Newsletter #10
Beacon Hill School latest newsletter available to read now. Find out the latest news around the school and upcoming events.
Principal’s Words
Important Dates
Around BHS
SEN News
PTA News
Other News
I am writing this whilst at the Year 6 Outward Bound Camp, having joined them Thursday evening. I have been able to visit each of our camps this week – Year4s, 5s and 6s and I am happy to report that they have all had a wonderful time. The positive attitudes and the willingness to ‘have a go’ are a credit to our students as is their kindness and thoughtfulness towards others. I am sure they will all come home excited to tell you about what they have done, but also very tired. I hope they are able to have a restful weekend and can come back to school on Monday ready to learn! Thanks to our wonderful teachers and Educational Assistants who give up their time, leaving their own families, to enable these camps to occur. Our Year 3 camp will be in just under two weeks. Please check back to our website for more camp photos in the upcoming week.
There are no Weekly Updates today as many of our teachers have been away on camp this week.
IMPORTANT DATES
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NOVEMBER |
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14th (Sat) |
Arts in the Park (Chamber Choir) |
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16th / 18th |
Mandarin Consultations |
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17th |
Year 1 Pizza lunch |
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17th |
Marie Merchand Parent Information Evening, 6.30pm |
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17th-19th |
Year 3 trip to Bounce |
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18th |
Kowloon Netball Tournament at KJS |
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18th |
Year 4 to the Pitch for PE |
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19th |
Year 2 to the Pitch for PE |
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19th |
China Trip meeting, ESF Centre, 5.30pm (for some Y6 parents only) |
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20th |
Year 1 to the Pitch for PE |
|
20th |
ESF Orchestra Day |
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20th |
5Y Class assembly NOT now on this date. New date will be April 29th 2016 |
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21st |
Netball League matches |
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23rd-25th |
Visiting accreditation team from Council of International Schools (CIS) |
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25th-26th |
Year 3 Camp |
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25th |
Year 4 to the Pitch for PE |
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26th |
Year 2 to the Pitch for PE |
|
26th |
ICHK HLY Boy’s Football Tournament |
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26th |
Year 6 Theatre trip – Blood Brothers |
|
27th |
Year 1 to the Pitch for PE |
Please note that you can view our calendar on the school website.
Uniform
We have clear expectations regarding our school uniform. Sometimes students may need to wear something different for a short period of time if they have outgrown a pair of shoes for example, but we encourage everyone to adhere to the uniform at all times – I have noticed recently a handful of children wearing PE shoes (trainers) that are definitely not white! As the weather begins to cool down, please try to ensure you have the appropriate winter uniform ready so that we don’t see children wearing cardigans and jackets that are not the BHS Uniform. I appreciate your support in helping to ensure we maintain our strong identity and that all the children feel a sense of pride in wearing the BHS colours.
Community choir
Thank you to those who have already signed up! Some of you may have seen the British TV programmes based around the formation of choirs, such as ‘Military Wives’ and this has inspired Mr Gibson and myself to set up a BHS Community Choir. This would be open to all parents of BHS students and to BHS Staff. The choir will begin in January, rehearsing on Thursday evenings from 7pm. We would hope to perform at school around Easter. There won’t be auditions – just enthusiasm is required! If you are interested, please sign up at the following: http://goo.gl/forms/fHNKBF35kU
Go on – don’t be shy!
Have a lovely weekend.
James Harrison
News from the English Team
For questions and queries contact Emily Jeves at jevese2@beaconhill.edu.hk
Top Library Borrowers
Here are the results for the best library borrowers for October. Please do remind your children to be ready for their weekly library session with their red book bag.
Thank you!
As you will have read in previous newsletters we are asking for donations of books written in languages other than English to add to our library collection. It is important to us that the children can find books that will appeal to them in the languages that they use at home. We have begun to receive some lovely donations, thank you to:
1G’s Veda Yeung and family
1G’s Joshua Lam and family
4M’s Dylan Chai and family
We really appreciate your help with this project, please send any books to school with your child and they can bring it to the library.
Environment
Beacon Hill School cares a lot about the environment around us. As you are aware, climate change is a big concern and it is down to us to make a difference. Many cities around the world are speeding up their efforts to use clean and renewable energy. However, here in Hong Kong we need to ask our government to work harder to help us reduce our energy consumption.
If you and your family also feel that this is an important issue and want to help, you can take part in Hong Kong’s Global Climate March on Sunday 29th November 2015.
See their website for further details: http://hkgcm.org/
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR PARENTING WORKSHOP
Tuesday November 17th from 6.30 – 8.00pm in the BHS school hall.
‘Bringing a family routine that works to your home.’
Developing routines in the morning, at meal time, for household chores, for homework and for bedtime that work for the whole family.
Please register your attendance via this link: http://goo.gl/forms/2VqT4UB1jb
Any questions please contact Belinda McLaughlin.
F.O.C.U.S. Guest Speaker Event – Dr. John McKinnon
Dear F.O.C.U.S. members and friends,
We are pleased to announce that Dr. John McKinnon, a well-respected clinician with expertise in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult psychiatry, will be making several presentations to Parents & Educators, F.O.C.U.S. members and Healthcare Professionals.
Do you feel frustrated that the Internet and social media seem to wield greater influences on your tween and teen than parents and educators? Do you worry today’s children are growing up too fast? They face enormous social and academic pressure, yet they do not possess the maturity necessary to successfully navigate adolescence and young adulthood.
If you have been struggling with your tween and teenager at home and in school, even in college, these are events you do not want to miss.
PARENTS AND EDUCATORS’ SEMINAR – 17 NOV 2015 7-9PM
”The Problem of Immaturity and How To Help Children Grow Up: Recognition, Limit setting and Culture”
Guest psychiatrist Dr. McKinnon, (educated and trained at Harvard, Cambridge, Case Western, and Yale) will discuss how increasing materialism, parental indulgence, social media, and reduced academic and social structures are contributing to a growing gap between internal maturation and the external demands of school and society causing an increasing number of bright youth to stumble on their academic and emotional paths to adulthood.
The discussion will highlight the warning signs your child may be headed for emotional trouble and suggest how to set appropriate boundaries and offer the needed recognition for teens and young adults to help avoid the “maturity gap.”
- What are the problems with our adolescents today?
- How can parents discern between normal adolescent behaviors and alarming behaviors with serious underlying issues?
- How do we safeguard our children from spiraling out of control?
Date: 17 Nov 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Venue: Hong Kong International School (HKIS), High School Campus, Room 504, 1 Red Hill Road, Tai Tam, Hong Kong
Cost: HK$200 (Member); HK$380 (Non-member) (member price is applicable to parents of HKIS)
Seats are limited. Reserve your seat NOW!
Click here for membership form
Click here for Seminar flyer
Register here.
Delighted to report that 100% of the 2015-16 PTA fees have been received. Thank you all for your support!
Reminders:
CIS Visit to BHS
Dear Parents,
Beacon Hill School will be hosting a visit from CIS (Council of International Schools) from Monday 23rd November to Wednesday 25th November.
There will be 2 visitors representing the accrediting organisation, Helena Sobulis who works for the CIS office and Anne Fowles, Head of School at IGBIS Malaysia, and they will be involved in some lesson observations and meeting with different groups which make up the Beacon Hill School Community.
During their visit they would like to meet with a small group of Parents for about 45 minutes to discuss different aspects of how parents are involved in and informed about the school. Topics may include:
- How the school seeks opinions from parents.
- How parents are involved in the BHS community.
- How parents are informed about different aspects of school life.
I would like to invite you to this meeting on Tuesday 24th November at 2.15pm-3pm.
Please could you reply by e-mail if you are able to attend and I will get back to you.
With much appreciation,
Susan Chung
