“Come Holy Spirit... Renew the face of the earth.”

 

BARCELONA ACADEMY

 

PRIMER for SY 2020-2021 (via Frequently Asked Questions)

 

At BA, we want to communicate to you what will happen for SY 2020-2021 in the easiest and simplest way understood by all.

 

This PRIMER uses the following Frequently Asked Questions gathered from parents and students that should hopefully enlighten and guide you especially on the new learning systems.

 

 

1. Why do we still need to enroll this school year?

 

Education must continue even in this crisis. It will be more problematic for both parents and kids if they will have nothing productive to do at home for about a year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Won’t going back to school be dangerous in this pandemic?

 

You don’t need to go to school to continue your studies. You can enroll in a study from home program until the government declares that it is safe again for students to go back to school and/or until a vaccine for covid-19 is found and made available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Why will we pay tuition fee when my kids will just study at home? What will the school and teachers do?

 

At BA, we are the main teachers of your kids, not you parents. We shall even be busier as we already have been in the past months in meeting, planning, training, relearning, and retooling for these new learning systems.

 

We shall prepare lessons, worksheets, assignments, quizzes, exams, etc. as with a regular school setup. We shall do live or recorded teaching via video communication platforms with a given schedule. We shall be on stand by for academic coaching and consultation during working hours and days. We shall be checking your kids’ school works, evaluate them, compute their grades, prepare their report cards, forms, and submit them to DepEd for official and legitimate promotion.

 

In fact, this new learning system will even make your kids’ study from home more personal and almost on a tutorial, one-to-one basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Can we just teach our own kids? Can’t they just self-study for one year?

 

You can. They can. But it won’t be a form of study that can be officially recognized to promote your child to the next level, which should meet the academic standards and curriculum set by the Department of Education (DepEd). An alternative would be to take the PEPT (Philippine Educational Placement Test) for a possible promotion after a year.

 

Also, as observed by researchers, one of the pitfalls of online learning is the isolation of the learner. The school addresses this by promoting a community of learning through monitored social media platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. What will be the role of parents?

 

Parents shall be the one to set the discipline, habit, mood, structure (including providing their technical needs and requirements), and generally guide and follow up their kids who will be studying at home. We at BA will help you set all these things such as their daily schedule, use of the online learning platforms, etc. during our orientations before the school opening.

 

For working parents of preschool to primary kids they should have a guardian or “yaya” to guide or be with their kids during study time at home, which is a given since parents wouldn’t really leave their young kids alone at home.

Intermediate pupils to high school students should be encouraged, guided and expected to be independent online learners after the general structures are set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. How will studying from home be?

 

At BA, we will meet you where you are to deliver the best form of education in your situation and capacity.

We shall mainly use online learning. You will need a laptop computer and/or a cellphone. Your lessons, assignments, quizzes and other school works shall mainly be brought to you via Google Classroom (Google Suite).

For live teaching with real time interaction and/or recorded teaching we shall mainly use video communication platforms such as Zoom, or even FB Live or Youtube which can be used for private (accounts) and/or exclusive groups. Recorded lessons can be replayed and re-watched anytime (especially for preschool up to primary levels with working parents).

 

We shall also use other common and easy means of social media and communication such as Email, Messenger, Group Chats, Group video calls, etc.

 

You may easily access these platforms via a computer (laptop or desktop) or with a cellphone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Isn’t Google Classroom the main learning platform which government schools will use? What would be the difference?

 

Yes, Google Classroom is the main learning platform government schools will use because it is user friendly and does not have much technical requirements. That’s why if students from government schools, even from far-flung areas, can use it the more students from private schools should be able to use it well with more access to gadgets and better internet connections.

 

Here are the Google Classroom Minimum Requirements:

 

LAPTOPS: - Windows 7 and up (windows 10 is the standard of all laptops now) - El Capitan or 10.11 and up for Macbooks (Catalina 10.5 is the current version) - 1gb (32 bit) or 2gb (64 bit) ram - Any laptop that has internet connection and has a minimum HTML5 internet browser which ALL the major browsers are capable of (Google chrome, Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari for Mac)

 

SMARTPHONES and TABLETS: for Android devices: It supports version 5.0 and up. (The standard smartphone Android version is version 9.0) - For iOS or Apple Devices: It supports version 11.0 and up. (The standard and current version now is 13.3)

 

Google Classroom is the most popular education app in the world. It is a means for learning and teaching. As with most things, especially in education, we can use the same platform but the difference will be in the content and delivery of lessons. Think of the education platform as a delivery van. We can be using the same delivery van but who is driving it and what’s inside the van make a big difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. How about the live or recorded lessons via Zoom or other video communication platforms? How frequent will it be done?

 

Live or recorded online teaching shall be done by teachers at least once or twice a week or as the need may be. BA has already been following an academic system since it began where a new lesson is presented on a Monday, then with drills and activities to master the lesson the following day, another lecture day to reinforce the lesson, more drills and activities the next day, then a quiz on the fifth day.

 

This shall more or less be the same weekly routine for the online system with the video teaching for the lecture, and the worksheets, book activities through Google Classroom and/or other platforms for drills, activities and quizzes for the rest of the days.

 

This system is, in fact, in line with the student-centered education thrust even in the regular school setup where most learning activities are done by students and guided by teachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. What if the student misses the live online teaching due to poor internet connection?

 

There is the recorded version of the lessons, which can be replayed or re-watched and/or, as with the regular school setup where a student misses a class when he is absent, he can always ask his classmates and even his teacher about the missed lessons via different ways of communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. What if I don’t have a computer or a cellphone?

 

A minimum requirement for this online learning is at least a cellphone, which most students in the private school should already have and may afford. As mentioned, the cellphone need not be a high-end model and/or an expensive one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. So, will studying from home be totally dependent on technology?

 

No. In fact, BA has already been applying this study from home system, which do not heavily depend on internet technology. We call it “Special Study Program” which has been running for the past 10 years or since BA began. It is being availed by our students who are in showbiz and athletes who are regularly competing abroad. They simply bring their lessons (books, notebooks, school works) with them wherever they are which their parents get from school. They have special teachers who guide them and who regularly communicate with them mainly via cellphone.

 

BA has been duly given the permit and recognition by DepEd and was one of the first schools, if not the first, officially allowed to do homeschooling in the entire Region III, long before this pandemic happened.

 

We shall therefore simply continue and expand this Special Study Program mainly by preparing hard copies of lessons, worksheets, and other school works, especially for those who may really have some difficulty with online learning. The worksheets shall either be delivered, if within the nearby vicinity of the school (Lias, Lambakin, Pandayan, and the nearby subdivisions) or picked up from school by parents or guardians. For farther areas across town and in provinces where internet connection is a problem, worksheets shall be delivered via Lalamove, LBC or other delivery systems with parents shouldering the actual delivery fee.

 

*For students from really far provinces in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and abroad, they should have online facility and capability, as regular delivery of actual worksheets might be extra expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Will my kids need one laptop each? What if they just share one computer and their online lessons will be at the same time?

 

There is no need for one computer for each of your children. They can use one alternately. If live online teaching conflicts with their schedules one of them may re- watch his missed online live lesson in its replay version as mentioned.

 

Also, again, having at least a cellphone is a minimum requirement, which can be used to watch recorded or even live online lessons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. Will books and notebooks still be used?

 

E-books and actual books will still be used as an important part of the learning development. Notebooks shall be a strongly suggested option. We do not want our kids to do away with the habit and skill of opening and reading from an actual book and writing on paper, especially if and when we go back to the regular school setup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. Will there be a need to wear uniforms?

 

Yes, when they eventually go back to school if and when already allowed and safe to do so. Uniforms are not necessary if they are studying at home. However, there are parents who plan of letting their kids wear their (old) uniforms even as they study at home as a psychological strategy and discipline for their kids, which would be ideal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15. What will be the daily and weekly schedule? What will it be like in a day of studying from home?

 

We shall have a run through for both parents and students before school begins on August 24. The detailed schedules shall be announced when we more or less have the number of enrollees for the school year for a more accurate planning and execution. Other details such as the grading system, how exams shall be administered, attendance and other forms of measurement and evaluation shall also be discussed during the said orientations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16. What shall be the general learning content in this new learning system?

 

The MELC or the Most Essential Learning Competencies shall be generally applied for this learning system. In relation to this, we are working on integrating some subjects so that there should be lesser learning areas, especially in the grade school, and for some subjects in the Junior High School. This way, we focus and master lessons more without sacrificing the essentials and while also importantly preventing “academic and screen fatigue”.

 

*BA has already worked on and submitted our Learning Continuity Plan to DepEd for use and implementation for this incoming school year using the new learning systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17. What if the kids are already allowed to go back to school?

 

When kids are allowed to go back to school for face-to-face / blended learning it shall be on a gradual phase. There will be days when they shall be in school, 2 days in a week for a start, while the rest of the days shall still be studying from home. Slowly, we add more days in going to school depending on the advice of authorities such as DepEd, and of health and medical experts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18. What would be the safety measures of the school?

 

On the days that they are in school, required safety measures shall be strictly applied such as wearing of facemasks, frequent washing of hands, regular disinfection, social distancing in and out of the classroom, limited number of students per class with shifting schedules, etc. Such arrangement of schedules shall be informed you in detail when this face-to-face learning shall already be allowed.

 

Parents should however also take responsibility and risk in sending their kids to school if there is no vaccine yet. No one can fully guarantee that no infection shall happen as the virus is an invisible enemy carried even by asymptomatic carriers. We, the school, along with parents, should therefore be very careful and discerning if we shall allow kids to go to school already and only if and when there is very little or no more chance of infection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19. What if I still let my kids continue studying from home even if they are already allowed to go to school?

 

Parents have the option for their kids to continue studying from home for the entire school year, especially those living from faraway cities, provinces or abroad. We are, in fact, looking at and preparing for an entire school year for this study from home system, unless a significant development in fighting the virus happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20. Wouldn’t studying from home be boring?

 

It won’t. In fact, it would even be more exciting if we all do our part - if parents become more involved with their kids’ studies as they should in any given learning system, and if students themselves develop self-initiative, discipline and joy in learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our part, trust BA to do what it does best – make learning fun, enjoyable, holistic, and effective – no matter what the learning system is - through our Life- Learning Programs, our LEAP (Life Enrichment Action Program), and other activities that will continue in the most creative and resourceful way – “The BA Way!”

 

“Be ALIVE! Be BLESSED! Be the BEST!”

 

“To God be the glory... Forever and ever. Amen.”