Message from the Head of School – Aug 4th, 2023
Welcome to the academic year 2023-24! We are very excited to welcome you all back and to start this new school year with revamped and refreshed facilities that provide a demonstrable commitment to our mission and vision. We are all on an amazing journey of growth and development, always with our students at the center of everything we do. Your continued support is highly appreciated. Please familiarise yourself with the Parent-Student handbook. In this document, we hope you will find answers to the vast majority of your questions. If not, please do get in touch.
Please see the dates below for our Open House:
*Grades 11 & 12- Please join us for a Q & A on ‘Education Outside the Classroom’ (EOTC) for students in the DP on Wednesday, August 9, at 3:00 pm in the Library.
**Grades 4 & 5– Please join us for a presentation on ‘Education Outside the Classroom’ (EOTC) at 12: 30 pm on Thursday, August 10 in the MPR before your Open House.
***Grades 6-10- Please join us for a presentation on ‘Education Outside the Classroom’ (EOTC) at 2: 20 pm on Thursday, August 10 in the MPR before your Open House.
As previously mentioned, we are very pleased to have Ms. Phinney as our incoming Deputy Head of School. Ms. Phinney comes to us with a vast and deep background in pedagogy and leadership and will be in charge of Academics and Pastoral Care for the whole school. I have included the contact ladder so that you may follow the correct procedures for communications. Communication should generally start with the class or subject teacher, as per the ladder below. Should you require to contact Ms Phinney after following the appropriate channels, she may be contacted at deputyheadofschool@baliis.net
Mother Tongue Programme: as previously advised via email, we are very excited to announce our intention to commit to mother tongue language acquisition this year in the PYP. If you are interested in participating in this exciting initiative, please contact our Mother Tongue Coordinator, Ms Lobo at mlobo@baliis.net. Please check your email to gain a comprehensive understanding of this opportunity.
Solemen food drive: in line with our CORE VALUES, we are delighted to announce that we have formed an official partnership with Solemen charity, who are based in Bali. Near the entrance to the school office, you will soon find a ‘food-drop box/station’. Please, when you do your shopping, consider purchasing an item or two to drop in the box/station. Representatives from Solemen will periodically come in to collect the items. Please avoid donating items that require refrigeration as they will ‘go off’ quickly. Thank you in anticipation for supporting those less fortunate than ourselves in Bali.
As promised, the Board and Leadership team will hold a “Year ahead” short presentation to all our community members. The intention is to inform our community of both definitive projects and also tentative initiatives and projects. The date and time will be advised shortly
Volunteers required!! We will continue reviewing our policies on a cyclical basis. This year, we are reviewing our Inclusion and Assessment policies. We are looking for 2 volunteers, one for each policy, to work with teachers and students in developing our policies. The time commitment is not huge, but your involvement in this process is huge. Interested parents should email me at headofschool@baliis.net
Food providers; we are constantly trying to source new food providers to enhance student choice. One area we would particularly like to expand in is the delivery of more vegetarian options. If any member of our community knows a vendor who can offer vegetarian options, please have them contact me so that we may consider adding them. They should be an officially registered restaurant/provider that meets local strict hygiene standards, can offer online/distance orders and payments and do not use plastic packaging or cutlery.
As with last year, I shall be providing photos of our updates and investments in our campus that we make. Investment will continue and we appreciate your patience in understanding that not everything can be changed immediately. We need to prioritise and allocate accordingly. However, with your suggestions, and our ideas, we can collectively move forward in developing our wonderful campus that always places our students’ learning experience at the center of everything we do.
FYI: BIS is moving their student management system from ManageBac to Toddle. We will be using the platform Toddle to communicate with families, share goals, student work, announcements and reports. More information about how to sign up will be introduced next week.
Future dates for the diary:
- Open House; (see dates at the start of the newsletter)
- School closed for the public holiday, Thursday 17th August
- Education Outside The Classroom Dates:
- Grade 4: 24th and 25th August
- Grade 5: 23rd-25th August
- Secondary (Grade 6 upwards) 22nd -25th August
- Please see the calendar here