Hillside Newsletter 20 October 2017
Hillside Kindergarten’s latest newsletter 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.
| 20 October 2017 | ESF-wide Professional Development Day (School Closed) |
| 22 October 2017 | ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon (Central Waterfront) |
| 24-27 October 2017 | K1 Parent-Teacher Conferences |
| 31 Oct – 3 November | K2 Parent-Teacher Conferences |
| 10 November 2017 | Sports Day (Bradbury School upper and lower playground) |
| 6 December 2017 | ESF 50th Anniversary Gala (HK Convention and Exhibition Centre) |
| 14 December 2017 | Last Day of Term |
| 8 January 2017 | School Resumes for Term 2 |
| 15 January 2018 | Theatre Trip: The Gruffalo (HK Academy of Performing Arts) |
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents
ESF wide Kindergarten / Primary Teacher Professional Development Day – Student Wellbeing
This Friday 20th October all Hillside staff will be participating in a Professional Development day that will focus on the development of student well-being. Student wellbeing has become a focus of international education policy for global organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The 2015 OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation reports that over 70% of OECD countries now have wellbeing as an explicit goal of their National Curriculums.
With the challenge for schools to turn well-being policy into practice, positive education offers scientific evidence that enables schools to build wellbeing in students, staff and the
community.
Designed by Professor Lea Waters PhD, Visible Wellbeing (VWB)is a flexible approach for integrating student well-being into the learning process. Teachers can be trained to apply this approach in all contexts (early learning, primary and secondary) and in any subject matter. VWB is not a program or a set curriculum about wellbeing, instead it is an approach to teaching that makes the very act of teaching itself a factor that builds student wellbeing.
ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon THIS SUNDAY
The ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon is the major community engagement event organized by the English Schools Foundation (ESF) among the 50th-anniversary calendar of events. It will be comprised of a running course of 1km to 10km along the Central Harbourfront, with adjacent community activities and carnival at Edinburgh Place in Central. For full details, please refer to the event poster HERE.
Year 1 Play-Date List by School Zones (K2 only)
We will be putting together a play-date list by school zones once we received the zoning information from the primary schools. This will normally take place later in October or early November after the all applications are processed.
We would suggest starting play-dates with other children on the same bus, as you will be likely zoned to the same school.
Please complete this survey (click HERE) to help us cross-reference the data with ESF Y1 Central Admissions. We will also use this data to help generate a play-date list by primary school zones.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-Teachers Conferences are coming up next week, you will need to login to your Gateway account to book your appointment. For instructions on how to make a booking, please click HERE
The appointments are about 10-15 minutes long for each child. If the dates indicated do not work for you, we can try to arrange alternatives. However, please be aware 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. Please note these are normal school days, and the children are expected to attend school as per usual.
| K1 | Dolphins | Frogs | Monkeys | Pandas |
| Date | 26 Oct
27 Oct |
24 Oct
25 Oct |
26 Oct
27 Oct |
24 Oct
25 Oct |
| K2 | Dragons | Geckos | Tiger | Turtles |
| Date | 2 Nov
3 Nov |
31 Oct
1 Nov |
31 Oct
1 Nov |
2 Nov
3 Nov |
Health Reminder
In light of the flu season, please be reminded to be vigilant and to take your child’s temperature every day before sending them off to school. At Hillside, we have a Zero Tolerance Policy on illnesses. We will send children home if they come to school with a fever, runny nose or a productive cough, to protect both the ill child and the rest of the student and staff population at Hillside.
In our kindergarten’s open-plan environment sickness can spread quickly, so please keep your child at home if he or she is unwell.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health 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.
Below are the guidelines from the DH CHP (Department of Health – Centre for Health Protection)
2.3.3 Reference range for temperature screening If oral thermometer is used, temperature not higher than 37.5° (99.5°) is considered normal. If ear or rectal thermometer is used, the measured temperature will be 0.5°-0.9°) higher than that of an oral thermometer. As such, ear or rectal temperature not higher than 38° (100.4°) is considered normal. June 2014 Edition 9Guidelines on Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Schools / Kindergartens / Kindergartens-cum-Child Care Centres / Child Care Centres.
2.3.4 Body temperature varies with age, time of day and level of physical activity. For screening purpose, temperature above the reference range quoted below will be considered as significant and one should consult a doctor for suspected fever. Measuring method Celsius scale (°C) Fahrenheit scale (°F)
Annex: Upper limit of normal body temperature by different measuring method.
| Measuring method | Celsius scale (°C) | Fahrenheit scale (°F) |
| Oral | 37.5 | 99.5 |
| Tympanic | 38 | 100.4 |
| Rectal | 38 | 100.4 |
| Armpit | 37.3 | 99.1 |
SAVE THE DATE: Hillside Sports Fun Day – Friday, 10 November
We cordially invite all parents to join us at our annual Hillside Sports Fun Day on Friday, 10 November at Bradbury School – utilizing Bradbury’s upper playground for K2 children and the and lower playground for K1 children).
The day will begin at 9:00AM for all children (both morning and afternoon classes) with a welcome and a warm up. Please do not arrive before 8:45AM so that we have time to set all the activities and equipment in Bradbury’s upper and lower playgrounds 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 the 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 at the Bradbury School, and there will be no classes operating at Hillside and no school bus service on this date. More information will follow closer to the event.
Please note: We will meet all families at the Bradbury School, and there will be no classes operating at Hillside and no school bus service on this date. More 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 |
ESF 50th Anniversary Gala
To celebrate the ending of the 50th Anniversary celebrations, ESF is holding a Gala Dinner on the evening of 6 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai. We are hoping that this final event of our 50th Anniversary calendar will be a joyous occasion to end a year of celebration with the entire ESF community. Kindly refer to attachment for the e-poster (click HERE) of the upcoming ESF 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner.
Details of the Gala Dinner:
Date: Wednesday, 6 December 2017
Time: 7:00pm (Reception begins at 6pm)
Venue: Grand Ballroom, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC)
Early Bird Price: $1,700 (early bird offer valid until 1st November 2017)
Sales of tickets are already available through ESF website at http://www.esf.edu.hk/gala
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 | |
| Parent Volunteer Sign-up | |
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
