BISB Weekly Update - January 14th, 2022
Message from the Head of School
Dear Mummies and Daddies!
We end week 1 of our second term – dealing with more emphatic challenges – but open regardless!
Three of our children have been at home this week dealing with quarantine – however, our understanding is that none of our babes has contracted the latest strain of Covid.
Very happily, we have had a number of staff who were dealing with quarantine rejoin us this week – yes, we have Misses Shaneika, Heather, and Lindey back on campus.
A reminder that an additional and highly contagious virus is in the city – Rotavirus. This results in severe stomach conditions – and provides us with an additional concern – and reason to be vigilant.
Whilst the cases of Omicron-Covid appear to have reduced in Bangkok this week – clearly, we must ensure that we are ensuring suitable precautions are in place. Forgive us for being more didactic in connection with drop off and pick up times – but we felt it important to ramp up our safety protocols.
If children are unwell – please do consider whether or not they are up to undertaking online learning… Sick babes should have the time to recover.
We are not offering hybrid learning. As such – we are not advocating that children come to school each week for only part of the week, and undertake some days online. This is especially true for early years as the provision for live and online classes is very different.
Library books – please do ensure the children bring back the library books that they borrowed for the Christmas holiday! THANKS!!!
Very sadly we have had to postpone the start of after school clubs. Let’s hope we can see their return very soon. For the same reason, we have postponed the start of swimming.
We have approximately 80% of children in school, as many families decided to keep their children at home. Consequently, we have a number of children joining the classes as remote participants – whilst our Early Years online offering has had to be renewed.
Lack of sleep affects children’s mental health and ability to concentrate in school – so, get back into a healthy sleep pattern after the holidays! And make sure they pack their school bag before going to bed to make the morning routines run more easily!
Grades 6 and 7 face pre-comprehensive examinations. Taking examinations is a serious business and stressful. Please be aware of their examination timetable – and encourage revision time – AND time to rest. Again, a good night’s sleep – and a healthy diet are so important to do well in the examinations.
If your babe/s just joined the school – be positive, but be realistic with them. Change takes time to deal with, and it is far from easy to join a new peer group and appreciate who will be your friend. The healer? Time… However, if you have especial worries please do contact the teacher concerned – or myself, as we are here to help.
Remember that, courtesy of the nature of this school, academic success requires a child to be good at English… If feasible, do incorporate English into home communications. Also, encourage reading in English – and watching tv in English!
Take care and cautiously enjoy a beautiful weekend,
Alan.
2021-2022 Kindness Drive - Thank You!
Thank you to all of our BASIS families for their contributions to the 2021-2022 Kindness Drive, and great job to our Grade 6 and Grade 7 students for organizing the event!
Pfizer Vaccination Survey for 5 - 11 Years
Following Thai FDA approval for the use of Pfizer (Comirnaty) vaccine for children 5-12 years old in a smaller dosage injection, we are working with the appropriate authorities with regards to the implementation of our vaccine program. We will notify you as soon as official information becomes available. We do recommend that you read and obtain information necessary for making the decision for your children when the times come as we expect the window for that decision to be made within 1-2 days (as it was for the 12-18 years old group). Here are several pieces of information that we’d like to share with you:
https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG211225134801609
https://thestandard.co/pfizer-biontech-for-5-11-years-old-children-specification/
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/planning/children.html
Together we can keep our community safe and we hope this information can help your family to make plan that’s the safest for you.
To judge initial interest in the 5 - 11 years vaccine program for our community, please complete the survey form found here: https://forms.gle/8bK9NGFXD14Kafiw7
TUSKER Parent Vaccination Statistics
We want to remind you that while our school is currently meeting the government’s community vaccine requirement in term of percentage of families being vaccinated, we would like to encourage our families to keep up with recommended guidelines for the booster shot as this can help to keep our BASIS community healthy. As of December 2021, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has announced a 3 month waiting period between thr 2nd shot and 3rd booster shot. Single booster shots (Pfizer and Astra Zeneca) is available for all nationals (Thais and Foreigners with ID) free-of-charge and can be registered via cell-phone provider links.
DTAC https://app.dtac.co.th/vaccine/index-en.html
TRUE https://vaccine.trueid.net/
AIS https://www.ais.th/vaccinesforthais/
Remark: The Ministry of Education has yet to update their official guidance, but when the government guideline changes for schools, we will be reaching out to you with additional information.
To ensure we have the most up-to-date information available about the status of our school community, please complete the following survey: https://forms.gle/AJ1w2UaaHryVmCTg8
Next Week's Snack & Lunch Menu
Our Week in Pictures!
