Dear Parents,
I hope you and your family have had (or are still enjoying) a wonderful summer holiday. I am sure you have all started to think about returning to school and I hope you will find the information below useful.
New starters welcome afternoon – Friday 30th August
NEW FAMILIES starting at PBIS are warmly invited to visit the school on Friday 30th August at 1 p.m. During this time families can have a chance to orientate their way around the school ahead of Monday. Children will also have an opportunity to see their new classroom and to meet their new class teachers.
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
As usual, school will be open from 8am. Please do not arrive before this time as teachers will be busy doing essential preparation.
All children who were with us last year should go straight to their new classrooms after hanging their coats and changing their shoes in the cloakroom. Note that Year 6 and Key Stage 3 students have lockers outside their classroom, so they go straight upstairs. There will be lists in the entrance hall showing where each class and teacher is located.
For our new students, I will be at main reception with other members of staff to help those who are unsure where to go. We will ensure that there are plenty of signposts around to guide you.
There will be welcome back assemblies for Primary school students at 9.00 and for secondary students at 10.30 in the assembly hall.
School timings
All primary and secondary school students should be in school ready to start their lessons by 8.30 am. Children who are not in their classroom 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. Students cannot arrive before 8.00 as there is no supervision for them. Children in Early Years must be in their classrooms by 8.45 am.
Early Years (nursery and reception), Year 1 and Year 2 children should be collected from their classroom at 15:00. Those children in nursery who are completing mornings only should be collected at 12.00 from their classroom
All Year 3 and Year 6 children will be taken down to the cloakroom by their teachers at 15.00. Parents should wait in the entrance hall and along the corridors near the cloakrooms for their children
Secondary school finishes at 15.20. Students will then make their way down to the entrance hall. Parents should wait in the entrance hall for their children
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 you supervise your child. No child should go out to the playground at the end of the day without supervision.
End of School – Year 7, 8 and 9 Change of time
There is now a registration period each day in Year 7,8,9 at 8.30am to 8.50am. Due to this, the day finishes 5 minutes later. Therefore, the formal end of the school day at Vlastina is 3.20pm for Senior school students.
Absence, late arrival or early leaving
We take school attendance very seriously and we need a reason for any absence.
Should your child be off school for medical reasons or will be late, please inform the school administrator Ms Marketa Stepanova on 226096180 or email her: marketa.stepanova@pbis.cz
If you wish for someone else to collect your child, or you would like your child to meet you outside school, please ensure that you put this in writing in your child’s diary or contact Ms Marketa Stepanova
Should you wish to take your child out of school for any other reason, please contact me directly: paul.kurczij@pbis.cz
School Uniform & PE Kit
All children should have school uniform. All uniform information can be found here: https://pbis.fireflycloud.net/joining-pbis/pbis-school-uniform/uniform-faq
Primary school equipment list:
- a reading folder for homework and reading books to be stored in
- a healthy 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.
- The school will provide children with pens and pencils, however, if your child would like to bring their own pencil case this is not a problem
- a water bottle - Drinking water is always available in school but children must bring a water bottle to drink from. Water bottles can be kept in the classroom and should be sent to school every day.
- sensible outdoor shoes that are easy for the children to fasten
- a hat/sun cream/sun glasses (for sunny days)
Secondary school equipment list
Children in Years 7, 8 and 9 will need:
•Pens (black, red , blue), Pencil, Rubber (eraser)
•Highlighter pen
•Ruler, Protractor
•PE kit
•Pencil case
•Set of coloured pencils (Minimum 4)
•Compass
•Calculator
•Dictionary (Paper copy) Mother tongue – English
•Dictionary (Paper copy) French, Spanish, Czech or German into English (related
to their MFL choice)
Students can bring in their own laptop for school purposes only. The school also has a selection of chrome books that the students can use within lessons.
Czech Programme
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 attached.
Mobiles, iPads and Electronic Games
Many of the students now have mobile telephones. Students 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. They cannot be used before school begins or during the school day. Students are not allowed to wear smart watches. If they are brought to school, staff will ask students to take them off and leave them in their bags.
Please note that the school accepts no responsibility for the loss of mobile phones or any other expensive electronic items brought into school.
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 Vlastina 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.
KS3 expeditions trips Year 7 - 9
Please ensure you have signed your child up for the trip. The trip is free and there will be no lessons taking place in school this week as all KS3 staff will be out:
Y7 Arrival September 9th 2019, Y7 Departure September 11th 2019
Y8 Arrival September 11th 2019, Y8 Departure September 13th 2019
Y9 Arrival September 16th 2019, Y9 Departure September 19th 2019
PBIS Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
The PTA consists of two parent groups.
· Class Representatives
· Vlastina Friends Association
Class representative meetings are held once each half term. Class representatives gather points for discussion from parents in their classes. These will include questions, concerns or suggestions about the curriculum, extra-curricular activities and school life.
Vlastina Friends support the school in many areas such as organising charity events, social events, bake sales and discos.
These groups are a great way to play an active role in the school and to meet other parents. We will be looking for parents to get involved in these groups and will send out further information soon should you wish to get involved.
Vlastina Welcome back BBQ and picnic
Please note that we will have an informal ‘Welcome Back’ BBQ and picnic on Thursday 5th September from 15.00 – 17.00. There will be food and refreshments provided by lion catering for free, or you can simply bring your own nibbles and picnic blanket along. Hopefully it will be a nice opportunity to welcome back all families, old and new, into the school community.
Transport Information for the AY 2019/20
Dear parents,
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.
We are in the process of finalising bus routes for home-school-home service for the Academic Year 2019/20. 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 not been using the service yet and wish to use it, please complete the Bus application form as soon as possible, latest by Monday 26th August 2019 noon, when we finalise bus lines and prepare timetables. Final timetables will be emailed out to parents by Thursday 29th August 2019.
Please contact Soňa Nováková if you already completed Bus application form and have not received confirmation.
You can find transport information on parent portal here.
Michael Bardsley
Principal
Paul Kurczij
Head of Vlastina Campus
Prague British International School
Address: Vlastina 19 | 161 00 Prague 6 | Czech Republic
Tel: + 420 226 096 200 | Mob: +420 775 695 337´
paul.kurczij@pbis.cz
www.pbis.cz