Hillside Newsletter 12 October 2018
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.
| 15-19 October | Mid-Term Break |
| 23-26 October | K1 Parent-Teacher Conferences |
| 5-7 November | IB PYP Evaluation Visit |
| 23 November | Hillside Sports Day @ HK Football Club |
| 13 December | Last School Day of Term |
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents
Many thanks to everyone for helping us have a great first half term here at Hillside. As you walk around the kindergarten there is a very positive feeling and the children have settled extremely well into their new routines. I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet many of you in the past two months and look forward to having a chance to get to know you all through the various parent events that we will continue to offer throughout the year.
I would also like to thank all of our staff for working so hard to create a stimulating and welcoming learning environment for the children. All of our new staff have fitted in wonderfully well and have truly been a great addition to our Hillside team of educators. At Hillside we are committed to working collaboratively with the children, parents and staff to achieve the ESF and Hillside Mission Statement:
Our mission is to inspire creativity and nurture the global citizens and leaders of the future. We will do this by creating joyful learning environments, led by a community of exceptional teachers, who bring out the best in every child through a personalized approach to learning and by inspiring curious minds.
K2 Friday Assembly and Learner Profile Awards
Vice Principal Audrey Tang and I have commenced our regular assembly with the children in K2. Our focus for the first two assemblies has been to learn how we need to behave in an assembly setting (such as sitting quietly, listening to the speaker at the front, not calling out and participating in the assembly songs and activities). For their first few assemblies, both the AM and PM class have been doing a good job at learning to understand what it means to be a good audience member and we have been quite impressed with the overall level of attention and behaviour that has been displayed by the majority of K2 children.
As an IB PYP school, we strive to help every child develop a set of personal attributes called the ‘Learner Profile’. These ten attributes are:
Inquirers, Thinkers, Communicators, Risk-takers, Knowledgeable, Principled, Caring, Open-Minded, Balanced and Reflective
Before each assembly, the K2 teachers will nominate two to four children from each AM and PM class that have demonstrated a particular attribute of the Learner Profile. We recognise the children for their efforts by presenting them with a Learner Profile certificate at the assembly. When your child comes home with a certificate please do take a moment to share and discuss this award with your child.
Parent-Teachers Consultations
This week we commenced our Parent-Teachers Consultations (PTC) with our K2 parents. K1 parents will get the opportunity to meet with their child’s class teacher in the first week back after next week’s scheduled Half-term break. K1 parents that have not yet made an appointment will need to login to your Gateway account to book your appointment. The online sign-up will be available from now onwards and will close on the Friday prior to your week of PTCs. Please follow the instructions HERE on how to make a booking.
Please note classes will continue as per normal throughout the PTC weeks. The appointments are about 10-15 minutes long for each child. Please appreciate that these are the dates when we have arranged cover for teachers and we would like to keep to them as much as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on 2540-0066.
| K1 | Dolphins | Frogs | Monkeys | Pandas |
| Date | 23 Oct
24 Oct |
23 Oct
24 Oct |
25 Oct
26 Oct |
25 Oct
26 Oct |
SAVE THE DATE: Hillside Sports Fun Day – Friday 23 November
We cordially invite all parents to join us at our annual Hillside Sports Fun Day on Friday, 23 November at the Hong Kong Football Club in the hockey pitches (3 Sports Road, Happy Valley).
The day will begin at 09:00AM for all children (both morning and afternoon classes) with a welcome and a warm up. Please do not arrive before 08:45AM so that we have time to set all the activities and equipment on the pitches before the children arrive. The day will conclude around 11:15AM with a break built into the rotational activities to rest those little bodies. Parents can also take their child for a break whenever they feel their child may need one.
Due to both the AM and PM classes coming together for this event, we unfortunately do not have capacity for additional children (such as siblings) to attend this event. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding with this request.
Please note: We will meet all families directly in the hockey pitches at the Hong Kong Football Club, and there will be no classes operating at Hillside and no school bus service available on this date. More detailed information will follow closer to the event.
SPORTS FUN DAY CLASS T-SHIRTS
We would like the children to wear a coloured t-shirt to add to the atmosphere on the day. Please have your child wear a (predominantly) plain, coloured t-shirt to the event according to the list below. The t-shirts do not have to be identical!
| DOLPHINS | PINK | GECKO | YELLOW | |
| PANDA | WHITE | DRAGON | RED | |
| MONKEY | PURPLE | TIGER | ORANGE | |
| FROG | GREEN | TURTLE | BLUE |
Upcoming Hillside IB PYP Evaluation
As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, it is a requirement that each school undertakes a formal yearlong evaluation process – addressing all aspects of the PYP program. During this period of evaluation (which takes place once every five years), evidence will be sought from both internal and external stakeholders to verify that the school is meeting all the requirements of the programme. The emphasis of our IB Evaluation process will come from the school’s self-study process, the school’s IB PYP action plan, as well as the school’s commitment to follow the IB Standards and Practices for the Primary Years Program (PYP). The final stage of this process will involve a team of educators representing the IBO visiting Hillside to conduct an in-depth, three-day school-based, evaluation visit.
Since the start of last academic year, we have been working closely with our staff reviewing the IB Standards and Practices and worked on our ‘IB Self-Study’. Both staff and parent were surveyed through different forums and their input and support play an integral part of this process, and we will continue to keep parents informed throughout this process.
If you wish to learn more about the work we have done last year, please click HERE to access our self-study documentation. If you have any questions about the IB Authorisation, please contact Hillside’s IB PYP coordinator audrey.tang@hillside.edu.hk
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind Regards
Chris
Principal
Class Blogs
Please click on the links below to visit our class blogs on the Hillside Learning Hub for your child’s latest class news and photo gallery. Please contact kinder@hillside.edu.hk if you cannot access the Learning Hub.
| Dolphin | Dragon |
| Frog | Gecko |
| Monkey | TigerAM TigerPM |
| Panda | Turtle |
| Chinese | |
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
