ESK PA BUREAU + ESK MANAGEMENT TEAM Friday, 11 September 2009

Present:
Mr. Hoyem, Mr. da Torre, Mrs. Pavličíková, Brigitte Braunschweig Mr. ,Dannemaier.
Cindy van Velzen, Ana Gorey, Sarah Winthrop

Mr. Hoyem welcomed everyone back to school and reminded everyone that a school has a greater purpose than whether or not to use energy light bulbs and a European school has an additional raison d’être − a political one. Today might be the 8th anniversary of the Twin Towers tragedy but 2009 also marked the fall of the Berlin Wall, 20 years ago and the end of the Second World War, 70 years ago. It was time to get back to what really matters.

Mr. Hoyem looked forward to this years’ cooperation with the Parents Association and had five points he wanted to raise. Firstly, that next year they wanted to introduce the Timetable change they had not managed to get approved in time for the start of this school year. He had asked Lisa Meyer, Transport Committee to look into the implications and hoped the PA would support them this time.

Another issues was the Canteen. Although much had been achieved by changing the system, and he thanked the PA for their efforts, there were still outstanding problems to be resolved which needed more homework. Mr. Hoyem apologised for the school having unintentionally added to the already stressful first days. The school had to improve its own internal communication to avoid such situations as much as possible. He also hoped that they would also advance on their external communications and complimented the PA on their new website.

Mr. Hoyem also looked to the PA for support on the KITA, which although was run separately from the school for children between 0-3 years old, he hoped a link could be created which would allow them to continue on at the ESK kindergarten at the lower rate and only later pay the higher fees for Primary.

A Boarding facility on the school grounds would give Category I families who lived all over the world (places where no European Schools existed) the chance to send their children here. Mr. Kallas, EU Commissioner in charge of European Schools, had promised to see what the demand might be. The second meeting of the working group would take place next week.

Finally, and most importantly, was the Reform of the European Schools, which following the decisions by the Board of Governors were now being implemented with the aim of increasing school autonomy. He hope that this would enable him to have more flexibility with regard to Category 2 fees and more resources to pursue a marketing strategy particularly vis-à-vis the French population in the area. Some reform changes, such as fewer meetings and reduced teaching committees, were not very encouraging and resulted in more power to the Commission. However, the creation of the School Advisory Committee (SAC) was a major opportunity for the wider school community to contribute to the school development plan and he encouraged the PA to get involved. The first meeting, 22 September, would be a brainstorming session to which the whole school had been invited to and which he hoped would lead to annual goals and a three to five year overview with a special thought for the school’s 50th anniversary in 2012.

Cindy van Velzen thanked Mr. Hoyem for his vision for the school and his commitment and promised the Parents’ Association’s continued support for this year. However, she was but a representative and, even though she was President of the PA, she could not take decisions without first consulting the rest of the PA Committee and, for very serious changes such as the Timetable, the parents. Proposals by the school needed to be better communicated, earlier and preferably in writing so that proper discussion could take place. She was glad to hear that the school intended to improve internal communication as this was major problem, obvious already last year, and immediately manifest at the beginning of this year with the canteen, school card chaos.

Cindy van Velzen went on to outline the PA objectives for this year. Last year the PA had decided on the 3Cs + this year it would be the 3Ls.

Canteen − Priority last year was to improve the quality of the food and service with a new provider Scolarest and to get a clear picture of the functioning and financing of the Canteen Committee. This year efforts will continue on both fronts. On the Scolarest front, by keeping an eye/overview as to the quality and functioning of the service. Conclusions could not be drawn in the first week, or even the first month, of the new service as there were too many variables at the moment. The quality of food was good, technical hitches still to overcome and clearly a greater than anticipated number of kids to be taken account of. With regard to the Canteen Committee, the current fiscal and legal status had to establish urgently and work begin in order to prepare for the election of new members. She agreed with Mr. Hoyem that the Canteen Committee needed to call a meeting as soon as possible to give full disclosure. So far, with no information in writing, it was impossible to make any decisions about the future and legal advice would be required if this impasse continued any longer.

Communication − Priority last year was on improve the main channel of information from us to everyone with a focus on providing the main three vehicle languages and our new website. We also started to work on improving internal communication with our representatives, class reps and School Management. This year we will continue efforts on both fronts. On the website front, by making it a place where information can also be exchanged not just presented. Sarah Winthrop outlined the upcoming new services such as a parents forum, parents support group, links to Karlsruhe for new families, Boutique ordering on-line, post it notes for small ads, etc.). With regard to internal communication, by establishing a clear framework for communication between us and the class reps, section reps and School management. We hoped that the school would send all their Calendar information. In order to avoid confusion, the PA website would give the dates and link to the school website for further information. There was no sense in doubling the work but it was important to work in parallel. We hoped that the school website would be improved as soon as possible thus making these links as seemless as possible.
Community − Priority last year was to re-connect to the school community at large. We began by hosting a dinner in February for all staff, teachers, class reps and a few of the student reps in order to introduce ourselves, present our ideas and provide an informal opportunity for everyone to get to know us and each other as well. Later in the year, EuroSport was an excellent opportunity to work together bringing this community spirit truly alive as well as giving everyone a sense of belonging to the wider European Schools. It was also an occasion for reflection on the need to build partnerships outside the school. This year we will continue efforts on both fronts. On the school front, with the Welcome Back Party, Open Day/Project Days and other events emphasising cross-curriculum, cross-language section and cross-year class synergies with project activities such as Lego, health and fitness, art and performance arts, debate, handicrafts, science projects, dance, world issues, economic games, etc...With regard to the wider European school community, by playing a stronger role in Interparents and encouraging inter-school experience such as MEP and why not EuroCulture? With regard to outside partnerships, by enhancing the school’s core values through sport, languages, multimedia programme, IT, etc. Cindy van Velzen announced the first of these partnerships, INTERSPORT, which we think will be very exciting. Sport cuts across all barriers.

In the light of our work last year, lessons learnt during Eurosport, points raised in the Education Council, the Roundtable and our Open letter to Mr. Hoyem end of last year (Appendix 1), the PA agreed on three new objectives for this school year the 3 L’s. As was the case with the 3C’s, having identified these issues, time and reflection was needed to see how best to achieve the objectives in the medium and long term. Ana Gorey went into a little more detail but underlined that the work is only just beginning.

Languages − The issue of languages is complex with obvious tensions as to the handling of mother tongue, dominant language, host country language, bilingualism, second language, section language, other languages, non-native students, language acquisition, parental choice, reduction of hours, differentiated teaching, language support. Mother tongue teaching as the cornerstone of the European school, as is diversity. Already at the end of last year we had looked at providing more after school activities to help with languages and this year even more so. We would like to see a real reflection on how best to improve harmonisation between sections, rates of repeating, the knowledge gap between Primary and Secondary school, quality of 2nd language and emphasise the need for increased, timely, learning support, teacher training, motivation, example setting and improved leadership.

Lost hours − The question of teacher absences and days lost to the Baccelaureate have come up regularly over the years. We are conscious of the reasons why and applaud steps taken by the school to keep these to a minimum, replace teachers when they can, give out worksheets and permas. However, when confronted by parents’ legitimate expectations and complaints, explanations alone fail us. We would like to see a real reflection on how best to improve this on the basis of concrete information and emphasise the need for data protection.

Ligne directifs − Policy guidelines/procedures/FAQs on school issues like drugs, SEN, learning support, school rules, discipline exist in various forms and formats, varying from official BOG documents to accepted practices. These are complicated enough for those who understand the system but totally mystifying to many parents particularly recently arrived ones from other educational systems. Nor is it enough to cite a regulation as often these are broad policy lines with the implementation procedures varying from school to school and even from Section to Section within a school and worse still between one family and another. We would like to see a real reflection on how best to improve information to parents and students on these issues and emphasise the need to have clear, transparent procedures.
Michael Dannemaier, Bursar, joined the meeting later to discuss more practical matters such as the Welcome Back Party foreseen for Saturday, 3 October 2009. He had not been aware of this and he reminded everyone that care needed to be excercised vis-à-vis the caretakers. This would be the third weekend in a row that they had been required to work due to the cleaning company being behind schedule. In addition, Saturday, 3 October 2009 was a national holiday which made the request even harder on them.

The date had been fixed at the end of last year between the school and the PA. The idea had been not to do it too late in the year but nor could it take place the first weeks of school. The idea was to get parents involved right from the start and give them the opportunity to find out what was going on at school, ask questions and meet other parents in an informal atmosphere.

Michael Dannemaier, still had not received the Canteen Committee audit but said that the finishing touches were being made. The school had serious concerns about how the Canteen Committee was going to function in the future especially as Ramil Nasyrow had resigned and that there was very little money left. The Parents’ Association were also very concerned, in fact had been for over a year, but could not comment on anything to do with the Canteen Committee in the absence of concrete information. There were many aspects of the running of the Canteen that we had no idea about such as the supervisors. Until it was clear what were the arrangements, who did what and who was giving instructions, it was impossible to go forward.

Both the School and the Parents’ Association, as bodies with representatives on the Canteen Committee, three and four representatives respectively, agreed that a Canteen Committee needed to be called immediately and it was decided that Cindy van Velzen would contact the Vice President to ask him to do so immediately.

In summing up, it is clear the school is moving into a new era with the introduction of the KITA and the boarding house, as well as the reforms in the European School system. The School Advisory Committee (SAC) will be a key instrument for development and Mr. Hoyem’s open inviation to the whole school to participate was indicative of the spirit of the school. It is important to maximise the efforts of everyone in the school through clear directives, clear objectives, clear communication and strong leadership so that all the school’s goals are achieved.

Mr. Hoyem, closed the meeting saying that it had been very useful. In the future we would need to keep the meetings shorter and if necessary more frequent.