Hillside Newsletter 10 January 2020
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.
| 15 January | Theatre Trip (Kids Fest): The Gruffalo |
| 24 – 31 January | Chinese New Year Break |
| 14 February | Lion Dance |
| 25-26 February | School Photo Day |
| 2-3 March | PYP In-school Workshop for Teachers – No School |
| 17-20 March | K2 Parent Teacher Conferences |
| 24-27 March | K1 Parent Teacher Conferences |
| 2 April | Last Day of Term |
| 6-17 April | Easter Break |
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents
Happy New Year~ Fresh back from Christmas break, the children have quickly re-engaged with much agility, and the Hillside learning community is back in the swing of early childhood learning. With the all too familiar Play Visit Day ticked off the January checklist, the next two weeks promises a quick pace of exploring and inquiring as we wrap up our unit of inquiry on How We Express Ourselves.
As most are aware, January will be a short month, with Chinese New Year happening slightly ahead of February. Hence, it is important to make the most of our school days by maintaining good health and taking preventive measures against the common flu, and the more serious Wuhan virus. Please take some time to read the preventive measures below, for our children’s, and our own health and safety.
With all the exciting activities in store ahead, I wish to deviate briefly with a reminder to parents not to park at the Bradbury school parking lot. Bradbury facilities are entirely separate from Hillside’s and it would be much appreciated if we can refrain from causing any inconvenience to our ESF sister school.
As such, I welcome you all warmly back to the swing of things and wish to thank you for your good support at the Christmas Family Picnic last month at Repulse Bay beach. Our Green Fundraiser Bake Sale gathered a total collection of $6,356, which will be put to good use in acquiring a new rainwater collection system, a composter, and mud kitchen – all in due time.
Wishing you great things ahead for the New Year!
Audrey
Acting Head of School
The Gruffalo Show – on Wednesday!
The much anticipated Gruffalo show is happening on Wednesday, 15 January. Thank you to all who have booked within the deadline. Your tickets will be issued onsite for your convenience. Please contact us ASAP if you would like to purchase tickets, and we will try our best to assist.
For parents who are unable to confirm ahead of Wednesday, tickets may still be available on the day, for the same price of $225 each. However, kindly note that cash payment is required and that we cannot guarantee the number of tickets that will remain available.
- Morning class families will watch the morning show at 9:45am – 11:00am.
- Afternoon class families will watch the afternoon show at 12:00- 1:15pm.
- The Venue will be at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (1 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai).
We look forward to meeting all attending families directly at the venue and the show will run for approximately an hour. Please check-in with your class teacher at the venue to collect your tickets, and families will be sitting together in class groups. Please note there will be no regular classes at the kindergarten on this day, and the school buses will not operate.
In efforts to reduce environmental waste please download The KidsFest! Programme using the QR code!
Digital ID Cards and Phasing Out Paper Diaries
In line with Hillside’s eco-friendly efforts, and the positive feedback from the pilot users, the Digital Pick-up Cards for all K1’s have been rolled out. We will be rolling this out shortly for all K2’s as well.
Hillside children may now be picked up using the digital copy of your child’s pick-up card on your phone, leading to less paper and plastic usage in the long run.
This digital system should eliminate the inconvenience of forgetting to bring the actual cards at pick up time. Parents and caregivers are asked to inform the school administration ASAP in the event of lost phones or hacked devices, where the pick-up cards are saved. As such, extra checks and vigilance will then be implemented during pick-up (similar to when your regular pick-up person is not available).
To expand our eco-friendly efforts, our learning community is on track to phase-out the old papers diaries. This move will also free up more staff to interact with the children during first circle time, as well as support environmental sustainability. As a foundation we are moving towards more efficient digital communications and we look forward to the new ESF app rolling out after Chinese New Year.
Flu Season – Centre for Health Protection (CHP)
It is flu season in Hong Kong. As a result, the Centre for Health Protection, via Education Bureau (EDB), has issued proactive guidelines for managing communicable diseases.
The CHP reminds members of the public, as well as the staff of institutions and schools, to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene as a preventative measure against influenza and other illnesses. We will continue to follow CHP and EDB Guidelines.
To safeguard children’ health, parents are kindly requested to take the following measures:
- Do not send children to school if they have a fever and/or respiratory illness symptoms. (For the normal body temperature range, please refer to the guidelines pertaining to the means for measuring body temperature HERE.)
- Inform school immediately if children are off sick or have been admitted to hospital for surveillance. Please share a copy of any doctor’s certificate with the school.
- Keep sick children at home until symptoms have improved and the fever has subsided. Then, take rest for at least 2 more days before returning to school.
- Co-operate with schools by picking up children not feeling well from school and consulting the doctor immediately.
- Before sending children to school, measure their body temperature; record the reading on the temperature record sheet every day.
– Referenced from Centre for Health Protection
Welcome Yammi, New Chinese Teacher
We warmly welcome our new Chinese Teacher, Yammi Cheng, who transferred over from ESF Tung Chung Kindergarten and joined the Hillside team. Many of you might know her as a Hillside parent, and also as an ex-Hillside staff member. We’re confident that her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm will be a great addition to our team.
Thank you! Christmas Appeal – Food Angel
As always, we thank our wonderful Hillside community for supporting our charity Christmas appeal for 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. We love to give back to our local community and we strongly support their goal on achieving food sustainability. Thank you again!
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
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