Can Int'l school re-open next month?

[Took]

Hello,

 

I hear that it's been reported in a TV news that

International schools in Thailand can re-open this

June. Is that true? I just wonder if they can because

the state of emergency has been extended till the end

of next month.

[prakhonchai nick]

Would be a huge mistake. Kids crowd together. If we cannot go to the beach, or a bar or a cinema, then it is crazy to put kids (international or not) in harms way!

[Took]

You're absolutely, right!

 

I can't see any point in letting any school re-open

under the state of emergency.

 

That's what one of my Thai friends learned in a TV

news show, though.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Probably not June 1st, but sometime in June from the sound of the mails I am getting from my daughters school.

[BobbyL]

I think so. We were told last week this would likely happen and some friends of mine in other international schools in Bangkok were told the same. Personally, I cannot wait to get back and fully agree that things need to resume some sort of normality even if it is just for 3 or so weeks before the end of the academic year. 

 

Our plan (according to our phase leader) is different days for different year groups. For example, Monday is Y1, Y3, Y5 and Tuesday is Y2, Y4, Y6. The days the students aren't in school they will continue remote learning like they have been doing since March. Our class sizes are around 15 so it shouldn't be a major issue to social distance in the classroom. However, I guess outdoor break and lunch times will be cancelled as well as PE / swimming / music lessons etc. I imagine this will be fine with students in our secondary school building, although I have no idea how it could work with our nursery and early years department. 

 

We have a briefing every Monday morning so I guess we'll find out the rest of the info tomorrow. 

[brewsterbudgen]

It's still not official, but there is certainly hope that they will be able to open (physically, as most have been open for online classes for some time) from 1 June.  Here is what my son's school is planning...

 

We expect everyone’s co-operation on these measures and it will be highly appreciated. These measures are as follows:

1. Access to the school gate School vans and private vehicles will not be allowed access to the school gate. Students must be dropped-off the Soi in front of *****, must line-up maintaining 1 meter away from each other and wait for their turn for the temperature scanning and hand-sanitizing. Students showing a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be permitted to enter the school premises and parents will be phoned to collect the child(ren). For facility, we suggest that parents wait until the child is permitted to enter the school premises before leaving. Depending on the volume of student, scanning and hand-sanitizing may take only a couple minutes.

2. Wearing of face masks “No Face Masks, No Entry Policy”. Wearing of face masks is a must to be allowed entrance to the school premises. Face masks must be worn inside the school premises at all times.

3. Travel and health declaration We will be asking every family to complete and submit the Travel and Health Declaration Form together with a copy of each household member’s passport’s pages containing the information page and latest arrival date in Thailand. The form and submission procedure will be emailed to families in time.

4. Self-quarantine requirement Should the student or a member of the household transited through or travelled from other countries and has returned to Thailand after the 20th of April, the student must stay home for the 14 days self-quarantine.

5. School van health and safety The Teacher Assistant shall perform temperature scan and hand sanitation first before allowing any student to get in the van. Student resisting from temperature scanning and hand sanitizing protocol and showing a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be allowed to join the van. Upon arrival to school, the students will follow the procedure set-out under the Access to the school gate.

[EVENKEEL]

Set to open 01 July. in Rayong.

[XGM]

Some schools are opening at June 1st.

 

I wonder about the following though:

 

On 5/24/2020 at 6:12 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

1. Access to the school gate School vans and private vehicles will not be allowed access to the school gate. Students must be dropped-off the Soi in front of *****, must line-up maintaining 1 meter away from each other and wait for their turn for the temperature scanning and hand-sanitizing. Students showing a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be permitted to enter the school premises and parents will be phoned to collect the child(ren). For facility, we suggest that parents wait until the child is permitted to enter the school premises before leaving. Depending on the volume of student, scanning and hand-sanitizing may take only a couple minutes.

2. Wearing of face masks “No Face Masks, No Entry Policy”. Wearing of face masks is a must to be allowed entrance to the school premises. Face masks must be worn inside the school premises at all times.

3. Travel and health declaration We will be asking every family to complete and submit the Travel and Health Declaration Form together with a copy of each household member’s passport’s pages containing the information page and latest arrival date in Thailand. The form and submission procedure will be emailed to families in time.

4. Self-quarantine requirement Should the student or a member of the household transited through or travelled from other countries and has returned to Thailand after the 20th of April, the student must stay home for the 14 days self-quarantine.

5. School van health and safety The Teacher Assistant shall perform temperature scan and hand sanitation first before allowing any student to get in the van. Student resisting from temperature scanning and hand sanitizing protocol and showing a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be allowed to join the van. Upon arrival to school, the students will follow the procedure set-out under the Access to the school gate.

- Lining 1 meter from each other? will they always keep such a distance throughout the school day? in classrooms? at breaks time?

- Face masks will be worn at all times? obviously not at lunch time..? what about PE? and swimming lessons...?

- Temperature checks before getting in the vans? at this point we already know around 40% of cases do not display high fever and can infect others.

 

It's clear the school tries to do its best. But the underlying premise for opening the schools is that the disease is currently very rare at the population in Thailand (which is probably true) - if it isn't the case, those restrictions will not suffice.

[XGM]

On 5/24/2020 at 1:41 AM, prakhonchai nick said:

Would be a huge mistake. Kids crowd together. If we cannot go to the beach, or a bar or a cinema, then it is crazy to put kids (international or not) in harms way!

Will it be crazy then to let millions of Thai kids to go back to schools at July 1st then? what's the difference? is near-zero new cases a day, for many weeks, not a good enough criteria?

[brewsterbudgen]

15 minutes ago, XGM said:

Will it be crazy then to let millions of Thai kids to go back to schools at July 1st then? what's the difference? is near-zero new cases a day, for many weeks, not a good enough criteria?

Indeed. The virus isn't going to disappear for years (if at all) just like other viruses.  

[BobbyL]

It seems we're definitely having students back from Thursday 4th.

 

The idea seems to be each class is split into two groups. E.g - Group A comes in from 8:00 - 10:30 and then Group B comes in from 11:30 - 2:00.

 

No break times, lunch times or specialist lessons being taught.

 

In primary each group will do the normal daily maths, guided reading and English lessons with me and then the other lessons such as science, history, geography, ICT, Thai, Mandarin etc they can continue to do online whilst they are at home. 

 

I have no idea how we will be able to teach the students that don't return to school though. 

[SidJames]

I heard that the government had asked the big international schools in Bangkok to come up with a H&S plan to include social distancing, hygiene etc with a view to opening in some capacity next week.

It would be a good trial run for the main schools to open in July.

Fingers crossed that they let them open as denying children an education is criminal plus they need peers for social development.

Teachers will have their hands full initially trying to keep the children calm in class as they will be bouncing off the walls with excitement.

The younger ones for sure.

[SidJames]

I've heard nothing from my kid's school, does anyone have any news?

[blackcab]

Bangkok Patana sent this email to parents today. They obviously have not been given approval as of yet although they sound very well prepared to restart at short notice:

 

 

Head of School's Update 26th May 2020

26th May 2020   Dear Parents,   I am fully aware that there have been a number of media reports pertaining to the possibility of international schools reopening on 1st June.   Bangkok Patana School is fully prepared and has actioned all of the OPEC’s (Office of the Private Education Commission) health and safety school reopening measures. A reminder that parents will not be allowed to come onto campus. Following government recommendations, two forms need to be filled in before your child(ren) return to school: Code of Conduct for COVID-19 and Health and Travel Declaration. An email will be sent to you later today with the links. In addition, later this week, we will be sending you a detailed instructional video showing all of our health and safety changes.   Last week we sent you a detailed letter with models showing what the school will look like when we reopen. If you haven’t already, please read this letter.   We will open school only once we have the approval from the government. We may not hear until the end of the week. As soon as we hear one way or the other, we will send you an SMS. Following this, you will receive an email from the Primary and/or Secondary School confirming the schedule for your child next week and, if applicable, information from the Transport Department. Please go to the Parents’ Gateway (Family Contact Information) before the end of the week and make sure your correct mobile numbers are listed. We will also use our social media channels and post the information on the front of our website.    Please do watch the instructional video as it will be beneficial for your child(ren) to know what to expect before school starts.   Looking forward to seeing students back in school in a very safe learning environment in the very near future.   Best wishes, Matt Mills Head of School

[brewsterbudgen]

Looks like 1 June is going to happen...

[blackcab]

It's looking like it for Bangkok Patana, although it is still being stated as a possible school opening. The Head of School sent out another email today asking people to complete online Heath and Travel Declarations and Student Safeguarding forms::

 

 

Completion of Forms for School Reopening

26th May 2020   Dear Parents,   Further to this morning’s letter, we are hoping that we will receive good news on Friday and open on 1st June. In anticipation of this, could you please complete these forms so that your child(ren) are able to return to school on their scheduled days.   All students must have both the Health and Travel Declaration and the Student Safeguarding Staying Safe in School – COVID-19 form completed before they are able to return to school. We request that these forms are completed by this Friday 29th May, in preparation for a possible school opening on Monday 1st June.   The Health and Travel Declaration will also need to be completed by parents / guardians, so the school has all the information relevant to each family.   As you will be aware, these two documents are incredibly important for ensuring your child(ren)’s health and safety as well as being part of the OPEC (Office of the Private Education Commission) requirements for reopening.   You will need your login for the Parents’ Gateway. Please make sure your child(ren) are with you while you complete these forms and that they understand the expectations.   Thanks for your ongoing support,   Matt Mills Head of School

[SidJames]

The Office of Private Education have given the thumbs up but the all powerful CCSA has the final say over all things in Thailand right now & they have not given their blessing yet.

I think it would be an excellent way of testing the school systems before the Thai schools go back in another month.

[ExpatOilWorker]

We also just had an online survey.  Looks like the school is trying to gauge how many students will return on day 1 of the opening.

The pressure is sure on the schools to reopen. A lot of parents have paid top dollar and are getting very little out of the online learning.

NIST is offering 20,000 baht in credit toward the next semester for lost classes during the shutdown. 

[BobbyL]

We're expecting 75% of the students in our Early Years and Primary back next week. We have planned for either Monday 1st or Thursday 4th. 

 

Still no final word from our management about how exactly this will be planned. Seeing as the CCSA have the final say I am guessing the email will probably arrive at 8pm on Friday stating their decision. 

[SidJames]

7 hours ago, BobbyL said:

We're expecting 75% of the students in our Early Years and Primary back next week. We have planned for either Monday 1st or Thursday 4th. 

 

Still no final word from our management about how exactly this will be planned. Seeing as the CCSA have the final say I am guessing the email will probably arrive at 8pm on Friday stating their decision. 

I reckon they stay true to form & refuse permission for the schools to open then rescind that order & give permission about 10 to 8 on Monday morning ???? 

[Big Guns]

Yes it's looking like they will open next week. It shows the multi-tiered approach to the economy. Is it a surprise that influential business owners and politcians own international/private schools? The schools have been open about their desire for reopening being commercial, as a result of parents' demands for discounts. At least the schools have earned income during the lockdown period unlike other industries. There's also the issue that private and international schools pay zero corporation tax (despite most being for profit organisations and some owned by large foreign multinationals), zero national insurance contributions for teaching staff and have a private school act which attempted to bypass labour law for foreign staff. If it is safe for them to open then so be it but the same rules should be applied to other industries.

[BobbyL]

Monday opening for us. Staggered start / end times and no break or lunch. Lots of other rules regarding cleaning, social distancing, use of equipment etc. One of the rules is it seems everyone is required to wear those bloody face shields ????. 

 

I am fine with opening again, although some teachers definitely are not. Even some of the teachers with their children in the school have said they won't be allowing them to return.  

 

The only difficulty now is working out what provision will be offered to the students at home. At the moment we are doing live online lessons from 8 - 11 but I don't see how that can be possible from next week. 

[BKKrichard]

On 5/26/2020 at 5:37 PM, brewsterbudgen said:

Looks like 1 June is going to happen...

My kid is also returning to school Monday 1st of June

[RBOP]

I'm confused because the Bangkok Post today says "The source added the committee could not reach a conclusion on the reopening of schools, and it will raise the matter for discussion at Thursday's meeting."

 

So seems there is still no final decision yet to open?

[eeworldwide]

OUr school (international) Opens on the week of the first - but summer hols start on the 6th!! IT's bonkers.

 

My bigger headache is whether to fork out the 2.5M for another years schooling, when the chances of interrupted term time is still highly likely.....

[SidJames]

I'm still waiting for final confirmation from our school as to whether the CCSA lot have actually green lite Monday's opening yet.

 

[BobbyL]

1 hour ago, SidJames said:

I'm still waiting for final confirmation from our school as to whether the CCSA lot have actually green lite Monday's opening yet.

 

We are too. Everything is prepared for Monday (like other international schools) yet the CCSA still haven't made a final decision. Ridiculous. 

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 5/28/2020 at 11:22 AM, eeworldwide said:

OUr school (international) Opens on the week of the first - but summer hols start on the 6th!! IT's bonkers.

 

My bigger headache is whether to fork out the 2.5M for another years schooling, when the chances of interrupted term time is still highly likely.....

2.5 million?

How many kids do u have?

[BobbyL]

2 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

2.5 million?

How many kids do u have?

Three secondary aged kids at somewhere like NIST or Pattana I imagine would be near that. Incredible money. 

[BobbyL]

Well, as predicted a nice late announcement on Friday. After hours of preparation we're now not allowed to open according to the CCSA.

 

What a farce.