Al Kamal American International School – Halwan recognizes that children, as individuals, have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, free from emotional or physical danger, abuse and neglect. Safeguarding children is fundamental to the general well-being social, emotional, physical and mental development of each child; consequently, it is essential to have clear guidelines and procedures in place when dealing with matters involving child protection. We are committed to anti-discriminatory practice and recognize children’s diverse circumstances. We ensure that all children have the same protection, regardless of any barriers they may face
AKAIS Halwan will not tolerate abuse or inappropriate use of technology, whether off-line or online, from any member of the school community, from administrators, teachers, office staff, support staff, students or parents. Communications by all parties should always be courteous and respectful and reflect the highest professional standards. Any reported incident of bullying or harassment, or other unacceptable conduct, will fall under the AKAIS Student Safeguarding Policies and procedures and will result in the application of formal interventions.
AKAIS Halwan also recognizes that peer-on-peer abuse may take place, and is formulating a more concrete policy and for this specific area.
Roles and Responsibilities
Electronic contact with students Electronic contact is defined as the communication or publication of information (including images) between two or more people using an electronic device. This may occur using (but is not limited to) mobile phones, other handheld electronic devices, gaming equipment and computers. Electronic contact may include (but is not limited to) voice communication, text communication, instant messaging, email, social networking sites, blogs, photos and videos.
Policy Statement
Al- Kamal American School is concerned about the welfare and safety of all its pupils‟ and aims to create an environment in which pupils feel secure, valued, listened to and taken seriously.
A Safe Learning Environment For Hybrid/Distance
AKAIS encourages a safe home and online learning environment. We encourage you to place your child’s learning device in a common area of your home where you can monitor their online activity and time spent online. For older children, this strategy will allow you to monitor them in an indirect manner. Ensure that the learning space is always clean and disinfected. Place a hand sanitizer and disinfectant nearby and make sure your child is washing their hands frequently.
For the younger children who find it difficult to understand online safety or technical issues, we advise you to check in with them from time to time and see if they are having any issues. We also ask you to review these guidelines/policies and ensure that you are familiar with the necessary online safety measures.
Safety Procedures for Students at School In Hybrid Scenario
– Students will wear a face covering and report directly to their classroom.
– Students should bring a water bottle to school,as water fountains will be closed for regular use.
– When moving about the classroom, students will wear a face covering and practice social distancing.
– When in the classroom, students will only be able to remove a mask when the teacher states they can take a “mask break” in a designated area of the classroom. Students will wear a face covering when working in small groups with the teacher or peers.
– Students will use their own school supplies and keep them at school. They will not be shared with classmates.
– In an attempt to limit transitions and the potential for exposure, students will stay in their classrooms for all core classes and specials with the exception of PE and recess when applicable. Both PE and recess groupings will remain small to help ensure adequate social distancing. All other special area teachers will rotate to your child’s classroom to provide instruction. This limited movement will also help with contact tracing if necessary.
– The class teacher is responsible to refer students with COVID-19 symptoms such as cough, body aches, fatigue, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, diarrhea and nausea, and headache, to the school nurse for further screening as per the guidelines.
– Teachers and students older than 6 years of age are required to wear face masks at all times.
– Staff will be discouraged from exiting the school during the day, but if they do for emergency purposes, they are requested not to return to the premises unless they have fully sanitized and changed their clothes upon return. They will also undergo thermal screening before entry.
– Only one family member or a guardian is allowed to enter the school facility for drop off/pick up his/her child. People with compromised medical conditions, including the elderly, should not come for drop off and pick up.
– The school should implement a staggered entry and exit procedure to eliminate overcrowding and to maintain 2 metres physical distancing in high traffic areas.
– Families drop off and pick up at one designated areas and designated timings with no interaction inside the school. There should be no access to the rest of the school facility by family members and visitors. Family members should be given maximum time limit of 10 minutes in the designated area to pick up / drop off with no crowding, maintenance of a 2 metres distancing, and wearing of masks at all times.
– If a child/teacher/staff begins to show symptoms of COVID-19 while at school, they must get isolated instantly, and the parent/ guardian of the child to be notified immediately and the patient should be referred to the hospital to take the necessary action. The patient should not return to school until the PCR result is obtained. If the result is negative and there is a clinical assessment of a probable COVID-19 case, the patient should complete a 14-day quarantine. If the result is negative and there is no clinical assessment for a probable case, the child can resume schooling so long as they are symptom-free.
– If the result is positive, the traced contacts of the patient, including teachers along with the classmates of a student, or colleagues are all considered close contacts (Anyone who spent more than 15 minutes in a proximity of 2 metres with the positive case, from the day of symptoms onset, or the day of the positive PCR test). They should all commence the 14-day quarantine counted PCR from the day of the positive test, or from the day of the onset of symptoms if ascertained by the clinician.
– In cases of COVID-19 emergency, the school should follow their endorsed guidelines for emergencies by the school’s qualified nurse/ doctor while wearing adequate personal protection equipment. Also, the health and safety in-charge should ensure that the child is accompanied by an adult wearing the full PPE when transported to home or to the hospital.
– Measures for disinfection should be taken as per the guidelines, for the classroom and the school premises used by the child as traced, and the holding isolation room where the staff and students will wait for their transportation.
Unsuitable Material
The school will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that users access only the appropriate material. However, due to the global and connected nature of Internet content, it is not possible to guarantee that access to unsuitable material will never occur via websites and browsers during asynchronous sessions. The school can NOT accept liability for the material accessed, or any consequences resulting from Internet use. Students are taught to always report such experiences directly to an adult at the time they occur at home or in school, so that action can be taken.
The action will include:
1). Making a note of the website and any other websites linked to it.
2). Informing the ICT technician in case they provide support of blocking these websites
3). Reporting the incident to the school leadership team represented by section supervisors who will then record the incident and deal with the concern as appropriate and possible
Key elements of distance & hybrid learning for every student
Every student regularly connects with their teacher(s).
– Teachers will connect with each student in each class at least weekly. Connection methods will vary by age of student and family circumstances. Connection methods may include MS TEAMS, email or text, Google Classroom, phone connection, mailing or dropping off work or any other expectation classroom teachers have established that allows for monitoring of student engagement and progress.
– If teachers are not able to connect with a student within a school week, teachers will mark them “absent” for the week and submit absence reports through building established process.
– If a student is marked absent, the school office will follow up with each family with safety calls. If the office does not hear back from a family, the absence will be sent on to our school counselors for a wellness check.
Teachers and students prioritize time together to focus on the most important or relevant learning.
– Teachers are allotted very little Teacher-Led Instruction time for each student per day. Teaching and learning will not resume as it previously existed. Distance Learning looks different. Teachers will determine the most relevant learning for each student each week.
– In addition to the Teacher-Led Instruction time allotted each day, students are to continue to engage in asynchronous work. Classroom Teachers will direct students to the appropriate work for them.
Teachers, families, and caregivers work as a team, anchored in partnership. Together, teachers and families co-facilitate learning, design consistent routines, and establish the learning environment.
We need your assistance in two important areas:
– Ensure student participation in Teacher-Led Instruction opportunities. The timing and delivery of this instruction varies by teacher
– Encourage student participation during class and completion of tasks
– Teachers, counselors, and learning specialists will be available for communication throughout the normal school day, during regular office hours. Teachers may make themselves available beyond these times, at their discretion.
– Teaching staff can be contacted with questions about schedules, academics, and grading through e-mail, which we will strive to answer within 24 hours. School-wide communication will continue through automated phone calls and emails as needed. Teachers will be interacting with all students at least twice each week.
Teachers continue to monitor, report and record each student’s progress towards learning goals and standards, encouraging critical problem solving, collaboration, communication and creativity.
– Progress monitoring will look different. Progress cannot necessarily be tracked through a workflow of assignments and assessments to collect points. Students will have flexible opportunities to demonstrate progress toward standards.