Dear Parents,
Please forgive the delay in putting together this update for you. As you’ll see from this bumper edition, it has been a busy time recently and things are set to get busier!
How can you locally support the refugees?
The class reps’ new WhatsApp group: “Call for support” is live. We are impressed by all the practical and tangible support being offered by our community in many different forms already. The old adage from Covid times of “we are all in this together” holds even more true this year than it did back in 2020. So thank you for all of your support so far, and for all of the support that is to come. This also includes a massive yet humble thank you to all of those who have also contributed to our fundraising, supporting refugees in ESB! The collection is still open here, the total as of the 28th March is €2,740. All donations will be held in a fund for use as required within our community. As with all projects supported by PA, the PA board will report about the use of funds in the PA General Annual Meeting. If no more support is needed any left-over funds will be donated to GIRO555
Bergen Schools Chess Competition-, 1st place for ESB!
The 35th Bergen Schools Chess Competition took place on Saturday 19 March. Great that it could be held in person this year after being online last year due to Covid. Representing ESB, under the new guidance of Dutch national chess master Rick Lahaye, were 11 players, making 2 teams of 4 plus a mixed team with a pupil from Willem Alexanderschool. After success in recent years with a new generation of ESB chess players encouraged by the previous teacher Jasper Dekker, ESB were defending their title. After a close run competition with Matthieu Wiegmanschool 1, ESB Team 1 won 1st place! That’s the 4th year in succession for ESB in the top spot.
Congratulations to the winning team - Arnav Dhole, Cristian Urcola, Joseph Zeenni and Martin Urcola. 14 teams took part and ESB Team 2 narrowly missed out on 3rd place, coming 4th. ESB mixed Team 3 came 7th. An amazing achievement by all pupils. “Best boys”, winning 7 out of 7 matches, were awarded to 4 boys including Cristian Urcola and Joseph Zeenni - great performance boys! The Winning team will now go on to the North Holland regional chess tournament. A full report about the tournament can be found at - https://www.scbergen.agricosoft.nl/scbergen/2022/03/21/schoolschaakkampioenschap 2022/.
Any child wishing to join the ESB chess lessons, which are currently held online can contact Rick - ricklahaye@hotmail.com. A new Youth Chess Club will also be starting in Bergen alternate Thursday evenings beginning 7th April, for more information e-mail - scbergenjeugd@gmail.com.
The PA’s Events team have started again with force!
Build community. Build friendships! Let’s give a chance for parents both new and old to get out and have a drink with some other ESB parents. The Events team invited parents for a Dads’ and Moms’ Weeknight gathering at a pub in Bergen. They took place on March 16th (Dads’) and March 23rd (Moms’) Thank you very much to all who joined and we will very probably repeat that again. So keep an eye! See you soon again!
Let’s continue maintaining the bond between families of our school and celebrate in a special way the end of the school year! We are already at work preparing a special edition event for all the ESB families: “ES Bergen’s Family Rally”. Book your agendas for June 19th afternoon. An invitation will be sent in May!
Despite the fact that this year will remain marked by the absence of a Euromarkt, life doesn't stop there. The ESB PA Events Team endeavors to create, sponsor, host, and/or support a wide-range of activities fostering the sense of the ESB School Community. Events should generally be as inclusive as possible, but can focus on certain constituencies as warranted. If you have ideas and a desire to join the effort, please get in touch with us! esbpaEVENTS@gmail.com
What could we as a parent community (us) do to support our children’s Education for Sustainable Development? The ESB PA Sustainability Working Group is working with Roy Stroomer, School Concierge and the ESB Sustainability Coordinator. Our aim is to collaborate to define sustainability at ESB and to build a methodological approach to strategy building. We are also working with other European Schools and institutions in trying to find synergies and benchmarks. This is just the beginning… Are you interested in this key topic? Would like to learn more and join the efforts? Join the ESBergen Sustainability Parents WG! esbpaSUSTAINABLE@gmail.com.
The ESB Canteen Committee will soon meet again! Please let us know, if you are interested in joining and represent the parents: esbpaCONTACT@gmail.com
Interparents’ (The European Parents’ Association of the European Schools) latest update is to be found here: http://interparents.eu/pdf/JTC-2022-FebIP-ReportforPAs.pdf
The school’s management has progressed its dialogue with Bergen Gemeente concerning traffic and infrastructure around the school. One quick win from the renewed contact with the Gemeente was the removal of the advertising boards at the De Beeck building site which were obscuring visibility for cycle path users. Hopefully Mr Frithiofson will be in contact with us parents as further positive developments transpire.
Please avoid parking in the Negen Nessen (those side roads along the side of Churchilllaan). The school has taken extra steps to boost the availability of parking spaces around the school and we can also use the car parking spaces along the full length of Churchilllaan. We are trying to maintain our good relationship with our neighbours in the Negen Nessen and would strongly advise not to park in this area as this is parking for residents only, so please park elsewhere. Finally, please also do not wait or park your vehicle on or by the roundabout at the junction of Churchilllaan and Molenweidtje.
We would like to thank Menno & Ernst-Jan for their commitment to teach the Primary pupils how to safely ride a bike! For the coming academic year, Menno & Ernst-Jan will not be continuing with the traffic education and the coordination of the cycling exams so we are looking for new parents to take over! Preferably parents from P1 or P2 so there can be some continuity for the upcoming years. Please let us know if you are interested: esbpaCONTACT@gmail.com.
We are also looking for a new Secretary for the Parents’ Association Committee. The current incumbent is stepping down at the end of this academic year so, should this role be of interest to you, please let us know at esbpaCONTACT@gmail.com. There’s still plenty of time left this year for a gentle handover and he isn’t leaving the area once he has stepped down so will still be available for questions. Oh and fear not: he’s a bit lazy at heart so has made the Secretary tasks as easy to undertake as possible!
Finally we are absolutely delighted to let you know that, in April, we will launch our new PA website with a fresh, intuitive and mobile-friendly design. As before, you'll find our news, events and the shop here, as well as useful information for new parents and initiatives of the PA. The address remains the same (https://europeanschool-parents.nl) and, if you have been registered at our site before, your login data is still valid (no worries, there's a "Lost your password link" too). We'll send out a separate mail to PA members after the launch. PA member or not - please subscribe to the news feed and don't miss any news and events published on the website!
Well, thanks for making it to the very end. This has been the longest update that it was our pleasure to assemble. In spite of the minor gripes and grumbles that we may all have, we’re very lucky to be a part of this community of ours: thanks for being there every time you’re needed and for having such kind and open hearts.
Take care,
ESB Parents’ Association