17th November 2023
COMMUNITY UPDATE
DIRECTOR’S UPDATE Dear parents, I want to start off by thanking all those who attended the Community Sessions last week. While this was a fantastic opportunity to share some of the work we have been doing in recent years; I enjoyed the chance to connect in person with members of our parent community. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and so we will make these sessions an annual event. One thing I appreciate about these regular updates is the chance to share with you some of the work we have been doing to further develop ISB, sometimes in ways that may not always be visible to parents. One exciting development that has been taking place largely behind the scenes is a deeper collaboration between ISB and seven other leading international schools with similar attributes in terms of size, curriculum, not-forprofit orientation, and type of international community. These schools are: American School of London, Frankfurt International School, Zurich International School, American School of the Hague, Munich International School, American School of Paris, American International School of Vienna Historically, our schools have shared a connection through the International School Sports Tournament (ISST), but the Directors of the schools have been meeting to explore ways to further collaborate across other areas, as well. For example, we have been hosting various job-alikes to allow professionals in the field to share best practice, and have also been exchanging educational data for benchmarking purposes. Over time, you will be hearing of more non-sporting learning opportunities for students that stem from this network, and I look forward to my colleagues and I providing you with more updates on this wonderful partnership as it continues to evolve. I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
James Macdonald ISB Director
MAKING A DIFFERENCE WEEK
At ISB, prioritising kindness matters. We recognise that embracing diversity and building community is more than just about bridging distances - it’s about creating culture, and inspiring meaningful and intentional gestures of kindness on a daily basis. To honour this year’s World Kindness Day, and to celebrate the values that speak to who we are as a school, ISB was involved in a number of important initiatives as part of its annual ‘Make A Difference Week’. One of these initiatives saw us working in partnership with Z Zurich Foundation and Serve the City, an organisation with which our students volunteer on a regular basis, to support the homeless community in Brussels. The objective of this partnership was to provide 500 Winter Care Kits to homeless people in the Brussels Region, each bag containing a hat, a scarf, a pair of gloves, and a pair of warm socks to protect against the cold. With the support of our incredible community, we managed to prepare 800 Care Kits, instead! Students from across the school participated in a variety of activities to raise funds for the preparation of these special kits. The Early Childhood Centre (ECC) and Elementary School (ES) collected an impressive 500 socks, while the Middle School (MS) raised over €1,400 towards the collection of the different items in the bags. Through their Fun Run and Japanese Food Sale, High School (HS) students were able to raise a notable €3,500. In addition to these Winter Care Kits, the week saw a number of other activities take place across campus, including a fantastic Kindness Bingo, thorough Campus Clean-Up sessions, the HS’s Random Acts of Kindness Day, and an opportunity to care for our animals by feeding our beloved sheep. Students in the ES wore silly hats in support of inclusion and diversity, and in the ES and HS, they wore green shirts in representation of their commitment to being upstanders against injustice and unfair treatment. As part of its extensive Community Engagement Programme, ISB works with twenty-five base organisations but has ties with many others across Brussels, as well. The special relationships that have formed with these places allow students to benefit from a wealth of volunteering opportunities - from supporting the elderly, the homeless, and refugees, to working at an animal shelter, in a Soup Kitchen, or with underprivileged children.
ATHLETICS Raiders Winter Season Tryouts: 20-24 November Check out the Raiders Athletics Winter Season Tryout and Practice Schedule, and sign up for a winter sport by filling in our Interest Form. Letterman Jackets Letterman Jackets are now available to purchase for any member of a Varsity team through this order form. As a final reminder, you can find all of the Raider's relevant documents in the Athletics Resources.
Winter Season All activities for the Winter Season have now been allocated and confirmed. Should you still wish to sign up for an activity, please contact the ISB Plus office at isbplus@isb.be and we will be happy to help. The Winter season runs from Monday, 20 November - Friday, 8 March, 2024. If your child is taking the late bus home from an after-school activity, please don’t forget to check the policy for this HERE.
PERFORMING ARTS High School Play: ‘An Italian Straw Hat’ The HS production of ‘An Italian Straw Hat’ is fast approaching! Join us in the ISB Theatre on 24 and 25 November at 19:00 for this fast-paced comedy presented by our talented HS students. The laughs come fast and numerous in this delightful comedy for all ages! Get your tickets at www.isb.be/tickets.
Middle School Music Retreat Our MS Music students will soon be travelling to the Destelheide Cultural Centre from 20-22 November to participate in the annual MS Music Retreat. They will have the opportunity to participate in various music workshops, as well as dance and theatre sessions with specialist teachers. Students will also have the opportunity to train and perform in their MS music ensembles: Strings, Band, and VoiceWorks. High School Visual Arts Field trip - The Hague Our two BTEC Art & Design classes spent a whole day visiting the Voorlinden Museum near The Hague. They explored contemporary art and delved into the skill of curation with two guided tours. Later, our art students spent some time sketching inside the museum. A video of the trip is available on the Instagram channel @isb_hs_visualarts. Make sure to follow the account for more insights into our HS Visual Art classes, projects, and exhibitions!
As the days grow shorter, now is the time to get out and enjoy all of the wonderful events the FA has planned. Join us at one of our lunch gatherings, a yoga or fitness class, or even at a watercolour workshop. We hope to see you at one of these great activities as we close out 2023.
FA Classes Language Classes (French and English) - Wednesday and Thursday mornings FA Yoga Classes - Tuesdays at 09:00 Group fitness class with Sylwia - Wednesdays at 09:00 What’s On 19 November - Lower School Harvest Festival 24 November - FA Lunch @ MiTo in Ixelles 7 December - Lebanese Cooking Class (Part II) 8 December - Watercolor Painting Class 12 December, 09:30-11:00 - FA Monthly Meeting 13 December, 14:00-15:30 - International Contacts Meeting 15 December, 12:30 - Holiday Lunch Gathering at The Nine Save the Date 18 January - our next Brunch & Bubbles 19 January - Magritte Museum Guided Visit For event details and registration, please see the FA Update.
Thank you! Thank you to all the wonderful students and parents who volunteered at the Raiders Cafe’ this past season. We truly could not have done it without you! Anyone wishing to support us during our winter season, please email sportscouncil@isbfa.be for more information Connect with the FA
MOBILITY As previously mentioned, we have been working on getting the ISB Late Buses in the BatOnRoute App, as well, to ensure a safe journey home for all students riding the buses. We are now excited to share that we will soon be entering a Test Phase to ensure that everything will be up and running as smoothly as possible. There should be no disturbances to the AM and PM routes on the App during this testing phase. If your child is using the Late Bus which has been selected as part of the Test Phase, you will be notified of this via BatOnRoute. You will soon be receiving two notifications via the App: the first notification will communicate that the Test Phase has started, and the second notification will communicate that the testing is complete, and that we are officially operational. Students who are not enrolled on the regular AM and PM bus routes will still be able to access the Late Buses. Should you wish to view your child’s Late Bus journey, please send an email to buses@isb.be and request for your BatOnRoute connection credentials. We will of course keep you informed at every step of the way, until we are officially live!
OTHER UPDATES ISB’s 2024-25 School Calendar Is Out! The school calendar for 2024-25 has been released and can be found here.
HEALTH SERVICES Dear ISB community, As autumn has arrived, so have the seasonal viral infections... As you might have noticed, respiratory infections such as Flu or Covid are on the rise. As we have throughout the Covid pandemic, we will continue to follow government guidelines which now advise us to treat this latest variant like that of the regular flu. More specifically, and as with any other illness, if you (or your child) is feeling unwell and showing symptoms (fever, cough, sneezing...) you /they should stay at home and not come to school until you/they feel better and the symptoms subside. Here is further information that may be helpful for you to review: The Inter-ministerial Conference on Public Health of 26 April 2023 has put an end to the automatic 7-day isolation requirement after a positive COVID test. From now on, a COVID-19 infection will be treated as a flu. You may choose to self-test, but this is not mandatory. Should you choose to do so, and the test turns positive, please stay at home until your symptoms subside. In case of symptoms of respiratory infection (coughing, sneezing...), it is always recommended to wear a mouth mask when in crowded indoor spaces. Please seek advice from your Doctor if you are sick for more than 3 days. Other hygiene recommendations to reduce the transmission of infections, such as hand washing and good ventilation, are also recommended as these are important in helping to protect yourself and others. Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact the health office at health@isb.be Kind regards The health team.
UPCOMING EVENTS DATE
TIME
DETAILS
20 - 22 Nov
Whole day
Middle School Music Retreat
20 Nov
After School
ISB Plus Winter Season
21 - 23 Nov
16:00 / 16:15
Raiders Winter Season Tryouts
24 - 25 Nov
19:00
High School Theatre Performance: ‘An Italian Straw Hat’
22 Dec - 5 Jan
Whole day
End of Year Break
Kattenberg 19, B-1170 Brussels, Belgium +32 2 661 42 11 reception@isb.be www.isb.be