We have had a busy couple of weeks in school, with the usual teaching and learning and also with various sporting events and plays.
You will read about the sporting achievements in the newsletter and I would like to offer my congratulations to everyone involved. Not only did we receive some silverware in Budapest, which is always nice but we competed with passion and enthusiasm. More importantly, with fairness and consideration. We received some very positive feedback from other schools.
This week we have had the IB Careers Programme Performing Arts One-Act performances at Libus. These are amazing and I really encourage you to catch the final ones tonight. The standard is superb. Today I watched the dress rehearsal for the Vlastina Year 6 play, Treasure Island. It was very impressive and was the audience was captivated for the full hour. When I mention that the audience was Early Years, it shows just how captivating it was! Vlastina Year 6 will do their full performance on Monday, so please come along.
I am sure you have all been following the developments with BREXIT over the last few days, weeks, months and years.
As part of its support of UK nationals in the Czech Republic, the British Embassy has been holding meetings in Prague and have offered to come to school on the 22nd October, to share advice and offer guidance should there be a no deal BREXIT.
The meeting will take place in Libus at 4.45pm and will be open to UK staff and parents.
I appreciate that there is a Key stage 3 parents meeting at Kamyk that evening, however finding a free slot for the Embassy was very difficult so the 22nd was the best option. If you are attending the parents evening and you are also interested in attending the Embassy meeting, then please make your teacher appointments early. If this is not possible, then please attend the Embassy meeting and we will be more than happy to schedule another time for you to meet your child’s teachers.
Best wishes
Michael Bardsley
Principal
Week 7 thoughts….
We get back what we put in and even when we do not come out on top, we can mark our achievements during the process. Last weekend I accompanied the U19 boys and girls football teams to Budapest. Every one of them gave their best, yet they did not win first prize. What they did achieve was great teamwork and camaraderie. Most importantly, they learned what they needed to do to get better and so make progress. We assume that all students are resilient and are capable of making mistakes and reflecting upon these. As parents we might encourage our kids to ‘do better’ but what does that mean? Do better than who and how? What we can only expect from our students and children is that they always try their best in all that they do. We can support them through the mistakes and help them learn from these so that they try, try and try again. This week I would like students to think about what they could do better. Be specific; it could just be spelling, time management in the morning or organisation of work during study periods. It could also be to help at least one person a day or join a club. Whatever it is they must try to give their best…
The week ahead:
The student leadership team and student president will be announced this week and we are looking forward to working with them all. During interviews this week, some very interesting and creative ideas have come to the fore and change is coming.
Head of Campus Breakfast – Tuesday 22nd October 0800. Please come along and ask questions about school and plans for the future. Also a great way to meet other parents too.
Halloween Fancy Dress – Students are invited to come to school as a spooky character on Friday 25th October. There will be an inter-house competition to decide best dressed. UNICEF are doing this as a fundraiser and so students will need to donate 20 czk if in fancy dress and 50 czk in home clothes.
Fireworks Night SAVE THE DATE
The traditional PBIS Fireworks Night will be happening on Friday November 8th at Libus. Fun for all the family. More information coming next week.
Budapest U19 Football Tournament
A group of 21 PBIS students returned from Budapest on Sunday having participated in a Nord Anglia (European) 7 a-side football tournament. Schools from Bratislava, Madrid, Budapest, Warsaw and Switzerland competed over two days with the eventual winners decided in a knock out competition on the Saturday.
In the girls event the team ended the first day’s play having won two games and lost two. They rallied on the Sunday and showed tremendous resilience and fitness to finish with the third placed trophy by beating Beau Soleil school in a convincing 2-0 victory.
The boys faced some tough opposition over both days and finished fifth overall but on another day could have made the final knock out stages given that they drew with the eventual finalists from Madrid. They competed in very close games through the tournament with only one game the winning/losing margin being more than one goal. The highlight of the boys tournament was a 2-1 victory over Beau Soleil on the final day when a tine strike from Filip Slanina sealed the victory with the last kick of the game.
Excellent performances came from Mir Eldar in goal with some fine reflex saves, Dalibor Bocan who finished top goal score and MVP for PBIS and Mateusz Ostaszewski who captained the team with admirable grace.
The student’s attitude and commitment was superb and they were excellent ambassadors for the school.
A group of 21 PBIS students returned from Budapest on Sunday having participated in a Nord Anglia (European) 7 a-side football tournament. Schools from Bratislava, Madrid, Budapest, Warsaw and Switzerland competed over two days with the eventual winners decided in a knock out competition on the Saturday.
In the girls event the team ended the first day’s play having won two games and lost two. They rallied on the Sunday and showed tremendous resilience and fitness to finish with the third placed trophy by beating Beau Soleil school in a convincing 2-0 victory.
The boys faced some tough opposition over both days and finished fifth overall but on another day could have made the final knock out stages given that they drew with the eventual finalists from Madrid. They competed in very close games through the tournament with only one game the winning/losing margin being more than one goal. The highlight of the boys tournament was a 2-1 victory over Beau Soleil on the final day when a tine strike from Filip Slanina sealed the victory with the last kick of the game.
Excellent performances came from Mir Eldar in goal with some fine reflex saves, Dalibor Bocan who finished top goal score and MVP for PBIS and Mateusz Ostaszewski who captained the team with admirable grace.
The student’s attitude and commitment was superb and they were excellent ambassadors for the school.
Urgent Appeal
Your child needs you to donate 2 hours of your time on Wednesday 11th December (5 – 6.30pm) so that they and their friends can talk to you about your job. I need parents from all disciplines to take a seat at a table and for students to get the opportunity to know and understand what the day of a bank manager, doctor, lawyer, social worker, radio DJ, CEO or hotel manager consists of; for example. This is not a public speaking event; students will be on their own or in pairs. I have run this at many schools and it is very useful to help students make decisions about which IGCSE/IB options to take and which university or pathway to take. We have the expertise in our parent body. This appeal goes out to all parents. This will become an annual event for Y9 – 13 students.
I know you can help. Please contact me with questions jane.cordes@pbis.cz or sign up on the VLE
Kamyk and Libus Friends
Today we held our first charity bake sale of the year and it was a great success! We raised 23,410 crowns over the two campuses. Thank you to everyone, who baked, served or bought the sweet goodies. The money will be going towards supporting PBIS chosen charities as well as towards the events the Friends organise for students.
Next Monday morning we have our next Friends committee meeting. If you would like to get involved in the organising of future events for parents as well as students, come along at 08.30 in the Kamyk Parents Room.
Parent Workshops
Do you have a hidden talent you want to share with other Friends? Are you handy with upholstering? Can you cook a mean curry? We are organising workshops for Friends and if you would like to offer to teach something, you can tell us about it here.
External Halloween Event
Libus students are invited to the first annual and biggest Halloween bash of all times, in one of the spookiest places in Prague.
When: 31st October
Where: Sacre Coeur Chapel (Smichov)
All high school / upper school students (ages 14-18) from all international schools in Prague will be there.
DJ, live music, amazing food and drinks and of course ghoulish entertainment
Check out
https://www.instagram.com/hshalloweenparty2019/
for more details
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/395360984478005/
International Schools of Prague, tickets are now on sale at https://www.smsticket.cz/vstupenky/18610-hs-halloween-2019. Or by bank transfer for 550,- till October 21st, 2845246319/0800 reference code: your phone number .
Meet students from other schools; experience a real Halloween party in Prague. For high school and upper school students ONLY hshalloweenparty2019
Have a great weekend
Lorraine McIntosh
Chair, Kamyk and Libus Friends
Maxim Music day
Maximum Music Day lived up to its name on Saturday with 75
musicians from Kamyk, Vlastina and Libus joining together for a day of music
rehearsals, workshops and a concert! Workshops included choir, orchestra,
string group, Mozart operas and African drumming. This was the first event of
its kind at PBIS but one which we hope will become a regular fixture on the
annual calendar! Thank you to everyone to took part in and supported the event.
The music department looks forward to seeing you at performances during the
Winter Season.
https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/the-arts-3/music/pbis-maximum-music-day
Halloween Dress Up Day: Message from the UNICEF Club
Next friday (25th of October) there will be a halloween dress up day. Students will be asked to pay 20kc to come in costume, or 50kc to come in non-uniform. If neither of these options suit students, they are welcome to wear uniform (KS4) or smart attire (KS5). The money raised for this will be going towards UNICEF and the event has been organised by the student-led school UNICEF club.
There will also be a competition for the best costume on the day. Students will be judged their similarity to the character they are representing and the creativity of their costume.
The winning student will be awarded 25 house points, with 5 house points for the runners up.
If you have any questions, feel free to come ask any of the UNICEF students. Good luck to all.
Visit to Faust recording studios
The Creative Media students have visited a sound recording studio where artists such as Lady Gaga, One Direction or Justin Bieber have recorded. Sound engineer Nick Fox offered the students the opportunity to try out some rare pieces of recording equipment.
Hammond
organ played into a Leslie cabinet. A distinctive, 70 years-old tremolo effect,
produced by the rotation of a speaker in the Leslie cabinet.
Pepijn
is recording in an anechoic room behind the window. His voice goes through a
very primitive reverb, known as spring reverb. This is just a box full of big
metallic springs and microphones. The spring vibrate and generate a unique type
of reverberation.
The
engineer Nick Fox is using an analog tape delay. This is an old and
sought-after machine that records a tiny length of the input sounds and plays
it back in order to create an echo. As it is a real analog tape machine, rather
than a digital box, the tape distorts the sound and gives it a unique
timbre.
More news from the Creative Media here https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/btec/creative-media-production/news-
Student Council: Campaign for President
October 14 to October 18 was campaign week for the position of Student Council President. Sandra Hoangova and Oliver Hague (both in Year 12) persuaded students to vote for them in assemblies, during form time and held a debate in the open plan area. The election takes place
Sandra Hoangova Oliver Hague
PBIS students winning
a Gold Award in the Experimental project of the British Physics Olympiad
Practical work is about technique and ideas. It is a skill that needs to be developed. The British Physics Olympiad – Experimental project is a contest aimed at IB or A-level students who are inventive, patient and risk-taking in their approach to practical work.
The recent challenge aimed at minimal surfaces of soap bubbles enclosed in geometric frameworks of polyherdons. We are extremely pleased that Adam Lastovka and Michael Seiranian, our Year 13 students of Physics won the Gold Award in their category.
Adam already holds a Gold certificate from the 2017 IGCSE
Olympiad challenge and Michael holds a Silver prize from the same contest.
The BPhO has credited their resilience and quality work when photographing, describing and measuring the surfaces and the associated angles.
When capturing a bubble in the centre of the cube, a soap surface reminiscent to a hypercube was formed.
Senior School Ski Trip News
We are delighted to announce that we will be running two ski trips for the Senior students in 2020.
- Year 9, 10 & 12: Nassfeld, Austria (18-24 January)
- Year 7 & 8: Villars, Switzerland (7-13 February)
Details of these trips are on the VLE:
Year 7-8:
Year 9, 10 & 12:
The sign up will go live on Friday 25th October at 19.00hrs. Please keep an eye on your emails and next weeks' newsletter for more details.
House Point Totals
Drama news
Portrait Photo Orders
This year's class photos are ready and can be seen at http://www.pbisphotos.cz Just enter the password (case sensitive): PBIS2019
Please note that the order deadline is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, and that orders placed before the deadline should be delivered by the first week of December.
Prices for the photographs are displayed in the form. The final amount will be deducted from your child’s school account.
In the meantime, we hope you like the photos! If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please email pbisphotographer@gmail.com.
Jane Cordes
Prague British International School
Address: Brunelova 12 | 140 00 Prague 4 | Czech RepublicTel: + 420 226 096 100
jane.cordes@pbis.cz
www.pbis.cz