1 Dec 2017

Year 1 Update – Wk 15

Friday 8th December – Sunshine House Action Day – Food Packing

Wednesday 13th December – Year 1 Christmas Party

Thursday 14th December – Christmas Concert and Christmas Bake Off

Friday 15th December – Last day of term. School finishes at 12.00pm. Mid year reports available to parents on the Beacon.

Final pitch date : 6th December

Children should wear their normal PE uniform for these sessions and will take their water bottles and hats with them.

If your child has not got a hat or regularly forgets to bring it to school please make an extra effort to help them bring it to school.

Disco time was enjoyed by all who attended. The children looked amazing in their clothes and enjoyed dancing and playing with friends after school. They were so excited to join in the schools 50th party celebrations.

During UOI time many children explored bubble wands. This included connecting to our own experiences and knowledge of making and playing bubbles. We had discussions around the materials and how they could be used and then time for creating, testing and refining our designs. We continued considering how stories can be written and tried to write careful sentences of our own. Our problem solving skills were put to the test again as we explored all the different possibilities in open ended maths challenges requiring us to think about both addition and subtraction.

Central Idea:

Imagination helps us think, create and express ourselves.

Over the next two weeks the children will be experiencing different ways we can express ourselves through Visual Arts, Dance, Drama and Story.

Throughout these experiences children will be encouraged to develop a reflective and open-minded approach. They will be watching and talking about their own art works and also thinking about what other people have created.

Please watch out for the letters regarding the class party. The children and adults often get very excited by this time of year and love to share their favourite party treats with classmates. Please stick to the suggested items and amounts so that we can minimise waste.

Children wishing to give christmas cards to school friends need to remember the following things.

Please remember to write clearly inside the card who it is to and from.
Envelopes need to have the persons name on the front who the card is for and also their class.
Cards should be put in the school christmas postbox and will be distributed by special year 6 delivery elves!

School Uniform

Now that the weather is cooling down please make sure that your child is appropriately dressed.

We encourage children not to wear long sleeved tops underneath their P.E top. A warmer short sleeved top is a good idea. To keep warm the children can wear their P.E jacket on top of the P.E t-shirt. When it gets colder children can wear the red

jumper under the P.E jacket. They can also wear the purple school uniform fleece on top of the P.E jacket if still cold. Also we would suggest foot less tights under the P.E pants in the winter as the pants are not very warm. There are some nice white warm tights in the ladies market. Even in the winter our classrooms are very warm. We are often still in short sleeve shirts. But outside at school it can get windy. We teach the children to take a layer off when they come inside and put a layer on when they go outside.

Please spend some time at home encouraging them to be independent and helping them to learn how to put their jackets and sweaters on themselves.

maths

Following on from our visit from Peter Sullivan children have been exploring different problems which help them apply and develop their number skills. Our continued focus will be on subtraction. This is linked to the idea of a number having a value which can become less, a set or group of objects becoming smaller and also the skill of counting backwards.

Here is a link to a simple game you could make and play together.

http://www.learn-with-math-games.com/math-learning-games.html

Mathletics: Please spend some time each week exploring the different activities that we have set for the children. Under the ‘play’ section, children can practise their basic facts by playing games with partners from around the world. It is not intended that the children will do these tasks totally independently so please help your child to become familiar with the layout of Mathletics and how to go about completing the tasks.

We will be continuing to explore fictional story writing building on the imaginative and problem solving play experiences.

Throughout this unit we will also be building the children’s skills and understandings in the following areas.

Reading : The words we see and hear enable us to create pictures in our minds.

Writing : Talking about our stories and pictures helps other people to understand and enjoy them.

Listening and speaking : Everyone has the right to speak and to be listened to.

Viewing and Presenting: We can enjoy and learn from visual language.

Next week we will continue with unit 3 of our phonics programme. Below are our focus phonemes and camera words. Please support this work at home playing the games included on the phonic bookmark.

Phonics

Phonemes: v w y z j n k e

Camera Words: all me they is no said

Not all words can be decoded phonetically. We call these tricky words, ‘camera words’ because children must learn them as though they were taking a photo of the word with their ‘mind’s eye’. They are encouraged to memorise the part of the word which is tricky.

Congratulations to the following children:

1L – Celine Razón

1P – Blair Shum

1W – Ryan Yip

Christmas Activities

Christmas is fast approaching and Hong Kong is already getting into the festive spirit. Below are some great ideas for things to do with your children over the Xmas break.

1. Huge Superpark Opens In Hong Kong *NEW LAUNCH!

WHAT: Now a whole park dedicated to free play arrives in Hong Kong all the way from Finland. The 45,000 square foot venue might not be embracing the great outdoors of the country it hails from – where the brand already has 11 parks – but the indoor SuperPark in Tai Kok Tsui offers a range of sports and activities to keep kids active and entertained.

WHEN: Opening December 16, 2017

WHERE: Click here for more details

2. The Nutcracker Ballet *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: A classic for kids and kids at heart!

WHEN: December 15-17, 19-20, & 22-26, 2017 at various times.

WHERE: Click here for more details

3. Santa’s Secret Kingdom *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: Join the latest of Glitter and Gore’s unique holiday events – Santa’s Missing Sack! Kids will interact with elves, discover a magic kingdom, and solve a Christmassy mystery to help save Christmas.

WHEN: December 9-10, 2017 from 10am-4pm.

WHERE: Click here for more details

4. Christmas Camping *BOOK IN ADVANCE

WHAT: Twinkling trees, mulled wine, and camping under the stars at this unique Christmas-themed camping adventure!

WHEN: Christmas 2017

WHERE: Click here for more details

5. Disney’s Sparkling Christmas *TICKETS REQUIRED

WHAT: A Fairy Tale Forest awaits the family!

WHEN: Now – January 1, 2018

WHERE: Click here for more details

6. AIA Great European Carnival *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: Get ready for thrill rides, family rides, attractions and games at Hong Kong’s largest holiday event!

WHEN: December 21, 2017 to February 25, 2018. Tickets are available here (Kids under 3 are free)!

WHERE: Click here for more details.

7. The Snowman & The Bear *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: Experience the delightful winter classic on the big screen with live orchestral accompaniment, singing, and storytelling!

WHEN: December 17, 2017 at various times.

WHERE: Click for more details.

8. Live Nativity Procession in Sai Kung *FREE

WHAT: A young “Mary” will ride a pony through town from Sacred Heart Church down to the waterfront where there will be a live nativity crib set-up. There will be a candle-lit service with mulled wine and food. Join for this unique family-friendly and interactive celebration.

WHEN: December 1, 2017 from 7pm.

WHERE: Click here for more details

9. Ocean Park Christmas *TICKETS REQUIRED

WHAT: Enjoy Hong Kong’s largest indoor Christmas lighting spectacle plus loads of other fun happenings. This year, the highlight will be the first-ever virtual reality (VR) rollercoaster in Hong Kong, as the Park combines the popular Mine Train with cutting edge technology to deliver a brand new and exciting sensory experience to guests.

WHEN: December 11, 2017 – January 1, 2018

WHERE: Click here for more details

10. Father Christmas *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: Join him and watch how he prepares for Christmas this year! Brought to you by ABA Production, this show is great for under 6’s and their families.

WHEN: December 1-2, 2017

WHERE: Click here for more details

11. Holiday Movie Releases 2017 *TICKETS REQUIRED

WHAT: Family-friendly flicks opening in Hong Kong! Star Wars, Wonder, Paddington 2, and more in 2017.

WHEN: Ongoing.

WHERE: Click here for more details

12. Scrooge *BOOK TICKETS

WHAT: A classic Broadway musical for the whole family!

WHEN: Ongoing.

WHERE: Click here for details

13. Hong Kong Winterfest *FREE AND TICKETED EVENTS

WHAT: A night stroll full of celebrations plus loads more exciting happenings.