Week 4 thoughts…
Positive attitudes towards life and learning reflect in all that we do and in what we hope to succeed. If we are motivated to achieve and we have a natural curiosity for the subject matter then we are more likely to stick at what we do. How many of us have thought of New Year’s resolutions or joined a gym only to give up by the end of January? Being internally invested in our goals will result in better success. For our students they need to think beyond the present and look towards August when they open their results envelope. What do they want to see and what habits do they need to adopt now to achieve them? Success does not happen overnight and the present is as important as the exams in May/June. What can we support them to change now? How invested are they to achieve their own goals?
Reporting Schedule
Below is the reporting schedule for the students for this academic year. All students will get two reports per term which will take the format of data, written or face to face. The data report will be the first to be received at the end of term. For Year 10’s and 12’s, this will show their learning attitudes through behaviour, organisation and effort as it is too early in a two year course of study to predict an accurate grade after only one unit of work. Year 11 and 13 will have both current attainment grades and attitude to learning, as these are being built upon from last year. It is important that we focus on the attitude to learning grades as these are what determine success and form the habits which are identified in the ‘Thought of the Week’. These are the starting points for challenge or indeed intervention and ask or show us the ‘why’ to how these habits can or will impact the grade. All students will have a parents evening at the end of two half terms of study. These are scheduled at the end of term and immediately at the start of the following. However, we will be in contact with any parents where issues or concerns arise as when they do, or following data report 1. Whilst these are scheduled dates, we encourage an open dialogue to support your son or daughter and so please email me with any concerns on jane.cordes@pbis.cz and I will either respond directly or forward this to the appropriate teacher. If you have any questions, then please let me know. Information explaining the grading systems will be included in the first data report.
|
Type of Report |
Year 10 |
Year 11 |
Year 12 |
Year 13 |
|
Data 1 |
24.10.19 |
24.10.19 |
24.10.19 |
24.10.19 |
|
Data 2 |
13.12.19 |
3.4.20 |
19.12.19 |
3.4.20 |
|
Data 3 |
6.3.20 |
|
13.3.20 |
|
|
Parents Evening 1 |
8.1.20 |
25.11.19 |
16.1.20 |
3.12.19 |
|
Parents Evening 2 |
11.6.20 |
|
22.6.20 |
|
|
Full Written Report |
5.6.20 |
13.2.20 |
19.6.20 |
13.2.20 |
Head of Campus Breakfast
In previous schools I have hosted a breakfast session which creates a forum for parents to ask questions face to face and to meet other parents. Many of you email me directly and many of you would not be able to attend at either the beginning or the end of the day due to work commitments. However, I am going to make this opportunity available and will host the first event on 22nd October 2019 at 0800. I look forward to seeing you there. If you are unable to attend and have any ideas of how to enrich the curriculum or offer your support then please email me jane.cordes@pbis.cz
We want you!
Yes, literally!
Do you love your job? Would you enjoy speaking to young people about your profession?
If so, we have the most fitting experience planned for you and our students.
On Wednesday, December 11, we are planning a big Career Showcase Event during which you can promote your profession to our students in small groups and 1:1. They will ask you questions about what you do and why your job is so wonderful.
We would really welcome your support. If you could spare our students a couple of hours then please contact Mr Peachment (anthony.peachment@pbis.cz), Mrs Cordes (jane.cordes@pbis.cz) or Mr Klaiss (alexander.klaiss@pbis.cz).
The form group 13C started following the Action for Happiness calendar(https://www.actionforhappiness.org/calendars). Action for Happiness is "a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society. We want to see a fundamentally different way of life - where people care less about what they can get just for themselves and more about the happiness of others". Each calendar they release revolves around a different topic. For example, this month is Self-Care September.
To honour the Action for the 25th of this month ("ask a trusted friend to say what they like about you"), 13C decided to extend this not just to friends but also to those who are around us but we might not necessarily have a strong connection with. Therefore, we started a project called "Tokens of appreciation" in which students write notes of thankfulness or appreciation to other pupils in their form in the envelopes you can see in the photo.
Year 13 is a hard year for many students and we want to bring some moments of joy to those who might suffer from mental health issues due to stress or anxiety, or to those who might just need to be reminded that the world appreciates them. We would like to encourage you to print these monthly calendars and follow their advice in your daily life.
Climate Strike
Last Friday, the 20th of September, our school made history. Together with the rest of the world, 80 of our students supported the climate crisis and went on a protest march for climate together, with around 4 million people around the world. Five teachers also came to support the students and the cause.
This September marked a year since fearless 15 year old (at the time) Greta Thunberg started striking for climate every Friday in front of the Swedish parliament. Over the year, student strikes began to fiercely spread around the world through the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement. After only a year, campaign support has risen from one to four million as the world started considering the climate crisis as a real crisis.
Our students have been very proactive during the strike, chanting slogans such as “What do we want? Climate Justice! When do we want it? Now!” arguing with climate change deniers and marching through Prague. They have been a virtuous addition to the strike which included more than a 1000 people.
Why was this held on the 20th September? Notably the 23rd September marked a start to the United Nations Climate Summit and so in support of profound and immediate action to solve the climate crisis, children and adults all around the world took to the streets to show leaders how important their decisions are and how this effects our planet now and in the future.
Illike Kumsova (Y13 Student)
Kamyk and Libus Friends
Please join us for our Korean Coffee Morning on Monday 7th October at Kamyk.
External Halloween Event SAVE THE DATE!
Libus students are cordially invited to one of the biggest and best Halloween events for teens in Prague! Bringing together international schools from from Prague and taking place right in the centre, it's sure to be an unmissable event.
When: 31st October
Where: Sacre Coeur Chapel (Smichov)
What: Halloween party with music, food, drinks, best costume competitions
More information coming soon...
Save the Date!! Ceilidh at Libus
On 18th October we will be hosting our annual Ceilidh. For those who don't know, a ceilidh is a Scottish social event with dancing. A useful opportunity to practice your Gay Gordons for Burns Night. More information coming next week.
IB Performing Arts Update
Our three year 13 IB CP candidates are completing a directing unit for Performing Arts, Performances October 16-18.
Natassia Bustamante, is directing I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Celeste Raspanti. Over 15,000 Jewish children passed through Terezin, and only about a hundred were still alive when Terezin was liberated at the end of the war. One of the Survivors, Raja, tells the true story of the children and how the arts were used to cope with depression and fears of the unknown. Through naturalistic acting, dance/physical theatre and music, this production will illustrate the moving story of the historical tragedy and how the children were able to hold onto hope
Sean Renwick, director of Lockdown by Douglas Craven says his rehearsals have begun and are off to a great start with an amazingly instinctive cast of mixed years and ages. It is an intense naturalistic exploration of several teenage characters and how they would react to a threat.The play takes place in a dark classroom where eight students and a teacher are trapped in an “official lockdown”, not knowing if it’s a drill or an actual emergency. When a hysterical younger girl runs out of the classroom and the teacher follows, the remaining students are left alone to decide whether they should run or hide.
Alina Kurmakaeva’s vision as a director is to show people their mirrors, so they can see themselves in there, as we all have parts of a businessman, conceited man or king somewhere inside us, but deep deep inside there is also an inner child, which is sometimes talking to us, like the Little Prince, who we mostly just ignore and who is quite often really lost in this ridiculous adult world.
Aviator, who is besides all deeply disappointed in adults, has a forced landing in the Sahara Desert, where he encounters Little Prince. He has come from a different planet because his beloved rose has broken his heat. During his travels he meets different people-adults, actually very strange adults and forms his opinion on the world as he is searching for answers to his internal questions. (identity crisis we are familiar with:). A fairytale about finding what’s important, alienation, love, imagination and growing up (or not?).
News from the Creative Media
The Year 13 Creative Media students are now working on the Soundtrack Production unit. In the video below, Natalie explains everything there is to know about the relationships between sound and moving images.
https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4b0a2b_0644e40d8d7649e0962b39c83633c2dd/720p/mp4/file.mp4
This week, we are also trying to record the sound of a dialogue properly, which is sometimes difficult when the characters are moving. In the next few weeks, we will study acoustics and record foley sounds, and compose music for an advertisement.
You can see more news form the Creative Media class here: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/btec/creative-media-production/news-
Residential News
Nord Anglia Sports Tournaments for Under 14s & Under 15s (Parental Survey)
As a member of the Nord Anglia group, our students are given a number of different sporting opportunities. In 2020 there is a new event which we have the opportunity to participate in: The Nord Anglia Global Games in Abu Dhabi. In addition to this there is also the European Nord Anglia Sports Association (ENASA) Basketball and Football Tournament in Budapest, in which we regularly compete.
Both of these events fall quite close to one another in the calendar so we are surveying parents to ascertain their preference. If the response is strong for both events then we would consider entering both.
Global Games 2020 (Under 15s)
This event will be held in Abu Dhabi from 26 February-2nd March for pupils in Year 10, 9, 8 & 7. This is a multi-sports tournament and would involve students competing in a choice of sports including football, basketball, athletics, swimming, golf, cycling, table tennis, badminton and volleyball. The sports take place over 4 days, playing against other Nord Anglia schools from Europe and The Middle East. The cost of this trip is likely to be around 26,000-32,000 czk.
ENASA Basketball & Football Tournament (Under 14s)
This event will be held in Budapest from 19-22 March for pupils in Year 9, 8 & 7. It is a football and basketball tournament which takes place over 2 days, playing against other Nord Anglia schools from Europe. The cost of this trip is likely to be around 8000-9000 czk.
If you think your child may be interested in taking part in either of these events please fill out a short survey by following the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8VX8PQK
This information can also be found on the school VLE page by following the 'School Trips' link.
European Languages Day
Students at Libuš took part in a whole-school event to celebrate the European Day of Languages, Thursday, September 26. At PBIS, we speak 47 different languages. After watching a video of students speaking in their first languages, form groups reflected on language learning on postcards. The postcards are now part of a display at reception on the Libuš campus. On Friday, another language event will follow as a house competition. Watch this space next week!
Whole School Maximum Music Weekend - Sign Up Now Open!
Two weeks left and the sign up is filling up for PBIS Maximum Music event on Saturday 12th October. This is the first event of its kind, gathering together musicians in years 3-13 from Vlastina, Libus and Kamyk, for a day of music making and workshops. All the PBIS music teachers will be there, leading choir and instrumental rehearsals, with some visiting musicians dropping in throughout the day.
https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/the-arts-3/music/pbis-maximum-music-weekend
If there are parents who would like to participate either in choir or orchestra, also just send an e mail to the address above!
Reminders:
- Laptops/Devices – It is an expectation that all students bring a device to school to work on throughout the day in all classrooms. This must be Microsoft compatible to work with the software used in subjects, especially IT and computer Science.
- Uniform – sanctions will be given to all students who wear jeans, jeggings or leggings commencing on Monday 30th September. Sufficient warning has been given to them. Please support us to ensure that uniform is smart and follows school policy.
- Lunch Money – Please remember that there will be a zero tolerance on negative balances as of Tuesday 1st October. Please make sure you son/daughters account is in and remains in credit otherwise they will not be able to purchase items from the canteen.
Prague British International School
Address: Brunelova 12 | 140 00 Prague 4 | Czech RepublicTel: + 420 226 096 100
jane.cordes@pbis.cz
www.pbis.cz