Since the end of March 2020, the DHPS has been teaching students online. Within two weeks the teaching and IT staff had the school “up and running” online. This collaboration was purposefully and resolutely supported by the admin department, students and parents - a school community that came and stood together as a whole in a time of crisis.

The future of the grade 12 learners who have to sit for finals in either the Deutsche International Abiturprüfung or Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate during the course of 2020 was, naturally, a huge motivating factor in making sure that no teaching time was lost. Likewise, the progress of grade one students who had just started their school careers to grade six learners who are studying a foreign language for the first time was also a concern.

Whether via emails and material packages in primary school, or setting up and working in Google classrooms for junior and secondary school: Since the initial implementation – which now seems like a lifetime ago – everyone has grown in knowledge and confidence where online education is concerned.

The public relations department has also been running numerous social media campaigns to keep students positive and engaged. These have been trending under the hashtags #Team DHPS, #WeAreInThisTogether and many others. For more on this see the DHPS’ official social media pages.

In general, the overall feedback from students, parents and teachers has been positive thus far. Some subjects, for example, music had some stumbling blocks at first. However, through creative thinking and brainstorming the teachers were able to find a solution. And what makes belonging to such an extensive, supportive school community even better? Help is only an email (or Skype conference) away.

A big thank you to all parents, families, educators and teachers who did their very best during these challenging times for our learners. THANK YOU!