NEWS#01

PRIMARY SCHOOL

Primary Newsletter | Issue 01| August 26 2011

The International School of The Hague

Wijndaelerduin 12554 BX The Hague www.ishthehague.nl

Primary SchoolTelephone +31 (0)70 338 4567Fax +31 (0)70 328 2049Email ish.primary@ishthehague.nl

Secondary SchoolTelephone +31 (0)70 328 1450Fax +31 (0)70 328 2049Email ish.secondary@ishthehague.nl

In this issue

3 - 4 Dear ISH News Readers,

5 Mother Tongue News

6 Primary News

7 Dates for your Diary

8 -13 Primary News and Events

9 - 11 Parent info

2

Dear Parents,

We have had an excellent start to the new school year. Thank you for playing your part in that too – by bringing your children to school on time and collecting them on time too, for observing the new routing around school avoiding the glasshouse and for parking considerately.

As usual, there is already a lot going on in school and lots to tell you. First of all, we have a special day next Tuesday, 6th September. Princess Laurentien of The Netherlands and European Commissioner Vassiliou will be visiting our school to see the way we teach reading and writing. Princess Laurentien is Chair of the Dutch Reading and Writing Foundation (Stichting Lezen & Schrijven) and Commissioner Vassiliou is responsible for education, culture, multilingualism and youth within Europe. Both the Princess and the European Commissioner will visit a Year 1 class, Princess Laurentien to Class 1W and Commissioner Vassiliou to 1P. They will read a short story to the children then join me and some of our staff for a discussion about reading and language development. Of course, this is an honour for our school so we are very excited. I will make sure

some photographs of the event are in the next newsletter.

Before that, I hope to see many of you at our annual Meet the Teacher event on Thursday 1st September. The event begins in the Theatre at 18:00 and continues to around 19:30. First, I will introduce a few of our staff members to you and tell you a little about current research in education that has implications for all of us. Then the teachers will talk to you about some important issues for the class that you need to know. Childcare for those who need it is kindly provided by Zein Childcare.You will by now have seen some of our new facilities. I will talk more about them during Meet the Teacher evening but for now, I should mention that we have created four new classrooms, two new staffrooms, new offices including a main primary office (to be accessed via the staff car park), new learning support offices and a nurse’s room. As you can imagine, summer has been rather busy, although given the weather we have had, it has been good to be busy indoors! I’m delighted that the project was completed on time, only a few very minor details such as doorbells and locks are currently being attended to. We also have a new grass play area at the front of the school. Hopefully when the weather improves, our children will be able to enjoy that space.

Dear ISH News Readers,

This Issue is made byVerona Schroder v.schroder@ishthehague.nlGraeme Scott

3

Primary Newsletter | Issue 01| August 26 2011

Dear ISH News Readers,Our school roll now numbers 550 primary children. As a result of these extra numbers, we have changed the break times and lunch times for the children. Now, we have less children on the playground at the same time than we did last year, and we have more supervision too. Of course, it is impossible to prevent children bumping into things, or each other, but we hope to have a school nurse soon so that, if we do have accidents, they can be dealt with by a fully qualified and experienced medical professional.

The children have enjoyed watching the first podcasts of the school year, which include welcomes from all of the specialist teachers. If you want to view them yourself, go to our website and click on the ‘primary’tab.

And finally, many congratulations to our Pre-Reception teacher, who is no longer Ms. Lynsey Brown but Mrs. Lynsey Briek. Lynsey married Mark in July during the summer. We wish them a long and happy life together.

We are all looking forward to a year of great learning. We look forward to your support.

Kind regards,Graeme Scott

Dear Parents,I would like to thank you and all the staff members at ISH for the many heart felt well wishes and your concerns regarding my Grandson. I’m very happy to share with you that he is recovering and is well.

Sincerely,Cies Koot and family

4

Mother Tongue NewsDear Parents,A warm welcome to our school. It was lovely to meet all the new children and discover where they are from, and to hear from others about their holiday. It is nice that many of you could go back home to enjoy your home country, friends and families. Some information about the Mother Tongue at ISH:It is crucial for children to develop their own mother tongue (MT). It is the language they use to communicate with their family and friends, it facilitates a possible repatriation to their home country, national school or university and it gives them access to their own culture and family background. Research shows that a strong mother tongue helps in the development of a strong second language.

We have two different programmes running at ISH Primary: For the entire primary school, a Mother Tongue within the Curriculum Programme takes place during school time . This year it will take place on Tuesday 2:20 to 3:00 for Rec-Y1 and on Tuesday from 14:10 to 3:00 for Y2-3 and 4-6. Y2-6 will start the MT programme on September 12, R-Y1 will start after the October break to allow more time to get into their year group routine.

During MT within the Curriculum, children are mixed and reorganised according to their first language groups. It is an opportunity for the children to use their mother tongue in the school context. Lower school children will understand and use their languages through practical activities; they will enjoy listening to stories in their MT and of their heritage; Y2-6 will participate in a variety of meaningful activities, they will explore and communicate using their MT. They will source information in their MT, sharing their thoughts through speaking and listening and producing presentations. Our teachers do not speak all the mother tongues represented in our school so children work independently, while teachers facilitate the activities. Some students from secondary join and support us during these times using their mother tongues. We also warmly encourage parents to join us during these sessions to support the activities in their own mother language. If you are interested in joining please contact your child’s teacher.

For some languages we have an additional After School Mother Tongue Class.During the After School MT programme, children focus on the expansion of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP: the “academic” vocabulary) and the development of reading and writing skills. When they are ready, they develop verbs and spelling and follow a reading programme. They receive a report on their progress twice a year. We usually have Arabic, Dutch, French, German and Spanish classes. This year we will also support Catalan. We are always happy to look at possibilities to open and/or support a new language group. These classes are taught by qualified tutors and provide and opportunity to around 22% of our children to develop their MT further. Classes take place on Wednesday 12:30-1:50 for Lower School and more information will be sent home in September with the registration form.

5

Primary Newsletter | Issue 01| August 26 2011

• Save the date: on Tuesday 27 September early evening we will offer an information evening for all the parents on language acquisition and how we support it in our school with the EAL and Mother Tongue Programmes. An invitation will be sent home closer to the event.

• We are looking for qualified teachers or experienced tutors willing to teach their Mother Tongue to our children during our MT after school programme. We are currently looking for French, Dutch and German teachers and would be interested to know if other languages tutors are also available.

• For Spanish speaking families: Coming up: a Spanish String Puppet Show, organised by Instituto Cervantes. For more info please check the parents’ information board at the entrance of the playground.

Kind regards,Pascale HertayDeputy Headp.hertay@ishthehague.nl

CateringWe would like to wish everyone a warm welcome.We, from Eurest are the new Caterers for the ISH. We use the Pure concept, providing salads, hot meals, sandwiches, soups and many other tasty, fresh and enticing options. Using only the best and freshest for you and your children. We will continue to do our best and look forward to an exciting and delicious school year.

Our staff are always open to your views and suggestions. We are very happy to assist and help you, if you have questions we are more than happy to provide you with an answer.

The Eurest Catering Campus

Eurest lunch card options:32,50 for a small lunch including a drink and fruit40,00 for a large lunch and a drink22,50 for a milk card25,00 for a 50 stamp card

All cards are available at the canteen

For more information about Eurest and the Pure concept please visit:http://www.eurest.nl/

Mother Tongue News

6

Dates for your Diary

Meet the Teacher Evening - 18:00 in the

Theatre

MR Meeting

Pre-Reception Parents Evening

Feel at Home in The Hague Fair - Held in the

Atrium in the Town Hall, city centre

Prinsjesdag - Primary School Closed

EAL and MT information Evening -18:00

in the Speellokaal

Inset day for staff members - Primary School

Closed

Ms Briek

Ms Briek

September CT DAYS

01 Sept

Please check our website for a complete calendar

02 Sept

01

05

15

18

20

27

30

Mother Tongue News

7

Primary Newsletter | Issue 01| August 26 2011

Primary NewsMR ElectionsOne of our current parent MR members, Mr. Maarten Buijs will soon have served his threeyear term. I thank him for his excellent work and dedication to the role. He hasplayed a part in many successful initiatives within our school and his input regarding theGemeente Den Haag’s development plans for the Kijkduin area has proven very valuable.Maarten would like to stand again but we also need to invite applications from others too.By law, every school in the Netherlands is linked with a medezeggenschrapsraad(MR). This is a participation council, where elected representatives of teachers,students (secondary only) and parents are consulted by the school leadershipover matters concerning the management of the school. As prescribed by law,there are separate MR’s for the Secondary and Primary sections of the school.The MR holds, according to legislation, two types of rights: the right of advice(adviesrecht) and the right of approval (instemmingrecht). Matters in whicheither right can be used are specified.The MR’s are regulated by the Wet Medezeggenschap op Scholen legislation of1992 and 2007.There is a lot of work involved with being an MR member. Attendance at

meetings (normally around 8 meetings a year are held), work on specificprojects and reading and commenting on documents are just some of the tasks.However, the opportunity to play a key role in the future of our school may justbe too tempting to miss!If you are interested in joining the MR, please write a paragraph or two aboutyourself and why you believe you would be a good MR member and send tov.schroder@ishthehague.nl.By the way, the next MR meeting takes place at 17:30h on September 5th. If you are considering running for the MR, or are curious about it and its workings, you are welcome to attend.

8

Parent Info

Tarde de lectura

Un fantasma con asma

Sábado 10 de septiembre, 14.00 - 15.30 horas

www.bibliotheekdenhaag.nl

Naamloos-5 1 18-8-2011 13:06:09

Tarde de lectura

Un fantasma con asma

¿Hay algo más entretenido que escuchar un bonito cuento divertido y fascinante? Por unos momentos te transporta a un mundo diferente lo cual puede resultar educativo. Al término de la lectura te dedicarás al bricolaje y luego te podrás llevar la obra de arte a casa.

Sábado 10 de septiembre de 2011 de 14.00 - 15.30 horas

Biblioteca Nieuw Waldeck, Rossinilaan 141, 2551 BD La Haya

Teléfono: 070 353 86 10

Se ruega confirmar a: nwaldeck@dobdenhaag.nl

Entrada: libre

Para niños desde 4 años

En colaboración con la Asociación Hispánica de la Haya (ASOHA)

e Instituto Cervantes Utrecht (ICU).

Naamloos-5 2 18-8-2011 13:06:09

9

Primary Newsletter | Issue 01| August 26 2011

Parent InfoMelting Pot Badminton Clubinvites you to 2 try-out open mornings……Tuesday September 6th and 13th from 9.30 – 10.30am at Ockenburgh Sport halls (next to the bowling alley behind ISH)Ever wanted to have a go, but never had the chance?Played badminton at school but haven’t played since then?Never thought about it, but would like a go

We will provide spare rackets. Men and women of all ages and abilities are welcome – the club already has a complete mix! Come along and bring a friend!For questions and any further information, please contact:Lucy Capon, 065 202 5384 Jolanda Bowring 061 590 7940

10

Parent Info After a very successful school year of activities, functions and events, the Hungry Mind Clubhouse closed for the summer holidays on 1 July. Together with students and volunteers, we re-organised the clubhouse, kitchen, the storerooms and office. A new bookcase and storage unit have been built and a registration desk and system put into place to make a good start in August. We will continue to be a welcoming ‘home away from home’ for internationally minded people in The Hague and surroundings.The activity programme will continue with the popular activities you may now be familiar with and will feature a number of new activities when it opens its doors again on 18 August. We have some great events planned for the near future. Check our new website www.thehungrymind.nl for more information. Dates for your diary:A get together for current and new volunteers.Find out if spending some of your spare time at The Hungry Mind activity centre as a volunteer is something for you.Join us on Monday, 29 August, 12.00-13.00 Cricket Coaching – a free trial session on Monday, 29 August(Coaching from 5 Sept – 10 Oct) every Monday thereafter15:15 – 16:15 for 7-11 year olds16:30 – 17:30 for children over 11 years.Cost: € 5 per session. Registration is necessary Sport and Games afternoon, Sunday, 4 September

12.00-16.00. For children from 6-12 years old at The Hungry Mind sports fields at Sportpark Ockenburgh, Wijndaelerweg, entrance at number 5.Games, sports and goodies for kids – all for free!Registration at the clubhouse is required Bakkie Fietsen, Monday, 5 September – Due to popular demand! Don’t miss it this time. Starts at 9.00 with coffee and cake at The Hungry Mind. Depart by car to Kwintsheul from THM at 9.40. Cycle from 10.00-14.00 to visit the commercial green houses in Westland and collect veggies, flowers and fruit along the way. Back at THM at 14.30. Cost: . €37,50 p.p.Registration at the clubhouse is required. Beauty and Pampering Day, Thursday, 29 September9.30-12.30. Beauty treatments all €10 each.Registration at the clubhouse is required. We are always looking for volunteers :-)

11

http://go.ishweb.nl/primoodle/