IB LEARNER PROFILE OF THE MONTH: INQUIRERS

The aim of all IB programs is to develop internationally minded

students who, recognizing their common humanity and shared

guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful

world. This aim is established through the learner profile, 10 traits all

IB students focus on throughout their education.

The month of September marks the first month of the school year,

but it also signifies the first learner profile trait the school will

highlight for the year. Each month for the remainder of the year, BIS

and its community will celebrate a learner profile trait.

September’s learner profile trait is: Inquirer.

As inquirers, BIS students will develop their natural curiosity. They

will acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and

show independence in their learning. They will actively enjoy learning,

and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.

We will be emphasizing this trait all month not only in the classroom

but also throughout the school. Please, if the chance arises at home,

conveying the importance of inquiry or modelling successful inquiry

can go a long way!

William Polan, Director of Studies

PREMIER LEAGUERS VISIT BIS

Last Thursday BIS was visited by two English football coaches who used to play

in the English Premier League. The two coaches, Micky Adams (Southampton

and Leicester) and Alan Rogers (Nottingham Forest and Leicester) were in

Bishkek for a UK Embassy sponsored program. We were lucky enough to have

them visit BIS and put on a football clinic for our MYP3 students. Afterwards the

upper primary, middle, and high school students enjoyed a Q & A session that

allowed them to ask questions ranging from ‘Who’s the best footballer in the

world?’ to ‘What do you think about some of salaries players make these days?’.

It was a great experience and we are thankful for the opportunity to host such

great role-models.

Sep. 15, 2017 Newsletter for BIS Parents and Friends. No: 2 / 2017-18

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why

-Bernard Baruch

PARENTS

ASSOCIATION

GENERAL MEETING

The Parents Association met

last Saturday at BIS to

welcome new parents to the

school, review last year’s

activities and make plans for

the coming year. Many parents attended and asked many questions both to the Parent’s Association Management

Committee (PAMC) Chair – Ann-Marie Nguyen - and during the question and answer session with David Grant and

William Polan. Parents are now in the process of electing a new member of the Governing Board with nominations

due before 29th September.

A GROWING SCHOOL

Growth of our school facilities is quickly matched by growth in student numbers, as we now have over 240 students,

including 100 in middle and high school. We have been impressed how smoothly new students have settled into the

school over the last two weeks and made new friends. Some grades are already full in the school and, as you can see

in the pictures below, we now have standing room only for our middle & high school assembly!

NEW FACES AT BIS

Jacques, Prinsloo: EAL, Humanities, Math Teacher

I am really honored and excited to be teaching a wide variety of

subjects at BIS and I look forward to getting to know all my students,

colleagues and the country of Kyrgyzstan. I am also a form teacher for

IGCSE 1, math teacher for MYP1, individuals and societies teacher for

MYP2, EAL teacher for both IGCSE 1 and 2, as well as the Houses

coordinator for 2017/2018.

I graduated from an all-boys high school in South Africa in 2006 before

attending university to do my bachelors in Economics. After university,

one of my classmates told me about the joys of teaching abroad and I

ended up moving to South Korea in 2013 to teach English for a year.

This ended up being a 4-year stint in South Korea where I made a lot of

good friends and met my wife (Preschool Coordinator and Preschool 3

teacher at BIS) who is also from South Africa. I found a real love for educating and improving the minds of students

and I aim to have a positive impact on my students' lives.

I enjoy cooking, playing and watching sports like rugby, football, and cricket. I was also blessed enough to be able to

coach all three these sports at a variety of levels. I am also a bit of an academic since I continued studying while in

South Korea and completed my PGCE teaching license as well as a diploma in Investment management. I am

currently enrolled for an MBA at the University of Illinois and I plan on also going into computer sciences at the same

university once I complete my MBA.

Finally, I am also looking forward to hiking in the beautiful Kyrgyzstan mountains with my wife and our dog that will

join us from South Africa in December.

MYP COFFEE MORNING- WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19TH 8:15-8:45AM

A morning of coffee, MYP information sessions, and a brief Q & A will be held on Wednesday, Sep. 19th. This will

allow parents of MYP students to get to know their child’s

MYP Coordinator, Ms. Frances Garsed, as well as learn

more about the Middle Years Program (MYP) to start

the year. Coffee and light refreshments will be

served. The MYP Coffee morning will take place in

the Café.

STUDENT DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP

If you come to school by car, or send your child with a driver or taxi, please don’t block the flow of traffic, and follow

these rules:

Always follow the direction of the arrows on the map

Never stop your car when you have just entered the school gates or no-one else can enter. Move to a

parking space or stop further along the parking area.

Make your stay in the parking area as short as possible so that it is free for others to drop off their children.

Go slow and be careful when entering, parking and leaving the parking lot.

Don’t block the street with thoughtless parking

CENTRAL ASIAN FEDERATION OF ATHLETICS

Last weekend I traveled to Almaty International school for the Central Asian Federation of Athletics (CAFA) meeting.

Representatives from schools all over Central Asia attended to discuss sports competitions for the 2017/ 2018 school

year.

ESCA-BIS will be attending cross country, football and basketball competitions in Almaty this school year. We also

hope to compete in volleyball and badminton, depending on interest from students. We encourage all students to

sign up and attend ECA sports for the opportunity to attend these wonderful sporting events.

James Grant, Athletics Director

IB DIPLOMA PROGRAM 1 EVENING

Another year in Diploma Programme (DP) has started and we have 16 students enrolled in DP 1 in addition to the

existing 14 students in DP 2. Since DP 1 class has many new faces including many families who are not familiar with

International Baccalaureate (IB), we held a small information-sharing event last Monday evening. We got acquainted

with each other and shared the information about IB as well as DP. Many parents came despite their busy schedule

(thank you very much!), two DP teachers and Management Board members also joined in the event to share their

knowledge, opinions and experiences. I hope the event was a great way to get the ball rolling on a challenging two-

year path ahead of us.

On Wednesday this week we plan to have a similar meeting for DP 2 Parents as well. We look forward to seeing you

shortly. Ms. Makiko, Diploma Program Coordinator

BIS GOVERNING BOARD

The Governing Board (GB) is the legal body responsible for school strategy, policy, financial sustainability and

appointment and oversight of the Management Board. The GB has nine members with 3 members elected by the

parents, 3 elected by the school Advisory Council and 3 elected by the school staff. Every year each group elects one

new member to replace a member completing their term on the Board. The current GB members are:

Elected by Parents Elected by the Advisory Council Elected by Staff

Jill Seaton Jamie Brockbank Richard Hazelwood

Ermek Niyazov Keneshbek Sainazarov Yukie Mokuo

Cory Johnston Daniar Amanaliev Fatima Abdrasulova

Jill Seaton, Jamie Brockbank and Richard Hazelwood all complete their term this autumn. The school is indebted to

all three and they will be greatly missed on the GB. Both Jill Seaton and Richard Hazelwood served as Chairs of the

GB, Jill Seaton from October 2014 to October 2016 and Richard Hazelwood thereafter. Both were instrumental in

guiding BIS through rapid development of the school in this period. Jamie Brockbank served as Vice Chair of the GB

for the last year and has been invaluable in making the GB run effectively. Nomination forms for new members are

sent out in September and elections will be held in early October.

SCHOOL BUS

We now have 5 school busses running every

morning to arrive at school by 7:45 and

leaving school in the afternoon at 16:40.

Some buses still have spaces, so if you are

interested in using the bus, see the map here

showing all of the routes and contact Mirzat

Osmonova, Head of Administration,

mosmonova@bis.kg for more information.

The bus costs 100 Som per journey, with a discount if paying for the full term.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday 23rd September: Asia Day – Open Day

Wednesday 18th October: Individual Parent-Teacher Meetings

Friday 20th October: UN Day at school

23-27 October: Half Term Break

Tuesday 31st October: Fall Festival/Halloween

More information about all of these events will be sent to you later, or see http://www.bis.kg

LUNCH MENU

The lunch menu for 18-22 September is Menu A here: Menu

Form Teachers and our Chef are responsible for adjusting this menu to avoid any foods your child cannot eat,

according to the information provided to us by you.

KEEP IN TOUCH

If you have anything you want to discuss or suggestions for the school, please contact your Form Teacher and they

will either answer directly or pass the message on to the right person. Messages can be sent in English or Russian, or

in your own language. If you do not know the correct email address for the person you want to write to, please write

to info@bis.kg and our Reception will forward your email to the right person.

mmn

PRESCHOOL 1

This week in preschool 1 we explored the

‘me and my family’ theme. We enjoyed

singing “Finger Family” and “Five Little

Monkeys” song. We had various

discussions and activities on how children

learn and grow with the care of their

families and parents. We discovered more

about the family relationships through the

charming “Mama and Me” book, which

illustrated how baby animals learn and

grow with the care of their mothers.

Children loved the book so much that

they asked us to read it every day! We

also had fun creating sensory self-

portraits with play dough. Before we

began our play dough self-portrait, we

had such a great time making mirror observations of ourselves. It was rewarding to see the wonderful results of

their self-portraits! Ms. Meerim

Preschool Newsletter No: 2/ 2017-18 15 September

Preschool Discoveries

PRESCHOOL 2

Three years is an interesting and exciting age for children, when

children learn many new things for the first time. This week,

Preschool 2 learned to cut. This is a big milestone in the

development of fine motor development. It was difficult to do,

but what an expression on their faces when children finally began

to cut!

Ms. Goulnara

PRESCHOOL 3

Our second week of preschool has come and gone in the blink of an eye! The students are now more settled in our

class and separation anxiety is almost a thing of the past. During this week, we learned about our bodies. We

learned where all our body parts are and how we can use them to do things like jump, climb, hop, skip and roll. We

also practiced counting while singing a fun song about a fish and Indian boys that like to jump. We also learned

about the letter "a". We learned that the letter "a" is for acorn, apple, Avila, Alan, Aimar, Ayesha, Altai, Amanda,

and Ailin. We had a lot of fun using apples to make a beautiful letter "a" painting and we also made a letter "a"

painting with salt.

But the high point in our class this week was Ayesha's birthday. We had a lot of fun eating cake and singing happy

birthday to her. Congratulations with your birthday Ayesha! We hope you had a wonderful day.

Ms. Carmen