Annual Report2011-2012

Inquiring, Inspired, and Involved

Early Learning Centre visit by Ernst Fuchs

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‘VIS Rocks’ 2011

Table of Contents

Mission, Beliefs, Objectives Page 3

Board Chair’s Report Page 4

Director’s Report Page 6

Treasurer’s Report Page 14

Budget 2012/2013 Page 15

Primary Principal’s Report Page 16

Secondary Principal’s Report Page 19

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Mission (what we do)Our mission is to empower all of our students to be successful and responsible in a nurturing and diverse learning community, so that they can achieve their potential in a changing world.

In harmony with the ideals of the IB Learner Profile, and the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we aim for students to be inquiring, inspired, and involved lifelong learners.

Beliefs (statements of our fundamental values)

We believe in:

a learning community that places students at the centre of all decisions;challenging students to realize their personal potential for excellence in an inclusive and supportive environment;embracing diversity as an enriching resource and a unifying force;nurturing confident, responsible, reflective and independent life-long learners.

Objectives from the Strategic Plan (where we want to be by 2014)

VIS students will demonstrate:

the necessary skills, knowledge, attitudes and concepts to operate and adapt successfully in an evolving world;

critical and creative thinking, inquiry processes and problem solving skills;

academic growth as measured against internal assessments and externally verifiable benchmarks at representative levels within a broad and challenging curriculum;

a sense of responsibility and appreciation of cultural diversity through participation in a broad range of activities at the School and in the wider community.

Strategies

We will develop, deliver and share a comprehensive international curriculum continuum, which will successfully meet the needs of all students in the 21st century.

We will inspire and support students to develop their potential in aspiring towards excellence.

We will establish a strong, able and united staff, motivated and dedicated in supporting students in their educational and personal development.

We will establish VIS as a technologically integrated school contributing to the improvement in quality of learning and administrative efficiency.

We will create the physical, financial and legal conditions to secure the long-term future of the school and sustain VIS at the forefront of international education.

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Chair of the Board’s Report – Walter Heider The past school year has continued the path of change started with the arrival of Peter Murphy in Summer 2010. This was also the time of my start to work on the VIS Board of Governors. To be honest – I did not expect to be the one writing this report to you. Thomas Wieser, who served as the Chair of the Board of Governors for the last eight years, planned to end his term by the end of this school year, but due to the fact that his professional life demanded a short term move to Brussels, things changed accordingly and quickly.

I want to thank all Board members for their trust in electing me as their new Chair. At the same time I want to encourage you – the parents and therefore the VISA community - to support us in order to succeed with the challenges ahead and to continue to make VIS the best school that we can send our children to.

The main issue remains the renewal of the contract with the government of Austria beyond 2014. The negotiations are still at an intermediate state.

We have prepared several scenarios based on the discussions we have had with different stakeholders. There is strong involvement of the UN Vienna based organizations up to the highest of levels. We know that the budgets of the Austrian government, but also the international organizations are under stress – this leads to a difficult situation in finding a common strategy to move forward.

We definitely need creativity in finding a solution with regard to the government subsidy on the one hand, and to the issue of our full waiting lists and the assocaited possible expansion of our school building, on the other hand.

Hopefully, you can see that we are constantly increasing investments in the school infrastructure which is a sign of confidence that we will be successful in negotiating a contract post 2014. This is also an indication, that we will be definitely invited to take more

responsibility for the building we are in – so far on a rent free basis.

Peter Murphy started rolling out the strategic planning process immediately after his arrival at VIS. It is based on the five elements: student development, staffing, curriculum, technology and finance. This rollout was done to the whole community with a high level of involvement and is now achieving a very good level of identification, because it very much reflects the needs of day to day operations. A key cornerstone is the broad participation in the budgeting process and much more importantly, in the continuous budget monitoring down to department levels. We have the clear expectation that the increased transparency in our financial situation leads to the necessary support for the saving measures on cost elements which do not negatively influence the quality of education.

Strategy one has nine specific areas related to curriculum that the school has identified to work on. It is planned that much of this work will be completed this year. In addition, considerable work is in the early stages of development of a virtual learning platform (VLP) to support communication about learning between all stakeholders.

The review of the policy manual is coming to the end of its second year of a three year cycle.

I want to mention the intensive work on the policies in general and the special focus on the “substance abuse” expectations. A special programme on educating students, teachers and parents has been developed and is currently rolled out starting with the secondary school, but with the plan to cover the whole school. Of course we will involve parents on all planned steps and agree with them before the rollout of any activity. This ensures a maximum benefit for all of us.

The current version of the policy manual is available on our school website. The most important change, which can be seen in every chapter, is the fact that we added procedures

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in order to understand the operational impact of every section.

The most important element for this Spring General Assembly (GA) is of course the financial report. With the continued dedication and leadership of our Treasurer Péter Ulbrich and the support of the Finance Committee members, we were able to close the gap between income and costs. The planned deficit in our budget 11/12 will be considerably smaller, due to a lot of cost efficiency measures introduced already. Nevertheless, the continued level of necessary investments in our infrastructure is the main reason for the increase of the school fees for 2012/13 above cost of living.

Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, Theo Juurlink and Péter Ulbrich are UN appointed members and will continue to serve on the Board. My special thanks go to Charlie Havekost (appointed by the IAEA) who, after three years of service on the Board, has an exiting event in front of him – his twin’s Lars and Grant will be graduating this year, and I am looking forward to celebrating this together with them. A successor will be named as soon as possible.

Thank you also to Richard Golden for his first year as parent elected member. His financial background has been of real benefit during the challenging last year. Finally I want to thank Thomas Wieser for his strong commitment and dedication to the Vienna International School for the past nine years. His son Johannes will also be graduating very soon, thus his official term on the Board ends with this General Assembly. A successor will be newly-elected to the Board of Governors during this GA.

Thank you to all members of the VIS community who make this school such an inspiring place.

Walter HeiderChair of the Board of Governors

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Board Members Roles Executive Voting Member

Mr. Thomas Wieser Chair of the Board until December 2011 - Parent elected member

Mr. Theodor Juurlink Vice-Chair of the Board - Appointed by CTBTO

Mr. Péter Ulbrich Treasurer - Appointed by UNIDO

Ms. Brigitte Strobel-Shaw Secretary - Appointed by UNOV/UNODC

Mr. Charles Havekost Appointed by IAEA

Mr. Richard Golden Parent elected member

Mr. Walter Heider Chair of the Board (since December 2011)Parent elected member

Ms. Caroline Nicholas President of VIS Association invited attendeeinvited attendee

Dr. Werner Druml Observer from the Ministry of EU and International Affairs invited attendeeinvited attendee

Peter Murphy Director invited attendeeinvited attendee

It is my pleasure to invite you to browse through this colourful collection of highlights for the 2011-2012 school year at Vienna International School.

For the 2011-12 school year, we have capped the number of students in our Early Years classes at 16, grade Primary at 20 and all other grades at 22 students. This has marginally reduced our enrolment to a year average of approximately 1392 students. Demand for places at VIS remains a considerable challenge for the community. At certain points over the past year we have had nearly 500 students on our waiting lists.

A glance at our demographics reveals a fairly consistent pattern of nationality distribution. VIS continues to be one of the most diverse international schools in Europe with 104 countries represented, and over 73 Mother Tongue languages spoken.

As a community, we were all reminded by the recent professional development workshops given by Eithne Gallagher, that it is easy to forget that students require up to seven years of significant language support before they can operate at advanced levels in all domains.

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Director’s Report – Peter M.J. Murphy

174 Students (12.4%)*

137 Students - 9.8%

110 Students - 7.8%

67 Students - 4.7%

55 Students - 3.9%

52 Students - 3.7%

45 Students - 3.2%

39 Students - 2.8%

EnglishGerman

RussianItalian Arabic Dutch

Spanish Korean French

Japanese Chinese

Swedish Portuguese

Urdu Hungarian 16

181823252630

414848

5662

83219

390

Highest frequency mother tongue languages - 73 languages represented in total

3%

6%

7%

25%

10%

49%

Enrolment categories

Cat. 1 - UN Agencies Cat. 2 - DiplomaticCat. 3 - Int. Business Cat. 4 - AustrianCat. 5 - Other Cat. 6 - Staff

28% English Mother Tongue

* 7.8% Category 4 with the remaining students in categories 1 and 2

We started the year with an ambitious commitment to achieve success in working through the agreed strategic action plans.

One of the five major objectives of the strategic plan states:

‘By 2014 we will develop, implement and share an articulated, rigorous and relevant international

curriculum continuum, which establishes VIS as a leading IBO three programme school’

To gain an external perspective on where VIS students are benchmarked, the school has worked closely with the Australian Council for Educational Research in their International Schools Assessment (ISA) to collect and analyse data that will help us to determine the progress that our students are making in Mathematical Literacy, Reading and Writing.

The four charts presented here provide an overview of each grade level as measured against cohorts of students in comparable international schools based on a 45 minute

assessment completed by grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 in October each year.

When presented in this format one can clearly see the range of ability that is being supported within each grade level from some very high achieving students to an equal number, who in some circumstances, have considerable learning support needs. Unlike many international schools represented by the ISA cohort, VIS has an ‘open-enrolment’ policy and is non-selective both in-terms-of entry to the school and who sits the ISA tests.

The grade level data presented provides a ‘window’ through which we can view the school. From an educational perspective, we believe that it is far more important to focus on the performance of individual students across the wide range of assessment processes that students are exposed to over the course of a school year. To this end, the school now takes the annual ISA data and produces an analysis of individual student growth over time.

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55

60

65

69

7420

06-7

2007

-8

2008

-920

09-1

020

10-1

120

11-1

2

Enrolment in Early Learning

470

485

500

515

530

2006

-720

07-8

2008

-920

09-1

020

10-1

120

11-1

2

Enrolment in Grades 1 - 5

650

695

740

785

830

2006

-720

07-8

2008

-920

09-1

020

10-1

120

11-1

2

Enrolment in Grades 6-12

60

234

408

582

756

930

Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9

289

417

504547

137

233281

344

472

569

837

922

294

422

502547

2011 ISA Mathematics scores at VIS plotted against like schools

Like schools VIS Highest Score VIS Lowest Score VIS Mean Score

9

0

170

340

510

680

850

Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9

257

399471

522

35

221181

298

504584

618

771

230

359437

505

2011 ISA Reading scores at VIS plotted against like schools

Like schools VIS Highest Score VIS Lowest Score VIS Mean Score

0

150

300

450

600

750

Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9

340

442514

575

250312 337

392450

601656

732

354

441495

554

2011 ISA Narrative writing scores at VIS plotted against like schools

0

180

360

540

720

Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 9

375

475516

579

295 312 328 303

494

611 636

759

379

451500

560

2011 ISA Expository writing scores at VIS plotted against like schools

The trend of the data, based upon students who have been at VIS for four or more years, is encouraging. Over the course of the next year we will continue to explore opportunities for assessing and monitoring individual growth over time.

Our mission commits the school to empowering all of our students to be successful. The International Baccalaureate (IB) data presented on this page indicates how our students have performed over time. Where comparative world data is available it has been included.

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20.0

30.0

40.0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

30.1 29.9 29.6 29.6 29.5 29.6 29.6

22.9 23.422.3 23.1

21.923.8

22.8

34.4 34.0 34.433.1 32.5

34.132.7

Average IB Scores v World Average

Average points achieved by VIS students with diplomaAverage points achieved by VIS students without diplomaWorldwide average points

0

25

50

75

100

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

1216912121216

2428

2225342728

31

33

3329

31

3628

32

21

3129

171921

1355768

% of Students Scoring in Grading Bands

Total points / candidate under 24 as a %Total points / candidate 24 - 29 as a %Total points / candidate 30 - 34 as a %Total points / candidate 35 - 39 as a %Total points / candidate 40 - 45 as a %

The IB diploma charts provide a graphic illustration of the differences that can be experienced dependent on the cohort of students.

Over the course of the last year, considerable work has been undertaken to analyse the data that we collect to speak with more authority about ‘value added’. The resulting standardised residual score is a comparison between the grade which the ALIS test in Grade 11 predicts for a student and the actual score a student receives. It is a measurement of the additional progress students have made in the Diploma whilst being enrolled at Vienna International School (beyond the standard progress expected).

Result 2008 2009 2010 2011 Standardised residual score +0.15 ‐0.2 +0.25 +0.29

Summer of 2011 provided another milestone for the school to celebrate with the full authorisation of our Middle Years Programme (MYP). With developmental work being completed in grade 10 will provide students with a continuous IB journey from Kindergarten to Grade 12. More recently we have hosted the visiting team who have conducted our five year evaluation of the IB PYP. The School has not yet received the final report but from initial feedback we know that there is much that has been highly commended.

The issue of ‘quality’ and ‘success’ in education is a very individual assessment. If

we are true to our beliefs about holistic learning we need to ensure that we recognise achievement in all domains. How many children have started to play an instrument this year? How many have competed in sporting programmes? How many have competed in Mathematics tournaments?How many have learnt the skills of diplomacy and international relations in MUN? How many have engaged in community service, and action projects that have made a difference? How many have stood up in front of an audience and performed on stage? How many

have learnt to work in groups and solve real problems? Take a tour through our school and you will see plenty of evidence of motivated students being encouraged to take risks, to initiate leadership, to develop the skills of inquiry in gaining understanding of meaningful global concepts. Our students are confident, caring, sensitive and creative. Our community embraces diversity and encourages an open-minded approach in developing ‘international

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citizens’. The results of students’ work, as measured by external examinations and assessments, show that VIS is providing a high-quality education that will enable students to develop and fulfil their potential.

On the sports field or courts the past eight months we have also seen a wide selection of recreational and interscholastic activities. This year VIS has offered opportunities in 11 different sports: Soccer, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Rugby, Ski Racing, Softball, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball and Swimming. In 2011/12 we have seen 10 more competitive teams than the school had in 2005. Approximately 450 students have registered for at least one sport - an increase of 16% on the previous year.

Sport is not simply about winning, there is much to be gained from being a member of a team. Nevertheless, the satisfaction in bringing home a trophy or medal is wonderful to see in the faces of our students.

In the Primary School the philosophy of the activities programme is to provide students with the opportunity to expand their learning and try out new experiences. Currently we have 450 students registered for at least one activity with the average student signed up for two. The programme offers a broad range from sports, dance and gymnastics to Scouts and Guides. Over the course of the year the

school has worked to provide more ‘e’ access to the programme hopefully creating a more manageable process for all involved.

In the Performing and Visual Arts there have been numerous activities that celebrate the work of our students. A walk through ‘The Mall’ is a constant celebration of Art students’ work. A few weeks ago we enjoyed a wonderful performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ staged by 80+ students and supporting adults.

Seats for the Primary School Choir concerts are in such demand that families queue for hours to get a place within the main auditorium. The number of students now performing with the Primary Band provides a wonderful foundation for further developments in our instrumental programme. Throughout the year we have seen a rich selection of student performances big and small.

Getting people involved and feeling that they belong to a successful and welcoming community is certainly enhanced by effective and relevant communication. Although VIS is a relatively large school, there is a commitment to embrace change that will make a difference.

At the start of the 2011/12 school year, in response to comments received from the

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communications review, we started a process of opening up our information management systems to allow parental access. The school has an ambitious agenda to develop its digital communications resources with a lead group of staff currently working on a Virtual Learning Platform (VLP) using a program called Moodle. It is the School’s intention that eventually students, teachers and parents will have one portal through which they can access an array of resources to support the learning process.

Considerable time and energy has been devoted to professional development and collaborative planning this year with some tangible benefits. It has been rewarding to see ‘experts’ in the field coming to Vienna to share their understanding with staff and parents.

Since the start of the 2011/12 school year we have been using the newly formatted Strategic Plan to provide a greater level of transparency and clarity of expectation. All members of the

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SPRING 2011SPRING 2011SPRING 2011SPRING 2011

Sport Team Tournament and Venue Position

Golf HS SCIS - VIS 4th

Tennis HS ISST - The Hague Sportsmanship award

Track & Field HS SCIS - Warsaw Sportsmanship award

Volleyball MSG SCIS - Basel 2nd

Volleyball MSB SCIS - ICS Budapest 3rd

AUTUMN 2011AUTUMN 2011AUTUMN 2011AUTUMN 2011

Soccer VB SCIS - AIS Vienna 4th

Soccer VG SCIS - BIS 4th

Soccer MSG SCIS - VIS 1st

Volleyball VB SCIS - MIS 3rd

Volleyball VB SCIS - MIS Sportsmanship award

Volleyball VG SCIS - Basel 2nd

Volleyball JVG SCIS - AIS Budapest 2nd

WINTER 2012WINTER 2012WINTER 2012WINTER 2012

Basketball VB Rodewald - MIS 4th

Basketball VB SCIS - AIS Vienna 4th

Basketball VG Rodewald - MIS 4th

Basketball VG SCIS - Basel Sportsmanship award

Basketball VG ISST - VIS 3rd

Basketball JVB DVAC - DIS 4th

Basketball JVB DVAC - DIS Sportsmanship award

Basketball MSB SCIS - BIS 4th

Basketball MSB SCIS - BIS Sportsmanship award

Basketball MSG SCIS - FIS 3rd

Ski Team MS/HS Fanningburg Races Participated

Ski Team MS/HS Henrich Harrer Cup Participated

community are now able to follow the School’s progress in completing the Specific Results that we made a commitment to last June. It is my assessment that the new format has enabled groups and individuals with responsibility for turning plans into action to be more successful in their endeavours.

The work of being a school Governor is often misunderstood and certainly undervalued. I would like to commend the Board of Governors for the considerable work that we have, in partnership, been able to achieve this year. Special thanks are due to Thomas Wieser who stepped down as Board of Governor’s Chair in December after nine years in office. His leadership, wise counsel and generous gift of time and energy deserve special recognition. I am very confident that Walter Heider will continue to build upon the solid foundations established by Thomas.

Our Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Booster Club, homeroom parents and sports chaperones provide another level of invaluable partnerships. Collectively they provide so

much that enriches our mission.

The real success of a school lies in and around the classroom. Despite some extraordinary space-related challenges we continue to see teachers and non-teaching staff going the ‘extra mile’ to maximise learning opportunities in a caring community. The commitment to our mission - empowering all of our students to be successful and responsible in a nurturing and diverse learning community, so that they can achieve their potential in a changing world is very tangible. There are powerful examples to be found of collaboration, of shared planning, of parents who feel that they are drawn into the learning process, and of members of our community who want to contribute to our growth and vision.

I would like to end this annual report by thanking everyone who has contributed to our success this year.

Peter MurphyDirector

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The Finance Committee has met at regular intervals since the start of this school year to carry out the responsibilities as defined in Board Policy Manual. The annual audit of accounts has been completed by SOT Süd-Ost Treuhand GmbH and a summary of their report circulated to all VIS Association members in advance of the April General Assembly meeting.

The Director has presented (in accordance with policy) draft proposals of a budget for 2012/13 that take into account a salaries and benefits consultation process; an analysis of pressing areas that require attention and recommendations from the current strategic plan. At the February meeting of the Board of Governors the budget for 2012/13 was approved.

2010-2011 Audited Results1. Budgeted  enrollment  was  exceeded  by  1.4%  at  

a  median  enrollment  of  1.401  students.

2. Higher  median  enrollment  and  higher  than  an>cipated  turnover  in  student  enrollment  resul>ng  in  addi>onal  income  of  €  360,000.

3. Addi>onal  staffing  expenses  for  Educa>onal  Support  Staff  in  Primary  and  Secondary  School

4. Saving  in  Reprographics  expenses  of  €  44.000  or  37%  from  target.

5. Leasehold  Improvements  projects  (e.g.  Food  Technology  Kitchen,  School  Toilets)  in  the  amount  of  €  376.000  successfully  completed    during  the  summer  break.

6. Administra>onal  expenses  including  one  Deputy  Principal  posi>on  in  Secondary  School,  Informa>on  Technology  expenses  and  Deprecia>on  were  reduced  8.4%  against  Budget  saving  €  340.000.

7. The  year-­‐end  result  from  Financial  Investments  contributed  €  260.151  to  the  opera>onal  result.

8. Total  reserves  at  the  end  of  repor>ng  period      €  5,122,615.

2011-2012 Forecast1. Savings  of  €  250.000  in  teaching  expenses  due  

to  the  school  having  two  FTE  teachers  less  than  in  the  2011/2012  budget  and  a  40%  reduc>on  of  subs>tu>on  expenses

2. Savings  in  the  maintenance  &  repair    expenses  have  been  invested  into  the  upgrading  of  ligh>ng  system

3. A  forecasted  opera>ng  deficit  of  €91.000  reducing  the  budgeted  opera>ng  deficit  by  half.

2012-2013 Budget1. Median  enrollment  set  at  1,397.

2. 4.5%  tui>on  fee  increase.

3. Increase  in  admissions  fees  from  €  3,300  to          €  3,400.

4. Cost  of  living  increase  for  all  teaching  staff  based  on  current  agreement.

5. Deployment  of  Curriculum  Leaders  for  Student  Learning  Support  Services  and  Digital  Learning  Leadership.

6. Prepare  for  2014  and  overcome  structural  deficit.

7. Con>nue    school  toilets    refurbishment  project  and  renova>on  of  the  William  Kirk  Theatre.

8. Total  Capital  Expenditure  of  €  560.000  for  ICT  equipment,  educa>onal  equipment  and  furniture.

Financial Reserve Summary

Beginning Balance August 1, 2010 5,316,578Audited Surplus 2010-11 -193,963Ending Balance July 31, 2011 5,122,615Forecasted Deficit 2011-12 -90,833Estimated Balance July 31, 2011 5,031,782Budgeted Deficit 2012-13 -133,027Budgeted Balance July 31, 2013 4,898,755

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Treasurer’s Report - Péter Ulbrich

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Budget 2012/2013Budget 2012/2013 Budget 2011-12

Budget 2012-13 Variance Variance %

Revenue Revenues 19,156,483 20,149,401 992,918 5.18%Public Benefits 5,255,534 5,400,381 144,847 2.76%Other operating income 163,110 163,110 0 0.0%

Total RevenueTotal Revenue 24,575,127 25,712,892 1,137,765 4.63%

ExpendituresExpendituresPersonnel 20,879,501 21,493,610 614,109 2.94%

Salaries 15,881,090 16,348,390 467,300 2.94%Expenses for severance paymentsExpenses for severance payments 504,106 508,790 4,684 0.93%Expenses for pensions 729,143 754,642 25,499 3.50%Social security cost & payroll taxesSocial security cost & payroll taxes 3,741,162 3,857,788 116,626 3.12%Other social benefits 24,000 24,000 0 0.0%

Depreciation 824,014 752,440 -71,574 -8.69%

Depreciation of fixed assets 667,889 573,595 -94,294 -14.12%Low value assets 156,125 178,845 22,720 14.55%

Other operating expensesOther operating expenses 3,388,322 3,802,669 414,347 12.23%

Total operating expensesTotal operating expenses 25,091,837 26,048,719 956,882 3.81%

Operating Result (EBIT)Operating Result (EBIT) -516,710 -335,827 180,883 -35.01%Income from securities 51,502 42,800 -8,702 -19.90%Income from interest and similarIncome from interest and similar 200,098 98,500 -103,598 -51.77%Income from disposal of assets

3 73,400 63,500 -9,900 -13.49%Financial result 325,000 202,800 -122,200 -37.60%

Net Surplus (Loss) for the yearNet Surplus (Loss) for the year -191,710 -133,027 58,683 -30.61%

Schools that have the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (the PYP) as their curriculum must be evaluated every five years to remain in the programme. The evaluation process has two main parts…1. a detailed “self study” is completed by the

school, and then2. the school is visited by a team of external

evaluators, who come from other schools around the world.

The PYP Evaluation Visit is a major event in any PYP school’s calendar. The evaluation process is extensive, and as this was our year to be evaluated, this has consumed the majority of our focus, energy and time.

We completed a rigorous self study from August to December 2011, and the PYP Evaluation Visit took place from February 29 to March 2, 2012. Three IB representatives, (two school leaders from Switzerland and one from Mauritius), reviewed our self-study findings, conducted meetings and interviews with 25 staff, parent and student groups, and were very active around the school, observing teaching and learning in action in most classrooms.

At the end of the 3-day evaluation, the visiting team conducted an exit meeting with the Senior Leadership Team, where they shared their findings. The feedback given by the evaluation team was strong and positive,

held no real surprises, and in most ways replicated the findings of VIS staff within our self-study. The visiting team concluded that the school has a clear vision for the future, is committed to moving forward, and has a “professional” staff. Since the last evaluation visit in 2007, we have had five years to meet the recommendations made by the previous visiting team, and have been very successful in doing this.

Evaluation Team Commendations:Some of the things that the Primary School was commended for were:

its significant commitment to staff professional developmentthe development of an appraisal system which supports the development of the PYP.providing time for the teaching staff to plan collaboratively, and in year levelsthe development of the written curriculum the review of the written reportthe way students engage with the learner profile.

Evaluation Team Recommendations:The visiting team recommended that the Primary School:

deepens the staff’s understanding of guided inquiry

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Primary Principal’s Report - Michael Hosking

continue with the review of the language and assessment policiesreview the structure of the current timetablereview library use and library staffingdevelop a drama curriculumdeepen its understanding of authentic student actiondevelop systems to manage assessment information and data, and analyse this to monitor student learning.continue to develop the Mother Tongue programme to reflect the great diversity of mother tongues found within the school

The visiting team has reported its findings to the IB regional office and a comprehensive written report has been forwarded to the school. Our challenge now is to develop a realistic action plan and then implement the recommendations in a sustainable way.

As noted in the Evaluation Visit, the school invests heavily in the professional development of staff. The main focus has continued to be supporting staff members to be the best teachers they can possibly be.

We are extremely fortunate to have a number of PYP workshop leaders on staff and these staff members have been active in providing professional development workshops as part of the agreements made with the International Baccalaureate Organisation. We have held four PYP ‘In cooperation’ workshops at VIS and have been able to send 26 of our own staff members on these courses for a much reduced price. In addition, we have been able to support many staff members to attend professional development workshops hosted by other schools.

For the first time, our Grade Level Leaders and Subject Coordinators have been able to undertake an eight day leadership course, significantly increasing the amount of leadership skill available within the primary school. Given that we have the course presenters as members of staff on site here at VIS, we have also been able to successfully deliver the "ESL in the Mainstream" and the "How Language Works" coursesOverall, a total of 44 staff have attended professional development sessions and programmes held outside of the school, and all staff have benefited from the sessions held within the school.

As in previous years, the primary school has offered a rich programme of musical activities, educational trips, residential camps and "after school" activities. The Primary Choir and Primary Band continue to be valued programmes within the school. The children have been involved in a huge variety of trips related to their classroom learning. The residential camp programme for Grades 2-5 continues to be a very successful part of the primary school curriculum. The After School Care Programme was reviewed and reshaped during this year, and the After School Activities Programme continues to grow. The children have benefited from the energy and commitment of our staff to all these programmes over the year.

It is noteworthy that a total of 35 parent information sessions and open mornings have been held as part of the primary school programme in this school year. This is a clear indication that we are keen to involve parents in our programmes.

There have been a number of other significant achievements during the year…

we have restructured the way that our grade level teams go about the process of planning the Units of Inquirywe have improved the way that staff share their learning and ideas when they return from professional developmentthe development of clear primary school guidelines and timelines for budgetingthe involvement of all staff in "Priority Groups", where important planning for the next school year has been completedeach teacher has developed a detailed

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Action Plan for his/her own professional development.

Looking forward to the 2012/2013 school year, and based on the evaluation visit recommendations, we will…..

continue our focus on the improvement of teaching and learning and the ways we assess student learning, particularly in mathematics and language.continue our efforts to improve the way we use student learning information and data to track and monitor each student’s progressbegin to explore other ways technology can be used to enhance student learningimplement an improved timetable, which will give teachers extended periods of time with their classes, so that in-depth inquiry and learning is enhanced.

The job descriptions for our subject coordinators, heads of department, and grade level leaders have all also been re-designed to better focus upon teaching and learning, beginning in August 2012. The previous job descriptions were heavily weighted towards administration tasks.

In closing, I wish to recognize the work done by the Primary School staff, whose energy, commitment and time make all of the above happen.  

Michael HoskingPrimary School Principal

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Secondary Principal’s Report - Elisabeth StannersThis school year has, once again, been a positive one in the Secondary School. It is a pleasure to work with a team of teachers whose focus is so clearly on the students in their care. Equally, we are very fortunate to have the students we do: they are a pleasure to be with on a daily basis.

A significant milestone has been reached during the last year, with the successful Authorisation for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP). The school is now in the last year of the writing of the new curriculum. Next year our Grade 10 students will be the first group to have completed all five years of the

programme at VIS. They will also be the first group to participate in the Personal Project: an individual piece of work addressing (at least one of) the Areas of Interaction. The writing of this new curriculum has been a huge task for the teachers in the Secondary School. Completion of this will mark the start of a new phase of development, which is outlined later in this section.

Schools are challenging places to work; what could be more important than the future of young people? We hold in our hands the responsibility of ensuring that we provide a learning environment and curriculum, which will enable them to develop to be and do the best of which they are capable. We enter into this responsibility with the aim of being in partnership with the parents of our students. If the home and the school work together we can achieve the best that is possible.

To this end we have focused a considerable amount of our development work on communication with parents.

The written curriculum for the IB MYP has been uploaded onto the school’s ATLAS curriculum mapping software. Parent access has been opened for Grades 6, 7 and 8. Next year it will be opened for Grade 9. This is the first stage of the development of access to parents of information of the courses that students are taking and the timelines that relate to them.

After a trial with Grade 9 student, the school opened ‘Eportal’ access for parents of all secondary School students. This allows parents to view their children’s attendance data, timetable and school reports as well as the general contact details that the school has for each family.

In line with one of our Strategic Objectives, we have recently worked with a volunteer group of parents from across the Secondary School (and one Primary School Parent) on our assessment practices.

The feedback that we received has been taken back to the Secondary teachers for consideration and has been further worked on by our team of Heads of Department. It will inform greater feedback on assessment to parents of students in Grade 6 to 10, beginning in the new school year.

Our students are engaged in a myriad of different activities: sports, Mother Tongue languages, Matura requirements, theatre productions, music performances, CAS and Community and Service Projects, MUN, Fair Trade, Mathematics competitions to name a few. These are the elements which enrich our students’ lives and for many provide the extension activities which challenge them and make the balance in their lives which allows them to be able to keep focus on their studies. This is an incredibly rich and varied learning environment both in and out of the classroom. We have many very talented students.

Each Semester we have celebrated the academic successes of our students with Academic Excellence and Learning Skills Excellence awards. Grade Coordinators also give an award at the end of each semester to a student who has displayed the ideals of our school mission statement. The other ways of formally celebrating student success are currently being reviewed as one of our Strategic Objectives.

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Reference to the school’s strategic plan will give insight into the many domains in which we are working to refine our curriculum, our teaching and assessment strategies. The secondary school continues to develop systems for tracking student progress in line with another of our strategic objectives. Data about grade achievement and learning skill development are collected at the end of each reporting period and are used with data collected from other sources, such as the ISA results, Euroquest and ALIS to inform us about student progress. Grade Coordinators and Heads of Department use these data to monitor individual students and to provide intervention strategies when required.

The school has always been successful at preparing students to be able to do well in the IB Diploma Programme and, from there, to be able to enter universities which will open the doors to the careers which they seek. Our challenge is to continue doing this work, while at the same time ensuring that we are preparing them for the demands of the 21st Century.

One of the factors in need of change that had been emphasized upon my arrival in the school was the need to lessen the amount of disruption to teaching and learning caused by teachers accompanying school trips and thus being absent from their classes.

This school year we have run a new system which concentrated three of the four Grade level trips into one week. We then also ran special focus activities for students who were

not away on trips. Following the week we surveyed parents, teachers and students to establish the positives and negatives of this new focus week. The conclusions from this survey have been shared with the Secondary School parents.

The Secondary School Leadership Team, in consultation with the Grade Coordinators and Heads of Department has now looked at all the feedback regarding this new ‘Activities Week’. We have achieved our target of lessening the interruption to teaching caused by school trips (a reduction in teacher substitution of 40% in the first half of the year). We now need to refine our use of this week across all grade levels. Based on the feedback from the survey, a major emphasis will be placed on planning the structure of the week for those Grades that do not travel: they will have more focused activities. In addition, we have proposed a week for Grade 10, yet to be approved, with the first trip planned to take place in the school year 2013-14.

This year has been a challenging and rewarding year as we continue to provide an enriching and stimulating learning environment where all our children feel known, valued and motivated to learn.

Elisabeth Stanners Secondary School Principal

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Vienna International School

Strasse der Menschenrechte 1

1220 Vienna

Austria

Tel. +43 (0) 1 203 55 95 300

Fax. +43 (0) 1 203 55 95 320

www.vis.ac.at

admissions@vis.ac.at

Administration 2011/12

Director - Peter Murphy

Secondary Principal - Elisabeth Stanners

Deputy Principal - Derrick Devenport

Deputy Principal - Anne Sparks

Primary Principal - Michael Hosking

Deputy Principal - Lynda Sarelius

Business Manager - Rainer Dobianer

Admissions Coordinator - Tina Lackner

Human Resources - Conny Schiessel

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