Coming Together

As BIS opens its doors for Term 3, I am certain that we are all excited, and perhaps a little nervous.

With the precautions we need to take to keep us all safe from Covid-19, I suspect that students, staff and parents alike are wondering what the school version of the “new normal” is going to be like. We are prepared for the technicalities of the term with masks, social distancing guidelines, hand sanitiser and a plan for hybrid teaching, but school has never just been about the technicalities of getting an education. One of the amazing strengths of our school is that it is a strong community, full of people who come together to learn, helping and supporting each other all the way. It is a community that emphasises the African Philosophy of Ubuntu meaning, “I am because we are.”

I see this sense of community everywhere – in the learners who asked me in my first Google Meet session if I could show them the classroom, in the teacher who turned off a projector so her diabetic colleague wouldn’t have to touch the button, in the students who are greeting each other so enthusiastically and so carefully, who are eager to share with their classmates after their holidays, in the parent who checked that I was keeping warm before asking me about the new term, in the teacher who told me her plan for how she is going to make sure that each child in her class feels welcome and loved as they begin to Term 3.

So, beyond our new regulations and systems, beyond our masks and hand sanitiser, my challenge to the students, staff and parents of BIS is this:
We are living in a time of uncertainty, of unfamiliar rules, and unintuitive distance from each other. Let’s make sure that these challenges bring us together instead of driving us apart. Let’s build the “new normal” out of little kindnesses and big hearts, and support each other as we do so.

Let’s do this, BIS!

Hannah Kirkaldy
Year 5 Teacher