COVID-19 Update April 2, 2020
Elementary Distance Learning Program
As last week, our primary goal is to deliver the academic program in a way that fits with the principles of VERITAS and the Selwyn House mission and vision.
Faculty, student, and parent feedback have been invaluable these past few weeks, and we will continue to tweak our distance education classrooms based on this feedback.
We will offer a centralized website to help parents and students plan their days and find resources more easily. This website will provide access to weekly/daily lesson plans by grade, and will be ready for launch on Monday, April 6. Tomorrow, we will offer the students an age-appropriate virtual field trip to provide training and time for the teachers to prepare the new content. New content will be added as of 8:30 am every school day.
Each lesson will contain activities, and work, and any directions regarding how to submit or complete the assignments.
Daily activities will continue to be provided by French, Math and English teachers.
Specialists will also prepare weekly activities for the students.
For each Band, there will be a suggested daily schedule that could help families establish an age-appropriate routine for your children. Following this schedule is entirely optional, as we understand family circumstances vary.
All assignments and activities will continue to be shared using the following platforms:
Maternelle through Grade 4 will use Seesaw as our major platform to post messages, plans and activities, in order to keep emails to a minimum.
Grades 5 and 6 will use Google Classroom to provide instruction, assignments and activities. Seesaw will also be used when appropriate.
Our program is constantly evolving, and we are particularly focused on offering more
opportunities for your son to connect to his teachers and classmates. This may include online teacher office hours, full classroom instruction, or chats, as well as small-group video conferencing. Once again, this must be done with boys in mind and in an age-appropriate way.
In Maternelle through Grade 4, teachers will be available to answer questions, review work, teach a lesson, and connect with the boys. As greater parental support is required for our younger students to be online, synchronous learning will be offered for short periods of time during the week. However, teachers will continue to post virtual lessons and videos allowing for interaction with their teachers.
In Grade 5 and 6, teachers will initiate full-class or small-group video conferencing and provide a forum for the boys to interact, discuss, and ask questions. Older students in the Elementary School are more autonomous online, but we will still respect family time by keeping synchronous sessions to a minimum. As with our Middle/Senior School boys, students will be expected to adhere to a set of online etiquette rules.
Our small Co-op groups have been scheduled, and over the next few days, parents will be contacted to find out the time of those Zoom Co-op sessions.
A reminder: the work we are providing is to help your son stay engaged in learning and remain connected with teachers/classmates. Please do not worry if your son is not able to complete all the activities posted daily, but we would encourage your sons to attend all the Zoom sessions. At this time we truly value community over curriculum.
If you have any questions regarding our new centralized website or any of the technology being used in Elementary School, please drop in to get an overview from our Technology Director JP Trudeau, on Monday or Tuesday from 8:30 am to 9:30 am using this link https://zoom.us/j/747536609
A message from Brenda Montgomery, Director of Academic Innovation & Growth
Week 1 of the Veritas Continuous Education Plan
We are almost through Week 1 of the Veritas Continuous Education Plan in Grades 7-11. There have been some bumps, but overall, students have been enthusiastically showing up! It is a tribute to their teachers and to Selwyn House that the students are keen to connect and to learn. I also have to commend our teachers, who have worked extremely hard to learn new technology and to adapt their lessons to an online format.
During the COVID-19 school closure, Selwyn House is providing a connection for students, a sense of normalcy and purpose, intellectual stimulation, and another level of support in these times of increased anxiety. Even though the building is closed, the faculty and staff are here for our students.
A reminder that the organizational foundation for this plan is the consistent use of OnCampus and Google Calendar invites. By now, most students have figured this out, but encourage your son to email me if he has any questions.
In Grades 7, 8, and 11, there have been some modifications to the schedule that will start on monday. Teachers will contact your son with new calendar invites.
Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns (montgomeryb@selwyn.ca)
Our next Parent Survey will be sent on Monday, April 6, 2020
Join the parent chat room
On Tuesday, April 7, Dr. Ada Sinacore and Dr. Michelle Rath will be co-facilitating a chat room for parents. The purpose is for parents to be able to share their strategies and struggles managing multiple roles through COVID-19.
The chat room will be held every Tuesday, beginning on April 7, from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM.
Please feel free to join when you can and stay for as long as you want.
To join, click on this link: https://zoom.us/j/3482342822
COVID-19 Website Update
Academics is now divided by school division, and relevant information per school is posted daily.
Parent and Teacher Resources have been separated for easier viewing.
A new “Community in Action” page showcases what our students and faculty are up to while at home, including an online student newspaper!
School Calendar
Events in the school calendar are being updated with details as quickly as possible. Many are cancelled, but where possible, the event or meeting will happen virtually. Please note that there will be no online learning on scheduled school holidays. Therefore, there will be no programming on Friday, April 10 and Monday, April 13, 2020.
Selwyn House School
Website: www.selwyn.ca
Location: 95 Chemin de la Côte-Saint-Antoine, Westmount, QC, Canada
Phone: 514-931-9481
Facebook: facebook.com/selwynhouseschool