Update on learning, this academic year and next academic year

Ho Chi Minh City, March 19^th, 2020

ANNOUNCEMENT LETTER

Update on learning, this academic year and next academic year

Dear Parents

The VAS Board of Management and School Managers would like to express our sincere thanks to all parents and students for your companionship and close cooperation with the school in the prevention of the disease and in supporting your children in their online learning at home.

The Covid-19 virus crisis is now affecting everyone in our world, and no one can predict what will happen or how and when it will end. The authorities, you, our staff, teachers and all people globally are doing everything possible by working together to reduce the risks and overcoming this crisis.

In this challenging period, we are facing many obstacles to carry on. However, as an organization and a part of the whole community, we must and will do our utmost to plan and prepare for any possible scenario.

In that respect, there are four main areas the school has been focusing on:

1. The teaching and learning process for the benefit of our students
2. Protecting the VAS community from the effects of this crisis
3. The preparation and planning for re-opening the school
4. The planning and preparation for the next academic year

I. Learning

Over the last weeks since the closure of the schools, all our teachers have worked online with our students and endeavored to engage with parents as effectively as possible.

We now know we could open at the earliest on April 6^th, 2020. In the meantime, our teachers are focusing on further enhancing the good practices of online teaching generated over the last few weeks. We are also looking to revise and streamline the curriculum content, and develop new online teaching plans as well as assessment and exam approach to optimize the learning outcome and achievement of our students. We will follow the directions from the Ministry of Education and Training in its official correspondence dated March 13^th, 2020, and subsequently, the specific guidelines from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City as provided in the letters No. 829/GDĐT-TrH and 830/GDĐT-TH dated March 16^th, 2020.

The MOET and the Cambridge virtual lessons will be provided on a fixed weekly schedule for your child from March 23^rd, 2020, which you will receive every Friday for the following week from your child’s teacher. The teacher will also be able to discuss with you online and make an appointment for an online call to discuss any help or issues you wish to discuss.

The focus will be on keeping learning alive and students well-prepared for any exams and tests, including the MOET assessments.

II. VAS community

VAS has ensured that ALL its staff and teachers have remained fully employed during the last period. We have worked with our teachers to ensure we can lengthen the academic year beyond the normal schedule. We have also worked intensively with all our colleagues to stay safe, follow the government guidelines and prepare for the students to return. In the current circumstance, we have been, as best as is possible, informing you of the closure, exams and learning plans and encouraging you again to keep contact with your child’s teachers and homeroom teachers to ensure our children keep learning.

We normally run the yearly English speaking and debating competition physically in a school setting, however, we have decided to run this online for this particular period to ensure our students stay closely connected with their school, teachers, and peers as an active learning community. Details will be forthcoming soon.

III. This academic year calendar

Whereas it is impossible to “create” time, we will do our best to offer our students and parents as much as possible to make up for that where students have not been in school.

VAS normally ends all the teaching activities in the third week of May. We have worked with our teachers to agree that the second semester will be continued until June 30^th, 2020 at least and follow further directions from MOET and authorities.

Once we reopen again, we will also add extra periods each day particularly for those groups who have exams or tests to ensure that the students concerned are well prepared for these.

Many of you normally attend the summer course. However, we have not finalized what we can offer this summer as the school re-opening schedule is not certain at this point. We will communicate the plan to you as soon as we can.

IV. The next academic year

VAS will start the next academic year again on August 17^th, 2020. Although it seems far from everyone’s mind, the VAS team has been preparing as we must be ready for your children!

We are already recruiting new teachers, buying our learning resources, books, and further necessary teaching resources as we normally do.

We have also started to enroll new students for the next school year, and new parents are enthusiastic about joining you in our community. In fact, we are seeing more parents than usual planning ahead of their children’s education despite the challenging circumstances.

Therefore, accurate re-enrollment data is crucial even though the next school year seems far away and not important in the current crisis.

We together can weather this unprecedented storm and ensure we try to pick up as normal when the time comes.

We hope all of you and your children, your families and friends stay safe and healthy, thank you for supporting the VAS community and each other.

Best regards,

VAS Board of Management