09.06.2021

PARENT NEWSLETTER - JULY

Kindergarten & Primary

Dear Parents,

The school year officially ends today, and we would like to extend our congratulations to all the children for making wonderful progress during the last year.  Although faced with challenges, we can look back and say with certainty that the children have coped fantastically well, and we should all be very proud of their achievements.  Thankfully for Primary 6, we were able to hold the graduation performance with parents yesterday to celebrate the children moving on to their next schools.  All other classes will receive a video link to watch the performances that parents could not attend.  We hope that you will enjoy watching them with the children. We also hope that you enjoy reading through your child's progress report, which has been sent home yesterday (Kiga) or today (Primary).

I would like to thank all parents for helping to support us in so many areas this year - especially however in keeping everyone safe and healthy.  We are very much hoping that next school year we will be able to have more events held in person, as we have greatly missed the occasions where children, parents and school staff were able to be present together.  We will of course provide all updates from the authorities in the middle of August before school restarts on the 23rd.  

I sincerely wish everyone an enjoyable and relaxing summer - you all thoroughly deserve it. 

Kind regards,

Neal Brown

School Director

Next week sees children who are registered for Project Week getting 'Back to Nature'.  This special week led by the Rucksackschule will undoubtedly bring the children some wonderful experiences, learning new skills and being able to enjoy the outdoors after a year mostly spent indoors.

We would like to remind parents that each day your child will need to bring the following in a small rucksack / backpack:

• Rainproof clothes (rain trousers and jacket)
• Spare jumper (as it can be just a little colder in the forest than in town)
• Hiking shoes
• Sun protection (Hat and sunscreen)
• Water bottle
• Seat mat (DIY: put newspapers into a plastic bag)
• Penknife, if available (or else the guides will have enough spare ones with them)
• Snack 
• A packed lunch or grill sausages will be given to the children each day.  If you prefer, you may also provide your child with a packed lunch.

*On the day that your child’s group does the workshop, ‘The Tiny Things’, we would like them to bring a full change of clothes in their backpack as they will be at the river.  Please see the daily schedule for your child’s group by clicking here.

Please note:

• Wednesday afternoon and Friday are included times for project weeks. Children will only return to school  for pick-up between 15:45 and 15:55 each day.  No early Wednesday afternoon pick-up is possible. 
• Families who have Late Care, may continue to use this service as normal - except there is no Late Care on Friday, 16th July - school finishes for all at 16:00.
• The school bus will also continue to run on its normal plan (except there is no Wednesday afternoon tour).  
• If you wish to cancel Late Care or the School Bus during this week, please contact the school office or speak directly with the bus driver.

A big thank you must go to our PTA this year who, despite Covid restrictions, have made a wonderful contribution to the school life.  They have supported World Book Day, Graduation, the Christmas Performance, and other individual class events.

In addition, the PTA members have kindly provided the teachers with vouchers to thank them for their hard work and support over the year.  The staff members wish to express their sincere gratitude to our parents and the PTA for this generosity and support.

The PTA have also discussed and agreed on the fact that next year, surplus money not spent in the current school year will be invested in events that the whole school community can enjoy together. We are looking forward to bringing you further news in the new school year.

Finally, the PTA, the school staff, and myself would like to extend our thanks to David Bray for all of his hard work and organisation during his time on the PTA, and particularly for being chairperson this year.  We thank him and his family for all the support and wish them all the best after leaving Tandem IMS for a new phase in life. We are grateful that existing members, Sandra Stohler and Laura Ansaldi will act as co-chairpersons for the new school year 2021/22.

As a school, we are always striving to bring our pupils and their families the best education and experiences.  We would therefore like to offer all parents the opportunity to provide feedback by completing our annual online survey.  This can be done by clicking here.

The survey takes approximately 10 minutes and we would appreciate it being completed by Friday, 16th July. As a thank you for your participation, you may add your email address at the end of the survey to enter our lucky draw to win a family pass to the Zoo Zürich. 

I would really like to say a special 'thank you' to all the school's staff for their wonderful work throughout the school year.  The teachers have worked tirelessly, under different circumstances, all year to help the children reach their full potential. We are truly lucky to have such talented and dedicated teachers.
 
Likewise, we have other staff members who are perhaps not seen as much in the forefront as the teachers, but who also give everything to their work.  Sandra Beha, Simone Epstein, Julija Jordanova, Martin Lehmann, Carla Galley, Manuela Gisler and Deborah Schlatter work extremely hard to keep all the administration and organisational matters in hand, ensuring that the teachers and myself have a smoother working day.  Beth Hill, our ECA coordinator, continues her fantastic work in organising and running After School Clubs and holiday camps, as well leading Primary Late Care.  Gina Graf has also helped greatly by leading the Kindergarten Late Care and organising lunches across the school.

Our assistants, Thomas Gisler, Rebecca Watson and Sean Walsh have also given their all to support the children and our teachers this year.

Michael Nyffeler is most known for driving our 'bus children' to school, but the maintenance work that he takes care of around the school buildings is extremely important and really enhances it in many ways for the benefit of all the children. 

I wish them all a very well-deserved summer holiday and those moving on to new jobs, or other Tandem IMS locations, a wonderful start in their new posts.

The Green Team, Tandem IMS's new environmental committee, started up this school year with a small group of parents and Tandem staff. Together, we have laid the groundwork for more environmentally friendly schools through the creation of an official school environmental policy, projects to bring further awareness to our students and many small start-up initiatives, such as the new Eco Board in the stairwell and recycling stations throughout the school. Are you interested in learning more about what we are doing, or even becoming a volunteer yourself? We would love to hear from you! Please email Adam Murfitt (amurfitt@tandem-ims.ch) for additional information.

All Tandem IMS Parents can only send their children to school if they can commit to the following (as completed in the Health Declaration):

• My child and all other persons living in our household have no symptoms of Covid-19:
  • sore throat
  • persistent cough
  • shortness of breath
  • chest pain
  • fever (37.9 degrees or higher)
  • loss of sense of smell and/or taste
  • body aches
• Our child has not knowingly been in contact with a person who has Covid-19 symptoms within the last 10 days.
• No member of our family, or a person who our family has been in contact with, is planning to take a Covid-19 test or is awaiting a Covid-19 test result (either due to having symptoms or because of having been in contact with a person who has tested Covid-19 positive).

Currently, we are running a 48-hour sickness policy.  This means that children who experience one or more of the following conditions: fever, vomiting and/or diarrhoea -  can only return to school once they have been 48 hours free of symptoms. 

Children with a temperature of 37.9 degrees or higher should stay at home (or will be sent home if this develops during the school day).

For all other details regarding our Covid-19 protection concept and sickness policy chart, please click here.