As COVID 19 continues to deluge our world, we have now started to accept the new normal of WFH and also LFH (Learning from home). We are in our third week of LFH and our educators are making earnest efforts to provide a semblance of routine for our students. It is indeed heartwarming to see our students adopting this novel way of learning with élan.

The students of grades 6,7 and 8 have been actively reaching out to their teachers for any challenges related to technical glitches, work submissions or even asking for some extra time over and above the deadlines! Grades 9 has truly been behaving like high school students with no delay in submission, being patient with the technical glitches and having their own zoom sessions for collaborative work. Our ICSE Grade 8 students who have moved into doing their Grade 9 syllabus with great ease, need a special mention.

The MYP Grade 10 students have been impacted the most with May 2020 eAssessment examinations being called off by the IB. Their final Arts portfolio is near completion and other internal components required by the IB have already been completed. We have started the Pre- DP course for Grade 10 from this week with two optional modules; the details are shared in an earlier email. All our Grade 10 students have opted for either one or both these modules. From next week we are also starting the compulsory Pre DP-modules on Mathematics and Sciences. The schedule for Pre DP will be posted on the Neev Academy Online Learning site.

We will continue with our online learning till such time we receive any clear government directives.

Assessment, Grading and Reporting

Middle Years Programme

Grades 6 and 7- We will be reporting based on the year’s performance and will also take into consideration the recent formative assessments which some of our teachers are conducting online. The current unit will end with a summative and the grades for that will be considered as well for final reports.

Grades 8 and 9- End of year examination has been cancelled for this academic year. We will follow the same reporting pattern as Grades 6 and 7 of the MYP. For Mathematics, we have decided to conduct a comprehensive two- hour examination at the beginning of the next academic year which will cover all the math syllabus of the current academic year. We will release the date of the examination before we close for the summer break. This is only for students of Grade 8 going to 9 and Grade 9 going to 10.

ICSE

The end of the year examination for Grades 6,7 and 8 has been cancelled. We will base our final report on the Term 1 scores as well as Formative tests and Unit Test 2 of Term 2. We will, however, finish the required portions for ICSE via online learning.

This week we encountered few disruptions in our Zoom platform and our IT department took immediate measures. The following are the steps our educators are taking to ensure digital safety.

1. Locking the meeting once it is in session so that no new participant can join.
2. Having all students "wait" in the Waiting Room and be admitted one by one instead of all at once.
3. Setting up two-factor authentication with a meeting ID and user password.
4. Turning off file transfer and screen sharing options.
5. Disabling private chats among participants.
6. Refusing the ability to re-join once a student has left the meeting.
7. Using the latest version of the Zoom app which has enhanced security options
8. Instructing students to use no alternative profile pictures and profile names
9. Keeping the Video On is compulsory for all Zoom lessons.

An appeal: You have been most supportive in our endeavour towards online teaching-learning. However, few students are not reporting to their synchronous lessons or joining in late. I would request you to monitor your child’s attendance during the synchronous lessons and assignment submission during the asynchronous ones. Do help your children to set routines which will enhance their LFH experience.

Thank You for your cooperation.
Stay Safe, Stay Happy!

Best Regards,

Gouri Kar

Middle School Head and MYP Coordinator