Forum Donaustadt Developments – safety when coming to school

We have been informed by representatives of SIGNA (Forum Donuastadt Developers) that from 1^st October the car park area in front of the school will be completely closed off. That includes any pedestrian access.

As previously recommended if arriving at VIS via public transport please leave the UBahn station at the Siebeckstrasse exit, walk down Siebeckstrasse and cross into Strasse der Menschenrechte at the new junction.

Drop-Off

Many months ago the Vienna authorities responsible for road systems and traffic management MA46 were asked to set up a dedicated ‘kiss and drop zone’ in front of the school. Despite requests for a decision and a timeline for implementation we remain without the desired long-term solution to our morning routines.

This morning there was the added complication of a car (not a VIS family) driving into a tram at the intersection on the corner of Strasse der Menschenrechte. Given the challenges I have to say that I am impressed with the way that everyone has adjusted to the new reality and hope that we can continue to keep traffic moving safely. If you are dropping off students in Prandaugasse please do not park, or stop, on a dedicated cycle track. They are on both sides of the road and if blocked create a safety hazard for cyclists – some of whom are VIS students and parents.

40 Year Celebrations

This time last week we were busy making final preparations for what turned out to be three lovely anniversary celebrations. On Friday evening, 124 music students entertained and impressed the guests who attended the formal ceremony of the 40 year celebration. We were all incredibly proud of the professionallism, the discipline and the dedication of our students in the Primary Choir, Secondary Choir and the Rock Band. In this newsletter we share a short film that captures the spirit of the Friday evening and the wonderful student performances. We hope that this short film and the pictures below will provide an insight into the Anniversary Ceremony and the big Welcome Picnic. 

A huge vote of thanks to the organisers and contributors of the different events including:  The Development Office team, the Orchestra and Choir teams, the PTA, the Sportbox team, the VIS and UN bands, the Catering team, the Maintenance team, student and staff helpers. We had plenty of good reasons to be very proud of our community as we ‘make a difference to shape the future’.

As mentioned in earlier messages the GDPR regulations require us to gain specific permission from every family to use images like these in other publications or social media. The majority of families have provided feedback of their intentions but we are still missing the signed forms from about 100 families. Many thanks to the large number of parents who have completed the form today! Without this information it will not be possible to share images of the great events taking place as we believe the community wishes us to do. If you have not informed us of your data protection expectations please make this a priority in the coming days.

Please fill in this form or click on the QR code below. 

Dear Parents and Guardians, Please find here an important information from the Electoral Committee regarding an upcoming vacancy on the Board of Governors as of June 1^st, 2019. Click here to see the Duties and Responsibilities of this position and download the Declaration of Candidature here. Thank you for considering getting involved and joining the school’s board!

Activity Week has been busy and good. The Grade Leaders have planned really engaging activities for the students and have been very pleased with the quality of their participation. We have received a stream of beautiful pictures of mountains and lakes from the various residential trips. The weather has enabled all the day trips to take place  and given the opportunity for the students to experience the beauty that Austria has to offer.

It has been a particular pleasure to be at school this week and feel the level of enthusiasm coming from the Grade 7 students. They have been involved in STEM projects and have become so engaged that it has been difficult to persuade them to go for breaks. When I went to talk to one of the Department Leaders before school she was laughing about the fact that they had all arrived very early because they were so eager to start on their projects again.

Our Grade 11 and 12 students have ended the week with a blast of physical activity, after an intense week of learning activities related to aspects of the academic curriculum. For the last two days we hosted a group from ‘Learning Performance’ who promote themselves as ‘the UK’s leading study skills programme’. We have worked with them for a number of years now and received consistently positive feedback from our students. This year the workshops they have provided have covered the following: Fear Of Failure; Give, Receive & Act on Feedback; Healthy Habits; Stop! Procrastination Ahead; Stress Management; Advanced Memory; Advanced Exam Prep. and Getting Ready for University.

It is the Photo Week for Secondary School next week. Click here to find out more about schedule, formats and prices. This week has been the Primary school photo week - I have seen some very beautifully attired young people walking round school. 

On Wednesday evening our IB Diploma Coordinator, Will Johnson, hosted a session to explain to parents how the IB Diploma Programme is structured. It was a well-attended session with excellent questions from the parents who attended. The session will be repeated next Wednesday morning at 08:30 in the Aula.

This morning our IBMYP Coordinator, Joe O’Rourke, held the first curriculum information session for parents of students in grades 6 to 10. This session will be repeated on Monday 17 September at 18:00 in the Aula.  

At  the  Vienna  International  School  we  harness  learning  and  teaching  technologies  to support inquiring, inspired and involved lifelong learners.  To ensure this were committed to policies and practices, which entrust that our community members:

• are empowered as a learning community to become digitally fluent through safe, balanced and discerning use of digital technologies.
• will have equitable access to authentic learning  experiences through the purposeful use of learning and teaching technologies.
• are inspired to inquire, invent and problem solve in local and global contexts using digital technologies.
• are supported in becoming responsible, self-directed and reflective users of technology through ongoing opportunities for personal and professional growth.
• embrace an open-minded attitude towards working innovatively with digital tools to optimise learning at VIS.

This week’s useful reading

2018 Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences - These are the results of a survey that has been contacted to 1,141 teens in the United States, age 13 to 17 to inform and enrich conversations we have about kids’ use of media and its effects on their social and emotional well-being. Please click here to read the full survey.

VIS is proud to welcome the Wesley College Choir from Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, September 18^th. They will be visiting the school throughout the afternoon and running a workshop with the Primary Choir. They will also be performing two concerts in the afternoon at 13:30 and 14:15 and joined by the Primary Choir for one song. Both concerts are free and open the public with the doors opening roughly 5 minutes before each event. There are no tickets and both events are open seating.

VISMA Jazz Band

We are looking for more musicians who would like to participate in Jazz Band for 2018/19. Specifically, we are in need of students playing the following instruments: Piano, Trumpet, Saxes, Percussion. Violins, Flute Players are also welcome!

We will most likely have our fixed sessions on Wednesdays at 15.30 till 17 Uhr (Room-K9)

Participation Includes:

• Learning begins with a focus on the theoretical basis in harmony, melodic and bass line phrasing as well as scales which are relevant to approaching simple chord structures. This is also done with simple notated Jazz and Popular music standards as well as my own published literature. I incorporate time for listening to recordings and their importance and opening the doors to improvisation. Every year, the experience inspired individual responsibility and a functioning team vibe.
• Participation in the school music program evening concerts.

New this semester: 

1. A featured session with popular Jazz Musician of high profile.
2. Possible Yamaha tour or presentation
3. Out of school concert in a professional club TAKTLOS 1-2 performances. Students take part in the promotion.
4. Participation in the evening concert of the school music program and Jazz Day

For interested students please email us visma.music(at)gmail.com

Mother Tongue Programme

Studies show that continued learning in your child's home language has a positive impact on their school learning. Across the school, the Mother Tongue programme has students from Grade 1 - Grade 12 learning in around 30 different languages! There will be new some teachers this year and a selection of new Mother Tongue books, suitable for our younger readers will be in the library soon!
For information about the programme and contact details for the Mother Tongue teachers, please use the following pathway on Moodle (user: visparent/ pass: viewsite): Home / ▶Courses / ▶Parents / ▶Extra Curricular Activities

Don't forget, if your child has just moved up to 6th Grade and the MYP programme, Bettina will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Sports Teams Status

This week our Varsity Teams played against the teams of the American International School Vienna. The Boys & Girls Soccer teams and the Boys & Girls Volleyball teams played at AISV on Wednesday. We saw a lot of Panther Spirit and the coaches were happy with the effort that was made and with the way the teams played this early in the season. The Boys Soccer team drew 1-1 after an epic fight and the Girls Soccer team won 2-0. Our Volleyball teams lost the match this time, but won some important lessons. It was a very valuable trip!

Battle of the Danube – all sports competition next week

Next weekend on Saturday, 22 September, we will organise “The Battle of the Danube”. Our school will compete against AIS Vienna and AIS Budapest. 

• Middle School Boys and Girls Soccer games will play from 09:00 to 14:15 at the DonauCity Sports Centre.
• Varsity and Junior Varsity Soccer games will play from 09:00 to 16:00 at the Unicredit Sports Centre. 
• Varsity and Junior Varsity Volleyball teams will play from 10:00 to 15:00 here at VIS. 

You are more than welcome to come and support our Panthers!

Hosting

We are looking forward to hosting the CEESA Middle School Boys Soccer tournament, from November 8 to November 11. Six teams from other international schools will come to Vienna to compete against our two Middle School Boys Soccer teams. We are looking for VIS families that are willing to host two or more guest students for this tournament. Can you host? Or do you want to know more about it? Please let us know at activities(at)vis.ac.at. Thank you very much!

Ski Team

If you are interested in signing up for the ski team, please check out the poster below. Our deadline is October 1^st. If you are interested in signing up please click here.

Author Visit 18-20th September

We have a selection of picture and chapter books available for purchase, which David is happy to sign. See details of titles and prices below. Children should bring their money in a named envelope to the Library. For more information please click here.

There will be an opportunity for all students to participate in and help organise our very own MUN conference (MUNoV) this year to be held at the Vienna International Centre and to also travel to a conference abroad.  Sign up for the whole year will cost only 100 Euros for the club programme (extra costs for the conference to be confirmed).

Events coming up

Find below or here the menu of the upcoming week.

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