Newsletter #2
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,
This week has been an exciting week, with our first Golden Book assembly and of course the interruption caused by the typhoon. I trust that you were all safe and well. In true Hong Kong and BHS spirit, the children and staff were back at school on Thursday carrying on where they left off. I would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to our site staff, led by Mr Peter Wong, for ensuring that the school was prepared and for the quick clean-up. On Thursday Ms Chung and some of our Year 6 students welcomed prospective parents to the school and gave guided tours. If you or anyone you know is wishing to enrol your child at BHS for Year 1 entry in August 2018, you need to make the online application during September. More details can be found later in this newsletter. Today in assembly, Ms Chung, Mr Thompson and Mr Pheasant talked about the school’s 50th anniversary, shared old photos and video of Hong Kong in 1967, played hit songs from the year and talked about the upcoming events. There were also video messages and words from ex-teachers wishing BHS a happy 50th birthday. We look forward to celebrating this milestone throughout the year.
‘Welcome’ letter from Belinda Greer, CEO
As we begin the new school year, I invite you to read a ‘Welcome’ letter from our CEO, Belinda Greer – please click here.
Island School Redevelopment Information Evening
Some of you attended this meeting last Tuesday. Work is progressing well now on the transition sites. Information is available about bus routes and services as well as other aspects, on the Island School website: http://island.edu.hk/decant-latest-news/
Mr Stephen Loggie, the new principal, will be coming to BHS in the coming weeks to meet with parents to share information and answer questions. I will share the date and time with you once confirmed. He and I will be working closely together to ensure the smooth transition for BHS students who will be starting their Island School lives there in August 2018 and beyond.
Meet the Teacher / Wine and Cheese Evening
These events will be held next Tuesday 29th August at the following times:
Year 1, 2, 3 parents
6:00pm – Start in the Hall
6:15pm – 6.45pm – Continue in classrooms
Year 4, 5, 6 parents
6:30pm – Start in the hall
6.50pm – 7.20pm – Continue in classrooms
For all our new families, there will be a PTA organised Wine and Cheese Evening between 5pm and 6pm in the staff room on the 7/F on the same evening as the ‘Meet the Teacher’ event. This is a good opportunity to meet other parents and set up some play dates!
PLEASE NOTE THAT BOTH OF THESE EVENTS ARE FOR PARENTS ONLY – NO CHILDREN!
House Colours Assembly – Friday 1st September
As I mentioned in last week’s Newsletter, we are aiming to develop the BHS House system this year. The first part of this involves Year 6 students who have a desire to be their House Team Captains presenting to the school in next Friday’s assembly. To make this a special event and to begin to develop a sense of belonging to the four houses, we would like all students to come dressed in their house colour next Friday 1st September. Any T-shirt, shirt etc of their house colour will be suitable – plain coloured shirts preferable, and not football shirts or similar.
Children Arriving at School Early
School for the students begins at 8.45am with teachers on duty in the playground from 8.30am. Please avoid dropping your child at school early (we have some children arriving at 7.45am!) as they will be on the playground unsupervised.
eNotice / Gateway
The Gateway is an important means of communication for you and this year we will be using it to share information about school trips and excursion that will require you attention. Please log on to the Gateway to check you personal data and to see messages about class trips. https://bhs.tg.esf.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
ESF is also organising a 50th Anniversary Golf Day on 4th November 2017 at Nansha Golf Club (China). The event is open to all teachers, support staff, parents, alumni and friends. For more information please contact Mr Steven Szeto – steven.szeto@esfcentre.edu.hk
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.
IMPORTANT DATES
The Year Group Weekly Updates and Single Subject Monthly Updates are available on the school website – so please remember to refer to the website or our 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
Y1 Admissions 2018-2019
Central Applications Year 1 (2013birth) admissions in 2018-2019 enewsletter.pdfApplications for ESF Year 7 Places
Parents of our Year 6 students need to submit an application for a Year 7 ESF place via The Gateway between Monday 4th September and Friday 15th September 2017.
Click HERE for a guide on how to apply through Gateway
Allocation for secondary school will be determined by your residential zone at the start of Year 6. For further details, parents should refer to the information available on the ESF website for key dates http://www.esf.edu.hk/year6-to-year7-key-dates/ and http://www.esf.edu.hk/esf-zones for school zones. All newly joined Y6 are guaranteed a Y7 place but not necessarily for the school of zone.
Year 6 parents should also note that the deposit payment deadline to secure a Year 7 place, once you have been offered a place at a secondary school, will be Friday 15th December 2017.
Chad Pheasant
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
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
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
Reminders:
- DeliFresh order deadline has now lapsed. Please contact DeliFresh directly if you’ve not placed September order but wish to do so.
- For New Parents, reminder to RSVP the BHS PTA Wine & Cheese Welcome on Tuesday 29 August 2017 5:00 – 6:30pm. This event coincides with your Meet the Teacher evening.
- Remember to return the form for BHS Welcome Social Bowling evening on Friday 15 September 2017. This event is great fun and an excellent way to socialise and meet fellow parents & teachers in a relaxed & fun environment. Always a hit with the kids.
- If you haven’t already done so, please return the BHS PTA Parent Volunteer and Donation Forms. The PTA depends on your continual support and thrives on your generosity.
- 2017/18 BHS PTA fees of $450 per family will be collected by BHS office, together with excursion fees. Notices will be sent out shortly. Once again we appreciate your support for BHS PTA.
Have a great weekend
BHS PTA
Health
Immunization (Part One): For Primary One and Primary Six Students ONLY
For Primary One Students: Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
For Primary Six Students: Hepatitis B vaccine and / or Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Each year, we are requested by the Department of Health to distribute application forms for MMR vaccine to Primary One Students plus application forms for Hepatitis B vaccine and / or for MMR vaccine to Primary Six Students only.
The forms and the information about MMR vaccine / Hepatitis B vaccine have arrived and we have passed them to your child’s class teacher (for you).
If, you have not received one, please could you let me know ASAP.
Thank you.
Ms Chen
69th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival
The application form for entering 69th Hong Kong School Speech Festival will be ready for you to pick up at the school front desk from Monday 28th August. If your child/ren wants to participate in this competition, please return the application form and application fee in a cheque payable to “Beacon Hill School” to the school office on or before Tuesday 12th September, 2017. Any late application received after the deadline will not be accepted.
Please note that ESF school education level is not equivalent to the local school system. If you enrol in the year group programme, please cross check with the following table for the correct age group. HKSMSA is based on the local school system for enrolment.
Should you have any queries, please contact Ms Shiree Yam at the office.
| ESF Level | Local School System |
| Y1 | K3 |
| Y2 | Y1 |
| Y3 | Y2 |
| Y4 | Y3 |
| Y5 | Y4 |
| Y6 | Y5 |
Shiree Yam
HR/Finance Manager
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.
