To date, the work of the Russian International School has been fully translated into the format of online learning. Our students master almost completely both the British and Russian educational programs. The instant transition to the new online format of education for the School was a certain challenge, but our students and teachers coped with it perfectly and in practice showed their abilities to feel confident in changing conditions and quickly delve into new processes.
As the basis of the online learning system in RIS, we have chosen the Google platform. Lessons are held through the Google Hangouts Meet. Google Classroom was created for each subject, as it is intuitive, easy to use and provides many interesting opportunities for both teachers and students.
Based on the monitoring of lessons and feedback received from parents and students, we continuously optimize all processes: timetable, duration of lessons and breaks, quality and number of homework. Now we are working on finer adjustment of the load for children, especially for elementary school students, because assimilation of material in a remote format requires special skills and habits, and online learning as a whole is a more energy-intensive process than full-time.
To date, the curriculum has been revised, the lessons in many elementary school classes have been reduced without loss of quality, and the practical tasks have become as interactive as possible. The number of hours in some disciplines is reduced. Despite this, we did not completely exclude classes from the psychologist and the lessons of the creative cycle from the timetable, because in conditions of self-isolation and online training they play a very important role: unloading and changing activities.
As regards continuing education courses, we have transferred online most of the sections of the intellectual orientation (foreign languages, programming, chess and others) and some creative activities. In addition to daily fun “meetings” with pupils, English-speaking teachers of kindergartens began to conduct small online trainings for kids - a complex of simple exercises that allow you to stretch children's muscles in a playful way and improve their mood and practice English once again.
From the first day of quarantine, the RIS psychological service has been operating continuously. Special classes are held for children, where children are explained in an accessible form what is happening around them, they are taught to cope with anxiety and tension, and they help to maintain positive relationships at home and with classmates. If necessary, individual work is carried out both with students and with parents.
The elementary school organized online work of the art therapy group of watercolor painting for the whole family.
The administration and teachers of the school are in touch 24/7 and are always ready to answer all your questions.
The total transition to online learning is something new for both children and teachers. Our team of teachers reacted with understanding to the changes and quickly adapted to new conditions. Most teachers were already familiar with various distance and online learning tools. Now teachers actively support each other, share experiences, find new tools for building the optimal educational process in this situation.
Our students, in general, are also positive. They all showed patience and an exceptional attitude towards change. We are very proud of them!
At first, for some moments, we had to attract parents (especially in babies), but now everyone is doing very well themselves. Parents note that the distance learning format contributes to the development of a sense of responsibility among children. Many noted and appreciated that the children had extra time: no need to spend time on the road to the School and back, you can sleep a little more and so on. Primary school students complain that they lack the games and activities that they are used to in the class, but teachers try to compensate for this need online.
Of course, the "distance" has a number of shortcomings, the most important of which is the lack of live communication, but we believe that this experience will make us all only stronger. Pupils will learn to organize themselves, become more independent, and the development and integration of new modern educational technologies will have a positive impact on the quality of teaching in the future.
At the moment, the timing of the GIA is slightly shifted. There is also preliminary information on the transfer of entrance exams to universities. Now we do not see any catastrophic risks for the educational process. Our students just got extra time to prepare for the successful passing of all exams. RIS graduates also pass exams for international IGCSE and A-Level certificates and the situation is more complicated with them, as it was reported that the exams were simply canceled and now we are waiting for information from England when we set new deadlines.
RIS has both Russian and international accreditation. The international program involves a 10-month curriculum, that is, our students study from September to June inclusive. In connection with the pandemic, we had one additional week of vacation, so if we feel the need, we will extend our studies for the first week of July, but no more.
Assessing the dynamics of online learning, we can assume that our students will have time to master all the material before the end of June, that is, they will finish their studies according to the school calendar approved before the start of the school year.
