Christmas in a Shoebox campaign 2024
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- Published: 30 November 2024 30 November 2024
- Hits: 100 100
“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” Oscar Wilde
Our school community made 650 children happy last year.
Imagine the impact we can make together if we take it even further this year!
Dear Children and Parents, dear Teachers and all the Employees of ESF,
In a few weeks, it is Christmas, the most beautiful but also the busiest part of the year! We all want to have a happy Christmas, and we do everything we can to make that happen.
As you hopefully heard about it, our school participates this year again in the Christmas in a Shoebox campaign (Weihnachtspäckchen für Kinder in Not.) and we are collecting Christmas presents for children in need.
In all the Christmas rush, please do not forget about less fortunate children, for whom we may be the only hope to have a happy Christmas and receive presents. Only one or two extra presents and one or two shoeboxes can make a real difference to someone’s holiday this year.
Apart from the material value of the gift, there is also the fact that someone has thought about 'me', that 'I am precious to someone'. The joy of the shoebox reverberates emotionally for a long time – but also quite practically: children find schoolbooks, warm clothes, toys and much more in their shoebox. What are normal everyday objects for us are invaluable for many needy children; most of the time, their families cannot afford these things themselves.
How to participate? Watch our video
1. Get an empty medium size shoebox.
2. Fill it up with fun toys, hygiene items, school supplies, sweeties, clothes. Please avoid metal toys!
(Suggestions link)
3. Personalize your shoebox with a note or a photo or a drawing of your child.
4. Close your box and wrap it in colorful wrapping paper.
5. Attach the appropriate boy or girl or neutral label and select an age category on it. (Labels are also attached to our letter and can be found in the flyers of Kinderzukunft at school.)
6. Bring your present to the ESF between 28 November and 9 December! Please leave your present in the container by the main entrance of the school and don’t put it under the Christmas tree.
7. Please support the distribution with your charity offer of 4 Euros per package here. This is an investment in the life of a child.
Experience has shown that boys 10-14 years old get the least presents. The most boxes are always packed for the 5-9 age groups. Unless you have a specific preference, we would like to recommend that you pack also for older boys and girls. They love to receive balls with pumps, school stationery and books, warm clothes, a cool cuddly toy, chocolate, sport clothes.
More information about the Christmas in a Shoebox campaign you can find here.
If you are curious where and how the presents will be distributed, please click here.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask: office@esfparents.org or agnestome@outlook.com.
Weihnachtspäckchen-Hotline: 0 60 51/48 18-19
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kind regards,
Christmas in a Shoebox Team
Parents’ Association ESF
ESF Summerfest 15 June 2024
- Details
- Published: 13 June 2023 13 June 2023
- Hits: 4508 4508
SUMMERFEST INVITATION 2024
Dear Students, Parents and Teachers,
As announced in previous communications, the PA would like to invite you to enjoy a day of fun and activities during the ESF Summerfest on the 15th of June from 11 am until 3 pm, celebrating the end of another school year with family, friends, and the school community.
Many activities are planned for all age groups (e.g. tournaments, performances, orchestra etc.) and there will be a Food Square again with plenty of stands, representing 16 nationalities.
Please see our programme with details for each activity, as well as house rules (German version).
Please kindly note that:
- Additional important information regarding the event's organisation (how to register, eating and drinking, parking) is available below. Please read it carefully!
- The map and programme is now available.
- To register for the Basketball Games where teachers play vs parents vs students, please use the link listed below.
A kind request: to ensure a smooth and safe running of the Summerfest, we are still looking for volunteers who could help before, during and at the end of the event. There are a number of areas such as: at the Soccer tournament, the Basketball game, the set-up of food stands, selling at the PA drinks stand, supervision of a specific area, etc. If you can help during the event, please kindly click on this link: Helpers Registration
You can choose your area and time slot. If many people volunteer, we will only need your help for a limited time. Many thanks in advance for your support; we count on you!
If you would like to join the teams for the Basketball Games, then please click on the link to register: Parents' registration for friendly basketball matches vs. S5-S7 students- 2024
We are looking forward to spending a wonderful day with you!
Best regards,
The Summerfest Team (Maria Rösel, Thomas Jaeger, Linda Boros, Murat Cosgun, Francesca Del Re, Agnes Tomè, Floriana Grimaldi, Rugile Anuzyte) on behalf of the ESF Parents’ Association
…………………………………………………
How to join the event/ registration:
To conform to security rules, all visitors and participants of the event must register before being allowed on school premises.
To register, please use the event link advertised in Classlist. If you are not on Classlist yet, you can join using the following link: Classlist Registration
Please register all the members of your family who will join the event on June 15th, by selecting a corresponding number of tickets. At the entrance, you will be asked to show the tickets on your mobile device (in the Classlist app) or in a printed version.
When registering, you will be asked for a voluntary donation of € 3,00 per adult which will help to offset a portion of the event costs. Please note that the donation is not mandatory but very much appreciated. The donation can be added to your basket and the registration then completed by credit card.
The Summerfest is the biggest event organised by the PA, for the entire school community. It is funded mainly through the existing PA budget but your contributions allow us to maintain funds for other projects that benefit ESF students and their families.
Drinking and eating
National specialities will be served at the food stands organised by parents and teachers. The PA will serve drinks in two different locations.
Cash can be used to purchase all food and beverage (no chips will be used this year). As with donations, all food and beverage revenues will be allocated to fund projects to benefit ESF students.
Parking
Please, note that the school parking lot will be closed and parking directly at school will be challenging. It is therefore recommended to take public transportation where possible. If arriving by car, it is prohibited to block any entrances, emergency exits or narrow streets (such as the one leading to the Ernst-Reuter-Schule). Any cars creating an obstruction may be towed. The best option is to leave the car in the Nord West Zentrum and walk to the school premises.
House Rules
Please take note of our binding set of house rules (here in English and German) drawn up by the Security Officer of the School, with the intention to keep students and families happy and safe during the Summerfest.
Supporting the European School Parents’ Community through the Baccalaureate
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- Published: 02 June 2023 02 June 2023
- Hits: 8015 8015
Dear Parents of S7 Students, dear Students,
The ‘BAC 2023 season’ is now underway and we wish all the candidates great success.
Immense efforts are made each year regarding the quality assurance of the examination papers and to ensure that all goes smoothly. Considering the number of papers and students involved, problems with the exams are rare. Nevertheless, if you like to be prepared ‘just in case’, your school’s Parents’ Association and INTERPARENTS, are ready to help:
Possible actions in the next 2-3 weeks and before the announcement of the results
If your child comes home following an examination with a concern about it, please take time to understand the nature of the problem. Should you conclude that your child encountered a problem, which was possibly due to a mistake in the paper (such as vague wording or incorrect translation) or in how the examination was run, then it could be worth raising your concern with the Chairperson of the Examining Board (Article 13 of Regulations for the European Baccalaureate) and with the Baccalaureate Unit responsible for management of the overall examination.
If there has been a ‘procedural irregularity’ (i.e., any infringement of the rules governing the Baccalaureate and its implementation), which may have been ‘prejudicial’ to a candidate’s performance, then remedial action at the level of the Examining Board and of the Baccalaureate Unit may be taken by the supervising authorities before the proclamation of the Baccalaureate results, without anybody having to file thereafter an official complaint on such irregularity. A range of compensatory measures are in fact available to the subject inspector and to the Chair of the Examining Board.
Read more: Supporting the European School Parents’ Community through the Baccalaureate
Christmas in a Shoebox 2023
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- Published: 13 June 2023 13 June 2023
- Hits: 8729 8729
“Christmas in a Shoebox"
Weihnachtspäckchen für Kinder in Not
Every year our school participates in the “Christmas in a Shoebox" charitable event (Weihnachtspäckchen für Kinder in Not). The goal of this campaign is to collect Christmas gifts for children in need who otherwise wouldn’t get any presents at all. The organization Kinderzukunft collects the parcels to be distributed to the beneficiaries.
Last year we collected 740 gifts. Thank you for all your help.
Kinderzukunft is an established organization in Germany supporting around 70,000 children in need in countries such as Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, and the Ukraine. The packages are distributed to orphanages, hospitals, schools, and poor areas. For some of these children, this present will be the only one they receive for Christmas.
You can watch the photos of the distribution of the presents from 2022 here and here.
We will start collecting the presents this year on Friday, 1 December.
We ask parents not to enter the school. Please give your presents to security. Thank you for your understanding.
The presents will be picked up from the school on Monday, 11 December.
How to Pack a Shoebox? Check out our video here.
1. Get an empty medium sized shoebox (maximum size: 37,5 x 30,0 x 13,5 cm) and fill it with a selection of fun toys, warm clothes hygiene items and school supplies. If possible, include one or two special items you know a child will love such as a doll, a football, or a cuddly toy.
If you don’t have a shoebox, you can buy DHL parcel (size M) at the post office.
2. Personalize your shoebox by including a handwritten note, a handmade Christmas card or a photograph of yourself, or your family. (Please write in English!)
3. Wrap your shoebox in wrapping paper.
4. Download and print the appropriate boy/girl/neutral label.
• (You can find the GIRL LABEL here.
• You can find the BOY LABEL here.
• You can find the NEUTRAL LABEL here.
5. Mark on your label if your gift is for a boy or a girl and select an age category on your label: 0-6, 7-12 or 13-18. (Please be aware that most of the children are 6 to 12 years old.)
6. Attach the label to the top of your shoebox.
7. Bring your shoebox to school between 1 December and 11 December.
8. Please support the distribution with your charity offer of 3 Euros per package here.
What to pack in your shoebox?
Select a "wow" item such as a soccer ball with pump or stuffed animal, LEGO, Barbie dolls, then fill with other fun toys (board games, puzzles), hygiene items (toothbrush, comb, hairbrush, masks) and school supplies (markers, pencils, coloring book, paint, brushes, stickers, crayons, sharpener, rubber), new! Clothes (hat, gloves, hair accessories, jewelry) and finalize your gift box with some sweeties in original wrapping.
Don’t forget to also include a personal note and photo—sometimes these are the child's favourite things to receive!
What NOT to pack in your shoebox?
Liquid glue or liquid paint, toothpaste; gum; used, dirty or damaged items; scary or war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures; seeds; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; aerosol cans, nothing what contains alcohol. Please DO NOT pack any metal items!
More information is in our video.
Do you have any questions?
1. Official website of the campaign is here.
2. Ask your PA: office@esfparents.org
Thank you for your help in advance.
Parents Association ESF
iPad Conference For Parents
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- Published: 20 March 2023 20 March 2023
- Hits: 10060 10060
Dear Parents,
On Thursday 16th March 2023 the ESF Parent association organised a zoom conference for parents to meet Mrs Magali Netrval, an expert on dyslexia and dyspraxia, who presented DYS therapies, support, and assistive technologies (especially the digital tablet), contextualising it within the latest support changes and initiatives in the European Schools.
Mrs Netrval has shared the main benefits of assistive technologies during school hours and at home for such students, with concrete tips and examples. She has also recalled how the use of iPads / tablets are embedded in the revised Educational Support Policy of the European Schools; Mrs. Chatzivasilliadou, among others Educational Support Coordinator at the ESF Secondary, has also provided a short overview of how such tools can be introduced at school.
The ESF PA is very thankful to Mrs. Magali Netrval for giving the ESF parents the opportunity to learn more about the use of Ipads and look forward to next chances to cooperate in this area.
For parents of the school, the pdf of the evening is available here.