Alec Jiggins
Alec is an experienced educator and administrator from England. He has six years of experience in an international leadership position and 11 years in a classroom environment, successfully leading schools through IGCSE and IB candidacy and accreditation. Alec embraces the initiative in his school where every child is encouraged to maximise their potential whether it is academically, culturally or through sporting achievements. He is the former principal of EtonHouse International School at Orchard, Singapore.
It is important to understand that school isn't closed during this circuit breaker period and learning carries on even at home. It takes responsibility and discipline at home to ensure effective home based learning. Alec Jiggins, Former Principal of EtonHouse Orchard shares a heartfelt message on how every student at home can make their home-based learning journey purposeful.
Adapting to this new reality
While it’s undoubtedly a brave new world, it’s also one filled with uncertainty and anxiety. It is one where we all have a duty, this is our generation’s challenge. It is natural to ask - why me, why now? The answer is simple - you are ready to face the challenge, even though you may not believe you are. You may be thinking “it’s not fair”. Well, in life, you’re never ready for moments like these. We will rise to meet this challenge together.
We are being given the opportunity to decide, as we move forward, what really matters in our lives-our family, our friends, our communities. Our duty, is to redefine what “normal life” needs to look like once we have overcome the pandemic.
Make a positive change through this pandemic
When we come through the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic, as we surely will, we will be forever changed by the experience, as will the world around us. What do we want our world to look like? Your duty, as students, is to decide what’s important, and work to make those changes happen. If not you, then who? If not now, then when? This is your time. You get to write the next pages of the world’s history books
In this moment of crisis, we should try and be our best selves, as teachers, as parents, as students, as human beings, as citizens of this planet we share, and ensure that when we come through this, we have a better world.
Advice for students to continue staying motivated through these times- Approach home based learning with a sense of new learning and a growth mindset.
- Come together as a community with a shared purpose
- Wake up at your regular time, get yourself ready for school - take a shower, dress appropriately
- Prepare yourself mentally with a mindset for learning
- Get all your learning materials ready
- Be punctual for the online sessions
- Be ready and learn from any mistakes made
- Ask questions, meet the given deadlines and do your best
- Consider this as your fight and duty to help the world against Covid-19
- Evaluate how this experience will shape your world and career choices
We each have to do our best, to help one another, to come together as a community, as a team. We need you, our students, to help us make this work, to make home based learning successful. It’s our duty, our challenge. In years to come, we will look back at this moment, the time when the world asked us to rise to this challenge, and we will know that we kept our schools open online, and that we did it together.
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