5 Oct 2018

Newsletter #8

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
Sports
PTA News
ESF News
Other News

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Dear Parents

5D Assembly

This morning 5D shared their Class Assembly to the school.  They shared the message of ‘Gratitude’.  They told the story of a boy called Edward who billed his mother for all the jobs he does around the house.  His mother shared back a note which listed all the ways she cares for him with no charge.  Edward had learned a lesson about gratitude and appreciating his mother’s efforts.  They also performed a great dance and a spine-tingling song using Makaton signing.  Congratulations to 5D and all the adults that supported them!

Year 3 InCAS

Earlier this year, the Year 3 students participated in the Interactive Computerised Assessment System (InCAS), a program developed at Durham University (UK).  The children undertook standardised tests in English, which included word recognition, word decoding, reading comprehension and spelling, and in Mathematics, which included Mental Mathematics.

These results can now be viewed on the Gateway by following the link from Student Demographics to Assessment (located on the right hand side of the screen).  The results are now available.

Results are displayed in 6 month bands based on chronological age indicating if they are operating above or below chronological age.  It is important to keep in mind that this is just a snapshot.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions at susan.chung@bhs.edu.hk

Wellbeing Focus

Next Friday is the Hong Kong Community Chest Dress Casual day. All students are invited to bring in minimum $20 in order to wear their own clothes instead of their uniform. All money collected for Dress Casual day will go to Hong Kong Community Chest who support people in need across Hong Kong. Thanks to all!

You could use this opportunity to teach your child about empathy and thinking of others.  Here are some ideas:

  • Think of some common feelings we all experience e.g. happiness, anger, fear etc.  Talk about how others experience different thoughts and feelings than they do – this is empathy.
  • Ask your child if they can work out how people are feeling in different situations e.g. if someone cuts in front of you in the car, ask your child if they know how that made you feel, or can they tell from your facial expression.
  • Hold a discussion about a topical news item and reflect on how each person involved in the situation may be feeling.
  • Demonstrate empathy yourself.  Let your child see you behaving empathetically towards them and others.
  • When conflicts arise between friends or siblings, try asking your child “I wonder how … might have felt when that happened?” or “Can you think of anything that might have hurt … feelings?”
Mandarin Mondays

Mandarin club is back! Please come join us during lunch break on Monday. This time, we will tell you a story about 7 legendary boys called “the Seven Gourd Brothers”. They are named after the 7 colours of the rainbow and each has a unique superpower. They fight against two evil monsters and save the people living around their village.

In addition, there will be some small prizes to those who got the correct answers to the Mid-autumn riddles.

Parent Consultations

We are looking forward to seeing parents in school next Tuesday and Thursday for the Parent Teacher Consultations. Please login to the Gateway if you have not yet booked your appointment. For your information, the booking system will close at 5pm on Monday 8th October.

Community Choir

Our BHS Community Choir will resume after the October half term break.  This is open to all parents of BHS students and to BHS Staff. The choir will be rehearsing on Thursday evenings from 7pm. We would hope to perform at the BHS Christmas Concert. No auditions or previous singing experience – just lots of enthusiasm needed!

If you are interested in joining, please click HERE.

Student Achievement

We are really proud to share Aidan Chow (5D) and his father taking action last weekend.  They volunteered their time to collect money for a worthy organisation.   It is very inspiring to see members of our community giving up their time to help others.

Ivana Wickramaratne (1L) took part in Tai Po Swimming Meeting on 25th September. In one of the events, she won the 3rd place. Good job Ivana!

 

Ryan Yip (2F) recently participated in 2 events and got the following results. In August, he got the number 4th place in the Grade 2 Examination Pieces in the 2018 Hong Kong Music Talent Piano Competition held in City Hall. In September, he participated in the 2018 Tri-swim competition held at Australian International School, and got the 2nd runner up in the 25m kickboard competition and the number 4th place in the 25m freestyle competition. You’ve been busy Ryan, well done!

Cameron Yeung (6H), Leo Lee (6D) and Donovan Yim (6H) were proud to play for BHS in the All HK Primary Schools Tennis Competition from September 23 at Kowloon Tsai Park Tennis Court.  Cameron shows fine form and reaches the round of 16 in Girls Grade B among 71 players.  Leo and Donovan managed to get BHS a team competition Boys Grade B rank of 17 among 129 players in Hong Kong. Fantastic job, you three!

Leo (6D) and Donovan (6H) also play for BHS in Boys’ Singles among 283 players in the All Hong Kong Schools Jing Ying (精英) Table Tennis Competition on October 1st at Shun Lee Sports Centre.  The two boys have shown excellent fighting spirit in the tournament. Great work boys!

 

At BHS we value the importance of developing the ‘whole’ child and this means valuing their achievement and interests outside of school.  If your child has achieved something special, we would be happy to share that with the BHS community through this newsletter.  Please email details and a photograph to kannis.tsui@bhs.edu.hk

Important Dates

 

Kind regards,

Susan Chung
Acting Principal

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BHS Lunchtime Experiences

At BHS we have lots of great clubs which our students really enjoy so Ms Chung challenged us to create even more!   As the student councillors we interviewed our friends and classmates to find out their favourite clubs.  We were wondering if any parents would like to help run these clubs?  Do not panic! You do not need to be an expert or world champion, just enthusiastic and willing to help.  This could be as an one off session or more, it is up to you.  Please click on this google form to volunteer.  The Student Council will then get in contact with you to organise the club.  We will help with all the logistics such as venue, students and resources.


BHS App V2.0 Available Now

The Beacon Hill School mobile app has been updated with a new interface and various improvements and fixes. We apologise for the users that were unable to use the old version following a recent iOS update, this problem has now been fixed. The app allows you to:

– Easily access the latest news from BHS including newsletters and weekly updates.
– View the calendar of upcoming events
– Receive important notifications from the school

Search the App Store on your phone for Beacon Hill School or click the links below:
 

 

 

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Boys Football Club Training Schedule

Tuesday 9th October – no training – parent consultations

Tuesday 16th October – mid-term break – no training

Tuesday 23rd October – King’s Park – 4.30pm up from King’s Park

Tuesday 30th October – King’s Park – 4.30pm up from King’s Park

 

Girls Football Club Training Schedule

All sessions will be held at Kowloon Tsai Park.

4.45pm pick up at school.

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PTA AGM 2018

A reminder our AGM will take place on 24 October at 5:15 in 7/F Conference Room.

If you’re interested in joining the PTA we welcome you with open arms.  Please fill in the nomination form which was sent out through eNotice last week by logging into Gateway at bhs.tg.esf.hk.

To find out more about what we do, how to get involved or support us, please visit :   http://www.beaconhill.edu.hk/pta-2.

Hot Lunches

The November lunch order form will be issued on Monday 8th October.  Please make sure this is returned by Monday 22nd October.  We repeat again that DCK will not accept any orders beyond this date.  Please note that each form is customised and has your child’s name and any credits which have been accrued from Aug / Sep.  For Y3-6, camp dates have already been struck off.  For Year 1 there is a Pizza Lunch on  Tuesday 13th November.   Irrespective of whether or not you order pizza, your lunch order will be taken for this day.  If we receive your pizza order by the 22nd October deadline we shall automatically cancel the DCK lunch order for that day and your credit will be rolled over to subsequent months.  There is a sample lunch order placed on the BHS website however the form in your child’s diary must be the one you use to order. If you do not receive the order form please contact DCK directly on 2464-1838.

PTA Volunteer and Donation Forms

Please return the PTA Volunteer & Donation Forms.  The various events run by the PTA rely on your support, generosity and valuable time.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Sponsorship form.pdf

Uniforms

A reminder that uniforms shall no longer be purchased directly from PTA. Orders are to be made online and once cheque payment is received the items will be sent direct to classroom.  The form can be downloaded from BHS website as per the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/YGtQJSc1XwbrFUoO2 

Winter uniforms will be available for sale after the mid term break.  However we are experiencing delivery problems with jackets and fleeces which we have been advised may not be available until November.

Upcoming Events :

24 October PTA AGM

30 October Y6 Bake Sale

Have a great weekend.

Regards

BHS PTA

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ESF Festival of Music

Due to the impact of Typhoon Mangkhut, ESF Festival of Music has been postponed.

We know that a huge amount of hard work and effort has gone into preparing for the event, so this is not the end. We will reschedule the concerts for later in the year. The show will go on!

Please watch this space for latest announcements:
https://www.esf.edu.hk/event/festival-of-music/

 


URSTRONG – Quarry Bay School

Dear Parents/Carers,

Quarry Bay School is pleased to announce that they will be hosting URSTRONG, an internationally recognized Social Emotional Wellbeing program, on Thursday 25th October.

The aim of URSTRONG is to empower children with the skills, language and self-confidence to be better friends and develop healthier relationships. To learn more about URSTRONG and their programmes please watch this short video which describes the impact of URSTRONG on children and parents around the globe.

URSTRONG will be holding two Language of Friendship workshops on Thursday, 25th October at Quarry Bay School. The workshops have been designed for parents/carers to attend with their children.

Parents can register via this link https://urstrong.com/Events/

-Language of Friendship Jr. (Years 1 and 2 plus parents) from  4.30pm to 6.00pm

-Language of Friendship (Years 3 to 6 plus parents) from  6.30pm to 8.00pm

If you have any questions or queries regarding this event then could you please contact URSTRONG directly using the following email address: megan@urstrong.com

We look forward to welcoming you at one of the workshops.

 

Kind Regards,

Ms Mina Dunstan
Principal
Quarry Bay School

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HEALTH

Immunization Records for Primary Six Students

 

All Immunization Records submitted by parents or guardians have been returned by means of “a copy” to help complete the Immunization Box of the Camp Form for Primary Six Students.

The original Immunization Records and the completed consent or refusal forms are kept safely in school for the Immunization Team of the Department of Health to check plus who will decide whether your child will require the vaccine or not.

 

All documents will be returned to your child (together with any instructions for you to follow-up, if applicable) via your child’s class teacher in due course.

Please read our newsletter, later.

 

Thank you.

Rosalind Chen
School Nurse

71st  Hong Kong Schools Music Festival

The application form for entering 71st Hong Kong School Music Festival will be ready for you to pick up at the school front desk from Friday 28th September, 2018.  If your child/(ren) wants to participate in this competition, please return the application form and application fee with added $10 for the transportation fee in a cheque payable to “Beacon Hill School” to the school office on or before Wednesday 10th October, 2018.

 

Shiree Yam
HR/Finance Manager

Disclaimer: Beacon Hill School and the English School Foundation do not recommend or endorse any external events in this newsletter. There is no contractual arrangement between BHS/ESF and the event organisers.