New headmaster

Board of Governors tries to fix the endemic teacher shortages

As we all know there is a teacher shortage. This has come about because Member states are not always fulfilling their obligation to send teachers and secondly because of the way the system is structured, Member states that do not have a 'section' yet, are not required to send any teachers. The UK has protested about this situation and requested the Board of Governors to come up with a fair way of allocating costs so that member states such as the UK, that send proportionally more teachers than they have pupils in the system, are financially compensated by member states that either do not meet their obligations, or are not required to send teachers. Until an agreement is reached the UK has stated it will not send any replacement teachers. As according to the first calculation by the Secretary General's office, the UK is already sending 74 more teachers than it should under a strict proportionality model, this means the schools face a very damaging withdrawal of Anglophone teachers. Whilst some can be replaced with temporary teachers recruited on local contracts, other positions are very difficult to fill, especially maths and science roles. We have already experienced critical Anglophone teacher shortages as a result at Woluwe and as more UK teachers who have come to the end of their contracts are not replaced, the situation will get worse.

The Board of Governors of the European schools is trying to solve this problem via a 'cost sharing' formula, whereby member states that do not contribute their share of teachers are instead required to send a financial contribution. This money is then used to pay the full costs of replacement teachers sent, e.g. from the UK. The key point here is that when the UK sends a teacher, it pays the teacher's base salary in the UK, hence the UK's reluctance to send more teachers than its proportion of pupils. But under the cost sharing formula, as the UK gets 100% compensated for any teachers it sends, there is no barrier to sending teachers to fill these positions.

In principal the idea of 'cost sharing' teacher positions is excellent. There are however 2 problems that need to be overcome. Firstly the Member states need to agree a formula for how this will work. At present there is no agreement on the calculation methodology of how many teachers each member state should send. Secondly there needs to be enough money in the cost sharing budget to make a real impact on the number of unfilled teaching positions. The current proposal for a cost sharing budget of €400,000 in 2015, rising to €2 million in 2019, is not enough to cover more than just a fraction of the missing UK positions, let alone those of other member states. According to the first cost sharing calculation there are 235 teaching positions in excess of the obligations of member states. All of these are vulnerable to being withdrawn and in the case of the UK, it has already announced it will do so.

Another way this problem could be addressed is by changing the local hire contracts that are used to for staff that are recruited in the local market to replace teachers who are not sent by member states. These contracts are for one year duration only and not on sufficiently competitive terms to be attractive to recruit teachers from abroad, or to recruit 'in demand' positions such as maths and science in the local market. The Secretary General of the Schools System, Kari Kivinen, is trying to implement a new more attractive local hire contract, but so far has not managed to get the agreement of all parties, so the issue is blocked.

Seminar: children and families & the internet – how to cope?

The final seminar in this series on parenting will take place on Monday, April 28, 2014, in the Salle Polyvalente at 7.30 p.m.

This seminar will be animated by Ms Audrey Benoit who has been engaging and driving digital transformations within various organizations since 1999, with a true passion for the Internet and New Technologies. She practices and shares these passions today as Web & Social Director at Mobistar. In her other life (a.k.a non-work life) she is the happy Digital mum of two digital natives, Alix & Louis, for whom a world without internet or connected devices is Science Fiction".

Headlines for the presentation is as follows

• Audrey & daily challenges as a mother & aunt with teens /Kids always online
• digital natives (who they are what they expect)
• how it affects their daily life
• how can we make the most of it / the opportunities
• the risks - how to mitigate (tools, house controls)
• the ultimate control solution - communication & knowing the Good/Bad

Please come and feel free to spread the word; admission is free (costs are covered by APEEE) and advance registration is not necessary; you can just show up. However, it would facilitate parent volunteers in their preparation of the venue if you could drop a line to confirm your presence by email to Brenda.maher@ec.europa.eu.

These seminars are targeted at parents specifically; children or teenagers will not be admitted.

Estonian section to be created

The Estonian government has requested to start its own section, as it now meets the necessary criteria. This would entail a maternelle level class or classes being created that will then grow into a full section as these pupils progress to Primary 1 and onwards. The Board of Governors agreed to this at its meeting in April. No decision has yet been taken about where the section will be located. Three options were discussed; at Woluwe, starting in September 2014, at Laeken in September 2014 or at the most suitable site, as of September 2015. The Estonian government have asked for the section to be opened at Woluwe. Before deciding the Board of Governor members felt they needed more information about the impact this would have this would have on the Brussels schools, including Woluwe. The issue will now be discussed at the December Board of Governors meeting, once this further information has been provided by the Secretary General.

Classes de neiges 2014

Valmeinier 2014

The ski resort of Valmenier has seen again the arrival of almost the complete extent of 5th sections from the European primary school (+/- 250 kids ??).
Duration of ‘classe de neige’ was 9 days (incl. 2 days for travelling) and concerning the organisation:

• notification of ‘classe de neige’ was done well in advance
• documentation clear enough and also send well in advance.
• costs: clear indication of costs was given; and payment divided into 3 installments.
• transportation was well organised and travel was safe until destination.
  • split of the group to ensure enough fluidity in the transport from Brussels to the resort and at the check-in at the hotel
  • children and teachers/supervisors all wearing fluo-vests during the period travelling ( bus/train)
• Safety in Valmeinier, especially in the hotel, is satisfactory.

Objectives of ‘classe de Neige’

Whilst being pedagogical, the main objective is of course not to acquire major and fundamental knowledge. The event should allow the confrontation of the change from the familiar daily classroom work to the real life conditions, which is more complex.

School trips, generally allow to work differently and under a different daily organization and it enables to trigger student’s curiosity. Some sections had a complete booklet to support the daily work.

The other objectives of the classe de neige are social and personal:

• learn to live without parental presence and authority
• adopt a certain rigor, self discipline etc...
• adapt within a completely different environment
• adapt to a different culture and social background

Have we met the objectives this year (and previous years)?

Listening at some kids who would have preferred to stay there longer, we would tend to say that the social aspects objectives were met.

Nevertheless... and more seriously:

• Objectives could be better notified to the parents through the brochure.
• Some minor elements need follow-up
  1. Agenda of the students not going and staying at school.
  2. Organisation of luggage return in the school parking.
  3. General overview and control of cost of the trip (hotel/ski-pass/excursions/transport etc)

Science Symposium Varese 30 March – 2 April 2014

Sport activities in our school

Safety and security update

It is now over a year since the Gas leak at the school revealed serious shortcomings in the safety and security environment, and a little over 6 months since the external safety audit was completed. Ensuring the school environment is made safe and secure for the pupils and teachers has over this period become a top priority for everyone, including the APEEE, The Secretary General, the School management and the Commission. An interim security officer has been hired for the school whilst a permanent solution is found. The safety officer in conjunction with the school management and the Health & Safety committee have been working to close the gaps identified in the safety audit report. Several fire drills have taken place, with varying degrees of advanced warning. As a result the pupils and teachers are becoming much more familiar with the evacuation process and further areas for improvement are being discovered. For example various choke points have been identified in the last exercise and as a result, the exit routes have been rescheduled to ensure that bottlenecks do not occur.

The next stage of work is to undertake a complete review of all the key risks in the school environment, and ensure that measures are in place to minimise the chance of any occuring. Once this framework is established the school will undertake regular audits to check it remains on top of managing these risks.

At the supervisory level, the Board of Governors has agreed to appoint a head of Safety an security for the entire European school system, which is a great step towards a professionally managed safety and security approach. The individual performing this role will be based at the Woluwe school. This is good news, as the addition of a highly trained security professional in our school can only be good for the security of pupils, teachers and parents.

European Parliament debates crisis in European Schools

On 12 February, the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education held an exchange of views with experts on the European Schools system.
APPEEE Woluwe would like to congratulate the new chair of Interparents (http://www.interparents.eu) Sarah Conyers-Barber for her intervention at the hearing and take this opportunity to thank the outgoing chair of Interparents Ana Gorey for all her dedication and hard work over the years and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

For parents that have the time it is worth watching the (Wednesday 12 February 2014) debate, (which can be downloaded at - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/search?committee=CULT if you have a Mac download VLC to play).

A reasonable article on the exchange can also be found at http://www.gudee.eu/documents/educeur6.pdf. The minutes highlighted that the “exchange of views had been requested by the Committee to provide an overview on the European Schools system. The background to the hearing was the continuing - governance and financing problems with the system, the shortage of EN mother-tongue teachers, and the current plans to reform the secondary curriculum.

Members taking the floor (especially, Mr Cavada and Mrs Honeyball, rapporteurs for the Committee's 2011 and 2005 reports on the system respectively) expressed their disappointment at the caution of the Member States' approach to what might have been a pedagogical example with much wider educational relevance.”.

News from the APEEE Board 2014

You, parents, elected your representatives at the Board during the General Assembly in January.

The New Board is fully at work. You can find its composition and the organisation of the working groups on our website.

The Working groups are established, are at work, and have presented their objectives:

Pedagogical for Secondary working group (CEES)

• Active engagement with the school and other stakeholders on question of teacher provision; namely, teacher recruitment, particularly in context of cost-sharing, ensuring 180 days' education and replacement of lost teaching hours;
• Push for improved transparency and achievement of results at all levels, including:
  • B tests in middle secondary, BAC in S7, and university and careers outcomes
  • Monitor developments and influence the debate on the secondary reform

Pedagogical for Maternelle and Primary working group (CEP&M)

• Monitor, analyse and report (highlighting risks and room for action) on the state of play concerning SEN, L2 teaching, other major pedagogical concerns arising during the school-year.
• Put forward proposal to the School for a systemic cooperation with scientific entities linked to EU School Net; ensure a follow up of the revision of EU Hours enhancing the cooperation with the EU institutions.
• In synergy with the HSSG Group and sub-groups, monitor well-being, social and behavioural problems, notably on playground and common spaces, as well as cyber-security; ensure a positive outcome on space allocations and restructuring by the school (capitalising on the bus parking).
• Cooperate with the School on school-trip planning (for the Primaries), IT development (mainstreaming in ordinary pedagogical programmes).

Interparents working group

• Monitor the decision-making process in the system of the European Schools;
• Convey our school’s concerns to Interparents (such as overcrowding, teacher provision, implementation on any decision taken by the Board of Governors etc.);
• Gather information from parents in other schools of the system in order to allow our association to take better informed decisions.

Canteen working group

• Continue to improve food quality.
• Continue to improve the quality of the service.
• Noise reduction
• Improve attractivenss of canteen. Making eating exciting such a creating “wish week”.
• Cooperate with other schools on the special meals (allergies etc)
• Customer feedback: create likes and dislikes program.
• Maintain value for money without lowering the quality
• Improve waiting times in the cafeteria.

Transport working group

• Solving the non-surveillance of students walking via the normal pavements (trottoirs).
• Follow up of potential claims raised across the year as well as specific request for new buses stops.
• Follow-up of request to build additional infrastructures on the parking area.

Extra-curricular activities working group

• Development of policies on acceptance of new courses and on range and of courses on offer.
• Development of a sports programme within the school.
• Improvement of the quality and safety of courses on offer.

Health & Security working group

• Health
  The APEEE objective in this area is to ensure that effective policies are in place concerning substance abuse, self-harming, eating disorders and bullying;
• Security
  The APEEE priority topics are perimeter security, access control and vandalism, this latter point being linked to appropriate levels of supervision within the school;
• Safety
  The APEEE will focus on implementation of the safety audit recommendations, risk assessment & mitigation, evacuation procedures and unauthorised absences.

IT working group

• New billing system
  The APEEE is planning to install a new integrated billing system that will enable an invoice for each family to be drawn up each term. The invoice will include extra-curricular activities, canteen, transport and APEEE subscription fee. The new system will also allow parents to check the status of their account balance in their APEEE Web private secured zone. This should include invoices, credit notes and payments. It should also include the ability to book and change services through the secured zone (i.e. book a canteen meal for a Wednesday afternoon or put child into surveillance or change bus etc
• SMS alert
  The APEEE is installing an SMS alert system to allow the extra-curricular team to alert parents by SMS whose children have not come to their activities.
• Canteen feedback
  The APEEE is planning to create a system of feedback where canteen users can give their opinions on the food served in the canteen.

Info from the Canteen