The American School of Kinshasa TASOK TALK - February 2021
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SCHOOL
LOGO
The American School of Kinshasa
TASOK TALK – February 2021
In This Edition:
• Message from the Director – Positive Look at 2021
• The More that you Read…. - Preschool
• Service Learning at TASOK – COLK Orphanage
• Counseling Corner
• The Art & Science of Observing Children Learning
• We Did It! – PYP Authorization Complete!
• Ongoing Changes in the Secondary School
• Elementary Visual Arts: An Overview
• The Fear of ‘Lost Learning’
• Business Office Update
• 3-W’s to Reduce Risk of COVID-19
Class of 2020 Plaque!
• Nurse’s Corner – Contact Tracing
• TASOK 2021-2022 Academic Calendar
• Upcoming Dates
Message from the Director – A Positive Look at 2021
Now more than ever, the TASOK Talk plays an important role in sharing with families, some of the great teaching &
learning activities taking place in our new ‘normal’ of virtual learning. Over the course of the past weeks of empty
classrooms and a quiet campus, we have worked tirelessly with other schools, organizations, and DRC officials, to gather
information and share procedures to safely resume on-campus learning. The positive spin on this, is that it allowed us to
make additional health & safety adjustments as we wait in anticipation of welcoming students back to campus.
Prior to the December break, I also had the opportunity of inviting the 2020 TASOK graduates to visit campus to
complete their graduation class concrete plaque. This would normally have taken place last June at the conclusion of the
school year, but COVID changed that. The collection of annual concrete slabs can be found near the secondary
canteen/pond area, commemorating each graduating year’s names and quotes over the years.
Our eventual return to on-campus means that everyone should be doing their part to ensure the health & safety of our
community. Please remember to follow the health & safety partnership protocols and DO NOT send your child to school if:
1. Your child is unwell (sick) or experiencing any symptoms associated with the flu or COVID-19.
2. Your child did not meet the previously communicated 14-days at-home quarantine
period after traveling back to Kinshasa.
3. If you, or someone in your household are currently impacted or recovering
positive COVID cases.
Entry to campus times & requirements will remain the same:
• Proper mask wearing, hand washing, temperature checks, and social
distancing will be strictly enforced.
• Anyone that is unable to comply with the health & safety partnership will
have parents contacted, and be asked to return home to ensure the safety of
all.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Be safe, be well, be kind,
Dan Mullen
TASOK Director
Our Mission for Excellence: The American School of Kinshasa provides
dynamic and individualized educational challenges and opportunities that
promote diversity and empower each of its students to develop into
independent global community leaders.
The more that you read…
Caroline van der Merwe & Helen Bartlett – Preschool 1 & 2
In March 2020, when we first went online, pre-planning without connecting in-person with our
students, was new to us. In preschool, students have ownership over their own learning, and we
use their interests and wonderings to direct and lead activities within a play-based environment.
However, being online we no longer had that direct connection with our students and needed to
create planning that was user-friendly for parents, encouraged inquiry and for exploration to
continue as well as being age-appropriate, fun and engaging.
Throughout this process, our planning has evolved
from designing activities based solely around our
units of inquiry to now creating activities built around
stories. Initially, prior to using stories, there was no
connection between the activities for each unit, for
example, Who We Are had no connection with How
the World Works. Once we started using stories as our
foundation, our units began to connect in an
authentic way, allowing students to explore big
concepts in a way that helps them understand their
world.
We have used a combination of storybooks and
short films. An example is Be You by Peter
Reynolds which encourages students to be
themselves. In How We Express Ourselves, the story
taught them that it is important to try new things
and be brave. While in How the World Works, they
were encouraged to be thinkers and ask
questions. Another example was Give a Little
Love by John Lewis. This was a Christmas advert
Artwork was created by a preschooler after
by a UK company; however, its message was viewing the short film 'Give a little Love'
powerful as it allowed students to authentically
connect to Sharing the Planet, exploring the impact they have on the world around them. In this
short film, hearts were spread throughout the scenes, showing many expressions of kindness,
giving students an opportunity to connect to our Who We Are unit where students were asked to
carry out random acts of kindness for members in their family.
While we look forward to being back on campus with our students, we continue this online journey,
searching for great stories that make us laugh, ask questions, look for answers and give a greater
understanding of the world around us.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll
go.” - Dr. Seuss.
Service Learning at TASOK: Making a Difference in our
Greater Community
Emmanuel Butsana – Grade 11 Students
On the 23rd of January, a group of TASOK students accompanied by Mrs.Marchant visited
the COLK orphanage and deposited donations that had previously been contributed by the greater
TASOK community. This was the culmination of a 3-month service project, through which the
students had hoped to bring joy to the orphanage as well as further their skill. The students began
planning the project in November when the orphanage was brought to their attention by one of the
school’s French teachers, Mrs.
Mapessa.
The group then paid the
orphanage a first visit in November
and were then introduced to the
orphanage’s founder, Maman Monique.
She has been the head of the
orphanage for the past 26 years, and
the story of how she came to head the
orphanage, a story of love and resolve,
was found to be quite inspiring by the
students. After this visit, the students
determined what they would collect
from the TASOK community, and
agreed to base their donation off of a
Christmas theme. The COLK orphanage
The group made an effort to make sure everyone was informed about this service project
during the last two weeks of school. This was done through the morning announcements, posters
around the school and the TASOK Talks newsletter. The group then placed boxes throughout the
school during the first week of December. The donation had initially been planned for December
12th, but social distancing guidelines interrupted this plan and forced the group to reconsider their
options.
The group communicated with
students through teachers on ManageBac,
to continue to encourage them to donate
items for the orphanage. To the great
surprise of the group, the TASOK
community responded positively to this
appeal. Donations were brought to school
and deposited at the front gate. On the
11th of December, the group was able to
go to school and package the donated
items. Despite having planned to donate
donations on the 12th, the group was
unable to do so: all members in the group
had been in proximity to people who had
tested positive to the coronavirus. The
donation was therefore rescheduled to be
The group paid the orphanage a first visit in November, 2020 done during January.
Finally, the gifts were deposited to the
orphanage on the 23rd of January 2021. To
the students, this experience was deeply
gratifying: they were able to observe first-
hand the joy they had managed to bring
about and satisfactorily complete weeks of
work. The students hope to be able to return
to the orphanage, later on, to be able to
engage in a day of activities with the
children.
On the 11th of December, the group was able to go to TASOK and package the donated items
The students’ final takeaway is that kindness truly pays off. To have seen the smiles on the
faces of the kids upon their realization that toys would be donated was heartwarming. As the
American author Mark Twain once said, “to get the full value of joy you must have someone to
divide it with”. No doubt receiving the gifts during the festive season would have pleased the kids
further, but receiving them in the New Year made them happy nonetheless.
The gifts were delivered to the
orphanage on the 23rd of January 2021
Students after having deposited donations to the COLK
orphanage
Michael Ekerue
Emmanuel Butsana
Emma Zamundu
Jessica Kanguvu Batuswa
Axel Ndombasi
Ms. Marchant
Counseling Corner
(Additional resources can be found on our Continuous Learning Site).
YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity
fighting for children and young people's
mental health. Find out more about them,
their mission and how they work at https://youngminds.org.uk/
Their site includes:
• Coronavirus advice
and mental health
1 COVID-19 PARENTING
One-on-One Time
Can’t go to work? Schools closed? Worried about money? It is normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed.
support School shutdown is also a chance to make better relationships with our children and teenagers.
One-on-One time is free and fun. It makes children feel loved and secure, and shows them that they are important.
• Well-being
resources Set aside time to
spend with each child
• Parent Helpline
It can be for just 20 minutes, or longer – it’s up
Ask your child what
to us. It can be at the same time each day so they would like to do
children or teenagers can look forward to it.
You are always Choosing builds their self
confidence. If they want to do
something that isn’t OK with
welcome to reach out Ideas with your baby/toddler physical distancing, then this is a
chance to talk with them about this.
to one of our TASOK
(see next leaflet)
Copy their facial expression and sounds
Counselors for help
Sing songs, make music with pots and spoons
Stack cups or blocks
and advice at: Tell a story, read a book, or share pictures
Switch off the TV
and phone. This is
virus-free time
Ideas with your teenager Ideas with your young child
Julie Mullen
Secondary Counselor Talk about something they like: sports,
music, celebrities, friends
Read a book or look at pictures
jmullen@tasok.net Cook a favourite meal together
Make drawings with crayons or pencils
Dance to music or sing songs!
Exercise together to their favorite music
Do a chore together – make cleaning and cooking a game!
And Help with school work
Listen to them, look at them.
Give them your full attention. For more information click below links:
Tashawndra Govan Have fun! Parenting tips
from WHO
Parenting tips
from UNICEF
In worldwide
languages
EVIDENCE-BASE
Elementary Counselor The mark “CDC” is owned by
The COVID-19 Playful Parenting Emergency Response is supported by the LEGO Foundation, the
philanthropic donors to the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 Research Response Fund, and the
UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents (Accelerate) Hub. Research on
tgovan@tasok.net
the US Dept of Health and
Human Services and is used
with permission. Use of this
logo is not an endorsement Parenting for Lifelong Health is supported by the UKRI GCRF Accelerate Hub, the Oak Foundation,
by HHS or CDC of any
particular product, service,
or enterprise.
the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework
Programme and the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, the Global Alliance for
Chronic Diseases under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme,
UNICEF, WHO, Oxford University Innovation GCRF Sustainable Impact Fund, the Leverhulme Trust,
the Economic and Social Research Council, CIDA, the National Research Foundation of South
Africa, Ilifa Labantwana, the John Fell Fund, the Evaluation Fund, the UBS Optimus Foundation,
USAID-PEPFAR, the Wellcome Trust, Grand Challenges Canada and Wellspring Advisors.
The Art and Science of Observing Children Learning Paula Baxter, Elementary Principal Whilst online learning is far from ideal, there are always silver linings that can be found. This time around, it was our team of elementary teaching assistants (TAs) who benefitted from an interactive workshop. Helen Bartlett, a Preschool teacher, presented on the subject of observation skills. And when your children are back on campus, our teaching assistants’ new knowledge and understanding will be put into practice. The TAs learnt that observation skills refer to the ability to use all five of our senses to recognize, analyze and recall our surroundings; and that it is key to understanding our students and finding out more about them as individuals. They also learnt more about the six main strategies that teachers use to collect observational data about students: time samples, running records, anecdotal records, jottings, work samples and photograph and video analysis. After viewing a short video of a preschool child independently scaling the climbing wall after a few missteps, Ms. Salem Mvumbi commented how she observed "Uncomfortable situations teach us all to blossom and bring out the best in us."
Ongoing Changes in the Secondary School
Lesley Peacock – Secondary Principal
Dear Parents and Guardians,
You will have noticed a significant change in the Secondary School
online programs we moved to a Block Schedule at the beginning of
Semester 2. During the first week, I wanted to check in with our students to see how they were coping with
the new schedule and invited them to attend my zoom meetings. I must say it was great to see such a high
turnout with the majority of students participating in the conversation. It has also the highlight of the day to
speak to our students again and to listen to their valuable feedback. Unfortunately, I would have liked to
have seen more of the students on screen, but they seem to be shy of using the video, maybe they just aren’t
dressed for the occasion! We received an overwhelming thumbs up for the new schedule, mainly due to the
longer periods and the mixture of Zoom conferencing, and the following range of activities that are possible
within the longer block. While online lessons are organized synchronously following the student’s timetable,
asynchronous activities and assignments can follow. This is the block schedule we will continue to employ
when our students return to campus, or follow the hybrid model, as it is fully transferable for all scenarios.
If you missed the ParentMail sent on Sunday the 24th of January you can view a video describing how the
new block system works and how students can see their new schedules on ManageBac:
TASOK Schedule Changes Video for Second Semester
When we return on-campus there are other health and safety advantages associated with the schedule. Less
passing times helps to limit contact time during the day. The previous 8 periods were rather rushed and
now there is time built in to wipe down desks and chairs and to sanitize hands between classes. Also, it has
enabled us to join the Secondary School lunchtime whilst providing more supervision. In the past, we have
moved students from the canteen area in the CAC. To avoid the Middle School followed by the High School
students gathering in just these two locations a rotation lunch schedule that combines both the MS and HS
will be introduced whereby grade cohorts will eat in a different station. These will rotate each week,
allowing for greater social distancing, increased supervision, and location changes. When students
commence their classes on-campus an Advisory block has been added on Wednesday, providing a valuable
opportunity for MS students to explore relevant topics that are of importance to them through the
introduction of the ‘Second Step Program’. Further feedback relevant to our online learning will be
gathered from the Parent Survey sent out on Monday the 25th of January. This will help us to modify and
advance our present online learning.
Students in Grades 9-11 have been revising for their Semester 1 examinations, however, as online learning
continues until further notice our exam and report dates keep on being pushed back. We are aware of the
unreliability of offering online exams and have therefore decided to cancel the Semester 1 examination for
Grades 9-10 and 11. Instead, teachers now are ensuring all materials and skills required for the year are
covered, preparing our students for the next grade level. Grades 6-8 and Grade 12’s reports will be available
on ManageBac on Monday the 15th of February and Grades 9-11 reports will be issued on Friday the 19th of
February.
We value your constructive feedback and continue to use this in developing our health and safety protocols
and the academic program we offer our students. Thank you for your continuing support and flexibility as
we adjust our model with TASOK students always at the heart of our decisions.
Lesley Peacock
Elementary Visual Arts: An Overview
Rydah Parry - K-7 Visual Arts Teacher
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have”
- Maya Angelou
It was absolutely wonderful being back in the art room for the first
few months of this academic year 2020/2021 - extra special to
have an art room full of beautiful faces, albeit masked.
Kindergarten to Grade 5 artists were taught many art skills and
techniques, introduced to a variety of diverse artists and art
movements, and created final artworks that are beautiful and
interesting!
The first few units in the Elementary PYP art program are as diverse as creating a paper mosaic
inspired by African American artist Alma Thomas, a toy portrait collage, drawing leaves from
observation, learning how to draw a self-portrait and creating a Congolese Kuba design for a class
mural! The artists were all enthusiastic and eager to learn about art!
Kindergarten Toy Portrait
Kindergarten artists were inspired by the artwork of
Margaret Morrison and Brandon Nagy. Using their own
toy, they learned how to draw from observation
including identifying proportion and shape. They then
created a collage of torn coloured paper as the
background. They created impressive artworks!
Well done, Kindergarten artists!
Grade 3 Picasso Portrait Just before we plunged back into online learning before the December 2020 break, the Grade 3 artists completed their fantastic Picasso-inspired portraits. After learning about the incredible artist Pablo Picasso, the artists started to meticulously complete each part of their portrait using a variety of materials such as oil pastels, paint sticks and different types of paper. Here is some of their awesome work! Well done, Grade 3 artists!
Face-to-face in the art classroom, the Elementary artists are incredibly eager to learn about art and create inspiring artworks. Despite the immense difficulties of online learning, particularly for a subject such as art, I hope we can continue to learn and create together during these challenging times!
Coordinator’s Notes
The Fear of “Lost Learning”
Garrett Austin, MYP/DP Coordinator
With schools around the world facing
closures as a result of the most recent COVID
wave, there has been a lot of discussion about
students falling behind in their studies. For many
students and teachers, this is also their first
experience with online learning. Between the
disruptions and the shift from traditional to remote, there is now fear that our students are falling
behind. The term for this is called “lost learning” and there is actually quite a lot of research that
has been done on the topic. Up until now, these studies have focused on lost learning during
summer vacations, or as a result of weather or natural disasters. There is new research out
specifically on the impact of COVID on the 2019-2020 academic year that we can learn much
from. Furthermore, research on the effectiveness of online learning and other strategies for
teachers to address lost learning can allay some fears about our students being set back. While
“lost learning” can happen, it does not permanently set students back and TASOK is working
hard to prevent any learning gaps.
When looking at traditional “lost learning” studies, we can find that while students are
often set back due to adverse circumstances, it is possible to overcome those setbacks. The
“summer slide” is often talked about at schools. Between the time classes end in the spring and
return in the fall, students aren’t engaged with the same type of academic atmosphere as they
are during the school year. As a result, teachers often feel like they have to reteach things that
students had learned in the past. However, there isn’t much conclusive research that supports
this idea that there is a “slide” or any “loss” of learning. Students' math scores often drop slightly,
but many students see increases in their reading scores when it comes to standardized tests
comparing pre- and post-summer ability scores (Kuhfeld et al.). Another major study suggests
that “If summer learning gaps are present, most of them are small and hard to discern” (von
Hippel and Hamrock 75). When the disruption to learning is unexpected, as with natural
disasters, there is often a setback but students are able to overcome them. A study done on
students affected by the Christchurch and Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 found “there was no
evidence for... poorer academic performance by students as a consequence of the earthquakes”
(Beaglehole et al. 70). Students who were affected by Hurricane Katrina were able to recover
academically as a result of teachers providing additional time and support, as well as
maintaining high expectations for their students (Peek and Richardson 5). All of this evidence
points to the impact of COVID and the resulting learning loss to be something that we can
overcome.
Our current continuous learning model also promises to be an effective way to ensure
there is little to no learning loss for our students. Higher education began a shift towards online
learning in the mid 2010s, with American universities leading the way. The number of students
that took online classes increased at a faster rate than the total growth in student enrollment
(Allen and Seaman 6). Online learning is nothing new and has proven to be an effective model
for schools. The finding of recent research on the topic states “Overall, there is strong
evidence to suggest that online learning is at least as effective as the traditional format” (Nguyen
316). Students who participated in online learning at schools in the US during spring semester
2020 showed much lower standardized achievement gaps than students who did not (Kuhfeld et
al.). While teachers around the world are still figuring out best practices and how to most
effectively use the format, there is strong evidence that it is an effective way for our students to
learn during this time of uncertainty.Probably the most important takeaway for me while doing a review of the research on this
topic is how important social and emotional well-being is for students and families. Maybe the
conversation shouldn’t be about what are our students learning, but what are our students
feeling? Those emotional needs might be the biggest barrier to learning during this time.
Students need to feel comfortable and safe to be able to learn effectively, online or in person.
The world we live in today is stressful enough with the constant news reports of case numbers
and mortality rates and issues with vaccine distribution. Adding on to that with worries of how
this will affect their futures will only make it worse. While learning loss is a thing, students can
overcome it and make up those gaps.
Works Cited
Allen, I. Elaine, and Jeff Seaman. Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States,
2008. The Sloan Consortium, 2008.
Beaglehole, Ben & Bell, Caroline & Frampton, Christopher & Moor, Stephanie The impact of the
Canterbury earthquakes on successful school leaving for adolescents. Australian and
New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 41. no. 10, 2016.
Hippel, Paul & Hamrock, Caitlin. Do Test Score Gaps Grow before, during, or between the
School Years? Measurement Artifacts and What We Can Know in Spite of Them.
Sociological Science. vol 6. 2019.
Kuhfeld, Megan, et al. Projecting the Potential Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on
Academic Achievement. Educational Researcher, vol. 49, no. 8, Nov. 2020.
Peek, L., & Richardson, K. In Their Own Words: Displaced Children's Educational Recovery
Needs After Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness,
4(S1), S63-S70, 2010.Hello TASOK families! The 2nd semester payments are now overdue. Check your emails and details on invoices to bring your accounts up to date. Note that, at this time, the financial aid deadline has passed. Opportunities will re-open for next school-year and dates will be shared in the future Business Office updates and the Business Operations site. Stay informed by visiting our website https://tasok.net/business-operation/ for details on tuition rates, payment plans and education loans at local banks. Link to ED Loans I am available to answer your questions. You can schedule a phone or zoom appointment. Best regards, Kareen Laplanche, Finance Manager Email: business@tasok.net | +(243) 81-880-1330 | TASOK Payment Portal CLICK HERE
TASOK Continues to reinforce the follow at school, are you doing the same at home? Teach your kids about the 3W’s or 3M’s
Nurse’s Corner Cell +243 817 252 011
Nathalie Katalayi– TASOK Nurse
Should Someone in Your Family/Household Test Positive for COVID-19:
1. Keep your child and all siblings home from school and isolate.
2. Immediately consult a doctor and have everyone in the household tested for COVID-19
1. This includes all TASOK students (regardless of age)
2. This includes all family members in the household
3. Immediately inform the school of your situation and all symptom/testing details so that we can start
the contact tracing process.
4. Quarantine as recommended for up to 14 days until all family members retest negative.
5. Provide the Nurse with a negative COVID-19 test result and follow instructions.
6. Students will not be allowed to return until all family members have tested negative.
Should a Family Member of a Student in Your Child’s Class Test Positive for COVID-19:
1. Once the school is notified (Step 3 above), we will ask the remainder of students in that grade level
(and teacher) to stay home and isolate until the student in question has COVID test results submitted
to the school (Step 2 above).
1. If the test result is POSITIVE - the remaining students in that grade level (and teacher) will be
required to have a COVID-19 test AND all siblings will be asked to remain at home until the test
results are in.
2. If the test result is NEGATIVE - the remaining students in that grade level (and teacher) will
return to school and resume normal instruction.TASOK 2021-2022 Academic Calendar
Also found at: https://tasok.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/TASOK-2021-2022-
Approved-Academic-Calendar.pdf
Upcoming Events:
• January 21th – Semester 2 Begins
• June 2nd - Graduation
• March 22nd to April 2nd – Spring Break
• June 16th – Final Day of Classes
• April 9th – End of Quarter 3
• April 12th – Start of Quarter 4
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
Website: Contact: Email: Twitter
www.tasok.net +243 818 846 619 info@tasok.net @TASOKinshasaYou can also read
