Message from the Head of School – March 17th, 2023
Today is the deadline for re-enrollment for current BIS students. After this date, enrollment will be opened up to the families who are on the waiting lists. To ensure your child(s) place for the school year 23-24, please complete your registration by today, March 17th. You may re-enroll your child/children via this link and by paying the 15 million IDR registration fee to guarantee your place(s) for the next school year, 2023-24.
Please take 2-3 minutes to give feedback on our conferences which were held on 17th March 2023, via this form.
Nyepi: Please be aware that a VERY important Balinese Hindu celebration will occur next week on Wednesday 22nd March, commencing at 06:00, until 06:00 the next day. Some may know this better as “Silent Day”. Please be aware there will be the expectation that people stay at home, turn off lights and use this wonderful opportunity to reflect on life and ourselves. Please be respectful of this tradition and embrace this opportunity. Here is a video to help you better understand more about this fantastic tradition, or alternatively, read about it here. Note: all shops and businesses will be closed on this day 22nd, and ATMs will be closed from 12 pm the previous day 21st, please prepare accordingly.
Please recall that assessments take place during the run up to holidays/vacations. In order that your child/children can be fairly assessed in a timely manner, please do recall that we need parents to fully respect the academic calendar. Extending holidays by leaving early causes your child’s grade to be negatively impacted and causes them undue stress having to try and make this work upon return. This is particularly relevant in grades 9 and upwards, where universities ask for transcripts that cover attendance and assessments. This also places an additional amount of extra work on our teachers in that they have to re-write alternative assessments. Therefore, moving forward, please consult and respect the academic calendar when it comes to booking your flights and holidays.
Building work: The new building was discussed at the recent PTA meeting. I would like to share here the 3-D image of the building. This will provide us with a new Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) with folding/moveable walls to facilitate smaller or larger groups, 5 additional classrooms and 16 new toilets. The current MPR is earmarked to potentially be converted into 3 new Primary school classrooms, depending on enrollment numbers as we move forward.
It is hoped that during the semester break next week, we can complete our new meeting room, which will be able to accommodate around 10-12 people comfortably. This will be located above the admissions office and will take on a ‘conservatory’ style look, but with a solid roof, not glass. This will allow parents, staff and others to conduct meetings in a professional and comfortable manner in a purpose built environment. The netting in car park 2 has already been replaced and the work on extending the motorbike parking will also be completed.
In order to help with the Grade 12 online exams that can occur in certain subjects, we have invested in 3 new laptops to ensure that students can maximize their potential during these exams.
We have also invested in 10 new MacBook Airs to demonstrate commitment to our guiding statements. Once they arrive, I shall share some photos.
Additionally, we have also invested in an online platform called Open Apply that will digitize our application process. This now means that parents who wish to join us or book school tours no longer need to download PDFs and fill them out by hand etc., they can do this all online, including document uploads. Other investment projects will be shared as and when they occur.
Council of International School (CIS) surveys. Shortly, you will receive a survey from BIS that is part of our membership status and annual process with CIS. It is extremely important that you provide us with objective feedback, based on the long term overall bigger picture, in order for us to act accordingly. As always, feedback is highly valued, and I hope parents can see, where possible, the feedback is acted upon. We will be using this and previous feedback to prepare ourselves to move forward with our continued accreditation status and also to help develop our programme development plans (PDPs) in the IB programmes. The deadline for completion will be 30th April.
Future dates for the diary:
- Wednesday March 29th, students return from the mid-semester break
- Friday April 07th, holiday, Good Friday
- Tuesday April 18th, half day for staff development, school closed at 1200pm
- Friday 21st April, holiday, Eidul Fitri.
- Please see the calendar here