Panaga School Weekly, Issue 57 by Panaga School

Updates from the Principal’s Desk Issue Fifty-Seven 10th April 2020

Panaga School IFM/4, BSP Company Sdn Bhd, Seria, KB 3534, Negara Brunei Darussalam (+673) 3375728/3372139 (Teraja/ Melilas), (+673) 3372694 (Mendaram/ Rampayoh)

Dear Panaga School Community, This is our second special ‘home edition’ of Panaga School Weekly (PSW), which celebrates the ways in which our school community are adapting to living, learning and working in this current environment of school closure and work from home. Mr Damian was quick to adapt to the way in which he leads our weekly celebrations of learning through his sensational role as editor of PSW. By connecting with the community to gather great examples of how learning has changed since Panaga School closed its doors to children and implementing remote ways of operating, Mr Damian has produced the same high quality Panaga School Weekly, however, with our student and parent community as ‘journalists’. This week's PSW pages are bursting with evidence of just how broad learning is. It is wonderful to see photos of students cooking, playing, walking and being artistic; among the many and diverse Continuity of Learning activities.

Panaga School's Continuity of Learning programme As a school, we are responding to the feedback we receive about remote ways of teaching and learning by continuing to tweak what is on offer. It is fair to say that parent requests are quite varied; from some families wishing to see significant remote face to face online cindybintahal@panagaschool.com teaching, to other families who advocate no screen time for their children. We also have families currently scattered around the world, and various families ranging in numbers, from having 1 child up to 6 Head Teacher: children. As a school leadership team, we are working with all of the Mark Walters parent feedback we receive and are also reflecting upon the following: markwalters@panagaschool.net Principal: Cindy Bin Tahal (+673) 3372355/ 8777028

(+673) 3373972/ 8988224 Panaga School Senior Administration Officer: Jalinah Bte Ali (+673) 3375728 jalinah.ali@shell.com Admin Support, Rampayoh/Mendaram: Zurimah Bte Jumat z.jumat@shell.com Admin Support, Teraja: Hasmah Bte Hj Salleh hasmah.salleh@shell.com

- What is best to assist with 'maintaining' your child/ren's academic abilities, - Our teaching philosophies at this time, - What resources are currently available to teachers, - The needs of our families and students at this time. This level of reflection has produced what is on offer in Panaga School's Continuity of Learning Programme. As mentioned, we will continue to listen to parent feedback and tweak what we offer for as long as remote teaching and learning continues. A big message from me to you as Principal is to please take care of yourself and your loved ones. Your child's health and wellbeing are so important. Globally, almost every child’s learning is interrupted at this time. As teachers, on top of acknowledging this, we are preparing an exit strategy and return to school. Do what you can and please never feel guilty about how our current situation may impact your child/ren’s progress.

Shell continues to invest in learning on a global level, with ongoing considerations of creativity in learning, with the development of NXplorers. Examples of learning from NXplorers has been celebrated damianbrady@panagaschool.com by Melilas in many past editions of PSW. We acknowledge that the world needs to become more sustainable and that the oil and gas industry is changing. Panaga School teachers always focus on encouraging Personal Qualities to assist our students to prepare for an ever-changing world and future. Panaga School Weekly editor: Damian Brady

Issue Fifty-Seven 10th April 2020

Panaga School IFM/4, BSP Company Sdn Bhd, Seria, KB 3534, Negara Brunei Darussalam (+673) 3375728/3372139 (Teraja/ Melilas), (+673) 3372694 (Mendaram/ Rampayoh) Principal: Cindy Bin Tahal (+673) 3372355/ 8777028

Often when we think about school, we draw from our own experiences as a child. Schools and learning have evolved and changed for a good reason. I encourage you to spend a moment to take a look at, and reflect upon, Sir Ken Robinson's entertaining and thought-provoking messages about schools and learning. This could assist you to rethink what home learning looks like at the moment, and learning in general: www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity. Rethinking safety While we are working and learning from home, please consider what safety looks like: Online access - can open up a number of risks to your privacy, financial information and child's wellbeing. Our advice is to have children work online in public domains. We are carefully considering what we make available to children and the associated security implications that accompany such online material.

Learning and working from home - take a moment to consider your learning and working environments. Are there any safety hazards? Are you looking after your health and wellbeing with brain breaks, hydration and physical activity? Normalising risks - while Brunei is currently experiencing a series of no further COVID-19 cases, the message from the Ministry of Health (MOH) is clear, reminding us to please remain vigilant.

There are still COVID-19 risks present, and as a community, we need to play our part in following the directives of MOH to support their great cindybintahal@panagaschool.com work. Remember to wash hands, cough and sneeze into a tissue or your elbow, remain at home as much as possible, and if outdoors, Head Teacher: please practise social distancing. It is also incredibly important to continue to educate our children about these strategies to help us Mark Walters markwalters@panagaschool.net maintain a healthy community. (+673) 3373972/ Helmets and bicycle safety - there are a lot of people out and about 8988224 being active of an afternoon. Some concerns have been raised that not all people are wearing helmets when cycling. Please remember your Panaga School Senior helmet when next cycling, as it could save your life. Administration Officer: Jalinah Bte Ali Social engagements (+673) 3375728 In this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PSW, it is wonderful to see examples of students using jalinah.ali@shell.com technology to socialise with their peers. Admin Support, Rampayoh/Mendaram: Zurimah Bte Jumat z.jumat@shell.com

We encourage parents to reach out individually, or in groups, to one another to generate social face to face online opportunities for your children if this is supportive at this time.

Admin Support, Teraja: Hasmah Bte Hj Salleh hasmah.salleh@shell.com

School to home connections This afternoon, Parent Representatives are joining a Zoom meeting with members of our school leadership team to further discuss school to home connections. This is an area that we are focused on to improve, in readiness for next week.

Panaga School Weekly editor: Damian Brady

A school bulletin with relevant information will be distributed later this evening, to update parents of progress in this area.

damianbrady@panagaschool.com

Wishing everybody well. Kind regards, Cindy