P2 / New Experiences
P3-4 / Campus and Local
P5 / Peace One Day
The P6 / Sport
Outdoor Education Week in a new environment.
Teaching couples at ISBerne. Art students travel to the Emmental.
ISBerne’s effort to support world peace.
Volleyball and Basketball teams begin competition.
@ ISBerne ISBerne School Newsletter
Vol. 1
November 2012
A Dialogue on Europe
Mr Othmar Karas, a Vice President of the European Parliament, visits ISBerne. On November 6, 2012, ISBerne had the honor to host Mr Othmar Karas, a Vice-President of the European Parliament, for an event with the IB Diploma Programme students in Grades 11 and 12.
“Only by coming together,
Thanks to the efforts of an ISBerne parent, Mr Karas’ visit was a remarkable opportunity for our students to engage in a special question and answer session, with the questions for the event being prepared with the guidance of teachers Mr Tobin Bechtel, Dr Eric Mace-Tessler, Dr Kathleen Noreisch, and Mr Chris Warren. “This is what ISBerne strives to do, giving students exposure to important figures and examples of leadership,” noted Secondary School Principal, Mr Bechtel.
Union accomplishments, as well as his personal beliefs regarding the importance of collaboration and dialogue in the quest to continue the work of the EU, “Nationalism, egoism, and protectionism can never be the answers to solve our problems,” he said. “Only by coming together, talking together, having a better understanding, and knowing one another better, will we find common solutions.”
Mr Karas began the event with reflections on recent European
talking together, having a better understanding and knowing one another better,will we find common solutions.
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The students took full advantage of this opportunity to engage directly with a representative of this governing body. The questions asked by the students were both
direct and well-researched, ranging from topics like Portugal’s fiscal crisis, the recent Nobel Peace Prize, and Switzerland’s relationship with the EU. After the event, Mr Bechtel said of their efforts, “This is the type of student that excels at ISBerne – ones willing to ask questions that are not only important to them personally and relevant to their studies, but also that allows them to deepen their understanding of the world.” Mr Karas also made a point of reminding the students how important thier education is in a turbulent world. Yesterday’s group of nearly 50 students is completing their final two years of study in the IB Diploma Programme, and is part of a student body of over 267 that includes students from 46 countries.
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Mr Karas’ website contains this quote from French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.” ISBerne is proud to be educating and preparing its students to be a part of that future.
Elementary Outdoor Education - Different Places, Different Perspectives This year’s Elementary Outdoor Week took place in a new and exciting location. Students in Grades 3 to 5 traveled to Verbier, a small village in the Swiss Alps located in the heart of the Canton Valais. Verbier is in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, requiring ISBerne students and their teachers to cross the language border called the “Roschtigraben”, a reference to Roschti, the potato dish popular in the German-speaking region around Berne. Outdoor Education Week is a unique experience for students at ISBerne, particularly as it is the first time for some to be spending a full week away from their homes and families. The week is filled with opportunities to learn to become more confident and resilient in a different environment. The students are encouraged to take more responsibility and use their own skills and abilities to explore the world around them.
ISBerne Students in Verbier The group that organized the week is called Les Elfes, founded in 1987, and it hosts international camps all year round, offering a combination of discovery and outdoor experiences from rock climbing and hiking to picnics in the mountains. Along with ISBerne teachers and staff, the programme at Les Elfes provides students with a wonderful chance to learn to collaborate and cooperate with students from other schools. Through these activities the young students learn to become risk-takers, an important component of the IB Learner Profile, discovering and understanding the challenges in the world around them. The ISBerne students enjoyed their stay in Verbier. Mr Scott Jackson, the Elementary School Principal, and the ES teachers were pleased at the successful introduction of
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this new location, citing particularly the professional supervision of the children and the attention paid to international and cultural dietary requirements. Most importantly, ISBerne students are already looking forward to next year’s Outdoor Education Week!
Linked Lives at ISBerne
TECH UPDATE IT SYSTEM LINKS SAFETY, SERVICES AND SAVINGS The Business and IT departments have recently enhanced services funded in part by a much appreciated grant from the US State Department. Student and Staff ID cards will be issued and digital locks and cameras have been installed on exterior doors. Additionally, the keycard system has allowed ISBerne to upgrade its network of campus printers, add oversight, and closely monitor the management of paper and costs while promoting conservation of resources.
Tamsyn and Jeremy Rippon Each year in January, school administrators begin the task of recruiting new faculty for the next school year. ISBerne has always been a particularly attractive location for potential candidates for its established reputation, and Switzerland certainly tops many relocation lists for the quality of life the country offers. For the 2012–2013 school year, ISBerne not only filled the open teaching positions with an impressive group of candidates, but, in an interesting new trend for the school, hired a majority of teaching couples. Tamysn and Jeremy Rippon, Rebekka Brooks and Daniel Thorne, and Julie Bourget and James Pinkard joined the school in August 2012. With veteran teachers Amy Smearsoll and Alain Levy, Eric and Sandy Müller, Brad and Erin Pfau, and Jeremy and Allison Cook, the school now has seven teaching couples, equaling a third of the teaching staff. The decision to travel abroad and work together is not unusual in international schools and our teaching couples have worked together for a number of years in schools throughout the world, including the UK, Italy, China and Vietnam. But is it always easy to find postings together? Certainly not. Couples often have to consider potential job opportunities in light
of both individual’s experience, a challenge that these teachers share with many of the expat parents of the children in their classrooms. Mr Thorne mentioned that “finding ISBerne, with an Athletics Director position and a Kindergarten position, was particularly exciting.”
“Finding a school that fits both of us is wonderful.” Mr and Mrs Rippon, for whom this is the second posting as a teaching couple, do admit that sometimes “one can feel a little claustrophobic,” when seeing one another day and night. However, all teachers agree that the challenges are far outweighed by the opportunity to create a unique work and family experience while abroad. ISBerne is delighted to welcome all new staff members and families to the wider ISBerne community.
PTC AND FOISB PARENT TEACHER OUTREACH
SUPPORT
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The Parent Teacher Committee (PTC) organises events and activities for the ISBerne school community and for Friends of ISBerne (FOISB) which includes ISBerne and other expat and local families in the community. The PTC granted 10,000 CHF in its annual Faculty Wish List project. UPCOMING EVENTS Christmas Market Trip to Basel Wednesday, 5 December 2012 Please join the PTC for a day trip to the Basel Christmas Market, the largest, most popular, and traditional Christmas Market in Switzerland. The group will travel to the market by train. Please go to isberne.ch/ptc for more information. Christmas Meal and Gift Exchange Wednesday, 12 December, 11:00 Please consider attending the PTC gift exchange event at Bonapp restaurant in Guemligen. Attendees must bring a wrapped gift in the price range of 15 – 20 CHF for a special gift exchange game. Email friends@isberne.ch to RSVP. Follow the PTC in the Community section at www.isberne.ch 3
Integrated Arts Students Learn About the Local Art & History Field trips and excursions are an opportunity for ISBerne students to learn and interact with our regional community and are an important part of the Middle Years Programme (MYP). Recently, the teachers Amanda Holcombe, Tom Sunthornwat and David Ritsema, planned a Grade 6 visit to Langnau, which is in the historic Emmental region of Switzerland. Although the Emmental region is widely known as the place where the famous “holey” Swiss cheese is produced, it is also quintessentially Swiss, with rolling green pastures and pictureperfect farmhouses. The students visited the “Chüechlihus” museum which showcases local musical instruments, clothing, tools, kitchenware and other artifacts.
MYP students at the Chüechlihus Museum in Langnau “We asked the students to consider the question ‘How does where we come from play a role in defining who we are and what we do?” explained Mr
This particular farmhouse was constructed in 1526 and the atmosphere of smoke blackened walls from centuries of open-hearth fires and rough axehewn beams on the ceiling has been carefully preserved. Students sat in the museum as well as in the traditional farmyard and made sketches and notes.
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Regular updates of news, stories, videos, and pictures.
Sunthornwat. The Emmental is also a region where the intricate Swiss art called Schärenschnitt “Paper Cut” is created. Each piece always tells a personal story as seen in the photo at left. Back at ISBerne, Grade 6 students began a project to tell their own story by creating a Schärenschnitt in Art class. @ISBerne looks forward to sharing the results in the future.
Admissions & Marketing News WEBSITE The www.isberne.ch website will be getting an exciting upgrade by the end of the semester. The project will add a fresh design and new website management systems to facilitate future posting of news, information, IB curriculum and photos. Please contact marketing@isberne.ch with questions. SOCIAL MEDIA ISBerne was pleased to welcome Mr Richard Lakin, experienced blogger and social media guru, to campus for the first three weeks in November. Students had opportunities to meet and learn from Mr Lakin and were invited to participate in the social media outreach of ISBerne. Social media is changing the way the world communicates and ISBerne is excited to increase our presence in global conversations.
ADMISSIONS New student applications and campus visits for both January and August 2013 enrolment continue to grow. ISBerne enrolment has grown from 238 last June to an expected 270 for January 2013, an increase of 13%. ISBerne would like to thank all parents, families and friends for promoting and recommending the school. The school maintains a strong commitment to the IB programmes, its academic reputation and plans to innovate. 4
Peace One Day - A Window of Opportunity
Over the past year, ISBerne students have been working together to support world peace. With the guidance of Dr Kathleen Noreisch, the students have looked to inspiration from the efforts of British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, the guiding light of Peace One Day, (peaceoneday.org). This non-profit organization has campaigned successfully to establish a “self-sustaining…annual day of global unity, a day of intercultural cooperation.” The date of September 21 was unanimously adopted by all member states of the United Nations as an annual day of non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace.
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The ISBerne Peace Club hosted approximately 80 IB
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Students from different international schools.
ISBerne’s Peace Club did a fantastic job in making this a successful event. They are already looking forward to September 21, 2013 by hosting events on the 21st of each month from now until then. Recruitment for new members is on-going, and all are welcome to join ISBerne’s students in working for world peace. The ISBerne Blog will also carry stories about the many initiatives the Peace Club will be working on in the months ahead.
Peace Balloons Looking back to the Peace Club’s balloon release on the last day of school last June. Here is a quick update: Over 30 message cards were returned with the farthest confirmed balloon traveling as far away as Bavaria, Germany!
In the spirit of Peace One Day, the Peace Club invited students from a number of other Swiss international schools to ISBerne. On September 21, 2012, over 80 IB Diploma Programme students gathered together at the Mattenhof to discuss and exchange their ideas. They attended workshops on topics as diverse as the role of social media in peace-making efforts, the ethical implications of scientific progress and the ways in which sports both can and cannot be used as a means for bringing people together in peace.
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ISBerne Volleyball competes at SGIS Championships The ISBerne Boys and Girls Volleyball Teams competed at the SGIS (Swiss Group of International Schools) Championship Tournament on Friday and Saturday, 2-3 November, 2012. On the school’s new blog (www.isberne.wordpress.com), @ ISBerne interviewed the team captains and coach, Ms. Lollie Simon, about the challenge of being a student athlete, developing leadership abilities, and why it is important to integrate competitive sports at a small school like ISBerne.
ISBerne Basketball Programme Hosts Local Tournament The ISBerne Boys Basketball Team hosted a local school from Biel/Bienne, and international schools, Brillantmont and Ecole d’Humanité, for a new tournament at the Kleefeld Gym in Bernen on 18 November. ISBerne won 2 games and lost 1 game, a good result and great practice for their upcoming tournament at Kumon Academy in Leysin. Thank you to Coach Pinkus for organising a great tournament.
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Mattenstrasse 3, 3073 Gümligen, Switzerland Phone +41 (0)31 951 23 58, Fax +41 (0)31 951 17 10 www.isberne.ch Editor: Sarah Bechtel Published by: Michael Butora communication@isberne.ch
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HINDI, GERMAN AND SWEDISH MOTHER-TONGUE PROGRAMMES Under the direction of Mr. Eric Müller, ISBerne German teacher and Language Coordinator, ISBerne has introduced a new initiative to help students retain their native language proficiency while continuing their bi- and trilingualism in English, German and French.