Now What 2024/2025

Primary School families will arrive to school according to the staggered starting times listed below:  

• Early Learning Centre (08:30)
• Grade Primary (09:00)
• Grade 1 (09:30)
• Grade 2 (10:00)
• Grade 3 (10:30)
• Grade 4 (11:00)
• Grade 5 (11:30)

Please proceed down the Mall and follow the signs towards your child's grade level table and check in with one of our New Student Ambassadors seated at the marked tables. Our Ambassador team and staff will be on hand to help guide you to classes where you will meet the classroom teacher, ELA teachers, counsellors and Learning Support staff.  Afterwards, they will take you on a tour of the school. The orientation should last approximately 75 minutes.  

Grade 4 and 5 Student Laptops

New Grade 4 and Grade 5 students are asked NOT to bring their laptop to school on the New Student Orientation day.  All Grade 4 students bring laptops to school on Monday, 2 September, not before. This time allows the class teachers and digital learning integrator to complete a series of lessons on Internet safety guidelines, strong passwords lesson, Gmail use guidelines and more.

Grade 5 students should bring laptops on the first day of school Tuesday, 27 August. Students should also bring clearly named headphones, rather than ear pods (which can be easily lost and usually use Bluetooth).

A Guide to Vienna for New Students

Be sure to check out the Primary Student Council's Guide to Vienna for New Students - produced by students, for students.

Grade 6 -  Grade 8 students will meet in the Octagon at 08:30, with their laptops. Parents will meet in the Theatre for a brief Welcome New Parents presentation with the Secondary administration. Grade Level Leaders will also be available to meet with you and to hand out the parent ID cards.

During the morning, students will meet with their Grade Level Leader, and have an opportunity to tour the school with a student from their Advisory. They will also set up their laptops, ready for the first day of school.

Please be aware that the planned MAP assessment for Grade 6 – Grade 8 students will no longer be taking place. Students will now be finished by 10:30 and will meet their parents again in the Octagon.

Grade 9 - Grade 12 students will meet in the Octagon at 10:30, with their laptops. Parents will meet in the Theatre for a brief Welcome to New Parents presentation with the Secondary administration. Grade Level Leaders will also be available to meet with you and to hand out the parent ID cards.

During the morning, students will meet with their Grade Level Leader, and have an opportunity to tour the school with a student from their Advisory. They will also set up their laptops, ready for the first day of school. Students will be finished by 12:00 and will meet their parents again in the Octagon.

Thank you for providing the pictures necessary for issuing the Parent ID cards.

During Orientation Day, Primary School parents will be receiving their Parent ID badge from their class teacher and Secondary School Parents will be receiving the Parent ID badge from their Grade Level Leaders. 

All parents must wear their VIS ID cards when entering the School premises and on campus. If you do not have a card, then access will be dependent upon providing identification to the security personnel who will issue a Visitor card. 

Please note that the photos uploaded on OpenApply will be used for your and your child's ID cards. Where passport photos are unavailable, ID cards will not be issued. Passport style photos should have the following properties: ratio of 3:4, colour, facing forward and showing the head and top of the shoulders only.

Student ID Cards are required when using Public Transport. They are issued once and renewed at the beginning of the year by the Primary Office. Kindly come to the Primary Office for renewal. You will not receive a new one every year. Please look after it.

If your child is new to school, attach a passport-sized photograph with paper-clip to this completed form, and submit it to the Primary Office in a sealed envelope.

If your child has lost their ID, you must report it missing to a Magistrat office (there is a Magistrat office in every district). The Magistrat will issue a Loss Report (“Verlustmeldung”) which you will have to submit to the Primary Office with a passport sized photograph, and a new student ID will be issued for your child.

If your child’s ID has been destroyed, please bring the destroyed ID to the Primary Office along with a new passport size photo, and a new ID will be issued.

If you have changed your address, you will have to apply for a new ID card. Before applying, you will have to update the School with your new address by sending an email to change(at)vis.ac.at. Only after you have requested these changes, you can apply for a new ID card.

All Secondary students are required to carry their Student EDU cards (Grades 6 – Grade 12). The cards will automatically be processed by the School before a new student starts school, as long as a suitable (passport format) student photo and a Vienna address have been uploaded to OpenApply. 

The student photo and EDU card will be used for many purposes in the School i.e. entering the school campus, school canteen, etc., and also as the official student ID for Secondary School students. Students starting throughout the academic year must ensure that the passport photo is uploaded at least 2,5 weeks before their first day of school.

However, if your child has lost their ID, you must report it missing to a Magistrat office (there is a Magistrat in every district). The Magistrat will issue a Loss Report (“Verlustmeldung”) which you will have to submit to the Security Office. If the EDU card is damaged or lost, a replacement fee will be charged.

If you have changed your address you will have to apply for a new ID card. Before applying, you will have to update the School with your new address by sending an email to change(at)vis.ac.at. Only after you have requested these changes you can apply for a new ID card.

We encourage students to keep reading over the summer holidays. Although it is not mandatory, not only is indulging in a good novel a great pleasure, but it also helps students to maintain their literacy levels over the summer holidays. Please find attached suggested reading lists for the summer holidays. Many of these titles have been enthusiastically recommended by students themselves. Happy summer reading!

Secondary English Department

Recommended Summer Reading Grade 6 and 7

Reading recommendations from Grade 6 students for Grade 5 students 

Grades 6-8 Reading List

Grades 8-9 Reading List

Grades 10 and up Reading List

Families wishing to order a new Macbook can go through our preferred vendor, Tools at Work.  We have worked with them to secure a competitive price and level of support.

Please ensure to order your child’s new laptop in a timely manner so that it arrives in time for your child to bring it to school for the New Student Orientation Day on Monday, 26 August 2024.

While families can opt for platforms not recommended by VIS, the school strongly advises families to choose Apple for the following reasons:

• Based on the breadth of our curriculum and range of tasks students engage in, applications available through Apple have been most supportive of student learning. Over time, the school has acquired licenses for these applications and shares them with students free of charge through our device management infrastructure, thus eliminating the need for families to find and install the applications themselves.
• Apple’s OS and the applications we use to support the curriculum are generally developmentally more appropriate and intuitive for children across the school.
• Teachers at VIS have built up a knowledge base on how best to use such applications to support learning.  Similarly, our IT department has built up the knowledge base and infrastructure to support students on the Mac platform.
• When properly cared for, Mac's function and perform well over a long period of time. Students need a device that will support their learning over many years and, in our experience, Apple’s devices do so with less need for repair, upgrading or replacement.
• Finally, Apple also provides a thorough set of parental controls to help support safer, more sensible and responsible use of the device. Parents can easily administer the device, set controls on apps that can be downloaded, set and monitor web activity, and even control screen time. The school works with families to help set up these controls through workshops and other resources.

Grades 4 - 5: Lockable storage and charging trolleys are available for all students in Grades 4 & 5.  Families have the following options when it comes to charging and transportation back and forth between home and school:

• The student can take the device back and forth between home and school on a regular basis. The charging cable will not be installed in the trolley unless the family purchases a second charging cable and requests it to be installed.
• The student can take the device home on weekends and holidays. The charging cable will be installed in the trolley at the beginning of the year and returned at the end of the year.
• The student will not take device home until the end of the year. The charging cable will be installed in the trolley at the beginning of the year and returned at the end of the year. 

Grades 6 - 12: Students can store laptops in their lockers when needed, but they are encouraged to bring them home every night and on holidays. Students are expected to charge their devices at home in preparation for the next day’s learning. 

School Accident - Kindly take note that all student accidents that occur on campus must be reported to the Medical Department immediately. The School must report school accidents to the Allgemeine Unfallversicherungsanstalt (AUVA) within 5 days.

If your child must go to hospital because of an accident in school, it is advised to go to Lorenz Böhler Unfallkrankenhaus or Unfallkrankenhaus Meidling since both are AUVA hospitals.

All students starting Grade 1 will undertake a physical examination once a year.

If there are any new medical issues or something changes, please contact the Medical Department as soon as possible.

It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to give written permission to the School Health Office for non-prescription and prescription medications that could be taken at school. All medications will be kept in the School Health Office.

It is a parental responsibility to inform the Medical Department of any relevant changes in the student’s medical history/medical regimen.

On the first school day, please bring medication for the student to the Medical Department, which will be stored and given to the student if needed.

Medical Department is closed during summer holidays and it reopens on Monday, 19 August.

The general email address is: medicaldepartment(at)vis.ac.at. The School Doctor is Denise Stiegler - dstiegler(at)vis.ac.at

Please note that the doctor will not be available to answer school-related emails during the school holidays.

Our Sports and Activities team offers an extensive After-School Activities programme for all VIS students from Grade Primary - Grade 12. With a great variety of activities to choose from, Primary School students can remain on campus until 16:15, while the Secondary School students have later options.

We prioritise safety and play in all the activities, as we believe this environment offers the best opportunities for personal enrichment and growth. 

Registrations for the After-School Activities will open on 28 August 2024; the activities will start on Monday, 2 September 2024.

More details in regard to the After-School Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

The purpose of the VIS Competitive Sports Programme is to extend and supplement the regular curricular programmes of the school. Its aim is not only to promote excellence in sporting achievements, but also to cultivate the qualities of good sportsmanship. We focus specifically on school pride, respect, team work and above all, commitment.

The VIS Competitive Sports Programme gives students the opportunity to compete against both international and local schools. We are members of two sports associations. One, within the Danube Valley Athletic Conference (DVAC), which allows to compete with schools from Salzburg, to Prague to Budapest. As well as the wider reaching ISAA -International School Athletic Association, that includes schools from England, Europe  and northern Africa. Based on these associations, our programme is divided into three seasons and three age categories. Season 1 is the Fall, Season 2 is Winter and Season 3 is Spring. We have boys and girls for most sports. We have Middle school (MS) Grade 6 - Grade 8 and High School (HS) Grade 9 -  Grade 12.

We consider this programme an integral part of your child's education, and hope that you will encourage your child to take part. Here is the list of what is offered at VIS in 2023-2024:

• Season 1: HS Boys and Girls Soccer, Volleyball, Cross Country Running, HS Boys Rugby, MS Girls and Boys Soccer, Cross Country.
• Season 2: MS and HS Girls and Boys Basketball, Swimming and Alpine Skiing, HS Boys Rugby.
• Season 3: MS and HS Girls and Boys Track & Field, Golf, MS Boys and Girls Volleyball, Girls and Boys Rugby.
• All year/part of the year:  Recreational Badminton, as well as the additional Off-season trainings for all sports outside of their official season.
• Offsite with external coaching:  Tennis, swimming, sailing and horse-riding.

More details in regard to the Competitive Sports Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

The Extended Day Programme provides VIS students from ELC - Grade 5 a welcoming and inclusive programme of supervised care and age-appropriate activities which support their learning and well-being outside the core school day. For families requiring supervision for their children after 14:55, VIS offers a fee-based afternoon supervision and care option from 15:00 to 17:30. A healthy snack and drink are provided through the school’s catering provider. 

The Extended Day Programme will start on 27 August 2024.

More details in regard to the Extended Day Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

VIS was a pioneer amongst international schools in recognizing the importance of additive bilingualism - that is, the continuing development of our students‘ home languages while at the same time learning the school language of English. A large number of research studies show very clearly that bilingualism can increase children’s language abilities and help their progress in school. Both the Primary and Secondary School at VIS are truly international in that the majority of our students speak a language other than English as their first language. Across the School, the Mother Tongue programme has students from Grade Primary - Grade 12 learning in around 30 different languages.

More details in regard to the Mother Tongue Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

Latin classes are taught in English, based on the international course programme of the Cambridge Latin Course. The curriculum of the 4-year Latin programme at VIS usually starts in Grade 7. The Diploma at the end of Grade 10 is officially recognized as Austrian Matura Equivalence in the subject Latin. Latin is also a prerequisite for the study of certain subjects at university, especially in Austria (law, medicine, languages, history etc.)

More details in regard to the Latin Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

The Vienna International School prides itself on a very strong and successful Extra-Curricular Performing Arts Programme.

From classical music, to jazz, to classical guitar to rock, we offer a variety of musical ensembles so that students have the ability to immerse themselves in the genre that best suits their interests. All ensembles are taught by our faculty of highly qualified and dedicated teachers to guide our students as they work to develop and hone their skills. VIS produces three major concerts in school throughout the year and often performs on the Vienna Music Scene (Musikverein, Peterskirche, etc.)

In addition, the VIS Secondary School has a long history of producing a drama or musical every year. Students are given the opportunity to take responsibility for all aspects of the production, from acting, to set building, to assistant directing, to running the technical aspects of the production.

More details in regard to the Performing Arts Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day, in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

We are proud to be able to offer you top class instrumental and vocal tuition by well-qualified instructors on the VIS campus. Last year, we taught over 340 VIS students on 14 different instruments and voice. These students presented their musicianship on numerous occasions, i.e. in concerts, musicals, class recitals, organised school trips as well as in the IB programme.

More details in regard to the VISMA Programme and the registration process will be available on the New Student Orientation Day and in the weekly newsletter, as well as school Intranet*.

*access to the Intranet platform will be provided at the beginning of the school year.

The City of Vienna has a comprehensive public transport system run by the Wiener Linien (Public Transportation Routes). In order to obtain a student transport pass, you need the student ID card, which can only be issued after the school starts. To use the public transport, you can choose from the following ticket options.

Our school is easily reachable by U1 subway, situated right next to the Kagran U-bahn station. 

Please also find here a touristic map of Vienna with practical information issued by Wien Extra, for your information and initial support.