Dear Parents,

We hope you are having a well-earned summer break with your families. We have put together a short NewsFlash with some general news items and reports on a few of the programmes and events that took place at Uccle before our year was interrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19.

We invite you to read more about: the discontinuation of our bilingual L2 classes from September 2020, the student committee’s Solar Panels Project, Comics in Carnival, Maths Week, this year’s Francis Pirotta Creative Arts Prize, the well-received Europa InCanto Turandot Opera Project, our Octopus Swimmers, and more. We hope that these brief information items will bring you back some fond memories of the year which just concluded, although not everything went as expected.

Happy reading and happy holidays!

Kathryn Máthé
APEEE President

APEEE awards 6200 EUR to school-related projects

Following the APEEE's Spring Call for proposals, 9 projects were selected out of 24 received submissions to carry out projects which will benefit EEB1 pupils.  The winning projects will collectively receive 6200 EUR (co-)funding by the Parents' Association.

Here below the list of selected projects:

  • Citoyens du Monde
  • E-Teaching and Peer Training Pilot Project
  • Francis Pirotta Creative Arts Prize
  • Intelligent Waste Estimation System (IWES)
  • International Choir Competition St. Petersburg
  • Jardinons à l’École
  • Jeux d’Echecs à l’École
  • Opera
  • Values Project for S1

More detailed information on these projects will be published on the APEEE website in the Autumn.

The APEEE calls for the continuation of L2 Bilingual Classes

The school management plans to change the arrangements for L2 classes at EEB1 starting in September 2020 after a year-long pilot process. Bilingual classes will be phased out and all classes will be mixed ability. For L2 groups of a sufficient size, advanced learners will be selected to attend enrichment classes for some of their L2 periods each week. Though the APEEE does not oppose the creation of enrichment classes per se, we do not believe that this new arrangement should come at the expense of the well established bilingual groups - an approach which was the brainchild of L2 teachers and which has served students well at our school for over a decade. The APEEE has called on the school management to reconsider its decision on the organisation of L2 and to continue with bilingual classes, while offering enrichment to advanced regular foreign language learners.

EURÊKA: no date for reopening set yet, but we are keeping your lost items!

In the current uncertainty we do not yet know exactly if and how EURÊKA - the Lost & Found office - will be able to reopen.

If you are leaving the school and need to collect some things urgently, you can try to contact Stéphanie Depraetere, the Primary Secretary (+32 2 373 87 12, stephanie.depraetere@eursc.eu), to give you access to the EURÊKA room in the basement of the Erasmus building.

In any case, please be reassured that items marked with names are kept by EURÊKA for one year; items without names are kept for six months, but this duration will be extended.

41 Medals for the Swimming Team of the Brussels European Schools at EFSL (29.02-01.03.2020)

ESB Octopus, the swimming team of the four European Schools in Brussels won 41 medals, including 3 gold, in the finals of the short distance swimming competition of the European Forces Swimming League (EFSL) in Eindhoven. Congratulations to the 29 swimmers representing the four European Schools of Brussels  (names of the winners listed in the article).

 

Zero Tolerance For #Cyberbullying - Talk To Your Children!

The increase of internet use due to the COVID-19 outbreak brought an increased danger from cyberbullying. A very vile incident at EEB1 community at the end of April triggered the APEEE to remind parents of the need to stay vigilant. 10 Social Media Posting Rules Parents should Teach their Chlidren & 10 Ways for Teens to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly.

You may also be interested in our online conference “Staying Safe Online”, originally broadcast on 30 June 2020.

This video is password protected for the limited viewing of EEBI parents.  Please do not share beyond this community. Password: 9Q#.26^$

 

2nd Francis Pirotta Creative Art Prize (February 2020)

This year is the second year that EEB1 Uccle Nursery and Primary remembered with a creative art competition young Francis Pirotta, former student of the school, who left us so tragically in the spring of 2018. Classes in two categories (Cat.1. Mat-P1-P2, Cat.2. P3-P5) created flags under the theme “Flags for Nature” in a freely chosen technique. Each child in the winning classes received a T-shirt with their flag printed on it, to foster a team-like sense of belonging. This unique pedagogical project is co-financed at EEB1 by the APEEE.

Interview with CdE President and Vice-President about Green Solar Panels at EEB1

As it was recently announced by EEB1 Director Mr. Brian Goggins, our school turned greener this spring by starting to use solar panels on the top of some of its buildings. The project at EEB1 started by the initiative of the CdE (the Students’ Committee). We interviewed CdE President and Vice-president, Ilan Einstoss Pato and Magnus Sorensen-Taylor about the details of the project as well as about the role of the CdE within our school.

 

EEB1-Uccle Carnival for Nursery and Primary students (21.2.2020)

The last day before the February holidays every year is Carnival time for EEB1 Uccle Nursery and Primary school students. This year it took place under the theme “Comic book characters”. The party ambiance was undeniably in the spirit of Belgium’s finest Carnival traditions.

 

 

 

 

Math Week in EEB1 Uccle Primary (17-21.02.2020)

Projects, games and discussions were going on around the theme “Let’s put mathematics in scene!” within P2-P5 Primary classes during the last week before the February holidays. The highly imaginative and colorful creations of the classes were exhibited in the Erasmus and the Gutenberg buildings of the EEB1 campus.

 

Europa InCanto Opera Project – EEB1 FlashMob in the Château (21.2.2020)

Italian Primary classes participating in the Europa InCanto Opera project presented a FlashMob to EEB1 Director Mr. Goggins and other members of the Management of the school. Children wearing costumes were singing and interacting, animated by a specialist teacher, Puccini’s splendid opera the Turandot. This unique pedagogical project is co-financed at EEB1 by the APEEE.

Click to play videoTwo days before the EEB1 Opera Flashmob, all Brussels schools participating in the Europa InCanto Opera Project presented a FlashMob in front of the European Parliament (19.2.2020) – This wonderful large-scale performance included around 200 children and was accompanied by a live orchestra. Click on this link or on the image to see the Flashmob.

The project concluded with a grandiose performance  of the Turandot Opera in the W:Hall Theatre, in Brussels on 21 February.  Pictures here.

INTERPARENTS association meeting hosted by the EEB1 APEEE (10-11.2.2020)

INTERPARENTS is the Parents’ Association of the thirteen European Schools. This meeting was scheduled to prepare for the February meeting of the Joint Teaching Committee, which is a preparatory body of the European Schools’ Board of Governors.

 

 

 

Interesting Reads

  • EURSC MAG – The student magazine of EEB1
  • 13 Stars Newspaper – A student-run independent newspaper of the 13 European Schools. A project of the Conseil Superieur des Élèves (CoSup)