19th September 2024
Whole School Announcements
EY & PRI Building Access
30th September, Monday – 4th October, Friday
The road and access between the PRI & SEC buildings will be closed for the week of 30.09.24. Families needing to access the EY & PRI building should do so through the main entrance. Access to the SEC building is through the main cafeteria entrance.
MAP Testing G1-10
16th September, Monday – 11th October, Friday
Students in G1-10 will be sitting MAP testing in Maths, English (reading) and English (language). You can read more about MAP Growth in this FAQs for parents:
Primary Student Pick Up After School and After Clubs
Primary Students are not allowed to be unattended after school. Children who are not picked up on time will be sent to After School Care directly. Please be aware that a late pick up fee will apply for students picked up later than 15:15 (G1+G2) and 15:30 (G3+G4). For late pick ups after clubs at 16:40, a one-off after school care fee of 25 € will be charged.
Bridge Day: School Closed for Primary & Secondary Students
4th October, Friday
Due to the public holiday on Thursday, 3rd October, a training for teachers will be held on 4th October and school will be closed for the students.
Autumn Holiday Camps by Outdoor Kids
14.10.-18.10.2024
Gymnastics Camp and Sport Camp (age 5-10)
21.10.-25.10.2024
Football Camp and Girls Do Sports Camp (age 5-10)
New Head Parents Team 2024/2025
New Password for Parent Zone on MSF Website
11th October, Friday
From the autumn break, the password to access the Parent Zone will be updated. inspiration20 will no longer be valid from Friday 11th October. The new password will be announced in the Bulletin before the break, on Thursday, 10th October.
Access to Campus with Personal Parent ID Card: Cards Available as of October
We are happy to announce the launch of our Parent ID Cards as of the academic year 2024/2025. The personal Parent ID Card enables you to open the door to the Primary and Secondary building during the school opening hours from 08:00 – 17:30 and replaces the visitor badge as well as the signing in and out at our reception desk.
More information and ID card registration here
Car Park Use
Parents are requested to only use the unmarked parking spaces when parking across the street. Please do not park in the marked Taxi Bus parking spaces, and the MSF Staff parking spots as these are assigned parking spaces.
Regarding MSF
School Website: www.m-school.de
Login for the Parent Zone (password: inspiration20)
School Calendar 2023-2025: the school calendar is available on our website.
Managebac Guide: for some tips on how to use Managebac please click here.
ManageBac Login: Attendance System and Messages to Parents
Parent & Student Handbook: General Handbook / EY Handbook / PRI Handbook / SEC Handbook
School Forms: https://m-school.de/community/parent-zone/msf-forms-handbook/
Update your contacts: If you have changed any of your contact details (email / mobile number/home address/employer etc.), please let us know so that all our databases can be accurately updated. https://forms.gle/9tbgMt988KT8wNnq7
Other information
Information from the nurse
We can all help control the spread of infectious diseases through early recognition and action. A sick student could contaminate staff and students, and this is particularly dangerous for our immuno-compromised and pregnant community members. Therefore, it is the parents responsibility to keep a sick child or a child who appears to become sick at home. Please report all cases of infectious diseases directly to our school office, as this will help us to monitor conditions and prevent the spread of illnesses. Any student suspected of having an infectious disease must be seen by a doctor, as only the doctor can properly diagnose illnesses. A list of the most common notifiable diseases and more information about them can be found here.
As a quick guide, you should not send your child to school if any of the following symptoms are present:
Temperature above 38°C
Acute cold, sore throat or persistent cough
Vomiting, nausea or severe abdominal pain
Diarrhoea
Red inflamed or discharging eyes
Suspected and untreated head lice
Acute skin rashes or eruptions
Other symptoms of acute illness
Please remember, your child should be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school after illness. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Infectious Diseases: Please see this useful website about infectious diseases. You can download the information in other languages as well.
Notification of Head Lice:. Please find detailed information from our nurse about the right treatment here.
Tick information: With the beginning of spring, ticks become active. Please find detailed information here.
Home Language Support UPDATE: we are happy to inform you that we have an opportunity to support the following home languages: Turkish, Ukrainian, French, Hindi, Russian reading & handwriting (Primary) and literature (Secondary). Thank you to those parents who have offered their support. Please fill in the form so that we can get the ball rolling with this grassroots project. Please note, these classes are aimed at home language students, they are not currently aimed at students new to the language. See more: expression of interest form
Car Pooling: If you are interested in car pooling, you can connect with each other via an interactive map. Add your location, if interested. This is to avoid the data protection restrictions. Please have a look at this guide.
STAY UPDATED:
Last week, Ms Orgler and I attended a workshop in Hamburg centred on the mental health of children aged 0-10. The workshop presenters highlighted once again the importance of mental well-being in the early years, as well as the critical role that families and communities play in fostering healthy development.
At MSF, we aim to provide holistic support to children and families, fostering resilience and addressing potential stressors early on. We believe that a connected community is essential for creating a safe, nurturing space where children can thrive, and we are committed to working together to ensure that every child feels supported, both at home and at school.
Our experienced team of teachers and our Early Years SOS Team play an important role and parents are encouraged to reach out if they need support. On the other hand, we will be offering various opportunities for parents to come together to discuss relevant topics and concerns. To plan ahead and make sure we address the current needs of our families, please take one minute to fill out the survey below.
In October, the two of us will kick off these parent workshops by offering a parent round table where we share more in depth information about the mental health workshop, trends in mental health of children 0-10, and strategies to support children become resilient and confident individuals. Please indicate in the parent survey below if you are interested in attending.
School Event Calendar – please check it regularly for details about announced events and dates.
Toddle & Storypark
Teachers will soon send an update of what children are learning throughout the units of inquiry via Toddle. Please ensure you download the app on your phone and allow the notification to see updates.
Parent Representative Meetings
First Meeting, 25th September, Wednesday, 08:45-10:00, Cafeteria
Here, the EY Parent Representatives can meet each other, start with a focus on the MSF values, bring forward parental items and, for the final 30 minutes, will be able to meet Jutta Petznick, our MSF Head Representative for 2024/25.
REMINDER: Registration for the Holiday Programme 4th October & 14th-25th October
Until 27th September, Friday
Please register your child(ren) for the upcoming holiday programme if needed. We require some lead time for planning, including food orders and staff scheduling.
Frogs & Ladybirds
Turtles & Butterflies
Transition
Construction
30th September, Monday – 04th October, Friday
During this week, the pathway between the EY/Primary and the Secondary building will be blocked. Please use the main entrance during drop off and pick up times only.
Early Years Team Meetings – Early Closure @ 15:30
Team meetings until the end of the year: 30th September, 28th October, 25th November & 16th December, Mondays
Please see the overview including the dates when MSF closes early due to internal events, e.g. staff meetings or staff functions.
ACTION REQUIRED: 2024/25 Parent Workshops & Round Tables Survey
Deadline 04th October, Friday
Please fill out this questionnaire in order to plan our Parent Workshops & Round Table for 2024/25. Thank you!
At MSF your teachers are also Life-Long Learners, modelling to the students what we expect from them. Each year, all staff go through a Professional Development process of setting goals and identifying opportunities to grow as an educator. This week a number of our team took part in a special training focused on the support of students with specific learning challenges. At the weekend about a quarter of the Primary team are travelling to Berlin to take part in the annual AGIS (Association of German International Schools) educator conference, and a number of these are running workshops for other teachers. In October, over the long weekend, we will all work with an expert on leveraging AI as a tool for teaching and learning and in November we have three workshop leaders from the IB coming to work with all our teachers to enhance our assessments and methods of feedback. In the meantime we are all participating in regular training to use our new Toddle software. We are truly a community of learners.
School Event Calendar – please check it regularly for details about announced events and dates.
Grade 4 Bicycle Training & Car Park Use
18th, 19th and 20th September 2024
The car park will be closed from 8.45am until 12.15pm on the below dates, please do not park there if you need to stay at school for any reason. The space will be used by the police to make a practice bike course.
Parent Representatives First Meeting
2nd October, Wednesday, 08:30-9:30, Cafeteria
All new reps should attend the first Parent Rep meeting of the new academic year if possible.
Class Parent Reps 2024/25
A huge thank you to all those who have volunteered to act as a parent representative in their child’s class. Please see
the list of class reps below:
Parent Teacher Conferences
4th November, Monday – 8th November, Friday / German: 11th – 14th November
This year Parent-Teacher Conferences are planned from 4th Nov. German Parent Teacher Conferences are the following week.
Responsible Digital Citizenship
At MSF we use technology to enhance the learning experience. We expect all our community members to be Responsible Digital Citizens. As technology is used to enhance the learning process at MSF, we ask that all families complete the form with their children for this school year.
After School Care
If your child is registered for ASC, please read this letter.
Outdoor Play
During summer the weather can be unpredictable. Please make sure your child has a rainproof jacket as students will play outside unless the rain is very heavy. Please also provide your child with a sun hat.
Tutoring
If you are looking for a tutor for your child please complete the form.
Please note that tutors are subject to availability, it is not guaranteed that we will be able to find someone to assist your child.
Toddle (ManageBac no longer in use)
Please get connected to Toddle as we are using this for messaging, attendance, sharing student work and reporting and if you are facing difficulties and need Family Invite Code or have any questions, please contact Ms Karmacharya in the Primary office. Please note if there is a change in parent email addresses this might be a reason an invite email hasn’t been received, please inform us and kindly check your spam folders. We have noticed families with only one email address connected for a student, this means that email address will only be getting communications from Toddle. We highly recommend both parents with their respective email accounts to get connected on Toddle.
Toddle Help Videos
These videos contain a comprehensive overview of all the functionality of Toddle, which really is amazing. As the school is using Toddle for the first time this year, we will initially focus mainly on the attendance and messaging functionality and will roll out the other content over the course of the year.
Attendance on the app for families
Attendance on the web for families
Please complete: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Form
Important Links and Forms
Primary Students Leave of Absence form
School Event Calendar – please check it regularly for details about announced events and dates.
Whole Secondary School
SEC Parent Rep Meeting
26th September, Thursday, 8:40-9:40, Cafeteria
Message from the Secondary Athletic Director Mr Kerr
The Secondary School Autumn sports season runs from the week beginning Monday, 9th September until the week ending Friday, 22nd November 2024.
Season Information Draft Fixtures List
Maths Competitions 2024 – 2025
There are several maths competitions offered to MSF Secondary students throughout the year. Students do not need to be a part of the Competitive Math Club in order to participate in a maths competition. A full schedule of competitions for this academic year can be found HERE.
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Middle School (Grade 6 – 8)
Message from the ALN Coordinator Ms Armaou
Highlighting is a common study technique that all students are familiar with. You have likely done it yourself at some point, or you will have seen your classmates do it. But just how effective is it? What are its specific benefits? And how do you do it properly? In the article, we are going to answer all those questions.
The Highlighting Method: A guide to marking what is important – E Student
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High School (Grade 9 – 12)
Grade 9: Duke of Edinburgh Launch
20th September, Friday
Students will start by participating in a service project in cooperation with Caritas in the city centre. They will then return to the school where they will continue exploring various aspects of the program, including cooking their own meal and sleeping in tents. We are greatly looking forward to the event and seeing the progress that will be made in working towards the award.
Grade 11 CAS Trip to Prague
23rd September, Monday – 27th September, Friday
We are very excited to announce that MSF are taking Grade 11 students on an experiential learning CAS trip to Prague, Czech Republic! Sample Itinerary
G11 and 12 CAS Maggie appeal
Uni Guidance Night for Grade 10, 11 and 12
25th September, Wednesday, 17:00-18:30, Secondary Commons
Grade 12 : IB late work guidelines with IA calendar on the last slide
Academic Integrity: It is the cornerstone of our education, guiding us not only within the school but in all our endeavours.
