“…Adaptability to change is itself a hallmark of successful education…” – Peter Hilton
At Kingswood we believe that the core function of our junior school is to lay the foundations for learning and for life in general. Our smaller class sizes allow us to support our pupils on a one to one basis and provide us with the time to care and to get to know our pupils individually.
Now, more than ever, with all that is going on in the world, we realise how important the relationships with our pupils really are.
With our second term now well and truly up and running, we have placed huge emphasis on the interactions between our teaching staff and our pupils. Although our classrooms are empty, we are creating online spaces to come together and to connect with our pupils.
Mr Hough, our Junior School Head, had the following to say: ”I am exceptionally proud of the Kingswood staff who have risen to every challenge of the transition to online learning. They have upskilled their online teaching and collaboration skills and have not just tried to replicate their normal teaching online, but have created and fashioned new ways of teaching and learning and constantly try to find a balance between real-time connection and activities with asynchronous prepared materials”.
The class Google Meets have been a real highlight for many as these have provided us with an opportunity to stay connected with each other.
Our pupils have embraced this new way of learning with energy, enthusiasm and excitement and the atmosphere on the various meeting platforms has been electric.
A great deal of fun has also been had “in the classroom” and our pupils have found ways to make the most of this time by daring one another to various challenges, by thinking of creative and new ways of doing things, and even by playing some practical jokes from time to time.
Our pupils have got the real Kingswood “gees”, but we have also been impressed by the maturity with which they have tackled the new way of learning.
Our character education, which is at the heart of our curriculum, has in many ways been highlighted by this new online endeavour, with our pupils displaying self-discipline, self-reliance, innovation, creativity and grit.
The growth in maturity and self-reliance of our children, particularly those in the Intermediate and Senior Phases, has been particularly evident and has helped to make this transition relatively seamless.
Understandably, our Foundation and Pre-Primary Phase children have had to rely more on parental support, at a time where parents are themselves transitioning their businesses and lives.
We would like to acknowledge our parents in this regard and thank them for becoming an extension of us during this time. We know it is not easy, but you are now well and truly Kingswoodians and more than ever part of the family.