Some words on future planning for reform at the European Schools in Brussels

By Francesca Tudini, APEEE President

Dear parents,

There are rumours going around about a decision taken by the Secretariat-General of the European Schools on a division of sections in the different European schools in Brussels.

We would like to reassure you that no such decision has been adopted. It is however true that the Secretary-General has presented two possible scenarios to the Groupe de Suivi (the informal stakeholder forum of the EE), grouping some sections of the upper secondary cycle in specific given schools.

It is important to say that the Secretary-General is not empowered to take such a decision. This falls into the responsibility of the Board of Governors. The two scenarios are for the time being only an academic exercise which, in the intention of the Secretary-General, is aimed at demonstrating that grouping of sections might lead to a better use of spaces in the current four schools.

Our APEEE participated in the first meeting of the Groupe de Suivi on the matter and expressed opposition to any initiative which is not based on a serious impact assessment taking into consideration all possible variables, including the planned 5th school and the need to profoundly address the challenge of overcrowding.

The conclusion adopted by the Groupe de Suivi was the following: all stakeholders will contribute with inputs and ideas for the impact assessment study. The Secretary-General will ask the Board of Governors for a budget to undertake the study. The decision will not be taken before December.

If the budget is approved, the study should be launched in 2018.

APEEE will be following the issue closely and will report regularly to its constituency. We consider that it is still premature for a wide consultation among parents. We are far from having any concrete decision taken or even a concrete proposition taking form. However, we remain vigilant.

How to stay up to date?

By Andreas Rogal, Communication Working Group coordinator

As the APEEE information and communication team, we are striving to serve you in the most effective and efficient manner. The person at the forefront of this service, in terms of technical oversight and analysis at the very least, is our APEEE staff's Aliocha Sioen. He has prepared this little memo to help with orientation:

1. Check our website regularly

Every information in regards to the whole (or a big part of) the school community or our services is posted there.

WWW.WOLUWEPARENTS.ORG

2. We're on social media!

All the articles posted on the website are linked on our social media accounts. Be sure to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter so you don't miss anything! Please note that we do not use these platforms for support, so please contact the adequate service directly by email.

3. Receive email updates

We also offer you the possibility to receive a digest of what's been posted on our website when there is new content.
To receive it: fill in your email into the Stay up to date field you'll find at the bottom of every page of our website and you'll be guided through the rest of the registration process.
You can cancel your subscription at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link found in these emails.

News from the Canteen

By Bettina Schmidbauer-Mogensen, Canteen Working Group coordinator

In the new school year, we will try to introduce more pedagogical activities around food. A project to install a herbal and vegetable garden is in discussion.

The students organised a veggie week in May. It was a first attempt and not many embraced the new approach easily. We realised that there is room for improvement and the canteen is looking to find good vegetarian dishes that please many. It is also a learning curve for our children. Parents should help them to understand that we try to provide for more earth conscious food and that this means trying out new tastes and shapes of food. As of September, one veggie day per week will be introduced as a pilot project. We hope you support this initiative.

Paul, our chef de cuisine, has written a passionate article about his work which you can read below.

A la découverte de la cantine de l'APEEE

par Paul Orlovski, Chef de cuisine

Pourquoi?

Parce que la cuisine est ma passion, parce que je suis papa, parce que j’aime les enfants et les gens, parce que j’aime ma planète, parce que j’aime cette cantine dans laquelle j’y travaille tous les jours accompagné d’une équipe fantastique !

Mais aussi parce que je déteste la mal bouffe, la politique des société agroalimentaires, tous ces produits chimiques qui imbibent notre alimentation quotidienne, ces fruits et ces légumes pulvérisés jusqu’à 50 fois de poisons afin de les rendre appétissants et j’en passe…

Voici donc cette cantine dans laquelle vos enfants viennent se rassasier.

Paul Orlovski 49 ans papa d'Adam 10 ans et Kenza 7 ans et aussi chef de cuisine de la cantine de l'école européenne depuis 2011

Présentation de votre cantine

Ou comment vous expliquer en quelques lignes comment fonctionne la cantine, quels sont ses valeurs, ses objectifs, ses ambitions, ses rêves, nos attentes de votre part !

Je me permets de vite en faire le tour afin j’espère de vous convaincre du travail effectué tous les jours pour nourrir et accompagner au mieux les 2400 enfants issus de plus de 9 nationalités différentes et qui ont entre 4 ans et 18 ans !

1. La cuisine

Notre cuisine est simple et gourmande et préparée par nos soins, nous y mettons tout notre savoir-faire et notre envie de bien faire ! Notre but est aussi instructif… manger de la vraie nourriture préparée par de vrais cuisiniers !

  • Savez-vous que nous nettoyons, parons, découpons toutes les viandes et les poissons qui sont servi ?
  • Savez-vous que les Nuggets de poulet et Fish sticks sont coupés, panés et frit par notre équipe ?
  • Savez-vous que vos enfants mangent des pâtes fraîches et des raviolis que nous fabriquons ? http://woluweparents.org/2017/01/10/lundi-cetait-raviolis/
  • Savez-vous que 90% de nos préparations sont faites "maison" ? http://woluweparents.org/2016/12/02/coulisses-de-cuisine/

2. Nos valeurs

  1. La bienveillance : En effet on est là pour nourrir au mieux les enfants. De la sélection des produits à la création des recettes tout est fait en pensant à eux !
  2. La qualité : Pas de bonne cuisine sans bons ingrédients. Du coup, on s'est mis en quête, on a fouillé les mers, gratté les terreaux, reniflé les prés, taper sur le cul des vaches pour ne garder que le meilleur et vous envoyer des produits triés sur le volet.
  3. L'équilibre : on prépare toutes les recettes afin d'être certains qu'elles vont chatouiller le palais tout en apportant de quoi nourrir l'organisme : 1 part de protéines + 1 part de glucides + beaucoup de fruits + beaucoup de légumes.
  4. La découverte : Notre planète regorge de trésors alimentaires et les peuples ont toujours su les cuisiner à cause de leurs besoins et grâce à leur curiosité. Il en va de même chez nous ! Nous voulons faire découvrir aux enfants la diversité des produits qui nous sont proposés.

3. Nos objectifs

Nourrir au mieux vos enfants tout en respectant des menus équilibrés et de saisons contenant le plus possible de produits sains et naturels issus d'une agriculture et de l'élevage écologique.

Vous prouvez, à vous chers parents, que vos enfants sont notre priorité et que nous prenons bien soins d'eux au travers d'une alimentation saine et savoureuse.

4. Nos ambitions

Continuer sur le chemin que nous avons emprunté et vous le faire découvrir, vous emmenez avec nous, chers parents, afin d'accompagner vos enfants et leurs faire comprendre que les bons produits bien cuisinés sont essentiels pour avoir une bonne santé et aussi préservé la santé de notre planète.

5. Nos rêves

Dans un monde qui tend à déshumaniser, perturber, et désincarner les relations entre les gens et où le profit est plus important que l'humain, nous sommes convaincus que l'alimentation est probablement l'un des derniers remparts :

  • Au respect des traditions humaines.
  • A la convivialité et au lien.
  • Au rapprochement des gens et des familles.

Notre rêve est d'y arriver !

6. Nos attentes de votre part

Les enfants n’acquièrent pas leurs propres habitudes alimentaires du jour au lendemain seuls, ils ont besoin d’un exemple à suivre. C’est donc avec vous que nous voulons avancer. Nous avons besoins de vous, nous avons besoins de savoir que vous comprenez le chemin dans lequel la cantine s'est dirigée. Trop souvent les critiques fustigent de toute part et nous brisent quand votre enfant n'a pas mangé parce qu'il n'a pas trouvé cela bon. Je vous demande de bien faire la différence entre un "beurk c'était dégueulasse aujourd'hui à la cantine" et simplement sur le fait que le plat n'était pas au goût de votre enfant. Je peux vous assurer que, tous les jours, nous mettons toute notre énergie et tout notre savoir-faire en œuvre pour proposer une cuisine goûteuse et saine aux 2400 bambins, enfants, grands enfants et adolescents qui fréquente notre (votre) cantine !

Il n'y a pas de bonne cuisine si au départ elle n'est pas faite par amitié pour celui ou celle à qui elle est destinée.
- Paul Bocuse

Update - Welcome Service

By Rose Forrest, APEEE Board coordinator for a new Welcome Service

A survey, conducted between 7 April and 30 May, consulted with new parents and students in both the Primary and Secondary school. Views were sought on the proposed development and shape of a welcome service run by volunteers in our school.

We received strong messages of support to establish a service and identifying key areas for development, namely:

These messages have been discussed with the APEEE Board and with School management. The decision has been taken to establish a Welcome Service to support new families, and we look forward to working together in partnership with the school. This coming school year of 2017/2018 the service will start modestly, but with a view to development.

The school management supported the Survey and has been involved from the outset, knowing what we are doing and sharing their views on proposals we have. The school has confirmed its commitment to new families and that they will support this service. As a result, the school has scheduled an information day for new parents, the Welcome Event, on 5th September 2017. It will have a greater focus on student involvement. The orientation tours for new students will have greater resonance as they will include students from the school.

Welcome Service Initiatives

Call for your support - Please Volunteer

For the Welcome Service to effectively support all new families in all language sections we need parent and student volunteers from within the school.

Please take a moment to consider if you can possibly spare an hour of your time over the next academic year to support a new family in your section in the ways set out above.

We look forward to hearing from you !

Please email me if you are interested in volunteering roseforrest@eircom.net

Summary 2017/2018

Looking back on Primary 2016/17

By Bettina Schmidbauer-Mogensen, coordinator Primary and Maternelle Pedagogical (CEP/M)

This school year we had ups and downs. Apart from the success of keeping the snow classes at our school, we still face some challenges. The infrastructure of the building is 40 years old and in need of renovation. It is a constant battle with the Régie des Bâtiments of Bruxelles-Capitale, already laden with extra costs resulting from the new security situation: Our school is to get an expensive new perimeter fence to level up with the other European schools in Brussels. That leaves little margin for renovating the toilets, which are in a bad state despite constant cleaning. We keep discussing the issue, however, in the hope that, together with school management, we will find a creative solution to improve the toilets.

This school year also saw the introduction of Office365. A massive change for many. Difficult for some, especially in the early days. Most of us made peace with the system. Many even see the good things. The most pressing question remaining, however, is how our data is protected, and the APEEE is following the developments very closely. In any case, for the time being Office365 has not yet arrived at Secondary.

The teacher replacement situation seems to have improved but it is still important to be informed in time about longer absences. As you may know, the names of the new teachers for September were published by the school on 3 July. Have a look on the Office365 parents’ site.

Brexit - what will it mean for us?

By Andreas Rogal, coordinator APEEE Brexit task force

As you most probably will have read, the official Brexit negotiation process between the EU and the UK began last month. The UK government accepted the EU’s proposal on the structure and sequencing of the talks, namely that it will be these three priorities that will be negotiated first:

The UK government published its proposals for the first point on 26 June, while the EU had already published its on 12 June. (All EU position papers and relevant publications can be found here. The UK’s can be found here.) And it is safe to say that there are serious discrepancies between the two positions which will very likely make for an animated negotiation round on 17 July.

While the citizens’ rights issue will impact a fair few parents, the issue that will have an impact on the whole school community is the consequences of Brexit for the financing of the EE system.

As has been pointed out by the APEEE as well as InterParents on numerous occasions, the financing crisis - in particular concerning the provision of English-speaking teachers on all levels and in all subjects - has been with us for several years already, ever since the UK government decided to only allocate seconded teachers on the basis of UK national pupil numbers. With Brexit, the crisis could turn into an all-out catastrophy, but, at the same time, the prospect of complete system failure is a good incentive for reform.

Just like the European Commission, the various bodies of the EE system have founded their, albeit perhaps slightly less influential, task forces on Brexit. The Office of the Secretary General of the European School (OSGES) held the first meeting of its task force in May. Parents are represented in this group by the President of Interparents (IP) Sarah Conyers-Barber, and its Vice-President Helen Valentine. The OSGES task force is, at least initially, primarily concerned with the legal questions arising from Brexit (which are complex, as membership in the EE system is separate from membership of the EU, although they are linked) and with compiling a risk register, focusing on financing issues (mainly staffing).

InterParents has also created a Brexit task force, with me, as one of your APEEE’s IP representatives present in a group of five APEEE reps, including, of course, the IP President and Vice-president. We had a preparatory meeting before the OSGES task force meeting and a debriefing afterwards, both on Skype. Your APEEE also has a task force, which I am coordinating.

Work has just begun but our focus is, at it has been for some time, on the staffing issue.

We believe that without a reform - beyond the one already undertaken last year - of the conditions for locally hired teachers, making their employment conditions competitive and sustainable, the crisis will not be solved, whether the UK remains in the EE system despite Brexit or not.

It is this position that we have also been communicating to the relevant administrators in the European Commission and legislators in the European Parliament, and will continue to do so.

Education Support Task Force - Update

By Manuela Caramujo, APEEE Board coordinator Education Support Task Force

A survey on education support was sent to all parents in March. Around 30% of the school population answered. We would like to thank the parents who took the time to give us their feedback on this important matter.

After analysing the results of the survey (we will inform you about this, as promised, as soon as possible) and because of some cases that were recently brought to the attention of APEEE, we have realised the importance of informing parents about the basic documents on the provision of Education Support in European Schools.

Therefore, the APEEE is organizing an Info-evening on Education Support on the 20th November 2017. A registration form will be sent to families by the end of September.

Obituary

By Pernilla Sjölin, coordinator Secondary Pedagogical Working Group (CES)

Marie Wikström, much beloved maths and integrated science teacher in Swedish secondary, has passed away after battling with a serious illness for some time. With her mild manners and pedagogical skills, she was an example as a teacher, also showing great care for the children she was teaching. She will be deeply missed. Our thoughts go to her two daughters.