Last week the leadership team attended an EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Schools) conference here in Bangkok. Rob Evens who is the author of Hopes and Fears was one of the keynote speakers at the conference.

We talked about how in schools teachers (LDs) are constantly trying to tell (persuade, inform) parents about the curriculum. When in actual fact, we need to create more space in really listening to our parent's hopes and fears for their child. Schools are in the business of educating students, we all get that. How can we see schools as community centers in society that really nurture and support families beyond the classroom?

This has got me thinking about creating a higher level of parent engagement in terms of actively listening to the hopes and fears parents have to build greater trust and confidence that it takes a village to bring up the whole child, together.

We have a parent coffee on Wednesday, 16 November where Ashley will be sharing more about the learning experiences of Math Lab and Learning Lab in the Middle Loop. This session builds upon the parent session Jonathan led a few weeks ago about Workshops and Explore.

After the parent session, we will share a way for parents to let us know what their hopes and fears are. We will sort and synthesize these, communicate them back with you, and then offer another parent session on responding to each one. This will be a strategic and targeted approach to ensure that as a school we are addressing the things that matter to you as parents. 

Students in the Middle Loop are going through great change and transition as they hit puberty and are on their way to becoming young adults. We want to better support you in the journey. We will never take the role and responsibility of parenting on, that's your job. However, what we can do is better align with the things that you feel you would like us to work together with you in their learning as they experience their teenage transformations.

Parent Session | College Prep

Thank you for joining us this week for the parent session on University Preparation.

If you wish to access the slide deck of the presentation that was shared, please click here. If you have any further questions, please reach out to the Student Success team at sst@verso.ac.th. Whether you are in Lower Loop, Middle Loop, or Upper Loop, this conversation is relevant to all of us and we are here to guide and support any further information you wish to learn more about

Technology Use | Cyber Bullying

We all understand that technology is ubiquitous. We did not have smartphones or devices when we were at school. The world is different now, and students across the globe are faced with challenges on how to use technology as a force for good. While we closely monitor technology use and run workshops on cyberbullying, we do need to work together on educating our students/child/ren on how to be responsible users of technology. One of the most effective ways as parents is to set parental controls to safeguard your child and to also know what they are doing on their device as a user. Check out this website for more information by clicking here.

A lot of parents are not aware of the parental controls that can be set on their child's device as the technology can be sometimes confusing to set these controls. If you need help with this, let us know and we can have Student Success assist you.

We really like all these below points, but most of all the last one. Set a time limit so your child is not staying up late at night communicating with friends. This is usually when undesirable choices and language are used. This is an area we will be addressing with students to help them understand the consequences their words and actions have on others when using technology.

Use Parental Controls

Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.  

They can be set up to do things like: 

• Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps, or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things). 
• Filter different kinds of content — such as ‘adult’ or sexual content, content that may promote self-harm, eating disorders, violence, drugs, gambling, racism and terrorism. 
• Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often, and for how long.  
• Set time limits, blocking access after a set time. 

Showtime

Thank you for joining us at our C5-6 and C7-8 Showtime on Tuesday. We provide as many opportunities as possible for students to develop their public speaking and presentation skills to build their confidence. The more we practice this, the more students improve their communication ability. Our next Showtime will be on Friday, 9  December to showcase their process and learning journey over Q1 and Q2. We're very much looking forward to seeing you all again!

Thank you for your continued support as we work and learn together. Please reach out to us at any time if you have any questions or require further support. We are with you every step of the way.

Best wishes,

Chad and the ML Team