantly managed to accommodate both our students, who were mainly inChina, and our teachers who were scattered, literally, all over the planet.

In the very short time that we had before the opening date of February 10, we did our best to understand the predicament that our teachers were in, and the problems that they were facing: problems with living conditions, lack of resources, Internet connection problems, computers, tablets, phones and printers. New Internet packages and new hardware had to be quickly purchased.  New accommodations had to be rented by teachers in the various countries that they were staying in. Flights were being cancelled and or doubled and tripled in price, and teachers were being stranded. Arrangements had to be made quickly and logistics and other problems had to be solved, so that the teachers could be ready to function on the start date of February 10.  Teachers were located in time zones of up to 18 hours apart from each other, so sacrifices had to be made by many, in order to adapt to a timetable that would be suitable for the students. The school had to draft new purchasing policies and invest in funds to purchase the missing technology for all this to work. Staff meetings had to be set up for Sundays so that all teachers could find a common time to meet, in order to share their problems and successes.

The learning curve was steep for all. But I am happy to say that since we started, classes have been running as smoothly as possible under the circumstances. We have put in place specific rules that we have communicated to the teachers, students and parents. It is a well known fact that Huamei teachers are always working as a closely-knit team, but it is even more amazing to see how this compulsory distancing has brought them even closer together. I am thrilled to see them share their stories, problems and successes along the way, suggest solutions, support each other and learn from each other in the last couple of months. Additionally, they are often holding open classes, so that school administration and colleagues can drop in, in order to follow the lessons and exchange new techniques and strategies.

I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts of our teachers and the care that they are giving to our students, as I have seen in our constant communication. I am in constant round-the-clock WeChat communication with them, as well as regularly meeting with them every Sunday, providing them with the advice and support that they require. I hear their input very carefully and note down their suggestions on how we can continuously fine-tune and improve the experience for our students.

This extraordinary group effort has borne fruits: I am very pleased to announce that we have had over 260 conditional university acceptances for 100 students from our Senior 3 class. This is a tremendous accomplishment and I congratulate all the students, teachers and parents for working together and making this happen.

There are about 50 more students that will still need to receive letters of acceptance from the Universities of their choice.

As you are well aware, the parents, the third component in this partnership, have also had to adapt to this new reality, and we are thankful and appreciative of your great contribution. We are therefore asking for your increased attention to the following:

There are very specific guidelines for students in order to receive acceptance letters. They are the same guidelines as the ones that apply to those that have already received conditional offers.

The main concern will be to improve grades. In order for students to do this, they must follow these guidelines for success:

1.Attend every class. All teachers take attendance in the first 5 minutes of class. A student that does not attend class does not have the opportunity to earn marks by participating in the online classroom discussion.

2.Follow all teacher instructions carefully.

3.Submit all the assigned work that will count for marks.

4.Participate in the WeChat group discussions. Answer questions and ask questions. Teachers are keeping track not only of the quality of responses but also of the frequency of responses by each student.

5.Complete the homework and all assigned reading in a timely fashion.

6.Submit completed work and give attention to detail.

7.Provide oral feedback to the teachers, as well as written feedback.

Please note that the student marks are determined by a process called triangulation, where the teacher will use their professional judgement to award a mark based on three components:

•tests and assignments, called student products

•observations of students by their teachers, and

•conferencing between teachers and students.

Teachers will look for evidence that the student has actually understood the work submitted and can communicate it in different formats, not just in writing. Therefore, if the students can answer some of the other students’ questions on WeChat and in class, this will help them get more marks as the teacher will actually mark this as part of the entire student input.

In order to better understand this process, students and parents are required to read the anecdotal reports that were provided by the teachers earlier this month very carefully. In these documents, they will find suggestions on how each student can improve. Warning letters were also provided with similar information. The warning letters also stated a percentage mark for those students that were receiving a mark below 60%. Please note that this is the mark that the student will probably receive on the report card at best, if they do not improve.

Report cards will be handed out in the week of April 13. 

Please help your children understand that they must figure out what they are supposed to do in order to improve, before we start preparing report cards. This is their final chance to improve before the midterm marks are officially in.

Be assured that all our teachers and I, are very understanding and willing to help your children. We are caring for the students and working towards their best interests. We are happy when students succeed and saddened, when they still fail to meet expectations after all the opportunities that are available to them. We expect our students to come to us for help on how to do better, and we will help them to the best of our ability. It must be clear, however, that all students must meet the course expectations in order to receive a favorable grade.

In order to support all students to succeed, our teachers are:

1.Offering daily 40-minute live classes.

2.Offering up to 40-minute WeChat periods for questions and answers daily.

3.Offering extra online classes for students on difficult topics.

4.Offering extra resource classes online.

5.Pre-recording video lessons and making them available to students.

6.Assigning reading and writing material with clear instructions for students to complete and return to the teachers.

7.Providing students with the opportunity to discuss online

8.Spending many hours correcting student work and providing descriptive feedback. It takes extra time for teachers to prepare online classes and to mark the assignments. 

9.Writing and administering quizzes and tests online.

In addition to my duties as the principal, I also teach one class every semester so that I understand the difficulties that the students and teachers face. I can assure you that our teachers are spending most of their day working hard, fulfilling their duties as best as possible in a manner that makes our profession proud. I have complete confidence in the quality of education that our students are receiving, and I have been in constant communication with the Bond organization in Toronto, a number of principals at other international schools, and our credit granting institution, the Ontario Ministry of Education in Canada regarding our practices and policies.

It is the teacher and administrator’s double obligation to help the students succeed, and to be vigilant with maintaining the integrity of the program. The Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) is one of the most sought-after secondary school diplomas in the world, and achieving it reflects a specific level of skills and knowledge.

I am convinced that most of our student population is capable of achieving the OSSD and pursue their dreams at the university of their choice. But for that to happen, they must also participate in every aspect of school life as mentioned above. A couple of more comments on specific matters:

The OSSLT exam has been cancelled this year. For Senior 3 students that have not written it yet, this graduation requirement has been waived for this year- but for this year only.

Volunteer hours: they can also be fulfilled this term by Senior 3 students offering help to other Huamei students. Given the special circumstances, the school will allow for this kind of volunteer work. So now is the time for students to take the chance to tutor other students, in special Zoom sessions or other WeChat groups.  They must provide evidence of the number of hours of volunteer work at the school.

Dear parents, as the third partner in this partnership for your children’s education, you have also had to adjust to a new reality and support our work more than ever. For this, we are very grateful. I will say this again: I am very confident that your children are in good hands and that they are receiving the quality education that you expect of a great school.

We will not become complacent and we shall not rest in our laurels. We will continuously seek better ways of doing things. We are researching new synergies and are in discussions with an online school in Toronto to use their Learning Management System (LMS) platform as a backup should our online teaching becomes more of a longer term solution, or if we experience any problems with our current systems. Our teachers shall make up any lost classes due to illness or other emergencies. We are recommending software products such as Procreate for our Art classes, many of our teachers have upgraded Zoom therefore increasing the time for each online class wherever possible, and we are being proactive in finding creative and effective solutions to many other potential challenges that we may face in the future. We are also planning a phased return back to school to accommodate the classes where a teacher cannot return to school because of various government and airline restrictions.

In closing, I wish and hope that you spend this time with your families bonding and making the best of a compromising situation. I have especially and personally found it delightful once again, that sharing meals with my family has brought us closer together, rediscovering long lost values.

I encourage you to share in your children’s days; play games with them, do puzzles, and exercise together. Have story-telling times and share your past experiences. I find it very amusing when my son finds out things about me that he never knew before. We read books together and discuss them. There is a tremendous “silver lining”, a rediscovered gift in being together, even if isolated, at home.

Please remind your children to eat, sleep and hydrate themselves frequently. Also to take long breaks from electronic devices. Engaging in a hobby like playing the piano or other instrument can give a family relief from the daily stresses.

I wish you all safety and health. Thank you for your time. Thank you for entrusting your children to Huamei for their education. One last thought: I met 5 ex-Huamei students this year who are studying at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada. It was such a wonderful experience. It was wonderful to hear their stories and feedback. They all agreed and wished to inform me that we had prepared them well.

I look forward to returning to beautiful Guangzhou and to our beautiful Huamei campus. I miss my colleagues and I miss my students. Believe me, all teachers do. We all look forward to being reunited once again.

Have a wonderful day.

Until we meet again.