BACK TO SCHOOL (IN MAY

Things have been a bit different at the École oraliste de Québec pour enfants malentendants ou sourds since March. Students, parents, and staff have all had to adjust to a new reality. It required a lot of teamwork—after all, that’s the key to adapting to change. What a challenge for teachers; they had to change their teaching styles and follow up with each student to make sure they were learning and staying motivated! Thankfully, they were successful, and students were able to keep learning to the best of their ability.

Returning to School

In May 2020, more than 65% of students came back to finish the school year in person. Everything had to be rethought in light of the recommendations from public health authorities. We had to implement new protective measures, like giving teachers visors and masks with transparent windows and restructuring classrooms to maintain physical distancing. One of the school’s key objectives was to prioritize learning while keeping everyone safe. That led to several large (and exciting) projects, like releasing salmon fry into the Jacques-Cartier River. The kids loved that project! The whole team worked hard and rose to the challenge wonderfully. Not everyone could return to school, so we also implemented remote learning. Teachers gave nearly customized lessons to students who stayed at home. The teachers loved staying in touch with their students and watching them learn, from a distance. This success was only possible because of the technological tools the École oraliste provided its students. Long before the lockdown, pre-high school and high school students were fortunate enough to have a school-provided iPad, thanks to a generous donation from the Fondation des Sourds du Québec. Elementary school students who didn’t have access to computers at home were given laptops. That made remote learning much easier!

Arts and Sports We wanted to keep our school days interesting while still following public health directives. Given the small number of students in the classrooms, we were able to reintegrate outdoor physical education classes. We had to modify the structure a bit, but the students loved being able to get moving with Ms. Caroline again. Ms. Christine, the music teacher, also modified her classes so that our young musicians could keep practicing. Our string quartet, which included the music teacher, was even able to hold a short concert in the yard! Even though we had to stay physically distanced, it was a great treat. The Fondation Sourdine’s Saveurs du Théâtre unfortunately had to be cancelled this year. We still wanted to keep students motivated though, so we organized an exhibition for our shared mosaic (a project led by mosaicist Mathieu Bergeron), which showed the play’s main character, Don Quixote, in action. Raphaël Barcelo and Érika St-Hilaire, two young actors, put on a brilliant rendition of the play’s first scene. Congratulations to our young artists!

A Positive Back-To-School

All in all, back-to-school 2.0 was a great success. Thanks to our teachers, students, and parents, everyone was able to keep learning. All of our classes even got to try some exciting new projects!

Yasmine Sahrane Assistant Director École oraliste de Québec pour enfants malentendants ou sourds