Vienna International School Newsletter - 11 March
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Dear VIS Community,
In these dark days, it is not easy to see that there is also good news: I am glad to be able to report that the VIS Board of Governors has approved the admission of up to 30 refugee students for the rest of the school year, waiving all fees. We share the huge list of applicants with the other Viennese international schools. So, following your wonderful collection of goods last week, we try to set a further step to help in this incredible humanitarian crisis.
In connection with the current war, parents and staff asked about the precautions taken for a nuclear fallout situation. VIS, like all other schools, is prepared and has a clear emergency procedure. In the case of an official warning, a lockdown procedure is initiated and Potassium Iodine tablets are distributed according to the plan. Parents will be informed via our emergency-sms system. If you read German, here is a useful link to detailed information: https://www.diehelferwiens.at/de/101026#_blank (for English, simply use the "translate to English" option)
With school trips coming back, we can report on a successful ski racing team at the Seefeld races. However, given the highest number of new infections during the whole Covid crisis, and with hospital beds (though not intensive care units) filling up, we keep all possible safety measures at VIS to prevent the community from falling ill. This is why we stick to online meetings within school but also with parents. And testing continues!
Kind regards,
Peter Kotrc
Dear Parents and Guardians,
An online Meet the Director is scheduled for Friday, 18 March, from 12:00 to 13:00.
Please submit your questions in advance by close of business Friday, 11 March using this form.
A link to join the meeting will be sent to you on Thursday, 17 March.
To ensure a timely start of the meeting, please log in between 11:45 to 12:00.
Best regards,
Directors Office
Message from the Board of Governors
Dear VISA members,
We would like to inform you that the Board of Governors held elections for some of its officers positions. As a result of this, the offices are distributed as follows:
| Chair: | Lisa Stevens |
| Vice Chair: | Dr. Samir Mikhail |
| Secretary: | Simonetta Grassi |
| Treasurer: | Cinthia Echavarria |
The nominations are immediately effective.
With kind regards,
Simonetta Grassi,
Secretary of the Board
Covid-19 Update
Dear Parent community,
Currently, there are no changes or updates to report from the government. The current measures remain in force.
Please note: if your children show COVID related symptoms, please keep them at home until the symptoms have completely disappeared. This is to ensure the safety of our students, the community and yourself.
Most common symptoms: fever cough tiredness loss of taste or smell | Less common symptoms: sore throat headache aches and pains diarrhoea a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes red or irritated eyes | Serious symptoms: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath loss of speech or mobility, or confusion chest pain |
1. Covid Cases
Since last Friday we have had 32 additional COVID cases:
- 6 Staff member
- 19 Primary School students
- 17 Secondary School students
have tested positive to COVID -19.
2. Testing for Students
All students are legally obliged to test three times a week, according to the schedule from the VIS. When a student is recovered, they do not have to test for 60 days after the day from your first positive test. Primary (grades 1-5) and Secondary students must drop off a PCR test on Mondays and Wednesday morning to ensure a result is available the following day. In case you need guidance on how to link to the system correctly, please have a look at the following presentation.
3. Masks Update
Although the regulations are changing from the 5th of march, the regulations for students and staff in the VIS are as follows: mask wearing is obligatory when moving around in all the public areas and coming in and leaving the campus.
4. Closing of classes & grades
Classes or grades are not sent home anymore after two or more positive cases, if the student is recovered or double vaccinated (5-11 years) or triple vaccinated (12+) you are not considered as a contact person. If a student is not vaccinated, he is considered to be a contact person and may be sent home after 2 or more positive cases in class.
In case of one or more positive cases the class has to wear masks all day for 5 days in a row. The students in primary perform antigen tests for 5 days after a positive case in class.
5. Visitors & extra curricular activities
Extra curricular activities are allowed again in school. Visitors are allowed on campus for a limited range of reasons. This will typically be based on pre-arranged appointments. A visitor is obliged to show their 3G status, to enter the school the 3G-rules apply for all visitors. Unless a parent comes in to drop off or pick up a student. All visitors should wear masks according to the VIS regulations, mentioned in paragraph 3.
6. Events, trips and activities
Trips are allowed again under certain circumstances. We use a strict protocol for trips during the pandemic to stay safe and healthy during our trips. All participants have to perform a PCR test before going on a trip and follow the local regulations from the authorities.
7. Vaccination/recovery status update Students
If you have an update regarding the vaccination status of your child(ren), you can sent the required documents to the covidinfo(at)student.vis.ac.at
8. Office hours Covid Desk
The COVID desk will operate daily from Monday to Friday from 8:00 - 12:00.
If you have a COVID related question, please check our intranet website first: https://www.vis.ac.at/intranet/home/student-support/health-and-medical/covid-hub
Thank you for your cooperation!
Kind regards,
CMC team
Please note that, following the CMC meeting today, 11 March, the Covid Management Committee (CMC) agreed to extend its duties to managing the school's response to the crisis situation generated by the war in Ukraine, on top of the school's safety plan against Covid. The Committee will continue to meet on a regular basis and follow the unraveling of the situation in the neighboring region, while putting in place processes and plans of action meant to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.
On Monday, the School organised the Photo Retake Day for the students who were not present or admitted after the initial Photo Week in September 2021. The photos taken will be used by the School in the communication channels (ManageBac & yearbook) and will aso be available to parents for purchasing starting 21 March.
To order your favourite pictures as a download or print, please visit: https://gabrielepaar.bildkopie.com (without www) and enter your password. The password is on the QR code card that your child will bring home from the photo retake day.
Gabriele Paar Photography
MAP Update
After a number of months, we have finally received the benchmarking data from MAP with regards to International Scores. The tables below indicate an overview of our attainment so far. We are very proud of our students knowing that the dedication of our teachers during COVID and Distance Learning is fundamental to our continued success.
A reminder that Primary School students have a full day of school next Thursday, 17 March while the Secondary School is dismissed at 14:00 for their conferences. For families with children in both sections of the school who ride the bus, note that there will be two bus departures on the conference days to accommodate the different leaving times. If your Primary School child is normally picked up by the Secondary School sibling, please make alternative pick up arrangements on this day.
Following on from the issuing of the first semester report, we look forward to welcoming you virtually to the Primary School Parent Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, 5 and Thursday, 7 April (13:00 to 17:30). Parents will be able to start signing up for conferences on 23 March from 18:00 onwards. The link to the system and instructions to sign up will be sent out next week to parents.
Grade 4 Ice skating
The students in Grade 4 had so much fun ice skating this week! In Physical Education this semester, students experience a wide variety of activities to improve their ice skating techniques, such as forward-and backward skating, turning and stopping, and complex techniques such as sprinting, long & high jumps.
STEM and ECO School
This week the Grade 2 students are focusing on developing research and engineering skills as part of the unit of inquiry “Space”. Through playful learning and using basic resources, the children investigated, measured and built paper rockets to fly to space. As soon as the rockets were ready, the launch trial started in the classroom.
Message from the Secondary Principals
Dear Secondary Community,
Thanks to all of you who were able to attend Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday. Please be reminded that the 2nd day of our Parent-Teacher conferences will take place on Thursday, 17 March from 14:00 - 18:30. On this day, lessons in Secondary School finish at 12:21 (period 5) and students should leave campus by 13:00. The Dining room will be open for lunch if required.
Please note that bookings for the Parent-Teacher conference will close on Wednesday, 16 March at 23:55. For further information on booking an appointment and using the online conference system, please see below.
We hope you have a relaxing weekend.
Warm Regards,
The Secondary Leadership Team
Secondary School Parent Teacher Conference March 2022
The Secondary School Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, 17 March. The conferences are once again taking place online using the video conferencing feature built into the Parent Evening System. Links to an overview of your appointments are sent to your email once the bookings have been created. Please note that parents will be able to access the meeting with teachers from two separate devices if necessary. Conference appointments are in fixed time periods with calls ending automatically at the end of the appointment. There is a countdown timer to let both the teacher and parent know how much time is left for the conference, and this timer will turn orange and red closer to the end of the conference. Here is the parent’s guide to video conferencing.
Conference Details for Secondary School
- Thursday 17 March
On this day, lessons in Secondary School finish at 12:21 (period 5) and students should leave campus by 13:00. The Dining room will be open for lunch if required.
Booking Appointments
At VIS, we use a digital sign-up system called Parent Evening Booking System which allows parents to choose their appointment times. The booking system will open the system on Thursday, 10 March at 08:00 for parents to make bookings or changes to bookings that take place on Thursday 17 March. The booking system will then close on the evening of Wednesday, 16 March at 23:55.
Click here for details on signing into the booking system and selecting your appointment slots.
NOTE: If you are having trouble logging in, please make sure you include any middle name(s) listed in ManageBac for you and/or your child, into the first name field of the booking system.
If you need support, please contact data(at)vis.ac.at
This year's theme is: MATH UNITES (rather relevant at these troubled times).
This event will be online with talks in many different languages. The main event in our online celebration will be a series of short talks for a general audience on mathematics and how it unites us. This year we will have sessions in five different languages: English, French, Spanish, and for the first time Arabic and Portuguese.
All talks will be streamed through this site, completely free and without any need to sign up.
In-person university visits in school coming up in the next few weeks:
- Monday, 14 March at 13:20, room 142 -- meet IE University
- Wednesday, 16 March at 13:10, room 149 -- Hult International Business School
- Tuesday, 29 March at 13:20, room tbd -- Glion/Les Roches Hospitality University
Calendar link for Mr. Handcock (students with surnames A-K)
Calendar link for Mrs. Rance (students with surnames L-Z)
Dear Secondary School Students,
The 2022 Science Fair will be organized with the assistance of the Vienna Chapter of Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), Women in Nuclear (WiN), the United Nations Nuclear Young Generation (UN-NYG), and the generosity of a number of sponsors. The theme this year is:
“Science For Global Goals”
At this website https://www.viennasciencefair.com/home you will find information about the requirements and rules of participation, registration instructions, additional guidance and videos that can help you develop your project and get ready for submitting your work. Please explore the science fair web site and share your ideas for projects with your science teacher if you are interested in participating. This is a wonderful opportunity for secondary students to shine with ideas, show talent, and get involved. The participation counts as SA/CAS and the organizers from the UN have wonderful prizes for the winners.
Looking forward to your creative projects!
Your teachers in the Science Department
Student Success
Great news is coming from Fabian Plank this week. Fabian, a student in grade 8 at VIS, secured the first two places in two "Austria Cup" ski jumping competitions last weekend, and overall made the second place within the Austria Cup competitions this winter season. Congratulations, Fabian, and keep up the good work!
Grade 7 Assembly: 'More than a number' (Personal Portfolio Introduction).
This year, Grade 7 students have presented to their homeroom peers the activities they like doing and their personal strengths. This was set up to get students comfortable presenting positive attributes to others about themselves, and focus on the extra-curricular activities that make them the person they are. As a follow-on from those 'Make your Mark' presentations, we are piloting a Personal Portfolio task whereby students create a website, of which they record a variety of personal achievements and aspects of their life worth keeping in one spot. The aim is for the student to use their Google Site to collect evidence from each school year. The suggested areas to store and showcase; Activities of interest, Academic achievements, Sporting, Creative, Service & Action.
At long last, it was the first time the Grade level were together in one communal space for quite some time. We acknowledged in our assembly on Wednesday that students are not just about the number scored in each report, yet a complex inclusion of multiple aspects of social, cultural, family, sporting, community, creative contributions that add to their school life. Students shared and posted (post-it notes) initial activities they wanted to share with their peers on their table. We will continue this work during the rest of this semester, with the aim to continue adding to their Personal Portfolio over the next years.
Support for Ukraine
As a result of the generous donations of the VIS families, the school's Octagon has been filled with boxes, sacks and bags containing all manner of essential items such as hygiene and sanitary products, baby food, clothing and sleeping bags. Many people stepped forward to organize the effort and ensure that all the material, as well as items such as medicines that have been specially purchased with donated funds, are sorted, sifted and packed. So far, 95 per cent of the material collected has arrived at the border, a great effort from a standing start. Nothing will go to waste and items donated that are not urgently required at the border will be passed to other charitable organizations that are assisting those refugees who fled Ukraine, some with just a suitcase. Special thanks go to Isabel Jinks, VIS staff member and alumni who initiated this humanitarian call, in honour of her brother Oliver, respected VIS alumni and a person with a great humanitarian spirit, who tragically passed away in 2015.
Please find below further resources and ways that you can help. Thank you in advance for your helpful actions.
EMERGENCY HOTLINE
- for all questions for Ukrainian refugees, by State of Austria: https://www.bbu.gv.at/ukraine
LEGAL ADVICE for Austria
- Frequently Asked Questions for Ukrainians from ministry of interior https://bmi.gv.at/news.aspx?id=7138695A2B6150634156493D
- Caritas hotline 05 1776 380 (9-14h)
TRANSPORT
- Trains are currently free for refugees on the way from Ukraine into Europe
- Trains in Austria are free for refugees, as well as public transport in Vienna. UA cars in Vienna do not pay parking fees for the next days.
HOUSING in Austria
- www.homesforukraine.eu (Ukrainian community in Vienna) – for free
- https://www.bbu.gv.at/ukraine (State of Austria) - for free
- https://www.willhaben.at/iad/immobilien - biggest estate website - paid apartments
MEDICAL SERVICES
- In Austria free for Ukrainian refugees.
- The Viennese authorities are looking for foster families for Ukrainian children who are arriving without families. More details here: Wien sucht Pflege- und Gastfamilien: Ein Zuhause für Kinder auf der Flucht - Wien (meinbezirk.at)
- Could you open your home to a Ukrainian family in need: https://tinyurl.com/wienukrainehilfe
- Want to become a volunteer and actively help? Register here: https://where2help.wien/
- Donate to organisations that further support the refugees:
- Red Cross Ukraine, volunteers and staff of the Ukrainian Red Cross would provide first aid in areas where access to medical services will be limited; communication will be established and awareness of health risks will be raised: LINK.
- Voices of Children, provides psychological support to children from Donbas who have war trauma: LINK
- Caritas Ukraine, assisting vulnerable people in Ukraine's conflict zones: LINK
- The UN Refugee Agency: LINK
- Supporting the LGBTQ+ Community in Ukraine. In times like these, LGBTQ+ members are often even more marginalised and exposed to vulnerability than usual. You can donate here.
Thank you in advance for any support you are able to give.
In trying to support the concept of Peace in the World, the Pechersk International School (PSI) in Kiev launched an art project this week.
People around the world, children and adults, can join and share their own artwork to reflect what peace means to them.
Spread the message and join the anti-war movement, by clicking here (password is PeaceForUkraine).
Remote Exposure Trauma
Witnessing War and Disaster from Afar: How to prevent 'remote trauma exposure' in kids and teens
Over the past years, our children have endured very challenging times. Even when the events are not directly related to them, the continual exposure to media and information about traumatic events can have both short and long term impacts. As the situation in Ukraine continues to mount, our students are being exposed and trying to process the multitude of information they see, hear and read. In a recent article Lea Waters AM PhD, she discusses the impact of "remote trauma exposure" . She describes the challenges that face childrens' perspective of events based upon their vulnerability, maturity and developmental stage . Some suggestions from Waters include:
- Moderate the media
- Put feelings into words
- Separate facts from feelings
- Find some positives moments from the situation
- Take action together
The counselling team continues to support the VIS students and community through these challenging times. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.
The VIS Counselling Team
Primary School
| Secondary School
|
Withdrawal Policy
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 2021-2022, 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.
If you wish to withdraw your child from school by the end of May 2022, you will need to inform the Admissions Office in writing by the end of March 2022.
Ski Race Seefeld 2022
What an amazing week we had in the mountains! This year’s Heinrich Harrer Cup brings together seven international school teams from four nations. Weather was perfect, results for the VIS team were amazing (5 podiums) and smiles all around. Congratulations to the entire VIS Ski Team! Here is the link for the race: https://www.mis-munich.de/community/athletics/hhc
We have also posted more pictures and stories on school's social media account: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn. Check them out!
Respectfully,
Jason Bowie, Competitive Sports Coordinator, jbowie(at)vis.ac.at
PTA Monthly Meeting
The next PTA meeting will be on Monday, 14 March at 17:00-18:00. We really hope this will be our last virtual meeting and that moving forward we will be able to meet in person again.
Please join us on the 14th using the link below:
https://meet.google.com/wbq-enst-qzv
See you soon!
The PTA team
On Thursday, 24 March we will meet at the Leopold Museum to visit the current exhibition “Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism”. Come and join our private guided tour in English! For more details and sign up please click here. We are looking forward to seeing you again,
Your Culture Club Team
Due to the current situation, the PTA shop cannot open physically.
However, we are looking forward to your orders via email.
How to order via email:
- If you need a library bag (primary school), please email Mrs. Helen Divett directly:
hdivett(at)student.vis.ac.at
- For other items:
- take a look at our flyer to see our products and special offers
- fill in the order form, scan and email to ptashop(at)ptavis.com
or alternatively:
send us an email with your details (student’s name, grade & class) and the products (including size/colour) you want to order - we will send you a confirmation and a request to make a bank transfer
- a delivery time will be announced
Warmest regards,
The PTA-shop team
Questions?
Please email us: ptashop@ptavis.com
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