Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new Website for the PTA of the International School of Hilversum (ISH)!

Why the new name and new website?

We were formerly the PSSG (Parent Student Support Group). Our predecessor organization had allowed the KvK (Chamber of Commerce) registration expire, and without this we could not function as a proper responsible organization. As a result of the new registration, we chose to change our name to bring it in line with other International schools here and abroad. We are now a formal 'Vereniging' (Association) under Netherlands law, with a properly constitued Committe, quarterly meetings and an annual meeting and elections.

More important our name signifies a new beginning, a new team, and a new committment to improve communication between all stakeholders in the School: Parents, Teachers, Students, Administration, and the Community.

Our objectives have been to build from the ground up. Our first job was to ensure our financial contribution (€ 25 per family) was in place with as many families as possible contributing. Second was to build a network of Class Representatives to ensure good communication between all grades in the school is in place.

Our next challenge is to build a programme of events for the year and ensure we have the resources to put on these events.

The great difficulty in volunteer organizations like ours is to avoid having the same few people volunteering for all the activities! We are all working people and/or homemakers with busy schedules. Our committment to Volunteer organizations must therefore be limited. Our objective therefore is to have volunteers committ only to those activities where we have resources to ensure they are completed. If we cannot get willing volunteers we will not put on the event.

This is your PTA! Please give your time and effort to our organization to ensure that the school is a better environment for your children. If you do, our committment to you is that we will give you a specific mission to complete and of which to take ownership. My role in the PTA is to ensure that our objectives are aligned with our mission, and that we have the volunteers to complete our objectives. It is to build an infrastructure in which volunteers can feel free to lend their own skills and talents without an overcommittment of time, and have fun doing so.

If you would like to volunteer please contact me directly. We would also be interested on how we are doing against our objectives! Please let us know.

Sincerely,

Peter Thomson
Chairman 2009/2010