School Bulletin 01 – 29th January 2021
UPDATES AND NOTIFICATIONS:
Learning Schedule for the week of the 1st to the 5th of February:
| Date | In-person Learning | Virtual Learning |
| Monday 1st February | EY, Y1, Y5 and Y12 | Y2, Y3, Y4, Y6, Y7, Y8, Y9, Y10 and Y11 |
| Tuesday 2nd February | EY, Y1, Y4 and Y6 | Y2, Y3, Y5, Y7, Y8, Y9, Y10, Y11 and Y12 |
| Wednesday 3rd February | EY, Y1, Y3 and Y9 | Y2, Y4, Y5, Y6, Y7, Y8, Y10, Y11 and Y12 |
| Thursday 4th February | EY, Y1, Y2, Y7 and Y10 | Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6, Y8, Y9, Y11 and Y12 |
| Friday 5th February | EY, Y1, Y8 and Y11 | Y2, Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6, Y7, Y9, Y10 and Y12 |
WELCOME TO 2021
We would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new and returning community members as we begin the 2021 academic year. This week we have welcomed students from Early Years and Year 1 onto campus as we began implementing the first phase of our dual learning model. This model will see us utilize three different phases so that all students can experience in-person learning in the safest and most effective manner possible. For the next two weeks, each year group from Years 2 to 12 will have one day of in-person learning each week so they have the time, opportunity and guidance to familiarize themselves with both our new procedures and the infrastructural changes that we have made to our campus.
We are delighted to report that our first week of in-person learning with Early Years and Year 1 has been extremely successful. Both students and staff members were delighted to be back on campus and quickly understood and adhered to the risk control strategies that are in place. We look forward to expanding this to all other year levels in the coming weeks.
PICK UP AND DROP OFF PROCEDURES: We would like to inform parents about some important reminders with regard to our pick up and drop off procedures. Due to our various risk control measures (e.g. temperature taking, hand sanitising, social distancing, etc) before entering campus it is inevitable that both pick up and drop off procedures will likely take a little longer than was previously the case. However, if all members of our community adhere to our procedures then we can ensure that they are as effective and time-efficient as possible. As such:
- The drop off period for all students is between 7:30 am and 8:00 am each morning.
- The pick-up time for Early Years to Year 4 students is 2:00 pm each day.
- The pick up time for Year 5 to year 12 students is 3:00 pm each day.
- Parents of all levels should enter the School both in the morning and afternoon using the East entrance. A one-way system is in place which requires both cars and parents on foot to enter thorough the East (San Jose side) gate and then exit via the West gate. This is to avoid unnecessary congestion and delays.
- Parents of all levels, either on foot or by car, should drop off their children in the morning at the entrance next to Reception.
- Early Years parents who are on foot may pick up their children in the afternoon directly from the side door opposite the guard house near the East Gate, hence there is no need for them to enter the rest of the campus. Early years parents who are traveling by car will pick up their children from the bus depot.
- Y1 to Y12 parents either on foot or by car will pick up their children in the afternoon from the entrance next to Reception.
- The bus company and school staff will internally organise all students who travel by bus.
We have numerous staff members who are responsible for the implementation of our drop off and pick up procedures. As a result, and in order to ensure maximum efficiency, we respectfully ask all community members to please keep to the above procedures that are provided by staff members.
HEALTH AND SAFETY UPDATE: The British School of Costa Rica is fully committed to the implementation of the highest of standards with regard to our health and safety procedures. As a result, we are continually reviewing our procedures to ensure that they not only comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Health but that they also reflect best practices from around the world. To that end we have two important changes to our procedures that we wanted to update you on:
- The Ministry of Education, with approval of the Ministry of Health, has recommended that students do not use masks while undertaking strenuous physical exercise. As a result, students will be permitted to remove their mask for certain PE activities which require a high level of physical exercise. It is important to stress that this is optional and any student who does not wish to remove their mask during these activities will not be required to do so.
- Following the most recent guidance issued by the Ministry of Health we have made a small change to the temperature leven in which access to campus will be prohibited. Any member of our community who registers a temperature of 37.8 degrees or higher will not be permitted to remain on campus (previously it was 37.5).
MEDICAL FORM REMINDER: We would like to remind all community members that completed medical forms should be ent to infirmary@bscr.ed.cr. This is also the email that should be used to inform us of any medical updates that you may have throughout the year.
THANKS: Finally, we would like to take the opportunity to publicly thank all BSCR staff members for their hard work in preparing for the return of in-person learning on our campus. Maintenance staff, cleaners, the IT Department, academic staff, administrator, the Health and Safety Committee and auxiliary staff have all done a wonderful job in ensuring that we are fully ready for the start of the new school year and their efforts, in service of our students, are truly appreciated.
