Dear Parents 

I wanted to share a little more with you about how we arrived at our School goals for our focus for 2026-2027. Last year saw BIS host several international peers who came to evaluate the school using SPK, IB CIS and WASC protocols. For a school of less than 400 students, preparing for four quality assurance bodies is an enormous amount of work and although it provides lots of valuable feedback it can be overwhelming. The Board under the guidance of Deidre Fischer the Board Advisor undertook a systematic review of all the feedback with Pak Richard and Pak Liam to arrive at the three common themes that were identified and this is how the goals were identified. 

1. ACADEMICS (TEACHING AND LEARNING)

   • Planning and curriculum documentation (Toddle)

   • Schoolwide consistency for IB teaching practices and assessment/reporting

2. CAMPUS HEALTH AND SAFETY

   • Facilities maintenance and security (child protection)

   • Student social emotional learning and community well-being. 

3. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

   • Finalise the BIS Values/Mission and Vision and develop the 2027-2030 Strategic Plan

   • Review effectiveness of structures for communication and feedback channels, and opportunities for stakeholder engagement feedback

   • Re-building community founded on the BIS values

It is hoped that by having three clear goals we can improve sustainability; by keeping a consistent focus in times of change and help BIS to continue to move forward. One of our major priorities has been the revision of the vision, mission and values. This was one of the recommendations from the accreditation team in February and hence we started that work last year. Everything at the school should be driven by these 'guiding statements'. They should capture the essence of a school, showing its ambition and identity and act as an ethical compass.  The guiding statements impact the work that SLT are leading and so, they have been our priority. 

Consistency of education was another theme and to address this we are developing our internal curriculum documentation and teacher performance evaluation standards. The new leadership structure with a Primary and Secondary Principal means that there is now greater oversight of the curriculum and its delivery and that they along with the SPK Principal and Curriculum Coordinators can collaborate and improve transition between programmes. Having invested in Toddle we are now expanding its use to ensure we have a single point of truth (SPOT) for curriculum and other data to ensure systems are in place that do not depend on individual people, again supporting sustainability. You can learn more 

On reflecting on the accreditation process it was felt that 4 accreditations for the size of our school was unnecessary. The Council of International Schools (CIS) launched a major change to their accreditation framework and it was felt that this did not align with the direction of the school as well as WASC did and you can learn more here. WASC focuses on; 

Organisation for Student Learning and well-being

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Support for student social-emotional and academic growth

School culture, child protection and Parent/Community involvement

The impact of this is negligible for families and students as the school continues to use external agencies to evaluate its practices and maintains external accreditation that supports students seeking university placements anywhere in the world. There is no disruption to our PYP/MYP/DP programmes and any families seeking to move on to different schools and countries can be sure that transcripts from BIS will continue to be recognised as they always have been. 

Going forward WASC will visit in Semester 2 of SY 2027-2028 with IB and SPK visiting again in SY 2030-31 and as always parent voice will be an essential part of the process and we thank you for your ongoing support and contributions. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Best wishes

Dr Heather

Head of School

As we begin the new academic year, the BIS Swimming Program encourages all students—especially our advanced-level swimmers—to begin training consistently from the start of Term 1.

Swimming development is a long-term journey. Regular training helps swimmers improve their technique, fitness, confidence, discipline, and race experience. By starting early, our students will have sufficient time to prepare and work towards their goals for the JIS Dragons Swimvitational, IISSAC, and BSSA Swimming Championships.

Swimming Competition Calendar 2026–2027

• JIS Dragons Swimvitational: November 6–7, 2026

Please review the full information of JIS Dragon Swimviational 2026 before registering.

To participate, please sign up on this GOOGLE FORM  and include of registration fee by September 25, 2026

Please note that this is a parent-funded event. Parents will be responsible for independently arranging and covering all related expenses, including flights, accommodation, local transportation, and other personal travel requirements.

To coordinate the team registration, please transfer the registration fee to the following parent representative’s bank account: Mrs. Marra Lin Hensby (check into the google form detail).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at crizal@baliis.net.

• IISSAC Swimming Championships: April 16–18, 2027, Surabaya

• BSSA Secondary Swimming: April 20, 2027, Dyatmika

• BSSA Primary Swimming: April 22, 2027, Australian Independent School (AIS)

Training and Participation Requirements

These competitions are intended for students who:

• Are able to swim all four competitive strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.

• Regularly attend and actively participate in the BIS Advanced Swimming CCA.

• Demonstrate commitment, discipline, and a positive attitude during training.

• May also undertake additional swimming training through a swimming club or with a qualified private coach to support their long-term development.

Participation and team selection for IISSAC and BSSA will be based on each swimmer’s ability, attendance, training commitment, competition readiness, recorded times, and the needs of the team.

We encourage interested swimmers to begin preparing early and to train consistently throughout the academic year. Every training session is an important step towards personal improvement and team success. Let’s start early, train consistently, and grow stronger together. We look forward to another exciting and successful year for BIS Swimming!

NOTE: Last IISSAC 2026, for those students who are not receiving an IISSAC t-shirt, please come to the PE office to collect it.

Go Dragons!
Once a Dragon, Always a Dragon!

Coach Chairul Rizal

For many students, the library is simply a place they enjoy being. It is somewhere to find a new book, spend time with friends, work on a project, or a safe space when they need a break. But behind all of that, there is a lot of learning taking place.

As librarians, we work closely with homeroom and specialist teachers to connect what happens in the library with what students are learning in class. This can look very different at each age: helping younger students find information in a nonfiction book, teaching students how to decide whether a website is trustworthy, or supporting older students with research, referencing and evaluating sources.

For decades, research has consistently shown a connection between strong school library programmes, qualified librarians and student achievement (Asch). At BIS, having two qualified full-time librarians allows us to work directly with students and teachers across the school, while also managing a collection of more than 40,000 books and a range of online research resources.

Just as important is something much simpler: helping children want to read. Research shows that children who regularly read for pleasure make greater progress in vocabulary and other areas of learning, with benefits that can continue well into adulthood. (Sullivan and Brown) For us, this means giving students the chance to browse, explore, talk about books and, hopefully, find something they genuinely enjoy reading.

Above all, we want the library to be a welcoming part of the school community, a place that supports students not only in becoming stronger researchers and readers, but in developing the curiosity and confidence to keep learning.

Edson Abas

Head Librarian

Sources : 

Asch, Sarah. “The Librarian Effect on Literacy.” School Library Journal, 8 Apr. 2026, www.slj.com/story/The-Librarian-Effect-on-Literacy.

Sullivan, Alice, and Matt Brown. “Reading for Pleasure and Progress in Vocabulary and Mathematics.” British Educational Research Journal, vol. 41, no. 6, 2015, pp. 971–991. doi.org/10.1002/berj.3180.

First of all, thank you for the warm welcome as I begin my role as the new Athletics and Activities Director at Bali Island School. It has been fantastic to arrive at a school that is so alive, with so much happening across campus and such a vibrant and active community.

⚽ BSSA Football Season

Yesterday we kicked off our BSSA interschool events, with Fun Football, a get together for our youngest athletes, ages 6–8. These events are all about having fun, playing football, meeting students from other schools and building a love for sport. There are no championships or trophies at this age—the focus is on participation, socializing and enjoying the experience.

For our older students, the BSSA football season is moving into its competitive stages:

• September 9: BSSA Football Qualifiers — U10, U12 and U15

• September 15: BSSA Senior (U19) Finals

• September 16: BSSA Football Finals — U10, U12 and U15

🌎 ISSAC Football

Following the BSSA season, our football teams will turn their attention to ISSAC Football, our national travelling competition. This year's competition will take place in Bandung from October 23–25.

Our ISSAC teams have already started training, and it has been great to see the enthusiasm and popularity of football across the school. Students who are passionate about the sport can still get involved, with team selections taking place soon.

🏐 Looking Ahead to Term 2

Once we finish our football season, we will move into the BSSA Volleyball Season in Term 2, giving our students another opportunity to represent BIS, compete, make new connections and enjoy being part of our wider school community.

🛡️ Football Safety Reminder

As health and safety is one of our school priorities, I would also like to remind all football players that shin pads are now mandatory for all BSSA football games. We strongly encourage students to wear shin pads during training sessions as well, helping them develop good habits around safety and preparation from the outset.

As parents, your encouragement makes a big difference. I hope you will continue to encourage your children to get involved, try new activities, support their teammates and enjoy being part of the BIS community. Sport and CCAs are about much more than competition or simply taking part in an activity; they provide opportunities for students to develop confidence, teamwork, resilience, responsibility and leadership, while building friendships and discovering new interests. These experiences are an important part of developing well-rounded, active and engaged members of our community.

Albert Colet Garcia
Athletics and Activities Director

As part of our “Who We Are” unit, Grade 3B continued their inquiry into beliefs and values by exploring Sikhism. Learners investigated key beliefs and values, identified important symbols and signs, and made connections between Sikh traditions and their own beliefs, values, and experiences.

In Art, students explored the Khanda, an important symbol of Sikhism. They creatively represented the symbol while learning about its meaning and significance. This cross-curricular experience allowed learners to combine inquiry, cultural understanding, reflection, and creativity while developing respect and appreciation for different belief systems.