Kamyk Newsletter [06/09/2019]

Welcome back

We have had a really positive first week back at school. It was lovely to see all the existing families and new families on Monday morning. The children have quickly adjusted to life in a new year group and have slotted straight back into the school routine.

We are all excited to start the after school activities programme and sure there will be lots of children signing up for the clubs over the weekend.

I have been delighted to see such a high turnout for our parents information sessions this week. I hope parents found the information useful. There are more sessions next week for years 4 - 6 and I hope to have an equally high turnout.

On the whole our buses have run smoothly although some have been delayed as our registers have not been accurate. If your child is registered on a bus line but will not take the bus on a specific day, please let us know. Also, if you want your child to take the bus please ensure you have registered them. Until all the children are accounted for the buses cannot leave. We had to make many phone calls to parents after school this week and this always delays the process.

We had two assemblies on Monday morning to start the term. The theme of both assemblies was challenging the students to be the best. We talked about getting involved in school events, trying their best in lessons, following the school rules and trying activities that they haven't done before.

Senior students will be given their final new timetables next week ready to start in week 3 when our first two week cycle has been completed. The teachers have been busy assessing new students to ensure they are placed in the correct English, maths and language groups. All of these children need to be assigned to the correct groups before the timetable is finalised.

Start of the school day

At 8.08 am every morning music will start to play in the main reception at Kamyk. The music is the signal for the children that they can go to class. I would ask all parents and children to remain in the main reception until this time. Before this the teachers have meetings or are preparing activities and resources for the day .

Primary School House Captains

In Monday’s assembly with Year 5 and 6, Mr Bottomley will be talking about ‘New Beginnings’ and ‘Responsibility’, and explaining the many different leadership opportunities available to the students this year. One of the most important positions are our House Captains, available to Year 6 candidates only. For more information about the application process and timeline, click here: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/events-2/kamyk/kamyk-house-captain-elections-1

House Football Competition

Before the summer holiday, we held a house football competition in school, with matches taking place at lunchtimes. It was very popular, so we are delighted to announce it will take place again this term. Matches will begin in Week 3 and will be open to both boys and girls. More information will follow in next week’s newsletter.

Student Lunch accounts

As the new school year gets underway, I would like to highlight the policy regarding Student Accounts. Student Accounts are used for lunch payment, as well as for some trips and extra activities.

· For children in Year 6 and below a negative balance of up to -1200CZK per child is tolerated.

· For children in Year 7 and above accounts must always have a positive balance (ie. students will not be able to purchase items in the dining room if they do not have sufficient funds on their cards)

Of course I understand that at the beginning of the school year it may take some time to set up your preferred regular payment method and, as such, there will be some flexibility during the first couple of weeks. I would however like to ask for your support and understanding with this as soon as possible. For instructions on how to charge student accounts please click HERE

Czech for Foreigners – Czech lessons for beginners (optional) at PBIS Primary

Are you new to this country? Do you plan to stay here for some time and would like your children to learn basic Czech so that they can easily get around Prague? If your answer to these questions is 'yes', we're ready to help.

PBIS Primary will lead Czech lessons for beginners. If your child is a beginner, he/she can study Czech as a foreign language for up to three 30-minute sessions per week. These sessions will be held from 08: 30-09: 00 Tue-Thu. Those who will not study Czech as a foreign language will attend a Music assembly and two additional first language English lessons.

For detailed information about this programme and sign-up instructions, please follow this link: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/language-lessons/pbis-primary---czech-for-foreigners-optional

Kamyk and Libus Friends Coffee Morning

On Monday morning we will be hosting our first coffee morning for parents in the Kamyk dining room. We look forward to seeing old and new friends there. 

Extra Time

For those that need to collect their children from school later than the regular school day finish time at 3 p.m., we offer our Extra Time service. Extra Time is open to all primary children from Reception - Year 6 and runs every school day from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Starting Monday 2nd September.)

The service is managed by dedicated PBIS staff and offers peace of mind that children will be well looked after and entertained in an environment they know well. All children that attend Extra Time receive a complimentary snack, prepared by Lion Catering, and have the option to complete homework, read, participate in a range of fun structured activities, play games and sports or simply relax.

If you would like to find out more about Extra Time or make a booking for your child please click here.

New Breakfast Club

New for 2019/20 we are introducing an early morning breakfast club from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. which will allow parents to drop off primary school children at school earlier than the 8:30 a.m. start time.

The Breakfast Club will be based in the Kamyk dining room and will be supervised by a member of staff each morning. Children will be able to eat their breakfast from home, or parents can purchase a breakfast from Lion Catering for their child, or children can simply relax before the start of the school day. All breakfast items purchased at school will be deducted directly from the student's account.

No advance registration is required to use this service. If you ever would like your child to attend the Breakfast Club, simply bring your child directly to the dining room in the morning and sign them in with the member of staff on duty.

There will be a 50 Kč charge for using the service that will be automatically deducted from your child's account each time.

Big Kids Football

Each Saturday morning a group of parents, staff and senior school students (over 16 years old) meet for informal games football. The standard of play is very relaxed and it is a great way to get some exercise and meet other members of the PBIS community.

If you are interested in playing, sign up under this link:

https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/extra-curricular-clubs/weekend-activities--pbis/big-kids-football/big-kids-football-sign-up

Transport – After club bus service

Please be aware that After Club bus service for Kamýk and Libuš will start on Monday 9th September 2019. We offer After club bus service to Kačerov, Smíchov and Průhonice. Please read information and view maps for after club bus service here: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/transport-1/after-club-transport--kamyk-and-libus-schools

Parents received information for club and after club bus registration today.

We apologise for shuttle bus and school bus delays in the afternoon this week. We have been working hard on making the afternoon bus registration efficient. We would like to ask parents of Primary school children to make changes in transport arrangements for their children with school administrator in advance.

Tick Awareness

Although the peak tick season is almost over you might find the detailed information about tick-born illnesses, prevention and vaccination useful.

I would like to remind you that the vaccination against European tick borne encephalitis should ideally be started in winter. Effective immunity will then be present at the start of the tick season when children enjoy the outdoors, take part in residential trips and camps. You GP or paediatrician can give you further information on vaccination series.

You can find detailed information here.

Pre-Nursery

It’s the first week of the new academic year and the teachers couldn't have been more proud of the pre-nursery children! This year our Pre-Nursery class will also be called the Cubs class: rooaarr! They have been working incredibly hard on settling in and on getting to know and following the class routines. They all made fantastic individual progress at their own pace and have already started to explore both the classroom and the outdoor learning space. Some children have already been interacting with their peers and we will be encouraging and supporting this with games and group activities.

On the first day of school we also celebrated Vituša's birthday and we would like to thank his mum for bringing in a delicious cake!

We would like to meet all the parents individually to learn more about the children and to discuss the expectations for this year. Please let your class teacher know when would it be a good time to do this.

Have a lovely weekend rom the Cubs class!

Nursery

It was lovely to meet all of the new children on Monday in the nursery classes, a great first day was had by all. The children are settling in extremely well, getting to know their new classmates and making new friends. This year we are the Tigers and the Lions class. Miss Silvie and the Nursery A class are the Lions and Miss Lesley and the Nursery B class are the Tigers. The children have been taking part in different art activities related to our class names, such as making a lion poster or making tigers faces for the birthday chart.

It is incredible to observe how quickly the children are getting used to our routines. We have been having circle times each day where we sit together, listen to a story, play a game or sing songs. At the beginning of the year especially we are practising sitting nicely in circle time, using our listening skills and for some of us learning to wait for our turn, It’s very tricky when everyone is excited. Our focus this week has been investigating where everything is in the classroom and making sure we put things back in the correct places. I must say the children have been brilliant at tidy up time, even spotting that the train carriage doesn’t belong in the car box!

On Wednesday we had our first P.E. session in the big gym with Miss Jo and Miss Adela. The children played running games, focusing on listening, stopping and starting and played with the balls. This week the two nursery classes did the session together with the class teachers too. As from next week each class will be with one of the P.E. teachers for a half term block and will then switch.

Thank you to all the parents that came to the info session on Tuesday afternoon, we hope it was helpful and informative. As discussed, if you need to contact the class teacher please send an email to:- Nursery A - silvie.flakova@pbis.cz or Nursery B – Lesley.eichel@pbis.cz. In cases of emergency please call our administrator Andrea at the desk.

We look forward to an exciting and rewarding year with your child in the nursery classes.

Reception

We’ve had a wonderful first week in reception - getting to know our new environment and each other. It’s been great to see all the familiar faces from PBIS nursery class and how they have welcomed and bonded so quickly with all the new starters. So far the children have been enjoying water and sand play, exploring their new extended outdoor learning environment and working as a team to build houses for animals and dinosaurs.

We have been learning the routines of the day; going to lunch, being independent in dressing, and making our way through the school to our first P.E. class of the year with Miss Jo and Miss Adela. The children have really settled in and the staff have loved seeing smiles on their faces when they arrive and leave each day!

Thank you to all who came to the information afternoon, we were very happy to see you all there and answer your questions. Please remember to return your SeeSaw permission slips so that you can start to view all the wondering learning your child is doing at school.

Next week we will be talking about our families, and would love it if you could send in some family photos for us to share during our circle times.

A fantastic start to the year! From all the staff in Cheetahs (Rec A) and Leopards (Rec B): ROAR!

Year 1

We are so proud of all the children in Year 1 who have blown us away with how quickly they have settled in. The children have already started to establish new friendships as this week we have been focusing on getting to know each other by playing parachute games and outdoor activities, recognising that we are all the same but different. Despite it being only our first week the children have participated well in all of the lessons. We are impressed with how quickly and easily they have adapted to the new routines in class, in the playground and in the dining room. The basis of this has been an understanding of the school’s golden rules.

Thank you to all of the parents for attending our welcome meeting on Wednesday. A link for the presentation can be found on the VLE. We would be delighted for you to be more involved with our learning at home and school. A letter about your involvement has been sent home in your child’s diary. A great way to be at the heart of everything in Year 1 is to become a parent representative for your child’s class. Please let your class teacher or Mr Baker know if you are interested or require further information.

There’s so much to remember in Year 1, therefore, we have prepared a Daily News reminder in your child's diary.

Don’t forget:

Please read with your child every day.

Swimming starts on Tuesday (information in the diary)

Sign up your child for the Camping Experience Day on Thursday 12th – remember to send a packed lunch as school lunches will be cancelled for that day.

Thank you for your support.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Year 1 Team

Year 1 welcome Powerpoint presentation

Year 2

All the Year 2 staff were thrilled to meet their new classes on Monday. The new children have settled in quickly and are beginning to make new friendships. In English, the children were using descriptive language before showing their new teachers their written ability. In maths, we have been using maths games and other resources to recap many of the Year 1 objectives. Children have begun to bring home independent reading books and some have even chosen a new library book. Our first creative curriculum topic is ‘Buildings’ that we start with a fun entry point of using lots of different materials to build with, I think the highlight was eating their biscuit houses!

We’re really excited about our first half term, especially swimming, which starts next Tuesday. All children are expected to participate in their swimming lessons, just as with their PE and Dance lessons in school. If your child is too unwell to participate, they need to be resting at home. All children need to bring a swimming kit; towel, swimming costume, googles if required, flip flops or equivalent, hair brush.

Year 3

We’ve had a lively start to the new year, as old friends have been excited to see each other after the holidays, and new students have joined and begun to make new friends. The children have started to shake off their summer cobwebs, and get started on the year 3 curriculum. Our first topic of the year is CHOCOLATE! As well as some scientific chocolate tasting, we have been learning about the long journey chocolate takes from ‘Bean to Bar’ and started to think about the different purposes of our teeth - is chocolate healthy for them?

The story of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ has been helping us with our descriptive writing in English, identifying and finding nouns, adjectives, verbs and some children are already exploring adverbs and conjunctions. Maths has given us a great chance to recap year 2 learning, adding and subtracting 10s and 5s up to 100, and looking for patterns in our answers.

We’re really excited about our first half term, especially swimming, which starts next Tuesday. All children are expected to participate in their swimming lessons, just as with their PE and Dance lessons in school. If your child is too unwell to participate, they need to be resting at home. Check the Year 3 Kamyk VLE page for updates about Homework and Spellings each week - they’ll be starting soon! Meanwhile, the most important help you can be giving your child is to read with them each day and record this in their school diary.

Year 4

What a phenomenal start to Year 4! We have had such an amazing week catching up on the experiences and holidays we had over the summer break, getting to know each other, and making new friends in our class and the year group! We played games together, and looked at the expectations and goals for Year 4. We certainly have an enthusiastic bunch of students, with a wide range of interests. The Year 4 team are really looking forward to the great things they will achieve this year. This week, we have started our first Creative Curriculum topic ‘Remarkable Rainforests’. We completed a frottage activity with leaves to design the first of our books and have begun decorating our classrooms and doors so we really feel immersed in the rainforest and develop our skills in art. Next week, we intend to delve into the differences between the forest and rainforest by exploring the local area.

In English, we began by recounting our summer holidays and writing in the past tense. This piece of writing, and our work over the next week on diaries, will help us to set your child’s first English target for Year 4. We are really focusing on reading this academic year and encourage you to read with your child as often as you can, this makes a huge difference to their reading progress in school. There is no other homework this week so that your child can focus on setting up good reading habits and enjoy their new books from the library.

In Maths, we created a ‘figure me out’ challenge where we created number sentences that answered questions about ourselves. We also revised our bonds to 10 and 100 and will move onto place value, addition and subtraction next week.

Important Information

• Teacher’s emails: 4A: cormac.jaffari@pbis.cz 4B: sharon.culek@pbis.cz 4C:Mairead.power@pbis.cz 4D: emily.clark@pbis.cz

• Please ensure your child has a healthy snack every day as well as a water bottle.

• Please complete the parental permission form (CLICK HERE) so that we can visit the forest next to school throughout the year.

• The Year 4 Parent Information and coffee afternoon will be Monday 9th September (next week) at 2-3pm in the 4D classroom. After the presentation you are invited to the canteen for some refreshments.

• All information about Year 4 can be found on our VLE page: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/year-4-3/kamyk

Year 5

The children and staff in Year 5 came back full of beans and ready for action! What a great start to the year we have had! We spent the first few days getting to know each other and finding out all the Year 5 routines. We also spent some time thinking about what we want Year 5 to look like and feel like and drew up our own Class Charter as well as reminded ourselves of the school rules.

We will be learning about recounts in English over the next few weeks. We started this week by recounting our summer holiday trying to remember text features such as writing in the past tense. Next week we will be delving into this text type further as we learn about some very strange occurrences in a town in America.

Maths involved writing calculations using our own personal data such as age, shoe size and number of pets. We reviewed our knowledge of place value and how to work with larger numbers. Next week we will be adding and subtracting using mental strategies.

We began our Creative curriculum topic with an exciting challenge from NASA! We did some physical astronaut training to get us ready for learning about space and geography. We can't wait to explore the universe further!

Some important information

• Teachers' emails: 5A victoria.smith@pbis.cz, 5B gillian.malins@pbis.cz, 5D mazhar.ghaffar@pbis.cz

• The Year 5 Parent Information and coffee afternoon will be Tuesday 10th September(next week) at 2-3pm in 5D classroom. After the presentation you are invited to the canteen for some refreshments.

• Please ensure your child has a healthy snack every day as well as a water bottle.

• All homework and lots more information is available on the VLE here: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/year-5-3/kamyk

Year 6

It has been a great start to life as top of the primary school for our new Year 6 students. We have been quick to dive deep into our curriculum focus as well as getting used to new and continuing routines. As well as getting to know each other and new students we have been finding out about ourselves and our characteristics and goals for the future.

In Maths we have been reviewing place value and written numbers as well as starting our baseline assessments. We have also been taking the opportunity to play some maths board games and solve maths mysteries.

We begin our English unit of work following our class novel ‘Journey to the River Sea’ by Eva Ibbotson. This week we have focused on encouraging reading for comprehension and fluency. Next week we will focus more on writing and exploring newspaper reports. Some of our discussion in the upcoming weeks will evolve around the current situation with the Amazionian fire as our novel is set in the Amazon rainforest.

The students have been thinking about what they would need to survive if they became marooned on a deserted island as we introduced our first creative curriculum topic, ‘Island Life’. We have been geographers as we learnt key map reading skills and began to recognise world climate zones. In science the students have become taxonomists, classifying animals into groups.

In art, we have been busy graffiti artists, creating labels for our lockers. We also started exploring some key artists who have depicted ‘fruit’ in their artwork in very interesting ways. We have been investigating the elements of art in our own work and that of others.

Important information:

• Class teachers' emails:

6A robert.reed@pbis.cz,

6B victoria.lawlor@pbis.cz,

6D kirstie.mcgill@pbis.cz

• The Year 6 Parent Information and coffee afternoon will be Wednesday 11th September (next week) at 2-3pm in the 6D classroom (C202). After the presentation you are invited to the canteen for some refreshments.

• Please ensure your child has a healthy snack every day as well as a water bottle.

• All homework and lots more information will be available on the VLE from next week :https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/year-6-3/kamyk as well as in the students diary.

Kamyk Creative Arts

The Kamyk teachers of art, dance, drama and music are extremely happy to be working together in the new Creative Arts Faculty and are looking forward to the many different events and performances that will be taking place throughout the academic year. We know that many students enjoy dancing, singing and acting and we have ensured that there are no clashes with these clubs and rehearsals. Dragon’s Dance Squad is limited to 20 students this year so make sure that you sign up fast!

Maximum Music Weekend!

On Saturday October 12th 2019, we will be holding the first ever PBIS music event to involve students from all three sites: Libus, Kamyk and Vlastina. All students who belong to a school choir, band or string group will be rehearsing the same music and coming together on Saturday 12th for a day of joint rehearsals, culminating in a concert for parents from 1700-1800.

This is a great opportunity for our young musicians to meet and work together; staff and parents who sing or play an instrument are also welcome to join us! Please put the date in your diary and ensure that your child signs up for choir, orchestra or concert band clubs if they would like to participate. We look forward to a weekend of maximum music making! The sign up link will be in next week’s newsletter.

Adult Choir

What better way to end the week than with a song?! Adult choir will be restarting with Miss Frazer on Friday mornings from 0900 - 0945 in C109. All parents and staff who are available at that time are welcome to attend. There are no auditions - the more the merrier! The first performance will be with the other PBIS choirs at the Maximum Music weekend on October 12th. If you have any questions, please email me. (address below)

Instrumental Lessons

If your child is in year 7, 8 or 9 and you are looking for a piano, flute, clarinet, saxophone or guitar teacher, please contact Miss Frazer at ailsa.frazer@pbis.cz . We have a team of teachers who visit school each week and the cost of a 30 minute individual lesson is 350CZK.

Guitar lessons with Mr Hudec will start on Monday 9th for years 8 and 9, and woodwind lessons on Wednesday 19th with Mr Schofield.

PBIS Instruments to borrow

We currently have a flute, saxophone and two clarinets that we are happy to lend out if your child would like to start taking lessons. If your child makes good progress and would like to continue, we ask that you return the PBIS instrument at the end of the academic year and buy them their own instrument over the summer. The cost of the lessons is as above.

KS3 Drama Club

The KS3 Drama Club will meet at lunch every Wednesday after the residential trips have been completed. This year, we will be focusing on Improvisation and “TheatreSports” improvisation team competitions culminating in a performance during the first week of January. SIgn up on the VLE today! Any questions, please contact Mr Sophos at scott.sophos@pbis.cz.

Senior science

Year 7 pupils have started their science studies this week with enthusiasm and interest. All students have had introductory lessons and are now familiar with health and safety procedures. They are able to identify hazard symbols and know what they mean and they are starting to familiarise themselves with the vast array of strange apparatus that belongs in a science lab. Students have been learning how to light a Bunsen burner safely and are all set to start experimenting when they return from their trip next week.

English News Senior School

As ever, we have an excited team of teachers ready to deliver what we hope will be an interesting, stimulating and challenging curriculum. However, in all year groups, just before we start the novels we are studying this term, we have taken our time to get to know our students a little more. We have asked students to consider the question, ‘Where am I from?” but rather than answering Prague, Russia, England or South Africa we’ve asked them to delve a little deeper.

We have looked at poems that suggest the place you are from may be important, but there are many other factors that contribute to who you are. Consequently, next week we should have many poems returning that will tell us a little more about the experiences, places and people that make your children who they are. Please, share memories or photos with your children to help them think of what is important to them and then let them read their poetry to you to share the moments that make your children who they are!

Thank you for taking the time to register your child for the Year 7 Residential trip. It really is an excellent opportunity for Year 7 students to form lasting bonds with their peers and truly enjoy themselves.

Regarding the organisation of the trip, I would like to draw your attention to the departure and arrival times for both Kamýk and Vlastina sites. It is important that your child

arrives to school on time (no later than 08:30) in order that we leave promptly.

Medication

The Prague British International School requires that all students who need medication during school hours/events due to their chronic condition fill in the attached Long Term Medication Form. You must give the medication required for the duration of the trip to the designated First Aid representative (teacher).

Statement of Legal Representative

ALL students must have a signed copy of the PBIS Statement of Legal Representative (also attached) to declare that your child has no signs of acute illness (e.g. infectious disease, diarrhoea, head lice…) and in the last two weeks has not been in contact with a person suffering from infectious diseases.

Kit List

The kit list is attached. Please check the weather forecast and ensure that appropriate clothing has been packed for the trip.

Arrangements for Monday

Kamýk – all students should go to their form bases as usual.

Vlastina - all students should go to their form bases as soon as they arrive on site.

Arrangements for Wednesday

Kamýk - I would ask that you either collect your child from school or arrange for them to take the after-club buses that run at 4:30 pm in case there are any unexpected delays (traffic etc.). We will keep you updated on our journey back to school.

Vlastina - Please collect your child as usual. We will keep you updated on our journey back to school.

Contact:

Students will be expected to partake in all planned activities and will be permitted to use their mobile phones to call home in the evening. In case of emergency, the Trip Leader Miss Broderick may be contacted on +420 607975700 during the trip.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Miss Broderick

Head of Year 7

PE department

Curriculum

This year there has been a slight change to the structure of the curriculum with Years 1-3 now focusing more on the development of specific skills and not sports. For example, the students will work on improving their Throwing and catching, Striking skills, co-ordination and agility, etc. This has been introduced to help develop the overall sports skills and movement required for KS2 PE.

Year 4-6 will continue to focus on the basic skills, rules and knowledge of the different sports covered such as football, tag rugby, Basketball, etc. These units of sports will involve 6 hours (3 weeks) for each topic.

The KS3 students will also cover the different sports available at PBIS but in more depth to improve knowledge and understanding of the rules, and tactics with 8 hours (4 weeks) on each sport. The curriculum for the KS3 students also includes them leading their own warm-up and stretching, and as well as covering the team based sports such as Football, Volleyball, Basketball, etc it also includes individual sports such as Cross country running, Badminton, Health and Fitness, and Athletics.

Sports Clubs

This term we will see another change to the extracurricular activities with the regular school sports clubs being provided by the PE department after school but we will also include some PBIS team training at lunch times now with Year 5&6 boys and girls football team training on a Monday (Boys) and Thursday (Girls), also KS3 Basketball training on a Wednesday (Boys) and Friday (Girls).

U11 Mediterranean Cup trip

With the teams now selected and confirmed (2 x PBIS Boys teams) for the U11 Mediterranean Cup football tournament in Verona, Italy the PBIS team will begin to have fixtures scheduled over the next few months before they leave on 31st October. The boys involved will be required to attend the lunch time training at kamyk on a Monday. We are all excited about attending this tournament at current champions and hopefully bring back the trophy again.

Prague Soccer School

Following the amazing Summer camp here at kamyk in August there will also be an opportunity for boys and girls from Years 1-9 to attend the 10 week Saturday football program run by the Prague Soccer School this term. For more details on the dates, structure and costs please e-mail Nicholas Hayes at praguesoccerschool@gmail.com or through their Facebook page - Prague Soccer School

You can also sign up for this external club on the PBIS school clubs sign up page.

Thank you.

Michael Bardsley
Principal

Paul Baker
Head of Kamýk Campus

Prague British International School
Address K Lesu 558/2 | 142 00 Prague 4 | Czech Republic
Tel: + 420 226 096 200 | Mob: +420 725 738 690 

paul.baker@pbis.cz