DBIS News 
Keep up to date with what's happening in the school with our fortnightly newsletter.
End of School Year Newsletter
Dear Parents
End of the Year: We are about to formally complete the end of another great year. For all of us, the end of this year has been disappointing due to the early and very hasty school closure imposed by the Government. I hope that the process of managed containment has had a positive impact. At the time of writing this newsletter, I know of no student in our school community that has been diagnosed with H1N1. I sincerely hope that this continues to be the case. With the amazing amount of travel enjoyed by so many within our community, please take extra care in applying the hygiene measures appropriate at this time. In all cases, please have any influenza symptoms checked as soon as possible by a doctor.
We have a large teaching staff of 55 exciting, talented and committed people. Each teacher has worked very hard again this year to provide for the diverse range of abilities presented by our most capable students. I know that you join with me in thanking our teachers for the real differences they all make with and for our students - from citizenship to academic studies, from cultural understanding to performing arts, from physical education to environmental protection and from language studies to health and well being. The wonder and sparkle of working with your children makes our community school so very special.
Staff members involved with our administration, resources, grounds and buildings have also contributed to a great year. We have continued with the refurbishment of classrooms while the settling in process of our outstanding new Discovery Centre has been a key undertaking this year. Classrooms and grounds will continue to be enhanced over the break and we will have some new storage units at the rear of our school hall (to be renamed following a competition at school as the Globe Theatre!). This will hopefully allow us to operate the Globe Theatre in the manner that was originally intended with accessible changing rooms.
Our Secondary School classes build again with two nearly full Year 7 classes and our first Year 8 class. With the exception of one Year 6 class having 23 students, all other classes will be full and we now have waiting lists through to and including Year 5 – all of which continue to grow quickly. Despite the fact that our school is at our highest roll number, we have the lowest number of students transferring away than has been the case in recent years.
Some of our classes are slightly over our preferred levels for the start of our school year as we anticipate a small number of last minute transfers. These numbers will settle back as the year progresses. We will not be increasing our Kindergarten and Primary rolls in the foreseeable future. We are continuing to extend our Secondary School capacity and we are working hard on this key development.
Yet again, with a variety of developments taking place, it is vitally important not to lose sight of what it is that makes our school so special. We continue to be a strong community based school with a range of special characteristics. We do enjoy a high level of resourcing and we are very proud of our non selective enrolment. As always for our school, the vital element for our successes is determined by the people.
I thoroughly appreciate the emails, letters, informal and formal contacts from and with so many you. It is so heartening for our staff to get such affirming feedback where you not only amplify the family spirit practised within and beyond our school, but also take a little time to share your most important ‘thank you’ messages. I remind our students from time to time that a ‘thank you’ costs nothing, yet has huge value. So thank you to all of you for your support, for giving us the special responsibility to work and have fun with your children, for your suggestions and for being so positive.
Thank you to all of the members of our School Advisory Committee and our School Council. The people in these groups give generously of their time to support the improvements and developments of our school for our students. Thank you also to our Friends of the School parents who offer their wonderful assistance throughout the year at our four school / community events.
To all of our students leaving our school, whether you are a graduating Year 6 student, a new nursery student, or a foundation Year 7 student – thank you for your contributions to the lives of others at your school. DBIS will always be your school and will forever be a part of your lives. I hope that you will recall your many achievements along with the wonderful friendships you have developed at your school.
To all of our families who end their direct association with your school, please accept the warmth of our school community wishes and our thanks for your continued and vital support. As for our departing students, DBIS will always be your school and so much the better for your contributions and involvement.
Thank you to everyone in our Discovery Bay International School community for being part of another very special school year. On behalf of our staff, I wish you all good health and many opportunities for fun and laughter with family and friends over the coming summer break. Take special care of each other as we now look forward to welcoming back our largest number of students and staff in what will be a wonderful year.
Staffing: Once again, the end of year means the departure of some staff members as they head away to new jobs and adventures. This year we say goodbye to another neat group of people who have worked so carefully with our students. All have given to our school and the lives of our students and colleagues.
Laura Self and Brendan Kean are transferring to schools in Hong Kong. Ruth Dalton is heading to Canada for further study and work. Kirtsen Humphreys is returning to Australia. Michelle Tai is heading to the U.S.A. Rhiannon Lee is heading away to enjoy further travel. Marshia Geminiano and Brett McGregor are returning to New Zealand.
We also farewell some of our education assistants. Sue Wallace, Jane Fagan, Hadas Hecht, Emily May and Samantha Sawyer move on to other challenges.
Thank you all for the special gifts of your time, commitment and care for our students. Thank you all for the great memories you leave with us all.
End of Year Reports: School Reports will be ready for collection tomorrow, Friday 26 June, between 9:00 am and 12:00 pm from your child’s classroom teacher. Please remember that we will now have end of the year reports for Reception students. Reports may be collected by you as the parent, or by an authorised person on Friday (a note from parents will be required in this instance). School Reports that are not collected on Friday 26 June will be posted out to parents on Monday 29 June.
Please note that reports will be withheld if any school fees remain outstanding.
Class Lists: As noted, class lists for our next school year have been finalised and will be sent home with reports tomorrow. It is important to note that the only changes will now be as a result of the arrival of new students. Please understand that, in our last year of accepting parent requests, we have done all we can to accommodate your requests. In some cases, this has not been possible due to the very large number of requests.
We have high quality and hugely talented teachers throughout our school and a wonderful range of students. Students always settle into their respective new classes through the careful guidance of their new teachers. As noted, the only minor changes to class lists will now be for new students.
Starting Back Next Year: A reminder that school starts back for all Primary and Secondary students on Thursday 20 August. Year 1 to 6 students will start at 8:40 am and finish at 3:00 pm. Our Year 7 and Year 8 Secondary students will start at 8:25 am and finish at 3:20 pm. All Reception students also start back on 20 August at 9:00 am. Could the parents of Nursery students please refer to the information already sent out recently.
Collection of Student Books: All teachers have your child’s books and belongings ready to be picked up from their respective classes. Please call in to collect your child’s books by 12:00 pm tomorrow and also return any school library books or reading books.
If you wish to collect your child’s books and any related work during the summer break, please enquire at the Kindergarten or School office. Any student books or related work not collected during prior to Friday or during the summer break will be held in your child’s 2009 – 2010 classroom. The student books or related work can then be collected at the start of our new school year.
School Website: What a response to our class pages over the past two weeks! In the full week prior to our school closure, external hits to the class pages of our website totalled 977. By the end of the first week of our closure, the external hits to the class pages of our website totalled 16,487. Teachers also enjoyed plenty of contact with parents over the closure period as students were able to continue their studies in a range of areas.
Kind Regards
Grant Ramsay
Principal
Community Notices
Disclaimer - The following notices are presented as a community service. While the content is proofed and generally summarised, it is important to state that the information contained in these Community Notices in no way reflects Discovery Bay International School policy or practices.
BEACH CLEAN UPS: DB Green are organising a series of beach cleanups over the coming months of July, September and October. The next big clean up will be held on 12 July. Our last event was very successful with many families participating. We hope to build on that success. We look forward to having another great turnout. Thank you so much for your help.
Kind regards - Tracey Read - DB Green
