Update from the Principal - March 4th 2022 | March 2022 | British International School of Ljubljana

Dear Parents,

We start the day with great news ahead for next week with the removal of the obligatory wearing of face masks by students and staff in schools and other educational institutions from Monday 7th March.

This is wonderful news for everyone in the BISL and the wider community in Slovenia. We look forward to this on Monday but also thank you for your continued patience, support and positivity during this time with the masks, far from ideal, and I have been overwhelmed by the constant support of our community towards us keeping a safe environment for our students and staff to work in.

This week we have enjoyed PUST and celebrated on Tuesday with our students and staff wearing a range of wonderfully creative costumes. Thank you to parents and our PTA volunteers for organising doughnuts for all students, this was a real treat to add to the festivities and we are very grateful. I have included a link below to the gallery of images, so many amazing pictures and thank you to parents for supporting this day by helping out with dressing up students and preparing fantastic costumes. A perfect day at school with everyone involved, having fun and being together!

As our English block continues, we have been thrilled with the events so far, especially with the stories, BISL Tannoy Tales, using the sound system across the school each day, and now with further articles linked below from some of our Primary students. Yesterday, we celebrated World Book Day and students also enjoyed a fantastic Spelling Bee, and there's much more to come!

Today, parents have a chance to speak to the new incoming Principal, Mr Matthew Cox, and he also had a meeting with our students on Monday as they asked a range of questions and welcomed the chance to get to know him and vice versa. A brilliant event!

Also, a huge thank you to all parents for filling in the Parent Survey 2021-22. The results were absolutely incredible and I would like to thank every parent who took the time to fill in the survey. Your feedback is very welcome and I am extremely happy to share positives to staff, the wider team and also areas in which we can develop and improve further. All information is included in the article linked below, analysis, headlines and an action plan we share out after the survey. We embrace the challenge of improving our 'Outstanding' school each year and this is a very important aspect of enabling us to do just that!

On a final note, we are aiming towards our big event of the year with our International Days and have confirmed that these will go ahead on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th of May. More information will be sent out regarding the opening ceremony, dress down day, educational activities and the food fair. It promises to be a real highlight of our final term of the year!

Have a great weekend!

Paul Walton

Principal

BISL teaches and assists students in learning and adapting to a changing environment.

Parentcomment

We are delighted to share with you the results of our most recent annual Parent Survey:

Parent Survey results

We shall let the photos speak for themselves! Fantastic costumes, delicious treats from the PTA, and great fun had all day long, doing our part to chase away the Winter and welcome Spring - take a look:

Pust Gallery

Join our new incoming Principal, Mr Matthew Cox, this morning Friday March 4 at 9am on Zoom for a Coffee Morning special! Click on the link below to join the meeting.

Join Coffee Morning

Our Year 5s have written some amazing persuasive writing pieces about saving the planet, take a look:

School uniform encourages a sense of unity and common purpose - a particularly important consideration as we welcome students from a wide variety of countries and endeavour to provide them with a true sense of belonging.

We are delighted that our new uniform webshop with Trutex is now live. For details of uniform requirements and to start shopping, click on the link below.

BISL - Trutex School Uniform

To continue your World Book Day celebrations at home, if you haven't listened to our Stories with Early Years series on our YouTube channel, I encourage you to browse through our playlist of stories read by our fantastic teachers here at BISL over the weekend.

Take me to the Playlist

1. Have the pick-up and drop-off procedures changed?

No, pick-up and drop-off procedures continue as usual.

2. Can parents come into the building?

All parent meetings must be conducted online until further notice. For the few key organised events, parents will enter and exit from the building via the Assembly Hall and sign the COVID Declaration Form upon entry. Further details will be shared by the event coordinating teacher.

3. Will students go outside for break?

Students will continue to be encouraged and taken outside as usual every break time.

4. Should students bring in water bottles?

Yes, water bottles filled with water should be brought from home.

5. Will classrooms be ventilated?

Yes, classrooms continue to be ventilated regularly, and classroom doors remain open at all times.

6. Will there be hand sanitisers in every classroom?

Yes. Hand sanitisers are also available at the entrance and in common areas across the school.

7. Will online lessons be conducted during the day for students who choose not to attend school or have tested positive currently?

When the provision for students is at school, our teachers follow the usual timetables and teach the students in school. They will continue to upload work onto Canvas for students who are absent from school at the end of the day. If a Year group has transitioned to online learning, their lessons will continue online until that Year group returns. Once the Year group has returned to the school, the teacher will teach during the day and assist those absent by continuing to upload some resources from the school day.

8. Will school lunches continue to be available?

Yes, lunches will be served as usual in the canteen. Please order online as per usual. Cancellations can be made with 24 hours' notice.

9. Do all students and teachers have to wear masks in the classroom?

Following the recent announcement by the government regarding the removal of the obligatory wearing of face masks by students and staff in schools and other educational institutions from Monday 7th March, students and staff will no longer be required to wear masks at school from Monday 7th March. We are in direct communication with the Ministry of Education and Health regarding updates on safety guidance.

10. Can students or staff continue wearing a mask if they wish?

Yes. If a student or member of staff feels more comfortable wearing a mask, they may continue to do so.

11. Are teachers vaccinated or getting regularly tested?

Over 95% of our staff are now fully vaccinated or have recently recovered. Ongoing regular testing will continue for the remaining staff.

12. How long is the isolation period for positive students?

The isolation period is reduced to 7 days from Monday January 24, according to new government guidance, provided the person does not have fever or any other Covid symptoms 24 hours before the end of self-isolation and tests negative on the seventh day at an approved testing provider. If the rapid antigen test is positive on the seventh day, the person keeps self-isolating and does another test the following day until the tenth day, when self-isolation ends in line with the regime so far.

Canvas - will be used as the online learning environment for all students Year 2 and above. For EY and Year 1, the classroom teachers will email out if students transition to online learning.

Please be as safe as possible as we navigate through the current COVID situation and I thank all parents, teachers and students in advance for following guidance both in the school and in our wider communities.

We are following the general rules and guidance by the Ministry, WHO and NIJZ.
As a school, we have a direct contact with the ministry and receive specific instructions, following any changes in our situation, solely for our school community. These obviously, may differ from the general worldwide or regional guidance (shared by social media or aired by the news) depending on the cases in our immediate community.
A part of this guidance is to stay away from school if you show any symptoms and consult your doctor accordingly. As it is 'flu season', many of our staff, students and parents will have flu symptoms, and we ask everyone to stay away until you are tested if you show any signs.
If you are tested positive, stay home, and isolate accordingly, following further guidance from your doctor, as recommended by the NIJZ.
Over 95% of our staff are now fully vaccinated, or have recovered within the last 6 months.
We also ask the community to stay away from friends and family who have tested positive or those that have symptoms and are awaiting a test.
We also want to be as safe as possible and ensure that the privacy of families is respected during this tough time.

Ongoing daily clean of premises
Classrooms are well ventilated and classroom doors remain open
Key areas are cleaned multiple times a day (reception, classrooms, bathrooms, bannisters, door handles, etc.)
Declaration Form to be signed by all key visitors
Extra resources for hygiene available (sprays, wipes, gels, hand sanitisers, masks etc.)
Temperature checks when required
School Nurse available (full time)
Coronavirus Prevention guidance posters displayed around school
Smaller classes where necessary
Lunches and snacks are served in the new canteen following the guidance from NIJZ
Staff and parent meetings and events to be held online
Daily review of all procedures by the Leadership Team

All urgent updates continue to be sent via email.

Please monitor your emails for future updates as this continues to be the best way to send out clear and consistent communication to all parents. Check that you are receiving emails, have enough space in your email folder, that they do not go to your 'junk' folder and if you are unsure, please contact reception@britishschool.si to check your contact email and phone number on record.

If you change any contact details, please inform the school immediately.