No 1 Sep. 2015 Newsbrief Everything you need to know - Campus Dahlem Dear Community Members, Welcome - or welcome back - to B.I.S. and Kita International. UPCOMING > 7-8.9. & 10.9.2015 Parent Information Evening - Secondary > 17.9.2015 PTA Meeting > 22.9.2015 International College Day > 23.9.2015 Wine & Cheese > 7.10.2015 Finding your Feet We are extremely excited to have begun 2015/16 on Monday with new students, teachers, families, and hopes for a great year filled with possibilities! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our new format for newsbriefs and newsletters. You will continue to receive two publications from us each month, but from September, one will be a newsbrief, usually earlier in the month, featuring key dates and reminders, and the second will be a newsletter, towards the end of the month, which will be more inclusive, featuring notes, quotes, comments and stories from throughout the B.I.S. and Kita International Community. It will also include editorials, educational tips, curriculum corners, and things that will support your child s education. To get you excited about our new format, on page 5 we are attaching a preview of a section that will be featured in our newsletters going forward: The Coordinator Crib. This column will be contributed by our new 6-10 Curriculum Coordinator, Dr. Marianne, and will aid in strengthening understanding of our middle school program. On this note, my wish for the new school year is that we are able to continue mobilizing the creativity and wisdom of the entire community to strengthen learning and communication at B.I.S. Your continued support and involvement is appreciated. Please take note of the dates and important events highlighted in this first newsbrief. Einen guten Start ins neue Schuljahr! Yours faithfully, B.I.S. school calendar Richard Eaton Director 6.9.2015 Parent Choir Performance The B.I.S. Parent Choir is going to perform this Sunday, September 6th, 18:00, accompanied by the Adrian Leang Trio (Peter Befort, Daniel Telander, Adrian Leang); Kirchengemeinde Matterhornstr. 37-39, 14129 Berlin. 23.9.2015 Wine and Cheese We cordially invite you to the annual Wine and Cheese welcome event for parents new to B.I.S. including those moving up from Kita International. Multi Purpose Hall. Wednesday, September 23rd, 19:00-20:30. 7.10.2015 Finding your Feet Parent workshop series on transitioning with Jaquelyne Reeves. > Primary Assembly Room, Wednesday, October 7th; Wednesday, January 27th; Wednesday, May 18th (all from 8:30-10:30). Berlin International School Newsbrief 1/15
REMINDERS Traffic: Kindly remember that the lane directly in front of the school is a bus lane and should not be used for parking between the hours of 07.00 and 17.00. Similarly, double parking, and parking in the middle of the street (on the dividing island) disrupts the flow of traffic, and further compromises safety and security. Please assist us. Thank you. Holidays: The next school holiday will be our autumn recess from October 19th - 26th. School will resume on Tuesday morning, October 27th at the normal time. Many thanks to the school s PTA leadership team for their hugely successful Welcome Coffee Morning on September 1st. It was a great start to the year and an encouraging sign of campus-wide PTA collaboration and community engagement. Dear Parents, THANK YOU PRIMARY I would like to extend a warm welcome back to school to all our families. The first few days of school have gone very smoothly and the new classes have settled in well. Our Back to School Evenings for grades 2-5 are scheduled for next week. Back to School Night gives parents the opportunity to meet homeroom teachers, specialist teachers and members of the Primary Leadership Team and get important information about grade level curriculum, routines and expectations. I encourage all parents to attend. I look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night. Kind regards, Heather Sandin-Baumann Primary Principal 1/15 Berlin International School Newsbrief Guided Reading Help Needed: The Primary teachers are looking for parents to help support reading during guided reading times. The help of parents allows students to have more time reading with an adult each week. Parents are invited to attend guided reading training to learn how to help students in the classroom, as well as how to support their own children at home. > Wednesday, 30 September, 8:20-9:20 primary room 1.10 (4B) Parents who were trained in the past are also invited to come again. If you are interested in attending the training and/or helping in the classroom with guided reading, please contact Dawn Becker at dawn. becker@berlin-international-school.de. Library Update Please be informed that the Primary Library will be closed due to reorganization for the next two weeks. We are urgently looking for volunteers to come in and help label books. Please stop by the library or send an email to kevin.miller@berlin-international-school. de if you have time to help out. We appreciate your understanding and support. Primary Upcoming Dates: > Tuesday, September 8th (19:00-20:30) Grade 2 & 3 Back to School Night > Wednesday, September 9th (19:00-20:30) Grade 4 & 5 Back to School Night > Monday, September 28th After School Activities will start > Thursday, October 1st (TBA) * Principal Coffee Morning > Thursday, October 8th (TBA) * Primary Years Programme Parent Information Session > Saturday, October 10th (TBA) * FROBIS Primary Indoor Football Tournament *TBA: Times to be announced
SECONDARY Dear Parents I hope you and your children have had an excellent start to the new academic year. In order to support our students and facilitate parent communication in Secondary: > Back to School Information Evenings will take place next week. Monday, 7th September - Grade 6, 7 and 8 Tuesday, 8th September - IBDP1 and IBDP2 Thursday, 10th September - Grade 9 & Grade 10 All evenings will begin at 1900 with parents meeting the Homeroom teachers. This will be followed by an information session in the Red Multi-Purpose Hall at 1930 by the relevant Coordinator (Grade 6 to 10, Mr Broschkowski; Grade 9 and Grade 10, Ms Kalinichev; IDP1 and IDP2, Ms Moffatt). I look forward to seeing you all next week. Best wishes, Michael Cunningham Secondary Principal > PTA Meetings Thursday, 17th September Thursday, 5th November Thursday, 14th January Thurs day,14th April Thursday, 16th June Upcoming Dates > International College Day Tuesday, 22nd September > Secondary Early Finish - 12pm Teacher Professional Development Wednesday, 7th October Upcoming secondary school events: Grade 6: > 9.9 (leave 8.45) all (!) Grade 6 students > Frank Cotrell Boyce Opening Speech & reading from The Unforgotten Coat Grade 6 trips Grade 7: Grade 7 trips Grade 8: > 9.9 12.00 (leave 11.15) Grade 8 German Native > Mawil Kinderland Grade 9 trips, 8+10; 9 Grade 9: >17.9 9.00-14.30 French Students Literature Festival (approx 15) >22.9 International College Day 14.00-17.30 in MPH >22./23.9 Grade level trips 8+10; 9 trip >28.9 Grade 9 Belgium Battlefields trip departs >2.10 Belgium trip returns Berlin International School Newsbrief 1/15
KITA INTERNATIONAL Welcome to a new Kita year. Welcome to all my colleagues who are refreshed and ready to go. Welcome to all new children and families who joined us for a new Kita year. Thank you to all of those who worked so hard in the holidays to get the Kita ready- our cleaners, kitchen ladies and workmen as well as staff members. Now let s welcome the staff who have already had their first outing during the In Service- it s called... Teambuilding! The following dates are important for you to know: > Thursday, September 3rd, 4K/5 K ( Starter) 7 pm Parent evening > Tuesday, September 15th, 8.15 am am Kita Sportsroom First Sing along for parents and children. > Wednesday, September 16th, 3K 7 pm Parent evening > Friday, September 18th, 4 pm - 6 pm Kita Welcome BBQ for all the family (sign up lists will be outside classrooms next week) Wishing all of you a wonderful start to the Kita/school year. Kirsten Leang Kita Principal 1/15 Berlin International School Newsbrief
September: > Tuesday, 8.9. 14-16:00 Regionalkonferenz GS Horst-Käsler-Halle > Wednesday, 9.9. 14-16:00 Regionalkonferenz OS Horst-Käsler-Halle > Tuesday-Thursday, 15.-17.9. GISST meeting > Wednesday, 16.9. Wilmersdorfer Staffeltag GS 9-11:30; OS 11:30-14:00 > Saturday, 26.9. 15:00 4.2 km Mini-Marathon, Leipziger Platz, FEE 3 > Sunday + Monday, 27./28.9. GISST Golf in Dresden > Wednesday, 30.9. Staffel Finale OS October: SPORT EVENTS > Thursday, 1.10. Staffel Finale GS (Grade 4-6) > Thursday, 8.10. Vattenfall Schul-Cross Cup at Volkspark Jungfernheide (Grade 4-10), 9:00-14:00, > Saturday, 10.10. GISST Cross Country Race at BBS (Grade 2-5, U14, Varsity) degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (Hons.), a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education, a Graduate Diploma in TESOL, a Masters in TESOL / Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Applied Linguistics. I have worked at B.I.S for the past 6 years teaching History, Geography, English and English as an Additional Language - I ve been the Head of EAL for the last three years. Before that I worked in various educational contexts in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and even a summer doing outdoor education in the U.S.A. Before that well, I ve done a few different things. That s me in a nutshell. The Secondary Curriculum Coordinator s position is all about being a part of the B.I.S team helping to create an even better educational experience for your child. That means helping to further evolve the solid base we have so far developed which encourages students to achieve their goals through being inquisitive, knowledgeable, caring, respectful people who are oriented toward creating a better and more peaceful world (you ll probably recognise that as being a paraphrase of the B.I.S and IB mission statements). To that end, this regular series of Coordinator s Cribs will provide you with information aimed at helping you understand some of the things your child is doing in class and some of the things we are doing in terms of curriculum design and its application. The column will also sometimes have handy tips and advice for helping your child in their studies. Let the new year begin! Here s the first quick tip: heading back to school after the freedom and pleasures of summer can be difficult. The sooner your child gets into a structured, organised routine of coming home, reflecting on the day s events and learning opportunities, completing any homework and so on the better. Set aside a quiet work space for them to do this and get into the habit of asking your child what they did today (hint: it won t be nothing! so don t accept that as an answer ;) ). > What is happening here? Find out in the first Newsletter of 2015/16 - due out Thursday, October 1st. PREVIEWS Preview of: The Coordinator Crib. This column will be contributed by our new 6-10 Curriculum Coordinator, Dr. Marianne, and will aid in strengthening understanding of our middle school program: Welcome to the new school year! This column is devoted to disseminating information, ideas and events as they relate to the Secondary Curriculum Coordinator s position at B.I.S. This is a new position at the school and one I am looking forward to getting stuck into. By way of self-introduction here is a quick overview of me - Marianne. Yes, I have only one name. Some people do. The social and cultural history of naming people is fascinating, but a little off-topic for today. But to make up for the lack of two names I have multiple Disclaimer: B.I.S. and PKS cannot take responsibility for any unintended inaccuracies in this publication. For comments and feedback please contact newspaper@berlininternational-school.de. Berlin International School Newsbrief 1/15