Secondary Opening Newsletter – July 31, 2019

Dear Secondary Parents,

I hope that you and your families have enjoyed your holidays and are looking forward to the school year ahead. The updated 2019/20 Student Parent Handbook contains all of the information you need to know about operations at BIS.

New Secondary School Faculty and Staff

We welcome four new teachers to the Secondary School this year.

Vera Pereira – DP Biology and G10 Science Marie Perin – MYP & DP French

Joshua Field – Learning Support Klaus Weber – DP Economics and Business Management

Sri Mahendrani returns from maternity leave and Blake Ingram will teach Makiko Wood’s (maternity leave during Term 1) Mathematics classes.

2019/20 Timetable

As communicated last year we have moved to a new timetable with four 80 minute classes each school day. This will minimize lost learning time with transitions between classes and will allow teachers and students to enhance the opportunity to achieve desired learning outcomes in each class. Below is the daily schedule for this year:

Arrival time

Students should arrive at school prior to 7:30 and be in homeroom with learning materials for Period 1 before 7:45. If your child arrives after 7:45 they must report to the Secondary Principal and sign in. Please refer to our Attendance Policy within the Student/Parent Handbook.

Dismissal

Students are dismissed from school at 2:45. If students have After School Activities (ASA), they will begin at 3:00 and be completed by 4:00pm. The ASA program is set to begin on Monday, August 12th. Students will receive information regarding our offerings within the first week of school.  Providing a balanced and holistic education is extremely important to the growth and development of all students and these activities present a wonderful opportunity for them to explore their interests and to develop new skills and passions.  

Self-management

We will be making self-management a priority for development in Secondary School this year. As no classes will run consecutively students will be asked to keep their bags in their locker and take their learning materials to each class from their locker. Students in Grade 6-10 will be issued an MYP Student Planner where they will record their homework and assessment tasks. These planners are expected to arrive in Week 2 due to a shipping delay.

Open House

Open House will be held on Friday, August 23rd from 3-5pm. Parents will then follow their child’s schedule to receive information about each of the classes they are attending. More information regarding this will be sent by the Secondary Secretary.

Important dates

Please check the BIS Events Calendar to ensure you are updated with school events. Information about the Secondary School will come from our regular parent presentations/workshops, weekly newsletters published on eNews and from your contact with teachers.  I am looking forward to working with you to support your child/ren’s learning, growth and development.

 

Kind regards,

Ross Ferris

Secondary Principal