Test walk from Asker train station to the new AIS building and back - with a 9 year old

 Dear parents and caregivers, 

Google maps suggests that it takes19 minutes to talk from Asker station to the school. That seemed like a lot to me,  so my husband and I took our youngest child, our 9 year old daughter (starting grade 4 in the fall) and tested it out. We didn't take the route suggested by google. 

Route suggested by google: 

We decided to walk by the "Next pharma" building, here is the walk on the map: 

There are lots of routes to take, so find out what works best for you and your children. 

The walk took this long from Asker station to the school: 

The soon-to-be-done-with grade 3 girl got to pick the pace. Adults and MYP kids can walk faster for sure :)

Here we are by the main building, and I took pictures of the route back so you can all see: 

Still smiling after the walk up, and we are now ready to walk back. We're thinking it will be faster on the way back, and she's keen to get back, so quite faster I would say....:)

Walking down the steps: 

Crossing the road using the zebra crossing. We're following the walk path and will soon walk under E18.

We're on the parking lot by Next Pharma 

As you can see, there isn't a walk path here, which is probably why google isn't suggesting it. But the parking space is wide. 

From the parking lot by Next Pharma, there is a zebra crossing

And now we're almost at Asker station. 

Definetly faster down :)

So that was our walk and our experience. I would suggest that our route is more suiteable for the older, students (maybe not grade 1 and 2), or that someone responsible walks with the younger ones. This is of course up to the parents themselves :) If you do not want to cross the car park, then just follow Google's suggestion. 

Also, there is a bus stop right by the school steps too, so that's also an option of course. 

Principal Robert has informed me that he will get back to all parents and caregivers how the parking/drop-off siuation will be well before school starts. 

Have a lovely day!

Kristine 

PC chair 

 New building and yearbook :)

Hey parents! 

Today the Parent council got to tour the new building. Principal Robert showed us a bulding that is pretty much done on the inside, and a playground that's well underway. Everything looks great, and we are super excited to bring our children in there next year. Take a look!

Here you can see the PYP entrance being built. 

Certainly a large outdoor play equipment. There will be liquid rubber underneath. 

A closer look at the PYP entrance. The kids can walk into their classrooms without having to use the stairs. 

The swing set is being set up as well. 

Extra high hand reilings are ready. The mesh safety net around is coming later in the summer. 

One of the class rooms. The rooms are really bright and airy. 

The meeting room by the reception. I am posting this here, because the next parent council will get to use this room for their meetings :) 

Aaand: the yearbooks are here :) Marianne and I will be sorting these into 20 pr class, so the teachers can distribute them today or tomorrow, depending on their logistics. The yearbook looks really great, thanks to Marianne's hard work, Fabricia's wonderful photos, parents that shared their memories and the school for taking lots of pictures that are used. A big shout out to Mr. Andrew as well for organzing everything from the school. 

We're counting and organizing :)

This is probably my last blog post as head of the Parent Council. I want to say a big thanks to all my parent representative colleagues and wish the next parent council a great year. 

Have a lovely summer, and see you all next school year in the new building!

Kristine 

Pictures from Gamle Borgenvei 3 - the new school building

Hey parents and caregivers,

The AIS board was invited to tour the new building today, and  since the head of the Parent Council gets to observe these meetings, I got to document it for you all :) Take a look!

A classroom seen from the outside - the glass walls are up and the class room is carpeted. 

A finished class room 

Another finished class room - Miss Elizabeth in the room for size reference (with her permission :))

Another class room - this one even larger. The rooms are large and the light is great! 

Hallway 

Bathrooms are soon ready too. The builders assured me the doors are down stairs ready to be put up. 

The playground equipment will be put up soon. We'll call this a before picture. 

More toiles :)

This will be the PYP entrance from the playground 

Ms Chantal in her new office - it looks amazing!

The huge library area with lots of individual rooms. 

A before picture of a class room 

The head of the board showing us the model. 

Hope you liked the litle tour. 

Best regards, 

Kristine Holmbakken

PC Chair 

Yearbook 2022-23 is coming a long

 Hey parents, 

The process around creating this school year's year book is under way, and it being lead by Marianne in grade 3 A. 

We are so lucky to have an AIS parent, Fabricia, donate her time and photograph our kids. We did classes 1-3 today, and they were SO well behaved. Super fun to watch them having their picture taken. 

Fabricia, our talented  photographer (parent of a child in grade 9 A)

Here we are ready, waiting for the kids :)

If you want to purchase your child's picture, you can contact her directly. 

This is her website: Fabricia Ramiro Photography

Have a lovely day!

Kristine 

Winter concert, new building and news from the PC council

Dear parents and caregivers, Happy new year! 

 Yes, this blogpost should have been written in January, but better late than never. 

Thank you to all the parents and caregivers that helped the school pull off three wonderful winter concerts! The parent council greatly appreciated all donations to the raffles and food. About 29000 NOK was collected, and we will make sure that this money is put to good use. We will decide what the money will be spent on at at later meeting this year - it could be to an international organization or something more local. Perhaps even to fund something fun for our kids at the new building? If you have a suggestion, you can always let your class representative know.

The image above show the prizes for the grade 1-3 concert. The other two concerts had a similar setup.

Mr Robert singing - being a risktaker and accepting a challenge - well done mr. Robert! 

The new school building is coming along nicely, and I am sure you have all seen the video mr. Robert posted a few weeks ago. My deputy, Nancy (Emma's mom in grade 3) and I took a trip to the school with mr. Robert a while before the winter break, and I have to say it looks amazing. So much more space and light for both our kids and teachers. I love that the kids will have more space indoor to interact between the classes.

Above is a picture of ms. Chantale's new desk. So much space! There will likely be a space for parents to hang out and socialize - maybe even meet over a coffee? The parent council will have a space to store things and meet as well, so this is looking great!

The pictures above shows how much light and space the building has. We're excited! Last but not least: thanks to all parents that have volunteered to keep our kids safe in the morning by being on traffic duty. We've had some slippery days these last weeks, and the temperatures will still be ranging between plus and minus, so thanks a lot for volunteering. I had a shift last week, and had a really nice time saying hi to kids and staff and hopefully bringing a smile to their morning. I really enjoyed it :) Our next big event will be May 17th. More information will come in the spring. Please consider how you can contribute, so that our community can celebrate together and have fun. If you have anything you want the parent council to consider, just let your class rep know. 

Have a great February everyone! 

Kristine PC chair

Dear parents and caregivers, 

Welcome back all returning families, and a big welcome to new families to the AIS community! The parent council is established, and my name is Kristine, and I am the interim head of the PC (9 B). The deputy is Nancy (3 A), our treasurer is Louisa (1 C) and our secretary is Saffyia (1 B). The whole parent council is represented here, and please get in touch with your rep if you have any questions or concerns you would like to raise with us. 

We have just completed our first event - Halloween. I loved the excitement in the hallways the days prior, as the decorations were coming up by the volunteers. AIS admin did a great job preparing the rooms and helping with everything, and as always, our principal rocked the music. I want to shout out a big thanks to everyone who volunteered, baked cupcakes, donated popcorn and lent out their decorations. Also, thanks to three grade 6 girls for face painting, the kids loved it! The student council did an amazing job organizing the haunted house, and thank you so much to the MYP kids that spent a good 4 hours scaring the children and countless hours preparing and doing dry runs. I was so lucky to have a walk through beforehand, and my palms were certainly sweaty :) 

In the weeks coming, the parent council will be sending out information regarding supervising the parking lot during the dark mornings when the streets become slippery and we want to do everything to keep our little ones safe. There will also be information coming out soon regarding the winter concerts in december. We'll ask for donations for hampers and food, so that we again can make memorable events together as a community.

Have a wonderful day! 

Yours, Kristine Holmbakken

Parent Council Members 2022-2023

 Parent Council members for 2022-2023

The interim parent council head role will be facilitated by:
Kristine Hombakken
Nancy Torvund
Treasurer: 
Louise Tandy Kloster
Secretary:
Nancy Torvund

Parent Representatives 2022-2023

Grade	Grade representative and deputy with contact details
Grade 1a	Representative: Gaurav Gupta Deputy: Claudia Pereira
Grade 1b	Representative: Safiyya Deputy : Vijay
Grade 1c	Representative: Louise Kloser Deput: Amar Telke
Grade 2a	Representative :Donya Shabahzi Deputy - Ivon Verdu
Grade 2b	Representative: Deepak Deputy: Linda
Grade 3a	Rep: Marianne Sommerstad  Deputy: nancy Torvund
Grade 3b	Rep: Ambrein Shabana Deputy: Supreet Sharma
Grade 4a	Rep: Munazza Sahota Deputy: Sujata Sharma
Grade 4b	Rep; Trupti Shriwardhankar Deputy: Kati Assmann
Grade 5a	Rep: Liam Flood   Deputy: Anna Adams
Grade 5b	Rep: Aastha Dave Deputy: Eleonora Gasparinetti
Grade 6a	Rep: Theresa Nilsen Dep: Berit Stensland
Grade 6b	Rep: Dusica Stevanovic  Dep: Vineeth Varghese
Grade 7a	Munazza Sahota
Grade 7b	Representative: Simen Sandelien Deputy: Radha Duraisamy
Grade 8a	Avesh Godase Jon Aarbakke
Grade 8b	Representative: Karen Andenæs Deputy Representative: Sylvelin Hartjen
Grade 9a	Representative: Manjunatha Reddy Narayana Deputy Representative: Fabricia Ramiro
Grade 9b	Kristine Holmbakken Abraham Spriel
Grade10	Angela P Taliaferro