Like many other schools, we have switched our activity to online mode. We see our main task in providing support for parents and children in their daily lives so that they do not lose their rhythm and enthusiasm. We find that daily online meetings are very helpful in this respect. Children concentrate and get back into shape. On the one hand we practice waiting and being apart, we train our patience. On the other hand, the students "meet" every morning, are very happy about it and remember lively human encounters. This is where warmth of the soul arises.
From 9th grade on, we conduct online lessons, because at this age one can already understand a lot with the intellect. The students are still preparing for their exams and are just about to learn computer science. Before, we were worried that we would not have any computer equipment at school for such a teaching block. And suddenly, as if by magic, every student and teacher finds himself or herself in front of a computer! Apart from computer science, the 9th grade is also learning math, Russian, both foreign languages and, to stimulate their emotions, they have one additional drama class per week.
In 7th grade, they are learning geometry in the main lesson block. The 5th grade is learning Russian, the 3rd grade is doing handicrafts. The 2nd grade is occupied with riddle stories and fairy tales; at the same time they are drawing symmetrical forms and learning fables by heart. Each family prepares a small performance of a fable. The first class is practicing arithmetic. The parents actively participate in the learning process of the younger students by following the teacher's recommendations. (At last they have the time for this!) The aim here is not necessarily to pass on information, but to keep the warmth of human relationships.
We see this situation as provisional and do not want the children to fall completely out of the normal school rhythm.
The almost daily online meeting of the teaching staff helps us to deal with the ever-new difficulties in a practical way. Since our teachers have their own children in different classes, we get immediate feedback from both the mother and the teacher side.
Our parents take the financial situation of the school very seriously and try to support us. Parents who have lost their sources of income and cannot be sure that they will be able to rebuild their business soon, are not being let down. The school community is aware of this and bears this situation as it is. It is important that we are able to secure the income of the teachers and other school staff, as many of us are dependent on it.
We see a more difficult situation with our kindergarten. The small kindergarten group had hardly been self-sufficient already in the past; often the school has helped out. Now the kindergarten is closed and it remains to be seen whether the parents can support our kindergarten teachers.
All in all, the mood here is very cheerful. Perhaps the new situation will bring us something new. We do not have the feeling that these events in the whole world are merely destructive; there is hope for a renewal, for new impulses, for new sprouts. The way we used to live has become a habit, something unconscious. And now that ordinary life has come to an end. We are currently experiencing a strong moment of self-contemplation, a coming together, and we are faced with the question: what should we leave behind and what are we to keep, what do we have to do and what do we have to avoid under any circumstances?