Frequently Asked Questions

What are the school hours?
Do you provide a school bus service?
Do you accept children at any time of the school year?
What are your class sizes?
Is there a deadline for applications? 
How can I pay the application and school fees?
How can parents get involved?
Can I get in touch with other families from the school?
How Do I Get To BISB?
How is your school calendar arranged?
When was BISB founded?
Do the children wear school uniforms?
What if my child does not speak English?
Which class will my child be joining?

What are the school hours?

Years 3, 4, 5 and 6		09.00 – 15.30	five days per week
Years 1 and 2		09.00 – 15.25	five days per week
Reception		09.00 – 15.25	four days per week (Wednesday 09.00 – 12.30)
Pre-Nursery and Nursery		09.00 – 15.20	four days per week (Wednesday 09.00 – 12.30)
Pre-Nursery and Nursery		09.00 - 12.10	(Mornings only option)
Pre-Nursery and Nursery		13.15 – 15.20	(Afternoons only option)

The school opens its doors at 08.30 and children are supervised in the playground until registration at 09.00. All children should be in school by 09.00 so that lessons can start promptly at 09.05. 
 
Do you provide a school bus service?
We have four school minibus routes which cover the South, South-East, East and North-East parts of the city. This includes the communes of Watermael-Boitsfort, Auderghem, Etterbeek, Woluwe St. Pierre, Woluwe St. Lambert, Evere, Kraainem and Tervuren. Morning buses are scheduled to arrive at school around 08.45. We offer departures at both 15.30 and 16.30 to allow children to participate in after-school activities. There is no minibus service at 12.30 on Wednesday; any Nursery and Reception children on the minibus must wait in garderie until the normal 15.30 departure time.
 
Do you accept children at any time of the school year?
Families are relocated to Brussels at all times of the year and being a small school we are flexible enough to accommodate new children at any time of the year. Naturally the majority of new children join us at the start of the academic year in September. 
 
What are your class sizes?
The small class sizes (current average is around 16) are a very significant attraction to parents as they allow a high degree of individual attention. From 2008 the school has expanded into our new Junior School building where our Key Stage 2 children now enjoy this new facility.
 
Is there a deadline for applications?
No, as we have a rolling admissions policy. We strongly suggest, however, that applications be completed as soon as possible to avoid waiting lists. Several of our classes receive more applications than available places, especially for September and January. 
 
How can I pay the application and school fees?
All payments are made by bank transfer to the school’s account. If you wish to pay school fees monthly then this can be done by a direct debit (domiciliation) arrangement. The schedule for these payments is normally the ten months from May to February each year.
 
How can parents get involved?
We have a very active Parent Teacher Association, which arranges regular events with the twin purposes of strengthening social links and fund raising on behalf of the school. All new parents are encouraged to participate on as active a basis as possible. The PTA is also involved with organising and helping to run events for the children such as Halloween, Christmas parties etc., and from time to time social events at which many parents are able to meet each other. Some fund-raising is carried out throughout the year, both in order to pay for small extras which would directly benefit the children at school as well as support international charities.
Our school was founded by parental initiative, and we therefore warmly welcome parental involvement in our school. Parents can help in a variety of ways, for example by assisting on a school excursion, helping in the library, or running an extra-curricular activity. If you would like to help we would love to hear from you.
 
Can I get in touch with other families from the school?
We are happy to put both parents and children in touch with each other, particularly with people from the same year or nationality. We do not however disclose contact details of our existing parents; instead they are invited to make contact with you if they feel able to help you. We have an active parent teacher association with representatives for each class and communication through email is extensive. 
 
How Do I Get To BISB?
The school is approximately 3 km from the centre of Brussels on the eastern side of the city being very handily situated for NATO, Eurocontrol, the European Parliament and the European Commission. The school is approximately 1.5km north-west of Montgomery roundabout near the city’s middle ring road. We operate several door-to-door school minibus routes. Provided on a cost recovery basis, the routes cover the south, south-east, east and north east of the city. Approximately a quarter of the school’s children take advantage of the minibus service.
The public transport network throughout Brussels is excellent and the school is very well served by many services. It can be reached via the 23,24, or 25 tram lines or the 12, 21, 28, 29, 63 or 79 bus routes. More details can be found here at the Brussels public transport web site
 
How is your school calendar arranged?
The academic year has approximately 180 school days divided into three terms from early September to late December, early January to early April and late April to early July. You can see the calendar for this academic year by clicking here.
 
When was BISB founded?
The school was established in 2000 and has grown steadily throughout every academic year since. 
 
Do you have uniforms for the children?
All children from the Reception year upwards are required to wear our attractive, distinctive and practical uniform. This can be obtained in school. On timetabled PE days children are expected to come to school wearing tracksuit trousers, which should be grey or green along with their white polo shirt. 
 
What if my child does not speak English?
For children who are not native English speakers, our specialist EAL teacher provides a carefully structured programme, designed to bring them to a level where they can participate fully in the mainstream curriculum as soon as possible. Approximately 60 % of our children have at least one native English-speaking parent.

Which class will my child be joining?
For the 2008/09 academic year children are placed in their classes based on their date of birth as follows:

September 2005 – August 2006	Pre-Nursery
September 2004 – August 2005	Nursery
September 2003 – August 2004	Reception
September 2002 – August 2003	Year 1
September 2001 – August 2002	Year 2
September 2000 - August 2001	Year 3
September 1999 - August 2000	Year 4
September 1998 - August 1999	Year 5
September 1997 - August 1998	Year 6

            
        
     
              

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