09.07.2021 Zurich Early Years and Pre-School PARENTS' NEWSLETTER
Dear Parents,
The end of our school year is already here! We celebrated this past year together with our graduation parties and performances, and you can see videos of our performances below.
July is also sadly the time to say goodbye to Jade, Andrea, and Milijana. Luckily they will remain with Tandem IMS and will work in our Zollikon and Uetikon locations. I would like to thank them for their outstanding work this past school year. They will be sincerely missed in our team. I would also like to congratulate Jade on successfully completing her studies. She is now a fully qualified FaBe (Fachfrau Betreuung Kinder) and will work as our Support Teacher in Zollikon. Well done, Jade! To the full EYPS team: thank you for your fantastic teaching, strong teamwork, and good humour this past year.
Finally, I would like to thank you, our parents, for your strong support in what has certainly been a different and challenging time. We greatly appreciate our collaboration and ongoing partnership. Your feedback, particularly in these times, is important to us and we kindly ask you to take part in our annual survey. Do not worry, it only takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. We would appreciate the completion of the survey by Friday, July 16th. Parents who choose to complete the survey are automatically entered into our raffle and may win a family pass to the Zürich Zoo. Good luck!
I wish everyone a lovely and relaxing summer holiday and look forward to welcoming you back for the 2021/22 school year in August.
Currently enrolled Tandem IMS families are given priority, whenever possible, when spaces become available in our Early Years and Pre-School groups. If your family is expecting a new baby, or you are interested in a Tandem IMS space for an older sibling, please inform the school office in a timely manner. As we are already receiving enrolments for the the 2022/23 school year, we recommend remaining in close communication with Julia Helling, Simone Epstein or Sandra Beha regarding any open spaces and start dates for your growing families.
Our Holiday Care will take place in the Early Years classrooms for the weeks of July 19th - 23rd and August 9th - 13th. As of Tuesday, August 17th our Pre-School children will then spend the holiday care week in the Pre-School classrooms.
Spaces in our Holiday Care weeks are limited. If you have booked the Holiday Care package but will be away, please let us know as we have many interested families.
Pre-School children who will move to Kindergarten in August are no longer registered for the EYPS Holiday Care weeks. Parents can book external holiday camps, a list of which can be found on our website.
The Pre-school children have spent their last weeks of the final unit exploring the savannah and the rainforest. We have learned so much about each habitat, including discovering some of the plants and animals that live there. Some of the highlights from our unit were: making savannah animals using materials from nature, making a cloud in a jar and having our very own Venus flytrap plant in the classroom! As we prepare for the changes and transitions taking place after the summer holidays, the Pre-Schoolers are enjoying the rest of their time together, all while making wonderful memories and cherishing each special moment.
Nach unserem grossen Dschungel-Projekt haben wir uns mit Meerestieren und Meerespflanzen auseinandergesetzt. Wir fingen an mit der Kernfrage «Was ist ein Ozean?» und setzten fort mit «Wer lebt im Ozean?» und beendeten das Ozeanprojekt mit der Frage «Welche Pflanzen gibt es dort?». Wir erweiterten unser Wissen und kennen uns nun sehr gut aus mit dem Ozean. Zum Schluss in unserer Unit beschäftigten wir uns mit dem Zoo, welches sicherlich eines der Höhepunkte war, da die Kinder den Zoo lieben! Auch haben wir uns mit der Jahreszeit «Sommer» befasst und die wichtigsten Wörter und Vernetzungen geschult. Was sicherlich in Erinnerung bleibt, ist unsere Wasserparty beim GZ-Springbrunnen, unsere Entdeckung vom Patumbah-Park sowie unser Sporttag. Unser Lehrplan hat hiermit ein Ende gefunden. In den nächsten Tagen finden Aktivitäten im Zusammenhang mit dem Abschlussritual statt und wir freuen uns, die letzten Tage gemeinsam zu verbringen. Die Lehrpersonen vom Gecko-Team wünschen allen Kindern alles Gute für ihre weitere Reise (Pre-School, 2. Gecko Jahr oder Austritt) und wünschen euch lehrreiche Jahre!
This past month the Seahorses continued learning about different biomes and the animals living there. We spent some time in the savannah and the ocean, learning about the animals living there and how they move and what sounds they make. We loved imitating the animals and learning new words and signs! As the school year is coming to an end we have enjoyed playing together and preparing for our graduation. We've spoken a great deal about the Geckos, as many children will be moving into the next age group after the summer holidays. The Seahorses are very excited for the new school year and are looking forward to meeting their new friends.
As of Monday, July 12th, we will be returning to our original Tandem IMS sickness policy of being 24-hours symptom free. 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 24 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).
Many thanks for your continued support in this area!
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 or 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).
For all other details regarding our Covid-19 protection concept and sickness policy chart, please click here.
A great way to stay connected with us is via our social media channels. On Instagram and Facebook you get the latest information and see various activities we do. On LinkedIn you find topics regarding education.