Newsletter #1
Beacon Hill School latest newsletter available to read now. Find out the latest news around the school and upcoming events.
Principal’s Words
Important Dates
Around BHS
PTA News
ESF News
Other News
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to a new school year. I hope you had a great summer with your families and are rested ready for the new year ahead. We have had a great week with the children all settling back into school life very smoothly. Click HERE for more photos from the first day of school.
Naturally at the start of a school year we have many new people to welcome. I would like to extend a special welcome to all of our new Year 1 students and other new students across the years 2 to 6. I know they will all be well looked after and enjoy their time at Beacon Hill.
Along with our new students we have some new staff members joining the Beacon Hill School family. I would like to introduce you to Mr Rory Douglas, teaching 5D, who has joined us from London, UK; Ms Samantha Saxena, teaching 3S, who has lived in Hong Kong for 19 years; Ms Anjali Detaramani, teaching 2A, who is from Hong Kong; Ms Nisha Bhojwani, the Educational Assistant in 2D and Mr Vito Kuok, one of our Mandarin Educational Assistants. I hope they enjoy working at Beacon Hill School.
Summer Buildings Works
Our classroom refurbishments were completed in time during the summer holidays and we are very pleased with the results. All our Year 3, Year 4, Year 6 classrooms and SEN Office and classrooms have been revitalised with additional windows and new furniture which allows more flexibility relevant to modern learning and teaching styles. If you have children in these rooms I expect they will have told you all about them. You will have the opportunity to see them for yourselves at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening on the 29th August. The remaining classrooms, including the Mandarin rooms will receive the same treatment next summer.
Island School Redevelopment Information Evening
You may have received an email from ESF Centre in July announcing that two sites in Sha Tin have finally been approved as decant sites for Island School. At the end of last term we shared with you an invitation from Belinda Greer (ESF CEO) to an information evening. The session is next Tuesday in Island School Hall at 6pm. Please refer to the letter included in this letter and contact ESF if you wish to attend. This is an important meeting as a large proportion of our students do transfer to Island School and this will impact us for several years.
ESF Prospective Year 1 Information Evening hosted at BHS
This event is next Wednesday 23rd August at 6pm in our hall. Please contact ESF for more information.
eNotice / Gateway
The Gateway is an important means of communication for us /you and this year we will be using it to share information about school trips and excursion that will require you attention – details can be found further on in this newsletter.
Uniform
I have been very impressed this week by how smart the children are in their uniforms. Thank you to our PTA Coordinator, Janley and the volunteers who gave up their time this week and last to ensure the shop was fully operational and able to assist parents with uniform purchases.
I will be keeping a close eye on uniforms through the year to make sure that we maintain this excellent start, with your child wearing the correct uniform including shoes. As always please ensure all items of uniform are labelled with your child’s name and class. At this time of year especially, hats are important. We have a ‘no hat, no play’ policy. If your child does not have a BHS hat yet, please purchase one from the PTA shop and of course, add your child’s name to it. We have received some requests for coats – these will be on sale in October and there is no need for coats to be worn at the moment. In the classrooms, teachers will monitor the temperatures to ensure it is not too cold!
Healthy Snacks
We encourage and support the children bringing healthy snacks to school. Please use the start of the school year to make a commitment to ensure your child has healthy snacks rather than cakes, cookies and chips. Fruit and veg are great alternatives. It’s also timely to remind you that BHS is a ‘nut free zone’ as we have some students who are extremely allergic to nuts and any products containing them. Thank you for your support with this.
Student Leave
As a general rule we expect students to attend school all year unless they are unwell. Occasionally there are special events that have to be attended. Please email me directly if you need to take your child out of school for more than a couple of days. Clearly, the more time they are away from school the more they miss and the nature of our teaching philosophy and programme means that work cannot be sent home to compensate. You can contact me at james.harrison@bhs.edu.hk
BHS / ESF 50th Anniversary
This year Beacon Hill School is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary which coincides with ESFs 50th Anniversary. We have a series of events and activities planned, to run the course of this academic year. Please see the poster in this newsletter for a list of the main events and dates. ESF is also running special events, one being a ‘Charity Marathon’ – which is actually a series of different length races – on Sunday October 22nd. For primary age children and their families there is a 1km race. Some of you may be keen, advanced runners and would like to participate in the 10k challenge (I’ve signed up, although I am definitely not a runner!). You can find out all the details and register for the races at this website: https://marathon.esf.edu.hk/en/form/apply-now
It would be wonderful to have a large BHS representation at this event.
Home Learning
Last year I asked for your feedback about home work – or home learning as we term it. As a staff we also spent time discussing this. We have revised our Home Learning Policy and will share this with you and what it means for students and parents at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening.
Parent Information Workshops
We are finalising dates for our series of Parent Information Workshops that will be offered throughout the school year. We will notify you of the workshops a week or two ahead of time and request you to sign up if you wish to attend. In addition, we also hope to produce some videos to provide information for you that will help support your understanding of the work we and your children do at school. We hope you will find them informative and helpful in allowing you to support your child at home.
Updated Weather Procedures
To try and ensure the children are safe, healthy and ready to learn we have introduced some new measures regarding air quality and heat. Essentially, the type and/or amount of outdoor play will be reduced depending on the Air Quality Index and a Heat Index. You can access the policy via our our website: https://www.beaconhill.edu.hk/other-information/ This information has been shared with all of the children. We will review the policy throughout the year to ensure it meets our needs.
The Education Bureau (EDB) has updated its procedures when there are Rainstorm Warnings. You can view the important information here: http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/news012/Leaflet_16-17_Eng%20(Revised).pdf The Key one to note is the timings of when red or black rainstorm warnings are issued. Please take a moment to study the information. In the case of any school closure we will put an announcement on our school website.
BHS Teacher-Led After School Clubs
Teachers will announce when these will start over the next few weeks and letters will be sent home to those children who express an interest in joining them. Please encourage your child to join one or two that they are interested in.
BHS House Teams
This year we roll into the second year of our House Teams system. Each House will be represented by two House Captains from Year 6 and those children who are keen to take on this exciting role will be making presentations to the school at the end of August. Votes from all of Year 5 and 6 students will then decide the Captains. We have planned ways to extend and develop the role of the House Captains and the four houses this year and we will inform you of special events as they approach.
BHS is a busy place. We try our best to keep you informed of what is happening but rely on you to check the website or our app to keep up-to-date. Below are some of the upcoming dates you should be aware of:
IMPORTANT DATES
The Year Group Weekly Updates (from today) and Single Subject Monthly Updates (from next Friday) are available on the school website – so please remember to refer to the website or app (https://www.beaconhill.edu.hk/mobile-app/ ) each week to learn about what is happening in your child’s class.
Best wishes,
_
James Harrison
Principal
Gateway Updating Information
As many of you will know Gateway is an important element of our home/school communication. It is very important that we have up-to-date contact details and medical information in order to help us ensure that the children’s needs are being met. At the start of the year you are asked to go onto Gateway and check the information that we have and to verify that it is correct. If you need to make any changes, the please do so as soon as possible.
Gateway eNotice
In order to reduce the amount of paper letters that get sent home from Beacon Hill we will be using the Gateway eNotice system to send letters about trips, camps etc. You will receive an email informing you of a new eNotice being on Gateway. You will then need to login to Gateway and, after reading the information, fill in the appropriate sections giving permission and any other information needed in order to complete the process. Please click HERE for the parents guide for using eNotice.
Chad Pheasant
Vice Principal
IBO Evaluation
Welcome back to a new school year, it has been great seeing our students settle back into class. As part of our continued drive to be the best school for our school community we are evaluated by the IBO every five years. This is a chance for us to celebrate, reflect and to grow. As parents you are an important part of this process. Please take 10 minutes to complete the survey, click here. All responses are anonymous. We only ask for you to mark which year group your child/ren is/are in.
If you have any questions please contact me at andy.thompson@bhs.edu.hk
Andy Thompson
Vice Principal
Risk Assessment Workshop for Parents Helping on School Excursions – for Parents of students joining BHS in August 2017
Dear Parents
At Beacon Hill School we encourage Home School Partnerships in order to keep you informed of our practices at school.
We are and have always been very grateful for all the help from parents on excursions. We would like to run a workshop for new parents who would like to support on school excursions. This workshop will give you an insight into the planning that is involved in organising an excursion and also how we identify possible risks and manage them.
Please note that class teachers will look favourably on any parents who have attended this workshop when looking for help with excursions.
The workshop is scheduled for Friday 1st September at 2.00pm – 3.00pm. Please respond via this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdE4s_AaMSFbQdUlwXI39Kc60BBrhOmml1T9OJzqPnIhLQWRA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Kind regards,
Susan Chung Chad Pheasant
Vice Principal Vice Principal
Greetings to our new families & Welcome Back!
We look forward to seeing the new exciting improvements within BHS in the new school year.
Reminders:
- DeliFresh hot lunches will start in the month of September. Therefore, home packed lunches will be required for the month of August. The September lunch order deadline is 21 August.There will not be extra lunches provided without paid orders.
- For New Parents, please RSVP to the BHS PTA Wine & Cheese Evening on Tuesday 29 August 5:00-6:00pm per your Invitation sent home with your child. This event will coincide with your Meet the Teacher evening for all year groups.
- BHS Welcome Social Bowling evening on Friday 15 September is sure to be an enjoyable evening for our BHS families. This is a great way to socialize and meet fellow parents & teachers in a relaxed & fun environment. Don’t hesitate to RSVP & order for the whole family! Wristbands are limited !
- 2017/18 BHS PTA fees of $450 per family will be collected by BHS office, together with excursion fees. Appreciate your support of the BHS PTA.
To find out more about what we do and how you can get involved or support us to enrich your child’s experience at BHS, please visit www.beaconhill.edu.hk/pta-2/. Our Annual General Meeting for voting of the 2017/18 Executive Committee members will occur on 11 October 2017.
Enjoy your weekend,
BHS PTA
Health
The Student Health Service (SHS) / School Dental Care Service (SDCS) 2017 / 2018
Each year, we are requested by the Department of Health to distribute joint enrolment forms for the SHS / the SDCS. These forms have arrived and you can enrol in either one or both.
We have passed them to your child’s class teacher (for you) and if, you have not received one, please could you let us know ASAP.
Reminder:
- If, you enrol for the dental service, you will need to return the completed joint application and consent form together with “a cheque made payable to Beacon Hill School of HK$20.00 (twenty) with your child’s name and class at the back of the cheque”.
- Students who joined last year will still need to fill in the joint enrolment form for the 2017 / 2018 school year, if they wish to join the service(s) again.
- Please “omit the Student Reference Number” on this form.
ESF Drug Administration Policy
If your child requires prescribed medication during school hours, please follow the guidelines which can be found via www.beaconhill.edu.hk
Go to ‘About Us’ > ‘Other Information’.
Please note:
- Prescribed medication will be expected to be given before and after school hours when possible.
Thank you.
Ms Chen
Disclaimer: Beacon Hill School and the English School Foundation do not recommend or endorse any external events in this newsletter. There is no contractual arrangement between BHS/ESF and the event organisers.
