Term 2 AY2020/21

Salam my lovelies,

2020 taught me to live one day at a time.

2021 has taught me to live one hour at a time.

School reopened on 6 January 2021 and by 7 January 2021, we had one student who was living with a parent and sibling who tested positive for COVID-19 cause a scare. I had just written to the Principal that morning and he immediately rang me back to reassure me that there was nothing to be worried about, and that the MOE orders were to be followed and that no hybrid lessons were to be offered at that point of time.

By afternoon, he had to issue a notice that School was to be shut on 8 January 2021 for deep cleaning and lessons were moved online. He rang me back to apologise and I "rewarded" him with an update that there have been 3 asymptomatic positive cases at our residences. I am quite sure I rank highly on his list of "high attention parent" who constantly gets under his skin. We are blessed in that we share synergy and mutual respect to keep the conversation going.

My family made the decision to voluntarily self-isolate when 3 asymptomatic cases were recorded at our residences. Although we do not share the common lifts, we decided not to expose Girl and Bean to the neighbourhood children from the towers who use the common lifts. 

Hybrid learning is yet to mature and the children were not offered their full time-table but we were fine with this "short-term arrangement". Class Teachers helped us pack Girl and Bean's books and we had my FIL pick them up to be conveyed home to us. Bean and Girl worked through their worksheets and survived 11 January 2021! When I mentioned "short-term arrangement", I meant one to two days' arrangement. At most 14 days. 

By 6 p.m. on 11 January 2021, the PM of Malaysia announced implementation of MCO in Selangor, where we now live. 

The idiom that necessity is the mother of invention cannot be more accurate.

Hybrid schooling will be at its final day on 12 January 2021 as by 7:45 a.m. on 13 January 2021, Girl and Bean's classes will be fully online. Luckily for us, Phoenix Classroom is a familiar and successful platform for the whole school community. 

In hindsight, it was clever of us at the PTA to plan all community activities to be carried out online.  We have a Facebook Live Cooking show, Facebook Preloved Group, YouTube Channel for resources by parents for parents, email support and Zoom Coffee Mornings. Monthly meetings with the Senior Leadership Team will also be conducted online.

Alas, the UK strain has arrived in Malaysia and we plan on staying at home as much as we can. We will be exercising on our rooftop deck, and not risk going to the park until we know more. We are grateful for every little blessing we still enjoy.

We can flatten the curve and fight COVID-19 together, inshaAllah. Stay safe and take good care.