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Evacuation Drill

In the coming weeks we will practice our emergency evacuation procedures. The first drill is announced followed by at least one unannounced drill. If you are onsite during an evacuation drill, please follow the instructions given to you by the school personnel. For the Primary School we will no longer evacuate onto Strasse der Menschenrechte but into the safe and protected area of the new ‘Dome’ sports hall.

When we have conducted an evacuation you will receive an SMS notification within 30 minutes informing you of what has happened.  If the evacuation is as a result of a real emergency the children will be moved to a second ‘safe-house’ location and you will be given details of what we expect you to do.

Dear Parents and Guardians, dear VIS-Association members

Please take the time to read these two letters from the Electoral Committee containing very important information on the upcoming elections to the Board of Governors on 3 December and a deadline for submitting a Declaration of Candidature by close of business on 3 October.

• Declaration of Candidature 
• Call for Candidature
• Call for Votes

Primary School English Language Acquisition Programmes

Vienna International School prides itself on being a multilingual and multicultural school. We recognise that all children’s language profiles differ, and we support all students to develop their language and learning skills so they can reach their potential.

We provide a programme for students who have languages other than English in their lives. As the academic contexts and the curriculum demands vary from Primary to Secondary School, our programmes to support language development are structured to best meet the needs of our students and are in line with the IB PYP Language Phases and the Language Acquisition IB MYP frameworks.

In the Primary School, the language needs of students enrolled at VIS are assessed once they have joined the school. According to their proficiency in English, they are enrolled in the most suitable language programme.

Students enrolled in Primary School who need support in English may be enrolled in the Intensive Programme (PYP Language Phases 1-2) or supported and monitored as needed (PYP Language Phases 3-4).

Intensive students (PYP Language Phases 1-2) receive dedicated instruction in small groups in order to focus on developing their language skills.

Students in the PYP Language Phases 3-4 receive support in the form of small-group lessons, differentiated work in class, guided reading sessions and general support related to classroom and curricular goals.

The progress of all learners is continuously monitored, and decisions regarding the current phase of language learning is made jointly by the English Language Acquisition teachers and class teachers.

Digital Portfolios Update

In order to ensure compliance with new Data Protection Regulations, we have had to thoroughly check every system we use. Seesaw is a cloud based system based in the US. According to our Chief Digital Information Office (CDIO), we need to ensure there is an adequate level of protection to the data that are shared in this platform, if the data crosses borders to a third country. That being the case, we are not able to use Seesaw until we ensure that Seesaw complies with GDPR restrictions.  Once this is confirmed, we will re-launch Seesaw for our Primary School users (teachers, students, parents). Thank you for your understanding.

Photo Week

Dear Parents, as you know this week we had our students’ pictures taken, please find here the information about the ways and options to buy the photographs.

The pictures of ELC & Grade Primary, Grade 1 and Grade 2 are online, Grade 3, Grade 4 and Grade 5 will be seen on 1 October. 

Primary Grade Websites

Please note: Grade Level websites will only be updated if there is urgent new information to share during short school weeks. Thank you for your understanding.

Secondary School Student Council Leaders 2018/2019

We have had an exciting week; the process leading up to the election of the Officers for our Student Council  always produces a buzz of activity! This year the ending was quite tense and, despite two votes, we had an absolute tie for the position of Secretary and so both candidates will be included as officers. One of the first tasks the new group will have will be to revise the Student Council Constitution, which needs updating to better reflect current practice.  

The elected officials of the 2018 - 2019 school year are:

Chairs: Deniz Pasli & Sebastian Lessing

Secretary: (tie) Fiona Bogensberger & Benjamin Rosen

Treasurer: Ankit Singh

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking our outgoing Student Council for their strong leadership and collaboration over the past year. It has been a pleasure to work with them. I wish you all an enjoyable long weekend!

English Language Acquisition Programme (ELA)

This week the parents of students who are in the English Language Acquisition Programme (ELA)  were invited for a meeting . Please find here the detailed description of the ELA programme.

Photo week

Last week the pictures of Secondary students have been taken. If you are interested, click here to find out more about formats and prices. In the following period you will receive information regarding the next steps needed for purchasing the pictures.

Maths Extra-Curricular Activities

by John Acford

The VIS mathematics department will be offering the following opportunities during this academic year.

Maths Competition Clubs:

• Middle School (Grades 6, 7 and 8) Mondays Lesson 6 (weeks A and B) with Ms Vuckovic. Room 223
• Junior (Grades 9 and 10) Wednesdays Lesson 7 (weeks A and B) with Ms Malagari. Room 244
• Senior (Grades 11 and 12) Thursdays Lesson 7 with Mr Harcet. Room 224

Maths support club:

Please note this is to address specific problems students have had, it is not a class.

• MYP (Grades 6 to 10) Wednesday 15:15 to 16:00 (weeks A and B) With Mr Acford. Room 226
• Diploma (Grades 11 and 12) Monday Lesson 7 (weeks A and B) With Ms Seiler. Room 221

G12 to the Volkstheater

by Dzenana Ceman

Ms. Ceman’s 12^th grade English Language and Literature, accompanied by Ms. Ceman, Ms. Buczynski and Mr. Queva - attended Volkstheater for Tuesday’s performance of “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare. The students enjoyed the play and considered it to be interesting and effective in underlining some of the existing political issues.

Save the date!

We are excited to host Tim Burns at VIS on October the 5th. Tim will deliver this workshop to our Grade 6-9 students and will present also to the VIS  parents during a 2 hour session in the morning (9:00-11:00). If you are interested, book your seat, by completing this form.

This week’s useful reading

Sleep is critical for health and learning. Especially for students, it improves their  immune system, balances hormones, boosts metabolism, and improves brain function. The main reason sleep is so important for a student's success in school is because this is the time when their brain is "cleaning" itself. There is no magic number for exactly how much sleep we need, but the Australian Centre for Education in Sleep (ACES) suggests the following as a guide:

Primary school: 10-12 hours per day/ High school adolescents: 8-10 hours per day/ Adults: 7-9 hours per day

How Parents Can Help Improve the Quality of a Teen’s Sleep.

Photo Consent

Please follow this link to give your consent if you haven't already. Unless you mark your clear option, we are not able to share documents reflecting life in VIS (performances videos, camps pictures, exhibitions, e.g.). Thank you to those who already filled in this important form.

Student Withdrawal Information 

If, for any reason, you need to withdraw your child from VIS you are asked to send a written notice to the Admissions Coordinator, Tina Lackner. The following is an excerpt of the annually published VIS tuition fees schedule 2018-2019, page 5:

Early Departures: Parents/Guardians may terminate the schooling contract prematurely before its expiration at the end of the school year by way of a notice in writing to the Admissions Coordinator. The termination takes effect at the end of the second (2nd) calendar month following the month of receipt of the notice by VIS, unless the notice expressly states that the termination take effect on the last day of a later month. Unless notice is given in writing, fees will continue to be charged and the deposit will not be returned.

School Fees are calculated pro rata on the basis of complete calendar months are payable until the termination takes effect. If the termination takes effect at the end of the month of May, School Fees are payable until the end of the school year. Unless notice is given in writing, fees will continue to be charged and the deposit will not be reimbursed.

For example: If you must withdraw your child/ren from VIS at the end of December 2018, you will have to notify Tina Lackner in writing by the end of October 2018 at the latest.

Piano lessons

We still have room for a few ELC students to have piano lessons during the 10:30 break. This time is very limited and is going on a first come basis. Information forms are available in the ELC office. Please contact us via email at visma.music(at)gmail.com if interested.

Jazz Band

WANTED:  pianist with intermediate to high skills for the jazz band.  Sessions are Wednesdays after school! We're also looking for any talented other instruments, i.e. Saxaphone, evtl. Clarinet and Flute, and any low brass players!  You do not have to be a music major or a VISMA student to participate in the Jazz Band!

Hosting

We are looking forward to hosting the CEESA Middle School Boys Soccer tournament, from 8 November to 11 November. 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. The deadline for registrations is October 1^st. If you are interested in signing up please click here.

Sport Pictures Gallery

Yearbook Team

The Yearbook Team is a part time after school CAS activity and looks forward to being back in action in mid-November to begin work on extra special 40^th Anniversary 2018-2019 edition of the VIS Yearbook. If you are a student wishing to join the Yearbook Team, then stay tuned to your emails for more details about how to become a member in the weeks of late September/October. We usually begin training in late November and then meet regularly on Mondays after school and also work on several Saturdays in February and March. If you are a VIS Community Member wishing to collect a previously ordered Yearbook that has not yet been collected, or to purchase a copy from a previous year, please contact us in mid-November and we will be happy to help you then. Until then, if you have any queries or suggestions for this year’s special edition, please email the Yearbook Team on visyearbook(at)vis.ac.at  

Project Centipede

by Marlene Mittringer-Sturm

VIS will endeavour to donate hundreds of consumable items, sanitary products and stationery items for Romanian orphans and foster-care families from 19 September to 3 October. This is a whole-school project, and we are asking families to assist in the donation of food, sanitary products and stationery items within their Homeroom/Advisor groups. A team of Grade 11 and 12 CAS students are coordinating and leading the collection as their 'Service' charitable project. 

This time, we also have a collection point in the Octagon for little ‘colourful treat boxes’ with some sweets and biscuits (please see detailed list of items below) as well as stationery supplies for the orphans to use in school (pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks…). Please wrap your colourful box so that the contents can’t fall out of the box and it looks like a present ready to give to the orphans.

Eco-School News

The new Eco year is off to a good start. There are Green Teams in all grade levels in the Primary School and they meet every Wednesday in the lunchtime break. Staff members and a parent have volunteered to work with the children. The students have all contributed their ideas regarding ways in which we can help to care for the environment and are keen to be involved. Students have already enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate correct recycling at the Welcome Picnic and helped with tidying up. All of the groups have a responsibility including looking after the pond area, compost and wormery. The Secondary student group are in charge of carrying out Eco measurements and projects in the outdoor areas. In addition the groups have identified ways in which they will contribute to our Global Action Day on 16 November  in school.

PTA Annual General Meeting

On Wednesday, 3 October 2018, there will be the Annual General Meeting of the PTA (from 16:30-18:00, in the Primary Library). Please feel free to come, hear about the PTA projects & initiatives and get involved. Please read the call for candidatures for members of the PTA Executive Committee and the application form to be sent to the ptachair(at)ptavis.com before 2 October 2018.

Here is the menu for the upcoming week!

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In case you change your contact details (adress, telephone numbers or email adresses) please notify the school by email change(at)vis.ac.at so we can centrally update the information accordingly.

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