Dear Samakee Community,
I am delighted to inform you that we have received the ‘official letter’ permitting us to open on-site learning after last week’s successful inspection this afternoon from the Nonthaburi Provincial Education Office. As a result, we plan to welcome students back to school on Monday 1st November using the following Hybrid Model shared with you previously.
With responses returned for almost every Samakee student, we are happy to be expecting approximately 84% of our students back in school next week. 9% of our children will remain online.
Please make sure that your responses on our SAS Returning to School Survey accurately reflect your plans for the next two weeks. Should you wish to make any changes to your son/daughter’s status, please get in touch with the school office no later than Friday 29th at 14:00 so that we can plan for your child. Thank you.
Please make sure that your son/daughter arrives at school on the correct days for their Year Group as indicated in this schedule.
NOVEMBER 8TH KS1 CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOLWe are planning to welcome students back in a staggered way, and in the week beginning November 8th, all KS1 (Year 1 & 2) children may return to on-site school each day.
NOVEMBER 15TH, ALL CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOLFrom November 15th, the Nonthaburi Mayor has permitted all schools in Nonthaburi to open, and following two weeks of the Hybrid Model, we will have all students on-site each day.
ATK TESTSThe most significant change to our previous reopenings requires all teachers and students to have a negative ATK test before coming to school each Monday and Wednesday morning. The school is using Panbio Covid-19 Antigen Self-Tests by Abbot available at Boots or other Pharmacies and approved by the government.We will share the approved list with you shortly.
The ATK test is a gentle nasal swab, different to the PCR tests used in hospitals. Nasal swabs are an easy and painless collection method for COVID-19 testing and are appropriate for children. Last week, the government announced that they have approved saliva tests for our younger students in EYFS and KS1.
Any student or teacher arriving at school without having a negative ATK Test registered using the Google Form provided by the school will not be permitted to enter the school premises. Thank you for your understanding.
ONLINE LEARNINGAs agreed, online learning will also continue across all Year Groups to support families who have decided they would rather their children remain at home. Timetables, however, will be different, and we will share lesson plans with Firefly as soon as they have been finalised.
I hope you have had time to review the following link and understand the protocols we have in place: Visual Guide to our Reopening Plans. Many remain the same as previous reopenings, however, please note the items we would like your child to bring to school in their school bag. Thank you for your support.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming the students back into school next week and just like our teachers, we are sure they are very excited about returning to their classrooms and seeing friends and teachers in person.
Monica L Sudhirak
Head of School