26 March 2020
Dear Students/Parents,
On Tuesday, when new measures were introduced to curb the coronavirus outbreak, we were hesitant to adopt them and were even hoping we could somehow be excluded from them.
But the Covid-19 update yesterday was unsettling. Compared to Tuesday’s update, the number of local cases doubled from 17 to 35, of which 8 were unlinked, and 14 cases were linked to PCF Sparkletots at Fengshan. This is, by no means, indicative of any upward trend, but a reminder that we cannot afford to take chances anymore. Vinnie Classroom has precautionary measures in place, but the latest cluster reminded us that no set of measures will make us an impenetrable fortress.
It is not our intention to spread panic, but it is a fact that about 400 infected patients have now come under the care of our healthcare workers, who still have to attend to their regular load of patients. We do not wish to contribute to the burden, so the next best thing that we can do is to keep our physical social interaction to a minimum.
Therefore, in the interest of our students and the community,
- We will suspend all lessons from 27 March to 15 April.
To facilitate this, we will bring forward the course holidays in Term 2.
Please refer to the updated course calendar for Term 2.
- From 16 April to 30 April, only online lessons will take place.
To facilitate continual learning, we will conduct online lessons via Zoom, and technical guidance will be provided.
Tentatively, from 1 May onwards, we may or may not resume normal lessons within the premises of Vinnie Classroom, depending on the situation.
The Covid-19 situation changes every day. We acknowledge that what we have is not a perfect response and will present different challenges to different students. We will fine-tune them accordingly. Over the next few days, we will get in touch with every parent or student individually to provide more details and guidance on the setup requirements.
In this trying period, very few aspects of our lives are shown mercy. While we hope that you will understand our difficulties, we urge you to be open about any difficulties you may be facing as well, so that we can work towards a sustainable solution together.
Stay home. Stay strong. Stay optimistic. Stay united.
Yours sincerely
Vinnie Classroom
