Good day to everyone,
We have just started term 2, but for everyone, this is more of the same.

It has been good to take advantage of some of the great offerings online. I like live theatre and performances, and to this end along with over 10 million others, I was able to watch the 25th Anniversary show of “Phantom of the Opera” from Andrew Lloyd Weber on the YouTube channel “The shows must go on”. It was a magnificent experience and one that most people would not be able to experience if it wasn't for the current circumstances. 

We were also all able to see some of the World’s most famous music stars perform from their homes. It was impressive to see the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Elton John and even the Rolling Stones perform live for the World without their normal support and backup. This show was done to record thanks to health workers around the world.

There was a good opinion piece in the Star newspaper on Sunday in support of all those other people who are keeping Malaysia going behind the scenes. People that we should keep in our minds at this time
https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/the-star-says/2020/04/19/non-medical-frontliners-are-heroes-too

Now that term 2 has started, you will be aware that the learning from home is being arranged slightly differently. Both Primary and Secondary have sent through details of how this will happen this term. Thank you to the feedback from students and parents, which has helped us to adapt what we are doing.

I would like to remind everyone that learning at home doesn't mean a face to face interaction with a teacher for six hours a day. Normal classroom lessons involve using other materials and have a number of activities in a lesson. Online lessons have the same arrangements. We are also aware of the ill effects of screen time and the learning from home lessons try to mix this up so that a child is not in front of a screen all the time.

I have been asked a number of times recently about going back to school?
Our priority is the health and safety of the students and staff who will be at the TISKL campus. 

Dr. Frieden ( former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ) said “I fear there’s an analogous mistaken belief that sheltering in place will make this virus go away, that we can then choose a date and all come out. It’s not about the date, it’s about data and building a national response at scale.”
So the simple answer to this question is, “I’m not sure”, but we are reviewing our actions for when that happens. We are waiting for people who have recognised expertise in this area to advise us what to do. This starts with the lifting of the MCO and extends to schools being able to reopen. Please be assured that we will let everyone know, in advance so that we are all prepared. The one thing that I can say easily, is please don’t expect everything to go back the way it was straight away. Even when we return, we will still be operating in a different way.

Peter Wells