Newsletter #9 - 13th January 2012

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to everyone after our X'mas holiday break.  I trust you all had the opportunity to spend some special time with your family and friends.  We now are one week away from our Chinese New Year Holiday and the "Year of the Dragon".  This is a major celebration for many of our families and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a prosperous and healthy year ahead.  Kung Hei Fat Choi!

PTA Christmas Carole Concert

A special thank you to everyone for our fabulous BHS PTA Christmas Carol Concert.  It was a beautiful night with over 700 people in attendance.  The choirs were fantastic and the sense of "BHS community X'mas spirit" could be felt in the air.  We managed to raise $10,913.30 for Operation Santa.

Chinese New Year Assembly

Next Friday we will celebrate our Chinese New Year (CNY) activity day and assembly.  A notice will be sent home today to confirm the details.  On Friday, children should wear their CNY outfits or red/ and or gold clothes.

Volunteers at BHS

We are always encouraging parents to be involved in the education of your children at BHS through classroom support, PMP, school trips etc.  If you feel you would like to contribute more to the school, please contact your child's classroom teacher or myself directly.

Parent Tip of the Week

This week the Green Team showed the children how much waste we gather as a school in one week.  The main culprit is "drink cartons".  The parent tip of the week is to try and get rid of "drink cartons".  They are full of sugar, expensive and contribute to the massive waste problem in Hong Kong.  A plastic, named water bottle can be refilled at school all day so, it is cheap, healthy and helps our environment.  The Green Team will be watching out!

Another baby!

Congratulations to Ms Emily Jeves and her partner Andy on the birth of their baby daughter Caitlin Grace Eastwood weighing in at a healthy 3.5kg.

Yours sincerely,

John Brewster

Principal

Dear Parents,

The MAD Club Needs YOUR help:

The MAD Club would now like the children and parents of children in Years 4 and 5 to help support the St. James Settlement Charity and their 'People's Food Bank'. The organisation's main task is the collection of food and donations. When they get the food and donations they donate them to the poor and hungry.

Their mission is to provide food to people in need on a short-term and weekly basis, relieving hunger through encouraging people to share resources with those less fortunate than themselves.

So we are kindly asking the Year 4s and 5s to donate items of food as follows:

rice, noodles and canned food, e.g. luncheon meat, beans in tomato sauce, sardines, spicy diced pork, twice-cooked pork, dace in black bean sauce, etc., that can constitute a full meal without requiring other foods.

You can find out more at their website:

http://foodbank.sjs.org.hk/en/page.action?id=61

The collection will take place from January 30th (right after the CNY holiday) and end on February 13th. The MAD Club have arranged to deliver the food parcels themselves to the St James Settlement in Shek Kip Mei on Tuesday 14th February. Please place all donated food items in the Year 4 and 5 Shared Area.

James Harrison
Vice Principal

Environmental Update

Before the Christmas holidays, the Green Team collected all the packaging that Beacon Hill staff and students wasted in one day.
The Green Team analysed all of the different packaging and presented their findings to the school during assembly.
The Green Team found that Beacon Hill staff and students use far too much unecessary packaging when we bring our snacks and lunches to school.
Most of the waste was carton drink containers, plastic food bags and food wrappers. All of these are non-biodegradable. Please look at the presentation that the Green Team have made and help your child to be more environmentally friendly in what they bring to school.

Link here: http://www.beaconhill.edu.hk/sites/beaconhill.edu.hk/files/
GreenTeamWastePresentation.pdf

The Green Team will do another waste collection some time after Chinese New Year to see how Beacon Hill has improved.

Miss King & The Green Team

Recently with my family, I discovered the new sport of geocaching.  Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game where players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices. Visit www.geocaching.com for more information about this sport. It is a great sport as it enables you to visit different locations around Hong Kong.

I was thinking of starting a Beacon Hill School Saturday Geocache club. This club would be for Year 4s to 6s (and their younger siblings) and their parents and would happen once or twice a month on Saturdays. If you or your child is interested in the geocaching club or you have any questions about the club please email me back  timothy.teahan@bhs.edu.hk   I am planning to have the first geocache hunt on Saturday 4th February.

Mr Teahan

Abdominal Pain (or stomach ache)

Just to keep you informed of the fact that recently a few students complained of stomach discomfort/ache and vomiting.  There is one confirmed case of "gastro-enteritis."  If your child complains of nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain or feels tired with (low grade) fever, please let him/her rest at home.  Please seek prompt medical advice to confirm diagnosis and to refrain from BHS until the child has "fully recovered" to prevent the spread of infection to other students and staff.

Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) / Influenza (flu)

Also, a few students suffered from the common cold and one confirmed case of Influenza A (the child did not come to BHS and returned after full recovery as advised by the doctor).  Please consult the doctor promptly if symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, runny or blocked nose, sneezing, muscle pain, tiredness, diarrhoea or upset stomach and loss of appetite, continue to exist.  Please ensure adequate rest for the child and "always keep hands clean."

Thank you.

R Chen

School Nurse

Our International Food Fair will take place on Friday May 4th, 2012 from 5pm onwards.  We need your help!

We are very grateful for the generous support you have contributed in the past and we hope to have your continued support to raise funds to improve our school facilities.

Last year the PTA raised over $230,000 through the Grand Raffle and money raised went to the school playground redevelopment and Multi Media equipment.  We are asking for your help in making this year's Grand Raffle the best yet.  As we continue to raise funds for more ICT multimedia equipment including Apple laptops to enable film and media production.

We are looking for Grand Raffle prize donations worth $500 and more up.  To give you an idea, last year's prizes consisted of a $10,000 travel voucher, iPhone, iPad etc… so if you can help add to this year's list please ensure your Grand Raffle Prize is with the PTA office no later than Friday, February 10th, 2012 (this is in line with Hong Kong Lottery Licensing requirements).

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a cash donation, please feel free to do so and we will use the money to buy prizes for the Grand Raffle.

Thank you in advance for your generous donations.

We can't do it without you!

Mrs Chan

PTA Co-ordinator

Several ESF Secondary students who have contributed articles to the book "Mirrors With Memories" (http://www.esf.edu.hk/mirrors-memories) will have a sharing session this Sat, 14 Jan 2012 in the Commercial Press.  Students, teachers and parents are welcome to join.

Details are as below:
Date: 14 Jan (Sat)
Time: 2 to 3 pm
Venue: Tsimshatsui Book Centre, The Commercial Press Shops B1007-1010, B1/F.,Miramar Shopping Centre,132 Nathan Road,Tsimshatsui, Kln.

Registration can be made here (http://www.cp1897.com.hk/activity.php?id=372).

Students may have seen Mrs Yoga (Annie Walle) around BHS participating in International Day and IB classes (UOI for Storytelling, Well-being, Beliefs, etc.), but do you really know what benefits Educational Yoga bring to your child?

Starting in late February you can also enrol in after school Education Yoga Class in BHS. To let students and parents understand the fun, health, and education it brings about, we are inviting parents and students to join our free classes on Feb 4th and Feb 11th. In the Family Fun Yoga day Mrs Yoga will explain and demonstrate yoga poses for children, how it can be educational and trains a more focused mind. In the 90 minutes session she will also let you get involved in yoga experience that encourages parent-child bonding & respect. Moreover, Mrs Yoga's class always ends with time for total body relaxation and mindfulness practices that lets you walk out the class refreshed and feeling good about life.

Enrolment form will be handed out to BHS students next week, put on comfortable clothes and join us on Feb 4th or Feb 11th. Yoga is for everyone! Age, flexibility and fitness level does not matter.

Annie Walle