Dear Parents,

Thank-you once again for your patience and support as we continue to work through this very challenging coronavirus pandemic. We hope you are keeping safe, healthy and active during this global epidemic. As change continues to happen daily, I would like to update you on some important items:

1. Resumption of Classes- POSTPONED
The DSEJ announced on Friday afternoon that the plan to resume classes on April 13th will be postponed until further notice. This is disheartening news, however, the government has the health and safety of our school communities as their top priority. We support this decision and are hopeful that classes will resume in the very near future. We have plans ready to go and in place for the safety, health and academic needs of our students and staff when the notice comes to resume classes.

2. Grade 12 Alberta Diploma Exams and IB Exams Canceled
The Alberta Education diploma exams (Grade 12) and IB exams are high stakes assessments that count as a significant percentage of the student’s final grade. We received confirmation from the IBO and Alberta Education that they have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This is an advantage to our students as it will relieve some stress of having to prepare to write multiple high stakes exams, so they can focus on completing their classroom assessments to make their course grade as high as possible. The course grade on the report card will serve as the student’s final mark in the course and can be used for university entrance. It is important to note that part of our accreditation process involves comparing teacher grades to the grades students score on these exams. Our teachers’ grades consistently come within a few percentage points of the exam scores, which adds to the validity of the teacher grades.

3. Online Learning
With the postponement of class resumption, the online learning will continue in all subjects, at all grade levels. We greatly appreciate the survey feedback from parents, students, and teachers about the online teaching and learning experience. We are continuing to analyze the results and I will be reporting back to you with what we heard. The online learning should not interfere with your child’s promotion to the next grade for next year. It is important that students continue to be diligent with completing assignments from their teachers in a timely manner, and for teachers to be responsive to any parent concerns. If you have a concern about the online teaching, please let your child’s teacher know.

4. School Fees
We have received inquiries and questions from parents regarding school fees. With the suspension of classes and the delivery of education happening online, the school will be fully crediting parents for the following fees:

• Field trip fees, including full refunds on Experience Week deposits
• Bussing fees
• Lunch fees
• ASET, ASMAT and Chinese language tutoring fees

It is important for parents to know that with our field trips and Experience Week, we were not able to secure full refunds from our service providers, however, the school is making up the difference to ensure parents receive full refunds.

Parents can appreciate that education is an essential service and schools operate differently than other organizations. I have heard from some families asking if there is going to be concessions to our tuition fees with the usage of the online teaching approach. This is very difficult to do, as reducing the fees during these unique times impacts our ability to cover the School operations, including costs such as educational supplies, accreditation fees and, most critically, staff salaries.

The best that we can do at this time is offer a significant discount on this year’s Summer Camp and Summer School (in July) to TIS families. We ask for your understanding and continued support.

5. Programming When Classes Resume
Administration and Leadership have developed a plan to provide more face to face time between teachers and students when classes resume at TIS. When we resume classes this school year, parents can expect to receive a schedule that includes:

• Additional one hour instructional time for students with their teachers added after school to support tutoring and extra help.
• Cancelation of clubs, ECA’s, sports teams and other extracurricular activities to allow for the additional instructional time.
• Tutoring for inclusive students will continue.
• Assemblies and other events, that are large group gatherings, will be cancelled.
• Special accommodations for graduation ceremonies will be explored so they can run as scheduled.

Let’s continue to hope that all goes well and we are able to get back to normal routines in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Mark Lockwood
Head of School

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2020年3月23日

新型冠狀病毒狀況更新 (COVID-19)

致親愛的家長：

再次感謝各位家長在這段時間給予的耐心及支持，學校承諾將繼續努力，克服這段因新型冠狀病毒而飽受影響的時期。我們希望各家庭在這段時間保持安全、健康的身心。由於疫情每天變化，本人祈藉此向各位交待一些重要事項：

1. 復課日子再度推遲
澳門教育暨青年局早於上週五下午時段宣佈，延遲早前宣佈的4月13日復課計劃。雖然這是一個令人沮喪的消息，不過特區政府也是為學校的社區健康和安全作首要考慮才作此決定，因此學校十分支持，並期望在不久的將來恢復上課。學校方面已為學生及教職員的安全、健康以及學習方面，實施復課準備的計劃。

2. 高中三年級學生 – 加拿大艾伯塔畢業文憑考試及IB國際文憑考試取消
對於高中三年級學生而言，加拿大艾伯塔省教育文憑考試及IB國際文憑考試十分重要，佔畢業學年最終成績的很大比例。學校已收到來自IB國際文憑組織及艾伯塔省教育機構的指示，宣佈由於新型冠狀病毒大流行，相關考試已被取消。消息對於學生而言無疑是減輕了學習壓力，避過了為重要考試作準備的心理重擔，並可更專注於課堂評估，爭取更高的分數。最終派發的成績表將會是學生在該門課程中的最後分數，並會用作為大學入學分數。值得注意的是，評分過程包括將老師的分數與學生的成績進行比較。老師的分數佔考試成績的幾個百分點，增加了老師分數的成效性。

3. 線上學習
隨著復課時間的推遲，線上學習將繼續開放給所有年級和學科。非常感謝家長、學生以及老師對在線教學的調查反饋，學校正分析問卷結果，稍後將匯報整體情況。線上學習情況不會影響 貴子女明年升讀下一年級，因此最重要是學生按時完成老師佈置的作業，而老師亦有義務向家長作出回應。若您對於線上學習有任何疑問，請直接向老師查詢。

4. 學費
學校收到部份家長詢問學費的問題。隨著停課和線上教育的開展，學校將向家長退回以下全額費用：

• 外遊費； 包括體驗週全額定金
• 校車費
• 午餐費
• ASET、ASMAT以及中文補習費

學校請家長們放心，雖然我們未能從服務供應商取得全額的外遊費及體驗週退費，然而學校亦會補回差額，好讓家長得到全額退款。

家長們可以將教育理解成一項基本服務，而學校的運作則與其他組織機構不同。有部份家長提出隨著停課而推行線上學習，學校是否可減免部份學費。這是一個困難的決定，因為如果在這段特殊時期減免學費會影響學校營運，包括教育用品、認證費用，最重要的是教職員的工資。

因此，我們只能透過為在讀家庭提供今年七月份的夏令營優惠價格，以作回饋。祈望家長理解及支持。

5. 復課的準備
校長及領導層已為復課制定計劃，好讓屆時有更多機會讓老師及學生進行面對面的課堂時間。一旦復課，家長便會收到新的課程安排，內容包括：

• 課後為學生增加一小時的教學時間，藉以支持輔導班加強老師指導
• 取消所有課後活動，包括興趣班、體育類以及課外活動等，以便有更多教學時間
• 繼續為融合教育學生提供輔導
• 早會及其他大型集體活動將會取消
• 改動畢業典禮的一些安排，以便典禮可以如期舉行

在此祝願往後日子一切順利，在不久的將來回歸正常生活。

祝安，

Mark Lockwood
澳門國際學校負責人