Hillside Newsletter – 3rd March 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 School Calendar
| 10 March | Professional Development Day – Early Years Self-Study (School Closed) |
| 17 March | ESF 50th Anniversary Primary Choral Concert |
| 20 and 21 March | Hillside Book Fair |
| 30 March | Last Day of Term (2) |
| 31 March – 17 April | Easter Break |
| 18 April | School Resumes |
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents
Picture books, stories and learning – Hillside Book Fair (in conjunction with Bookazine).
Stories are a great way to introduce new words and ideas into a child’s language – starting with picture books for the very young children. Stories can help children learn about different concepts such as shape, colour and sizes, as well as PYP concepts such as responsibility, change, and perspective to name a few. Stories are also useful for teaching more complex ideas, such as the importance of sharing, being kind and compassion for others.
Fiction based on real-life can also help children with their own life experience – it shows them how diverse the world is and that some people’s lives are vastly different to theirs. When children read stories that contain feelings it can help them understand and accept their own feelings. This helps the child understand that feelings are normal and should be expressed. Watching their responses to the feelings of the characters in the stories will give you some idea of how a child feels about certain situations and emotions.
As parents and educators, it is important for us to foster a love of reading. With such a focus and reliance on Information Technology in our current world, it is important that we provide ample opportunities for children to connect with books (with words and pictures) rather than just text on a screen. On this note, Hillside will be hosting our third book fair in partnership with Bookazine on Monday, 20th March and Tuesday 21st March.
Classes will be allocated a time slot on their given book fair day and about seven children at a time from that class, accompanied by Class Teachers / Educational Assistants to the Resource Room to join the Book Fair throughout the day, and parents are invited to join your child’s class or come at a convenient time during the school day to purchase books. A wide range of age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books will be available for purchase. 15% of the total books purchased will be returned to Hillside in the form of book credits, allowing us to obtain more new books for our Hillside library.
Last year our book fair enabled us to obtain over $10,000 worth of books from Bookazine for our school library and we are hoping, through your much-appreciated support, that our Hillside book fair this year will be just as successful!!!
Monday 20th March 2017
| AM Session | Class | PM Session |
| 9:00-9:20 | Dolphin | 12:45-1:05 |
| 9:25-9:45 | Monkey | 1:10-1:30 |
| 9:45 -10:30 | Open Play | 1:30- 2:15 |
| 10:35-10:55 | Dragon | 2:20-2:40 |
| 11:00-11:20 | Turtle | 2:45 – 3:05 |
Tuesday 21st March 2017
| AM Session | Class | PM Session |
| 9:00-9:20 | Frog | 12:45-1:05 |
| 9:25-9:45 | Panda | 1:10-1:30 |
| 9:45 -10:30 | Open Play | 1:30- 2:15 |
| 10:35-10:55 | Gecko | 2:20-2:40 |
| 11:00-11:20 | Tiger | 2:45 – 3:05 |
The importance of delivery a high quality Inquiry-driven, play-based program (Part 2)
At Hillside we are committed to delivering a play-based, child-centered, inquiry driven teaching and learning program.
Links between learning, teaching and play
Play provides the most natural and meaningful means by which children can construct knowledge and understandings, practice skills, immerse themselves naturally in a broad range of literacy and numeracy and engage in productive and intrinsically motivated learning environments. The children’s interests provide great ‘leaping off’ points for teachers who can use these interests to introduce skills and understandings.
Summary
Within play, there are subsets or different types of play and learning that are occurring.
Play is the most effective means for providing rich, diverse thinking and oral language, social skills, and problem-solving
Children’s play reflects different levels of maturity.
Play as a pedagogy must be planned for, directed by and facilitated by the teacher.
Play is viewed as part of the learning process rather than an add-on programme.
Play has been researched for many decades in relation to the significance it holds in children’s lives including for social, emotional, psychological and intellectual development and learning.
Play is a natural way of children exploring their environment and learning about themselves and their world.
Many skills are acquired through children’s active exploration and investigation of their world.
School Photos
We had two successful photo days. Most of the children were very excited to “pose” for Peter, and we can hear the laughter from the photo shoot all the way in the office.
In a few weeks, you will be able to view the proofs online. We will email you the instructions to access the photos and how to place an order. There is no obligation to purchase and more details will follow shortly.
Other ESF events of interest
The ESF 50th Anniversary Primary Concert will be held on 17 March 2017 (Friday) at Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Please click HERE for more information on the Primary Concert.
Please be informed that ESF will be organising two Information Seminars in March. The objectives of the seminars are to help prospective parents gain a deeper understanding on the philosophy of ESF education and the curriculum we offer so that they can make the right choice for their child.
1. An education worth having at the kindergarten and primary stages
Speakers: Rebecca Clements, Chris Duncan and Julie Wong
Date: Tue, 7 March 2017
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Venue: ESF Centre
2. How personalised learning in ESF secondary schools paves the way to success
Speakers: David Whalley and Julie Wong
Date: Thu, 23 March 2016
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Venue: ESF Centre
Interested parents should go to: http://www.esf.edu.hk/seminars-mar2017/ for more information and reservation. Please click HERE for the information poster.
Have a wonderful weekend
Regards Chris
Principal
K1 News
Please visit our class blogs on the Hillside Learning Hub for your child’s latest class news and photo gallery. Please contact kinder@hs.esf.org.hk if you cannot access the Learning Hub.
K2 News
Please visit our class blogs on the Hillside Learning Hub for your child’s latest class news and photo gallery. Please contact kinder@hs.esf.org.hk if you cannot access the Learning Hub.
