1 Dec 2017

Newsletter 15/2017-18

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

 Principal’s Comments
 Charity News
 Expressive Art News
 QBS Hour of Code
 Club News
 The 4th International Zhou Youguang Cup Chinese Talent Show
PTA News

Principal’s Comments

Key dates for Term 1

Please click here

Key dates for next week:

  • Tuesday and Wednesday the 4th – 5th of December – Hour of Code
  • Tuesday the 5th of December – Year 1 Chinese Parent Teacher Consultations
  • Friday the 8th of December – Portfolio to home

Dear Parents,

It has been another exciting week at QBS with lots for the students to enjoy and be proud of.

We started the week with a 2 day visit from a leading expert in the field of early years education. Anne van Dam worked with our Year 1 and 2 students and colleagues, and led professional development for all staff. We learned about enhancements being made to the primary years programme and considered how our learning spaces can best support our students’ learning experiences. It was a very rewarding and interesting start to the week.

Yesterday we were treated to a wonderful assembly, with students from across the school performing musical pieces as part of their rehearsal for tonight’s fayre. It was a lovely start to the festive season and put a big smile on the faces of all those who were there. Well done to the students who performed.

Sporting success continues at QBS. Our girls football team had very a successful afternoon yesterday. Ten students from Years 3 to 6 took part in a tournament, played brilliantly and returned home with the bowl trophy. Well done girls! Tomorrow, we have students representing QBS at the annual ESF Football and Netball tournaments. We wish them well and hope for an enjoyable morning at both events.

The Hour of Code began today and continues next week. This is an international event encouraging people of all ages to try computer programming and coding. Students across the school will have the opportunity to try this in a fun and age appropriate way. In previous years, students have been very keen to continue their leaning in this area outside of school, and we thank parents in advance for their support of this.

Today, we are looking forward to the PTA Christmas Fayre, which starts at 6pm tonight. The schools grounds are coming alive with lights and tinsel, and we are excited by the fun to come. We hope to see you at school tonight and thank you in advance for your support of this event.

As previously advertised, we are asking for donations that will be given to students at West Morning Hope School, a local special school that we have been supporting for many years. The information below explains how you can support this action, and we hope many families can help with this. It is always very gratefully appreciated by all members of the West Morning Hope community.

As you may know, Ms Dunstan has been away from school this week, being involved in the annual recruitment process across ESF schools. She will be back later today for the fayre and is looking forward to seeing everyone. We hope to see many of you this evening. In the meantime, have a lovely weekend.

Regards,

Michael Dewey

Vice Principal(Yr 4-6)

Charity News

We are very lucky here at Quarry Bay School because we can do lots of different things. West Morninghope School is located in Chai Wan. It is a school for disabled children. The school helps the students develop self respect, self discipline, self confidence and independence. They also teach the children life skills such as personal hygiene, how to cook, how to dress, safety and how to communicate in English.

At QBS we all like to help. The student voice would like to take action and ask all the students to donate a small Christmas gift. We will deliver these gifts on Wednesday 13th December to help the children to have a very Merry Christmas.

The types of gifts that would be great to give are: stuffed toys, simple puzzles, easy children’s books or easy duplo/lego packs.

Once you have bought the gift, please wrap it, attach a note to say whether it is suitable for a boy or girl (or both) and what age it would be good for. Then bring the gift to school, place it under the Christmas tree in the school hall and Santa’s big helpers from Year 5 and 6 will deliver the gifts on everyone’s behalf.

Expressive Art News

Christmas Fair Music Concert

The music clubs have been busily preparing their Christmas pieces for their performance at the Christmas Fair on Friday 1st December. The groups that are performing are Rock Band, Ocarina Club, Junior Choir, Year 5 and Year 6 Recorder clubs. The Christmas Fair opens at 6pm and the music performance will begin at 6:30pm. It will take place on the field in front of the Japanese garden. All children will meet in the Expressive Arts rooms promptly at 6pm and the children will need to be collected from the Expressive Arts rooms after the music concert has finished.

QBS Christmas Panto

The Christmas Panto is coming very soon! Year 5/6 Drama club, Y3/4 Dance club and Orchestra have all been rehearsing for their parts in the Panto. The children will be performing the Panto three times. Parents are invited to either the 9am or 6pm performance on Wednesday 13th December. There is a small ticket charge this year for the Pantomime. $50 for adults and $20 for children. The performance will last approximately an hour and a half and will take place in the school hall. The third performance is for students only and is in the school day on Thursday 14th December.

If you need any information regarding either of these expressive arts events please do not hesitate to contact me. ceri.hill@qbs.edu.hk

Thanks,

Ms Ceri HILL

Lead Teacher of the Expressive Arts
(Music, Dance and Drama)

QBS Hour of Code

“Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer
because it teaches you how to think.”
— STEVE JOBS, THE LOST INTERVIEW

It is now widely recognised that learning to code helps students develop important problem solving and thinking skills which can be applied to other aspects of their lives. In the past, coding or programming involved entering vast amounts of code and was quite laborious for students. Nowadays, several free apps and flash based web sites have been developed which make coding visual and fun allowing almost all students to participate creatively and become an inventor themselves.

We would like to invite all students to take part in a world wide event the “Hour of Code” during the week beginning 01.12.17 – 07.12.17. All year groups will be given an orientation to the Hour of Code during an ICT lesson with Mr Purton during the week and assigned a particular course. Links to the activities will be placed on the front page of Qoodle and a sticker with log in details stuck in student diaries. We would encourage students to continue these activities at home.

Further information about the world wide event “Hour of Code” can be found at https://hourofcode.com/us

Club News

QBS Clubs Term 1

Term 1 QBS Academic Clubs will finish the 17th November and the QBS Sports Clubs will finish 24th November.

Here are some clubs that will run longer than the Term 1 dates

  • Last day of Chinese Dance 5th Dec
  • Last day of Chinese Orchestra 28th Nov
  • Last day of Drama 7th Dec
  • Last day of Dance club 8th Dec
  • Last day of Orchestra 6th Dec
  • Last Day of Lego 28th Nov
  • Last day of Rugby 12th Dec

Drama, Dance and Orchestra club have a technical run through on Monday 11th December after school. This is 2:45- 3:45 pm
Also the children need to be back in school on Wednesday 13th December for 5pm for the 6pm Panto.

QBS Clubs Term 2

It is the time of year to start thinking about QBS Term 2 clubs. Please click here for all the information needed on how to register.

The 4th International Zhou Youguang Cup Chinese Talent Show ( Hong Kong), 2018

To better promote Chinese Culture and to strengthen Chinese education amongst Hong Kong’s youngsters, Quarry Bay School together with other schools are going to hold the 4th Zhou Youguang Cup Chinese Talent Show in April, 2018 at 6 ESF primary schools and Australian International School.

We also aim to use this event to showcase young Chinese learners’ talent and to offer them a platform for communication. Here are some basic information of the Chinese Talent Show:

A snapshot: Please click here to watch a video about last year’s Chinese Talent Show.

Participants: Students of 4-11 years old, in kindergarten, primary or secondary schools

Competition groups:

  • Chinese Native Speakers – both parents are of Chinese origin, and using Chinese as her/his first
    language.
  • Non Chinese Native Speakers – with one or two non-background parents, or using other languages
    as first language despite the fact that parents are of Chinese origin.

Use of Language:
Putonghua is the only accepted language in speech items. Both simplified and traditional Chinese characters are accepted in writing items.

Key Regulaions:

  • Every participant should select competition items matching their age as well as their year level ( For Quarry Bay School students, Year 1 students aged 5 will be allocated in Kindergarten group, Year 1 students aged 6 will be allocated in Lower Primary group; Year 2 /3 students will be allocated in Lower Primary group; Year 4/5 will be allocated in Middle Primary Group and Year 6 students will be allocated in Upper Primary Group)
  • Every participant can choose no more than three competition items that match their age group.

Prizes:

  • Any participants whose total score from three competition items is the highest will be awarded the title of “champion”;
  • Champions will get a certificate of award and a special cup; they will also be qualified to enter the national final;
  • Each item from each group will have one first prize, one second prize and one third prize (a certificate will be awarded); additionally, there will be several awards of excellence (a certificate will be given to the winners).
  • One or two extraordinary participants from this year’s event will be chosen to be the “Chinese Culture Ambassador”; they will become the image ambassador showing up on Hong Kong region’s poster for the year.

Please click here for detailed information.

Registration Period: 25th November 2017 – 26th January 2018

Registration Methods and Payment:

Online Registration:

A cross cheque collected by School office:

  • The cheque is made payable to: HONG KONG ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF PINYIN QUALITY EDUCATION (PYQE) ;
  • Please write down your child’s name and competition items at the back of the cheque ( cash is not acceptable).

PTA News

Dear Parents and Carers,

“CHRISTMAS FAYRE” on 1st December 2017

Please click here for the shuttle bus schedule.


PTA SCHOOL BUS SERVICE

The school will close at 12 noon on Friday 15th December, 2017, for Christmas Break. Click here for early school closure bus schedule.


PTA SHOP

For queries on uniforms please do not hesitate to contact Amy directly on ptashop@qbs.edu.hk for any shop queries you may have. Amy will be happy to assist.

  • Uniform transition update
    As per our previous notification, the current uniform design is in the process of being phased-out in the transition to the new ESF uniform. All outerwear designs are currently undergoing a review process and we are therefore unable to confirm the actual date of availability, which means that there are uniform items which are currently out of stock. (Click here for the out of stock item list.)
    As a temporary measure you may opt to purchase, externally, a similar item (i.e. design and colour) to the uniform for your child to wear until stocks arrive.
  • Winter uniform

With effect from 1st December, all students are required to wear winter uniform only.


Feedback or Suggestions

If you have any feedback or suggestions you would like to make for our events or services provided, please email them directly to: ptasuggestions@qbs.edu.hk. Your email will be received directly by our Chairman, who will reply to you at the earliest available moment.

HELP US – IN OUR DRIVE FOR A GREENER ENVIRONMENT

We request all parents to support a greener environment by BYOB “bring your own bag” when you come to purchase items from the shop.

[With immediate effect the PTA Shop will no longer provide any shopping bags].

Please contact us on 2566 4242 (ask to transfer to PTA), or 2887 1004 for further queries, or by email to pta@qbs.edu.hk, during operation hours.

“Click here for PTA Office and Shop Operation”