Hillside Newsletter 6 December 2019
Hillside Kindergarten’s latest newsletter is available to read now. Find out the latest news from around the school and upcoming events.
Important Dates
Click HERE for the Full Hillside Calendar and instructions to subscribe.
| 13 December | Christmas Family Picnic |
| 16 Dec – 3 Jan | Christmas Break |
| 6 January | K1 Admissions 2020/21 – School Closed |
| 7 January | First Day of Term 2 – Classes Resume |
| 15 January | Theatre Trip (Kids Fest): The Gruffalo |
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents
It’s hard to believe that it’s December already! I want to thank the wonderful team here at Hillside for the first term. As always, I am grateful for their dedication and professionalism. More importantly, the team has consistently put the needs of children first and have continued to put our children at the centre of all we do.
I would also like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the parents who came into school to support us in different ways this term. Your contributions as a regular parent volunteer, story-teller (performer in some cases!) or a parent expert for our units of inquiry are really appreciated. We are extremely grateful for the help and support we have continued to receive from our parent community.
Before we know it, it will be time for family gatherings, yummy dinners and gift exchanges! To get you into the Christmas spirit, we want to challenge you to join us in opening this year’s Acts of Kindness advent calendar!
Instead of getting a daily candy or treat behind a little cardboard door, you can find ways to give to others in the lead up to Christmas. It is easy to get caught up in “getting gifts” during the holiday season, yet we all know it can be so much more meaningful to focus on “giving gifts” – the gift of KINDNESS! Our children will learn first-hand that even a small gesture can have a positive impact. More importantly, the children will feel great knowing they are contributing to the happiness of others.
Many of these acts of kindness can be carried out as a family, enabling children to participate directly in the experience. These can provide an opportunity to start conversations with your children about different ways we can give to others and be more community minded. We all want our children to be kind, grateful, mindful and caring in all they do.
If 24 acts of kindness seems like too much, just 5 or 10 acts is a great start. Do take photos and share your Acts of Kindness HERE to spread the spirit!
Wishing you a happy winter holiday!
Kind regards
Audrey
Acting Head of School
Christmas Family Picnic
Get ready for the year-end family event! We cordially invite all families to join us at our Hillside Christmas Family Picnic on Friday, 13 December at Repulse Bay Beach in front of Club One (Map Link).
The fun starts at 9:00 am with everyone gathered by class (both morning and afternoon classes). We will be starting with a big welcome and a round of Christmas carols to get the festive atmosphere started. After which everyone is free to visit different booths offering games and activities, or families can opt to get together and have a picnic. There will also be a green-fundraiser bake sale to help fund our Hillside Sustainability Projects, such as sourcing a new rainwater collection system and mud kitchen for our outdoor play area.
We will meet all families directly at Repulse Bay beach. Please arrive after 8:45 am to give us time to set up all the games and activities. The morning will conclude around 11:00am, don’t forget to take a picture with our special secret guest (Ho! Ho! Ho!) before departing.
Just a friendly reminder, there will be no classes at the Kindergarten on this day and the school buses will not operate.
Please wear your choice of Christmas colours and bring a picnic mat to relax on. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Christmas Appeal – Food Angel
It has been a Hillside tradition to foster the spirit of giving every Christmas. Not only does this tradition create a connection with our learning community, it also makes the “caring” profile of each learner (young and old) come alive. This year, our charity of choice is Food Angel. We would like to give back to our local community and we strongly support their goal on achieving food sustainability.
Food Angel is a food rescue and assistance program launched in 2011 by Bo Charity Foundation with the mission of “Waste Not, Hunger Not, With Love”. The program rescues edible surplus food from different sectors of the food industry that would otherwise be disposed of as waste. Following strict safety protocols, the rescued food items will then be prepared as nutritious hot meals in their kitchens and be redistributed to serve the underprivileged communities in Hong Kong.
We hope to support the Food Angel program with you by having your child/children bring in dry food items to donate to the underprivileged. Our Christmas appeal will run from Monday 25 November to Thursday 12 December 2019. We encourage the children to personally place the following food items in our collection boxes under our Christmas tree at reception:
- Dry food and drinks with intact packaging
- Oils & seasonings
- 2 weeks or more before expiry date
For more information, please visit the Food Angel website http://www.foodangel.org.hk
As always, we thank our wonderful Hillside community for your ongoing support!!
The Gruffalo – “Kids Fest 2020” – Wednesday 15 January
Tickets to the Gruffalo show are still available, thank you to all parents who have secured their booking early. The entire theatre has been booked for this production of Kids Fest 2020 at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (1 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai). The date for Hillside to attend is on Wednesday, 15 January. We believe this will be a great experience for our children and we are excited to be able to accommodate the whole school to see this popular production!
We will meet all attending families directly at the venue and the show will run for approximately an hour. There will be no classes at the Kindergarten on that day, and please note the school buses will not operate. The morning families are invited to the 9:45am show, while the afternoon families are invited to the 12:00noon show.
Please send in payment to secure your booking on or before Thursday 12 December. Unfortunately, we might not be to accommodate bookings after this deadline extension. We get a special school discount price of $450 for TWO tickets. Payments can be made by cheque, payable to “ESF Educational Services Ltd” or banking transfer: HSBC 511-335-069-001 Account holder name: ESF Educational Services Ltd.
TICKETS ARE CONFIRMED UPON RECEIPT OF PAYMENT (on a first-come-first served-basis), and will be given out onsite, to prevent forgetting them at home or ticket loss. Please place your cheque or deposit/transfer record in a sealed envelope labelled with your child’s name and class, along with the number of tickets you wish to purchase.
Please contact us on 2540 0066 or kinder@hillside.edu.hk for any enquiries.
Chinese Teacher – Farewell Ann & Welcome Yammi
Last but not least, a big and warm thank you is in order to our Chinese teacher or Ann Lao Shi as she is popularly known. Ann has dedicated many years to our kindergarten, and will be leaving Hillside to spend more time with her own family. We wish Ann all the best and we want to thank her for all her contributions and work with the children over the years at both Sheung Wan and Hillside. Please do find a chance to say good-bye to Ann at the Christmas picnic.
To replace Ann, we warmly welcome our new Chinese Teacher, Yammi Cheng, who will be moving over from ESF Tung Chung Kindergarten and joining the Hillside team at the start of January. Many of you might know her as a Hillside parent, and also an ex-Hillside staff. We’re confident that her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm will be a great addition to our team.
Learning Blogs
Please click on the links below to visit our year group learning blogs on the Hillside Learning Hub. Please contact kinder@hillside.edu.hk if you cannot access the Learning Hub.
| K1 Learning | K2 Learning |
Inspiring Futures
Data Privacy The information we collect from you is in accordance with the ESF Personal Data Handling Policy and its related Personal Information Collection Statements (“PICS”). Our PICS statement is available online. http://www.esf.edu.hk/privacy
