Primary Principal Update – Community Engagement

Dear Parents,

Welcome back. It is lovely to see everyone again.

At our assembly on Friday, we began to discuss how all primary students belong to the new Student Action Council. We talked about the role that students play in caring for our learning community and began the process of identifying some key initiatives for this year.

As I shared in the opening newsletter, these include expanding our repertoire of community engagement projects, such as working more purposefully with the Taman Bacaan (the BIS sponsored Community Center). This action component is an essential element of the Primary Years Programme, and forms one of our primary priorities this year. Please see the accompanying articles from our music teacher and from preschool, as they describe some of the meaningful action we were seeing around the school towards the end of last year.

The recent 2016 Evaluation Reports from our accrediting bodies (IBO, CIS & WASC) showered the Primary School with commendations. Here are some we are especially proud of.

“The school has built a stimulating learning environment based on understanding and respect.”

“Action is a natural part of school discourse. It is understood by all sections of the school community and appropriately celebrated.”

“Teaching and learning addresses the competencies, experiences, learning needs and styles of students across the primary section of the school. The school has significantly developed capacity in the area of differentiation, supporting individual needs, interests and learning styles and promoting a culture of student support, success and inclusivity.”

You may have noticed that there are some flags flying around the school in anticipation of our birthday this year. The PTFA have jumped straight into preparations for our 30 th Anniversary, which will include a celebration of our diversity on International Day. Please join us on Friday, September 2 nd for this special occasion, and contact the parent coordinators, Alison or Briged, if you are able to assist in any way (ajaquier@gmail.com & adambriged@gmail.com).

I’m delighted to see that we are ready to launch our Mother Tongue Clubs next week. We will begin with German and French on Mondays, but there are many more families interested in seeing their children engage with other mother tongue languages. Please direct all queries to our Mother Tongue Coordinator, Sylvain at sdelhommeau@baliis.net.

Finally, please join us next week for our Open House. The format is similar to last year, however we have extended the time for parents to hear homeroom presentations. The day begins at begins at 13:15 on Thursday, August 11 th with a general introduction in the Multi-Purpose Room.

As always, thank you for your ongoing positive support.

Warm regards,

Alan