8 Sep 2017

Newsletter #4

Beacon Hill School latest newsletter available to read now. Find out the latest news around the school and upcoming events.

The students enjoyed a four-day week this week as the teachers and educational assistants are participating in two days of Continuous Professional Development (Friday and Saturday). We look forward to the students being back in school on Monday.

Island School Redevelopment Information Evening

A reminder that Mr Stephen Loggie, the new principal of Island School, will visit BHS this coming Monday, 11th September at 6.30pm to give the latest update on the Island School development and transfer project in relation to BHS families. Please do join the meeting if your child is likely to attend Island School in the coming few years.

Island School website: http://island.edu.hk/decant-latest-news/

House Captains 2017-18

After the speeches last week the results of the voting are in and our House Captains for this year are:

Happiness	Ibrahim and Nikita
Diversity	Ludwig and Isaac
Confidence	Mia and Poppy
Inclusivity	Sasha and Augusto

Congratulations to them and also to all other children who took part in the process and stood as candidates. We look forward to the House Captains leading their respective houses and carrying out additional responsibilities throughout the year. Here are some photos of the house teams assemblies.

Parent Information Evenings Offered This Term

Please look out for emails asking you to sign up for these.

Children Arriving at School Early / Car Parking Outside School

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 7.40am!) as they will be on the playground unsupervised.

We ask parents not to stop or park immediately outside the school as this is where our school buses wait to pick up the children at the end of the day and also where we have our crossing patrol. There is plenty of space further up Ede Road which means a great opportunity for a little exercise walking down to the school to pick up your child and back up to your car. We have been talking with our local Police Community Relations division who are always very helpful and understanding, but clearly have to respond to calls from neighbours who complain about cars blocking the road. I ask for your help and mindfulness to ensure the safety of everyone.

Change of Student Travel Arrangements / Staying for After School Activities / Early Pick-up for Appointments / Special Arrangements

For those parents new to BHS I would like to let you know that if your child has a change to their regular travel arrangements at the end of the school day for some reason, parents must inform our school office and class teacher via email before 12 noon, as well as the bus mum/escort in the morning to avoid any confusion after school. Thanks for your help with this.

BHS / ESF 50th Anniversary

A reminder of the ESF ‘Charity Run’ – 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

If you have signed up please let me know via email – it would be great to have a BHS ‘Participants and Supporters Club’ at the event!

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

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. The clubs offered will be posted on the school website shortly.

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

BHS Action in the Community

After 50 very successful years in our community we are excited about an opportunity for us to take some meaningful action to help people who are less fortunate. Our goal is to raise $250 per child to purchase, by the school, 1500 food packages containing soy sauce, tinned vegetables, honey, tinned tuna, cooking oil and rice. We will then work with Sunshine Action to package this food on the 8th December so various organisations can collect and distribute to people in need. We realise that this is a significant amount but are excited about the opportunity for our students in their houses to work towards this goal.

In September, through our house captains we will be:

Raising awareness about the charities we want to help
Fund raising events on 29th September

Finally, I would like to thank Kitty Lee who has worked very hard using her connections in the food distribution business to get very competitive prices for all the food items.

After October half term we will be asking for parents who would be interested in helping us on Friday 8th December to work with the students to package the food ready for distribution.

If you would like further information of are able to help with our fund raising please contact Andy Thompson, andy.thompson@bhs.edu.hk

Andy Thompson

Vice Principal

Y1 Admissions 2018-2019

Central Applications (2013 birth) Year 1 admissions in 2018-2019 enewsletter (revised).pdf

Applications 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

KGV Year 6 Parent Information Evening

Prospective parents are invited to attend the KGV Year 6 Parent Information Evening, 5.30-6.30pm in the school hall on Tuesday 19th September. Please note there is no visitor parking on the school site. No RSVP is necessary. For any enquiries, please contact sarah.jones@kgv.edu.hk

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

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

John Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth – Year 3-6 Parent Information Evening

Dear Parents,

Greetings from the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth! As part of the Johns Hopkins University, CTY conducts the oldest and most extensive university-based Talent Search worldwide by offering above-grade level testing to students in grades 2 through 8 (years 3 through 9). For qualified advanced students, CTY offers challenging summer and online courses as well as family academic programs.

CTY is hosting an upcoming information session at Beacon Hill School (BHS). The schedule is below:

Date:	Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Time:	6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Venue:	BHS Main Hall
RSVP:	https://centerfortalentedyouth.formstack.com/forms/2017_18_info_session_bhs_rsvp (on or before Friday, October 27)

During the session, we will provide information about assessments, CTY summer and online programs, including their benefits to students and admission requirements. We look forward to seeing you!

Best regards,

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

T: HK–(852) 3104-3494 | CN–(86) 15507574758

cty.jhu.edu

Susan Chung

Vice Principal

Remember to return the BHS PTA Parent Volunteer and Donation Forms. The PTA depends on your continual support and thrives on your generosity.

Forthcoming events:

BHS Welcome Social Bowling evening on Friday 15 September 2017.

Wristbands will be sent out to all students who have joined on Wednesday 13th Sept. If you do not receive these or have any other queries please contact us on Thursday.

Enjoy the weekend