5 Dec 2019

Newsletter #16

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

It’s now December and with just over a week of school to go, it’s time to thank all the staff for their dedication and commitment to student learning and for keeping the campus and all its functions operating smoothly and efficiently.

BHS is a wonderful school because of the students, the staff and our supportive community. Thanks for your flexibility this term as we know it hasn’t been easy. We have been able to work together to keep the children safe and maximise learning opportunities through some challenging times. Thanks for working in partnership with us.

Parent Workshop Feedback

Last Friday we held a parent workshop on ‘Well Being Techniques to Manage Uncertainty, Anxiety & Worry’. This session was facilitated by Dr Mark Gandolfi, (PhD, MSc, MS, BSc). We had a great turnout of parents and the feedback was very positive.

For those of you who were unable to make it to the session or for those of you who would like the notes from the session to reflect back upon, please find the slides here for your perusal.

29 Nov 2019 Beacon Hill.pdf

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Staff Leavers

It is with sadness that I inform you of two staff leavers in June 2020.

Scott Gibson, our legendary music teacher, who has been with BHS for 30 years will be retiring at the end of this academic year. Scott has touched the lives of many students and families over his time at BHS and we thank him enormously for his dedication and commitment to raising the profile of music in our school community and across ESF. We will have many opportunities to thank Scott for his amazing contribution to BHS over the next few months. We will miss Scott and everything he does within the school and the community. Thanks a million Scott!

Haymen Mak (Learning Support Teacher for Year 5-6) will also be leaving HK and BHS at the end of June 2020. Haymen has been with BHS for 4 years and during this time has made a significant contribution to the school and the Special Needs Department by supporting students, teachers and the school as a whole. Haymen has a depth and breadth of knowledge that she has brought to the school and we will miss her expertise and collegiality. We thank you Haymen and wish you all the very best in the future.

The Senior Management Team (SMT) are currently in the recruitment phase, trying to recruit new staff for these positions.

Discos and Dress Casual

PTA discos are tomorrow – children can wear their disco clothes to school tomorrow but must remember to wear suitable clothing if they have any PE activities scheduled that day. Those students not attending the disco are also able to wear dress casual tomorrow.

Chamber Choir

Congratulations to members of our school choir. Members of our school choir attended an elderly home today and sung their lovely Christmas repertoire which brought a lot of smiles to the audience. Click HERE for more photos.

Kind regards,

Brenda Cook

Principal

Please find below important dates for your diary. These dates are more school-based rather than individual year group dates. More specific dates pertaining to your year group will be shared by your child’s teacher as part of fortnightly updates.

Friday 6 December – PTA Discos – (Refer to previous information shared)

Wednesday 11 December – Christmas Concert 7-9pm

Ongoing – Christmas Class parties – (Please refer to year group notifications)

Thursday 12 December – Year 5 Big Business Market Day

Friday 13 December – School closes at 12 noon for end of term

New Dates for 2020:

Monday 6 January – Term 2 begins

Wednesday 8 January – Year 1 and 6 vaccination day (details sent previously)

Tuesday 14 January – Year 2 Bake Sale

Friday 17 January – Confidence House day and assembly

Week beginning Monday 20th January – Chinese New Year Celebrations (Details to follow)

Thursday 23 January – School closes at 3pm for CNY holiday

Monday 3 February – School closed for CPD ( staff training)

Tuesday 4 February – School resumes for students

Medical Authorisation Form

Please click HERE

Student Withdrawal Form

Please click HERE.

PTA Winter Uniform Order Form

Please click HERE.

Christmas Disco – Friday 6th December 3-4:45pm

Y1-3 will start with snack in the playground then up to hall for the disco.

Y4-6 will start with disco in the hall then down to playground for snack.

Children can come to school in their party / disco clothes that day.

Please remember to bring reusable cup / bowl for drink / snack.

Pick up will be in the playground at 4:45.

Christmas Concert – Wednesday 11th December 7pm

The school choirs will be performing their Christmas songs and carols in the playground. Festive mulled punch, drinks and cookies will be served. Tickets also include entry into our lucky draw for a chance to win one of our fabulous Christmas hampers.

Deadline for ticket purchase has lapsed. Tickets will be distributed on Tuesday 10th December. Please check your child’s diary.

Parking is not available at school however a bus will be provided on a first come basis to Kowloon Tong MTR Station after the concert.

Uniforms

Last orders this term for the Uniform Shop is Friday 6 December. Any orders received after this date will be processed after the holidays.

New navy tracksuit jacket and pants are in stock to replace items which are out of stock. Note, these are for the smaller sizes only as there is plenty of existing stock left in the larger sizes. We reiterate that the existing uniform is still to be worn this year and next. The new uniform will not come into effect until two years later in the new school year 2021-22.

If you wish to place an order please click on the link, fill in the form and hand in a cheque with you child’s name, class, contact number and uniform written on the back. We shall send the order straight to classroom as soon as the cheque is received.

Uniform Order Form (Winter) – CLICK HERE

Hot Lunches – Deadline for January Order Friday 13th December

Lunch order for January is now open until Friday 13 December. DCK will not accept any orders after this date. If you wish to order please login to your child’s account at DCK Lunch

A reminder that lunch cancellations can only be made through email and must be sent out before 8:30am on the day required. Please email mealbox@deliciou sck.com stating school name, student name, class and cancellation date(s).

Upcoming Events

Friday 6 December – Christmas Disco

Wednesday 11 December – Christmas Concert

Friday 13 December – DCK Lunch Order Deadline

Regards,

BHS PTA

Mandarin Monday

This coming Monday will be our last Mandarin Club before the winter break. We hope to have lots of fun with music, singing and some interesting discussion about a Chinese winter holiday. You must have noticed that the weather has turned quite cold. Winter is here! Do you know which date is the Winter Solstice this year? This is an important Chinese holiday. People usually have a big feast on that day. What is your favorite food? What would you like your family to serve for dinner during this festive season? Come share with us and let’s end the term on a high note together!

Mandarin Club

Community Choir

Our BHS Community Choir has begun! This is open to all parents of BHS students, BHS staff, and alumni students and parents of BHS. The choir will be rehearsing on Thursday evenings from 7pm. We would hope to perform at the BHS Christmas Concert. No auditions or previous singing experience – just lots of enthusiasm needed!

If you are interested in joining, please click HERE.

For existing members, please click HERE for the audio clips.

Action in the PYP is when students are inspired through their learning and their experiences to make a difference to their lives or the community connected to real life issues and opportunities. We would like to celebrate our students taking action outside of school. If your child has taken any action, we would be happy to share that with the BHS community through this newsletter and through our Facebook page. Please email details and a photograph to kannis.tsui@bhs.edu.hk

At BHS we value the importance of developing the ‘whole’ child and this means valuing their achievement and interests outside of school. If your child has achieved something special, we would be happy to share that with the BHS community through this newsletter and through our Facebook page. Please email details and a photograph to kannis.tsui@bhs.edu.hk

November 30 – Glendon Tsoi (6C) participated in the 71st Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival. He entered the Solo Verse Speaking (Boys) Competition and used the Spaceship Shop by Bernard Young. He scored 88 marks which got him being awarded with first place. Congratulations Glendon!