Kamyk Newsletter [23/08/2019]

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all enjoying your Summer holidays. I am sure you have all started to think about returning to school and I hope you will find the information below useful.

The teachers return on Monday and we are all looking forward to starting the preparations for what promises to be another busy and exciting school year.

New starters afternoon

On Friday 30th August at 1 p.m. there will be a special induction session for new children. New starters have all been sent further information about this by email from our Admissions department.

VLE Parent Portal

We are currently migrating the VLE to a different platform and parts are currently unavailable for parents. We expect it to be available by the start of next week. When you log on next week, you will need to reset your password.

First Day of School – Monday 2nd September

The school will be open from 8 am. Please do not arrive before this time as teachers are busy doing essential preparation.

Early Years

Children can arrive from 8.15am until 8.45am. All Early Years families should enter through the main school entrance then turn left down the stairs). Alex Harrison and his team will be ready to meet you and direct you where to go from there. Your child’s place in the cloakroom will be already prepared. You are then welcome to stay within school until your child is settled.

Years 1 - 6

Children should come to main reception as usual and then will be sent directly to their classes. We will have lots of staff at the main reception to help direct families to their classrooms.

Years 7 – 9

Will meet their Form Tutors and Heads of Year in the locations below on Monday morning. Again, staff will be in main reception to help direct students to the correct location.

Year 7 - Large Gym

Year 8 - Small gym

Year 9 - Outside seating area near the large clock

All bus children will be safely escorted to their classrooms.

After you have dropped your children off in their classroom, you are more than welcome to stay for a tea or coffee in the Dining Room to meet other parents.

Kamyk School Administrators

We will have three administrators at Kamyk this year supporting parents, teachers and the children.

The administrators are hugely important members of the school and can be contacted by parents if ever you need support. You can cancel buses, clubs, inform us that your child is sick or will be late through the administrators. It is essential that you inform us of any changes to your child’s normal routines.

Please ensure that you deal with the administrators in your child’s year group only.

Andrea Vermirovska (Pre-Nursery – Year 2)

Office location: At the bottom on the stairs near the Early years and year 1 classrooms.

Phone: 226096225

Email: andrea.vermirovska@pbis.cz

Zdenka Hrebejkova (Year 3 – 5)

Office Location: Next to the staff room.

Phone: 226 096 220

Email: zdenka.hrebejkova@pbis.cz

David Vo Tien (Years 6 – 9)

Office Location: next to the parents’ room.

Phone: 226096230

Email: david.vo@pbis.cz

End of School Day Procedure

Early Years

Children should be collected at the end of the school day from their classroom between 3.00pm and 3.15pm, though we are happy to accommodate earlier collection during the first few days of school as children get used to the length of the school day after the holidays. Children who are beginning the year by attending only the morning sessions (Pre Nursery/Nursery only) can be collected before or after their lunch, please discuss this with your child’s class teacher.

Years 1 – 6

At the end of the day all the children will be taken to their meeting point by their teachers. Different year groups will have different meeting points to prevent congestion at the main reception.

· Year 1 children will meet their parents at the top of the stairs near the year 1 classrooms.

· Year 2 children will wait outside the dining room.

· Year 3 children will be taken outside the new Year 1 - 3 library.

· Year 4, 5 and 6 children should be collected from their classrooms unless they have permission to leave the classroom on their own. This should be in writing to their class teacher.

At the end of the school day, we have many children who want to play in the playground. As a school we are really happy for this to happen - as long as the children are supervised by parents. If supervising your child, please take the time to discuss our playground rules so that you can support us in consistently applying them. Please note that the school is not responsible for children using the playground after school.

If you wish for someone else to collect your child please ensure that you put this in writing in your child’s diary so that the school is aware.

End of School – Change of time

For the upcoming academic year, Primary formal lessons, whether class teacher or specialists, for Primary will end at 3pm. There will then be a 15 minute class period with their class teacher. This time could be used for a story, ensuring children know where they are going after school, feedback on their learning, getting changed for clubs, giving out homework etc..

It will be a nice bookend to the day for class teachers and will avoid a rushed end of the school day.

Also, there is now a registration period each day in Years 7,8 and 9 at 8.30am to 8.50am. Due to this, the day finishes 5 minutes later.

Therefore, the formal end of the school day at Kamyk is 3.20pm for both primary and Senior students.

Clubs will start at 3.20pm for all children at Kamyk, KS1 up to KS3 and primary clubs will still finish at 4pm. After school buses will leave at the same time as last year, which will reduce the waiting time for Primary children.

Czech Programme/Český program

The Czech programme for Primary school students will start on Tuesday 3rd of September at 8:15am, Senior school students in Y7 - Y10 classes will follow their timetables. A letter from Mrs O’Leary with all the details can be found here.

Year Group Information and Coffee Afternoon

At the start of the term we have arranged year group information sessions.

These sessions have two purposes.

The first is for the teachers to be able to give you all the important information about life in their year group and meet the teachers, assistants and specialist teachers your child will be taught by. The second is to give you the opportunity to get to know the other parents in your year group.

The sessions will all take place in the MA.

The dates are as follows:

Tuesday 3rd Sept

Pre Nursery (1 – 2 pm)

Nursery (1 – 2 pm)

Reception (2 – 3 pm)

Wednesday 4th Sept

Year 1 (2 – 3 pm)

Year 7 (3 – 4 pm)

Thursday 5th Sept

Year 2 (2 – 3 pm)

Year 8 (3 – 4 pm)

Friday 6th Sept

Year 3 (2 – 3 pm)

Year 9 (3 – 4 pm)

Monday 9th Sept

Year 4 (2 – 3 pm)

Tuesday 10th September

Year 5 (2 – 3 pm)

Wednesday 11th September

Year 6 (2 – 3 pm)

Transport Information for the AY 2019/20

Please note that Bus safety rules have been updated and can be found here. School buses are now monitored by external and internal cameras to ensure safety of your children.

Shuttle bus service for Kamýk and Libuš will remain the same. Vinohrady shuttle bus stop will be back at original bus stop at Francouzská. Please see the Vinohrady map here.

Please be aware that After Club bus service for Kamýk and Libuš will start on Monday 9th September. Parents will receive information for club and after club bus registration at the end of first week of school.

Parents of children, who have completed bus application form should have received confirmation yesterday or today. Please contact Soňa Nováková if you have not received it.


Welcome Back BBQ Friday 6th September 3.00 – 5.00pm

On Friday 6th September the playground will be open for all families to get together, catch up after the summer and meet some new friends. Lion Catering will be providing a BBQ and light refreshments between 3 – 5pm. All families welcome.

Kamyk and Libuš Friends Association

The Kamyk and Libus Friends Association is a body made up of parents and school staff.

Committee

  • Chairperson
  • Student Event Team
  • Parent Event Team
  • Charity Link Team
  • Treasurer
  • Coffee morning and cake sale team
  • PBIS Staff Representatives Head of Campus and Deputy Heads.

The Friends are responsible for many events scheduled throughout the year for children and parents and hold formal meetings each month. If you would like to get involved contact anthony.peachment@pbis.cz

Extracurricular Activities 2019/20

All clubs and extracurricular activities will begin in the second week of term on Monday 9th September. The MyPBIS club enrolment portal will open to parents at 5pm on Friday 6th September and remain open to parents until Monday 23rd September. Full sign up instructions and a preview of the club options will be sent to all parents during the first week of term.

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.

School Uniform & Sports Kit Reminder

All children need to be dressed in full school uniform on Monday 2nd September. For purchasing information and school uniform guidelines follow this link. : https://ff.pbschool.cz/joining-pbis/pbis-school-uniform. All children will have sports lesson in the first week of school and should have the correct sports kit.

Summer Reading Challenge

I hope many of the children have been participating in the Summer Reading Challenge. They do not have long to go now! Children who have managed to complete the challenge should hand completed entry forms into the school administrators, or your child’s class teacher, before Friday 27th September.

Kit List

A detailed list of the items that the Early Years children will need can be found at the link below.https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/kamyk/equipment-list-for-early-years

Year 1 – 6 equipment list

● a reading folder for homework and reading books to be stored in.

● a snack to eat during morning break every day. I would like to remind parents of our healthy eating policy and not to include any fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate. Something small and light, a muesli bar or piece of fruit, is ideal. Drinking water is always available in school but a full water bottle, which can be kept in the classroom, should be sent to school every day. NO NUTS

The school will provide children with pens and pencils, however, it is not a problem if your child would like to bring in their own pencil case.

Year 7 – 9 equipment list

•Pens (black, red , blue), Pencil, Rubber (eraser)

  • A lock with a key for their locker. A spare key can be left with their form tutor (the hole is the width of a pencil).

•Highlighter pen
•Ruler, Protractor
•PE kit (available from school shop)
•Pencil case
•Set of coloured pencils (minimum 4)
•Compass
•Calculator
•Dictionary (Paper copy) Mother tongue – English
•Dictionary (Paper copy) French, Spanish or German into English (related to their MFL choice)

Important - Absence, late arrival or early leaving

We take school attendance very seriously. Should your child be off school for medical reasons or will be late, please inform the school administrator.

The administrators will inform the teacher. Should you wish to take your child out of school for any other reason, please contact me directly: paul.baker@pbis.cz

All children in Years 1 – 6 should be in school ready to start their lessons by 8.30 am. In order to begin their first lesson, or be in the assembly at 8.30 am, they will need to arrive at school at around 8.20am. Children who are not in their classroom, or in the Music Auditorium, by 8.30am will be marked as late and this will appear on their school report. Children who arrive after 8.30 MUST sign into school in the main reception.

Children in the Early Years must be in their classrooms by 8.45 am.

Please inform us if you are going to be absent.

Mobiles, iPads and Electronic Games

Many of the children now have mobile telephones. Children may bring their mobile phone to school if their parents think it is needed. However, mobile phones should be switched off and placed in their school bag as soon as the children enter the building and should not be used before school begins. No calls are allowed during school hours. If children are seen with their mobile phone before school or during the school day they will be taken by the class teacher and returned at the end of the school day.

Parents should call the school if they need to contact their child before the end of the day. May we also take this opportunity to remind you about e-Safety and ensure that apps/programmes/downloads your children are using are appropriate.

Children should not bring iPads’ or other electronic items / games into school.

Please note that the school accepts no responsibility for the loss of mobile phones or any other expensive electronic items brought into school.

Assemblies in the First Week

On the first day of school we will have a Key Stage 3 assembly at 8.45 a.m. and a primary assembly in the Bubble at 9.30 am. As always, parents are more than welcome to join us for this.

KS3 (Year 7 – 9 ) Expeditions

This year all of the Key Stage 3 children will be attending expeditions. It is a unique opportunity for the students to get to know their peers and teachers outside of the classroom.

There is no payment required however all parents need to sign their children up using the following link. https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/school-trips-2/secondary-school-trips/secondary-school-trips-201920/ks3andks4-school-expedition

If students do not attend the trips there will be no lessons in school. We do hope that ALL students will attend.

KS3 expeditions trips

Year 7 : 9th – 11th September

Year 8 : 11th – 13th September

Year 9 : 16th – 19th September

Also, if you have not visited the doctor yet, you still have a few days. You will not be able to go on any trip if your doctor has not filled in the medical form.

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

www.pbis.cz