School Calendar

Dear Parents and Guardians,

 

Today marks my one month working at Sekolah Global Indo-Asia. As a new member of the leadership team at the school, I have the privilege to sit down with our leadership team, groups of teachers, lead a whole-school professional development, and make contacts with some parents. It is indeed the positive culture of the school, which brought me here in the first place, a true potential for great things to come in the near future.

 

Understandably, the past couple of months have been challenging for people across the globe, not to mention for students, parents and educators. As much as every nation is fighting against the Covid19 pandemic in their own way, however, all nations share similar challenges when it comes to ensuring our students to not be disadvantaged from the schools’ closure. With that said, we are trying our best to ensure our students’ learning to continue, utilizing technology and different means of communication, whether it is blended, home visit, or hybrid, to say the least.

 

Even though the focus must stay on the learning, however, I appeal to us all to not overlook the psychological implications of the Covid19 pandemic, as emerging research and studies suggest. Online learning, as effective as it may be, will not replace the notion of face-to-face learning happening at school, with many opportunities for students to connect with friends and develop their social skills. These are part of the learning that will help them succeed in the future. Older students may be impacted even more, from the disturbance of their educational progress to adopting a new habit of coping strategies, while navigating the world of adolescence, are quite some challenges to face.

 

It is our responsibility as educators to ensure that we keep a balanced focus between the academic rigor and the well-being of our students. We need to sustain the relationships that have been built in the past. We need to be critical about what is worth learning, in situations like this. Please reach out to our teachers, counselors, and principals, they will be more than happy to hear and offer supports when needed. Parents can help connect your children with their friends, through online chat and/or virtual ‘playdate’ and to make sure your children have enough physical activities, to balance their screen time.

 

What is a school without its community? I have been very impressed by the synergy demonstrated by all staff; teaching, administrative and support staff. We are collectively working together to strive for excellence, driven by the school mission and it will only get better from here. Students’ Cambridge and Diploma result is the testament of how caring, dedicated and professional, our teachers are, here at SGIA. I look forward to meeting many of you, as soon as the school is open and the situation in Batam is under control.

 

Kind regards,

 

Mida Abdul

SGIA Academic Director