18 Aug 2017

Hillside Newsletter 18 August 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.

29 August Parent Info Session: Home-School Partnership
30 August 2018/19 Year 1 Admissions Info Session
 1-30 September Application period for the 2018-19 Year 1 Admissions (current K2s) 

Application period for the 2018-19 K1 Admissions (2015 births) 

 4 September K2 Meet and Greet
 5 September  Parent Info Session: An Introduction to the Primary Years Programme (PYP)
2-6 October Mid-Term Break
Principal’s Message

Dear Parents

Firstly, a very warm welcome to all our new children and families and welcome back to those children and families who are rejoining us at ESF Hillside International Kindergarten I hope everybody had an enjoyable summer and are ready for what will be I am sure an exciting year ahead at Hillside.

We have been thrilled with the first few days of the new school year. Everything has run according to plan and it has been a delight to watch both K1 and K2 children enjoying their first couple of days, meeting their new teachers / educational assistants and making new friends. I have really enjoyed meeting many of the K1 parents that are new to Hillside and the feedback we have received so far regarding our K1 Induction program has all been very positive. I must admit it was quite a shock at first when I saw our new ESF Kindergarten school uniform being worn by Hillside’s in-coming K1 students after being – it is quite a change from the current uniform that will continue to be worn by our K2 children during what will be a year of transition regarding uniforms.

Welcome to our new members of the Hillside team

I would like to welcome and introduce our new staff members to you all. We would like to welcome two new full-time teachers, both of whom had been previously employed by other well-established and respected International Kindergartens on Hong Kong Island. Juliet Kenyon will be the new Dragon class teacher, and Dawn Semple will be the new Gecko class teacher. Both Dawn and Juliet are fully qualified Early Years practitioners, and both bring a wealth of experience. We are excited that both ladies have been able to join our Hillside team.

Hillside finds itself in quite a unique position as currently, we have (7) of our staff members pregnant and all are due around the same – September and October 2017. We have now finalized or staffing/maternity cover appointments for this upcoming year. It has been a challenge to manage the logistics of having so many staff off at the same time, however, we are committed to ensuring that we deliver the highest quality educational program.

We also have a number of new Educational Assistants joining us at Hillside this year. We welcome Yvonne Cheng (K2 Turtle class), Hansoo Jang (K1 Frog class), Queenie Bou (K2 Gecko class), Amelia Shirley (K1 Panda class) and Kenton Chan (K1 Dolphin class). They all have previously worked in a variety of Early Years settings, and four hold formal teaching qualifications. We are thrilled to welcome them to our team.

K2 Teachers:

Dragon Gecko Tiger Turtle
Juliet Kenyon Dawn Semple Sharon Hubber AM

Laura Bousfield PM

Brenda Yuen

 

K1 Teachers:

Dolphin Frog Monkey Panda
Rebecca Smith Kylie De Vos Nicole Arnulphy Fiona Tudor

 

At Hillside, we believe in a strong home-school partnership where the child comes first. We will always discuss concerns with parents and we believe early intervention is the best way to support a child.
We are starting a new partnership with SPOT HK: Children’s Interdisciplinary Therapy Centre. SPOT is a well established Therapy Centre in Hong Kong and offers a holistic approach to support the children and families’ needs. For more information on SPOT, please visit their website http://www.spot.com.hk
SPOT will have two therapists available to come to Hillside and work with any Hillside children with Speech and Language developmental needs.

We are thrilled to have been able to secure the above new staff to be part of our Hillside team and I know you will make them all feel very welcome.

Meet the K2 Teacher – afternoon of Monday 5th September

We cordially invite those K2 parents who would like to meet their child’s teacher to come along to Hillside on Monday, 4th September to say hello and see their child’s classroom from 4.00-5.00pm.

Please note: This “meet and greet” session is intended to serve as an informal opportunity for parents to meet your child’s new teacher and see their new classroom. It is not intended to be a time to discuss your child’s progress formally. You are not required make an appointment.

Hillside Parent Information Sessions (for parents new to Hillside Kindergarten)

Over the next two weeks at Hillside we will be offering run some short (approximately one hour) information sessions for parents new to Hillside Kindergarten. On Tuesday, 29th August, (9:00 -10:00am or 12.45 – 1.45pm), we will be talking about Home-School Partnership. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions, hear some general information about communication, school procedures and policies and to meet other parents. We will also talk about how we run our parent volunteer/participation program, so if you are interested in taking part in our parent volunteer program please come along.

On Tuesday 5th September, (9:00 – 10:00am or 12.45 – 1.45pm), we will be talking about the Primary Years Program (PYP). This is an opportunity for you to learn more about the curriculum and our PYP Program of Inquiry.

To attend one or both sessions, please call the Hillside office to reserve your place, but note that once a session reaches “capacity”, you may be asked if you can come on another day. The slides for both presentations will be uploaded to the Hillside website for parents that are unable to attend these sessions.

REMINDER: Year 1 ESF primary admissions (for the 2018/19 academic year) information session for parents that have a child currently in K2 this academic year.

We will facilitate an information session for kindergarten parents to explain the ESF Year 1 Application and Admissions Process. This will take place at ESF Centre (25/F Fortis Centre, 1063 King’s Road, Quarry Bay) on Wednesday 30th of August commencing at 6pm. Please note this is for K2 parents only, and reservation is not required.

The ESF application lodging period takes place between the 1st and 30th September each year. For further information on the current process, you can visit the ESF website. http://www.esf.edu.hk/our-schools

Change to your child’s school pick up arrangements and the introduction of a new electronic bus identification card

Please remember if a change needs to be facilitated to your child’s going home routines such as being collected as a walker instead of going on the bus home please do write a note in your child’s diary or call us on 2540-0066 (NOT EMAIL) to inform us of this arrangement. Please also inform the bus company to ensure the bus mother of your child’s bus will be informed.

If your child is enrolled with the bus company, we will assume your children will be riding the school bus everyday UNLESS you inform us otherwise. It is very important for you to inform us as soon as possible, for any changes to normal going home routines.

On this note, please be reminded to always have your pick-up cards with you when you collect your child at school or off the school bus for safety reasons.

NEW electronic bus identification cards

Commencing this academic year, all bus children have been provided with an electronic identification card. This card is used when the children both board and depart off the bus. This is a great tool to enhance the overall safety and security for the Hillside children that currently use the bus service. It is imperative that the children always have the identification card attached to the side pocket of the school bag – as this will allow for ease of access when the bus escort scans the identity card. Please ensure that you have attached the card issued for this academic year as last year’s bus identity card will not work.

Please be aware that from 1st September 2017 children that do not have this bus identity card) attached to their school bag may be denied access to travel on the bus.

ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon

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 Harbour front, with adjacent community activities and carnival at Edinburgh Place in Central. For full details, please refer to the event poster click HERE.

Kind Regards
Chris
Principal

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