29 Sep 2017

Newsletter 7/2017-18

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
 Class Parent Volunteers
 Expressive Arts News
 After School Clubs Supervision – Important Safety Message
 PTA News

Principal’s Comments

Key dates for week after Half Term Break

  • Key dates for next week:
    • Wednesday the 11th of October – Immunisation Year 1
    • Wednesday the 11th to 13th of October – Year 5 Camp

Thank you to everyone for attending the QBS Lantern Walk on Thursday evening. It was a really enjoyable community event and the atmosphere was happy. The children had a wonderful time with their lanterns and they seemed to be genuinely pleased to be at school for the evening. There were a wide range of recycled lanterns which were very creative. Thank you to the PTA, the Mandarin Team, Ms Hill and the ICT Team for their effort.

The students finished the week with a whole school Mid Autumn Festival assembly. Again the Mandarin Team and Ms Hill had done a superb job in preparing the students for the various performances.

The week started with a visit by Kristy Elliot. She worked in classrooms with and delivered workshops for staff and parents. Kristy has expertise in running classroom circles. These circles are a teaching strategy to enhance social outcomes for students and can be integrated into day to day lessons. Thank you to parents for attending Kristy’s evening workshop on restorative practices and building positive relationships. It is hoped Kristy may return to QBS in future to work with staff, students and parents.

I enjoyed visiting the Year 6 students at Outward Bound in Sai Kung on Wednesday. The students were involved in a wide range of team activities and challenges throughout the day. I predict the Year 6 students will sleep very soundly on Friday night when they arrive back from their camp. I suspect the staff will sleep very well too!

It has been a busy and productive half term. I am proud of the students because they have put effort into their learning over the half term. I look forward to seeing them on Monday the 9th of October when school resumes.

Have an enjoyable Mid Autumn Festival with family.

MinaD2

Class Parent Volunteers

We are introducing a joint initiative with the PTA that is new to QBS and will be trialled in Year 1-3 this year. This idea is that each class has a class parent.

The class parent is a key person that will liaise with the class teacher and the parents of their child’s class and the PTA. The main purpose of this role is to help mobilise the school community to support the school and PTA events. It will involve coordinating parents for trips, helping to organise class parties and supporting PTA school events that involve the classes. One class parent across each year would need to be part of the PTA committee to help support key events in the calendar. There is a time commitment but will rely more on good communication and organisation skills.

If you would be interested in this role, please click here for details and email sue.yee@qbs.edu.hk if you would like to be considered for the position of class parent.

Expressive Arts News

Hong Kong Speech and Music Association – 70th Music Festival

QBS are members of the HKSMA and every year there are speech and music competitions. If your child would like to enter the music competition, please complete the steps below:

1. Go to the HKSMA website http://www.hksmsa.org.hk/en/

2. Click on the Member Login section and enter our school details

  • Membership number: 015287
  • Password: umvp7q

3. Children can enter as individuals, duos or as a group. Choose which category your child is going to enter and scroll down to download the correct music entry form.

You need to check the 70th Music festival syllabus (Updated on 26 Sep 2017) to check the choices of music available and the the payment amount for your child’s entry. (Different entries have different costs.) The syllabus will have all the particulars of the competition. On the website the syllabus is available on the home page.

4. Complete the form accurately (participants details) and write a cheque for the correct amount made payable to Quarry Bay School. You don’t need to complete the Responsible Teachers section of the form – we will complete this at school. Please note that HKSMA are very very particular about the form being completed correctly and will reject applications if this is not done and not refund the entry fee. We are unable to check your forms for you so please ensure that they are correct.

5. Send your completed form and cheque to school for the attention of Ceri Hill by Wednesday 11th October at the latest.

6. QBS will complete the Responsible Teachers section of the form and deliver all the entries to the association in time for the deadline.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. ceri.hill@qbs.edu.hk

Guitars for sale

We are selling some second hand children’s classical guitars. The guitars have all been repaired over the summer and all have bags. The children’s guitars are selling for $600 each. If you would like to purchase a guitar please email me and we can arrange a date for you to come in and have a look at the guitar. ceri.hill@qbs.edu.hk

After School Clubs Supervision – Important Safety Message

There is no playground supervision of children by staff after school finishes.

Students waiting for clubs must have an adult with them, both before the club starts and until it finishes. These students need to be actively supervised by the adult (parent, grandparent, driver or helper).

The adult who is supervising the child must be in the quiet area at the front of the school, and must know the child’s whereabouts at all times.

Students cannot play football, downball or use school sports equipment after school.

If your child does not participate in any after school activity, they are to go home immediately after the end of the school day. Only children in clubs should remain after school and this is going to be monitored in the future. Parents will be contacted if unsupervised children are left at school or supervision is not adequate.

Note: Only students in Year 5 and Year 6 who would normally return home on their own may wait for their club without an adult. They should wait sensibly at the front of school or where their club leader is based.

This is for the safety and well being of your children. Thank you for your support.

PTA News

UPCOMING EVENTS

FRIDAY, 1ST DECEMBER 2017 : “CHRISTMAS FAYRE”

Our biggest, festive and fun event of the year is coming up soon and preparations are underway.

Commercial Vendors

We are pleased to invite Commercial Vendors for the event. We will have limited spaces available, so if you would like to participate as a vendor, please contact us via email as soon as possible and we will forward your interest to the vendor coordinator. All vendor spaces are available on first come first serve basis. For further queries please do not hesitate to contact Mona Diwan (PTA Coordinator) on mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk.

International Food Stalls

We are pleased to invite parents and carers to run the International Food Stalls at the event. As in the past, we encourage parents to group together and run their food stalls, selling food specialities from their countries. This year we hope to have the following stalls:

  • Korean
  • Japanese
  • Indian
  • Chinese
  • Malaysian
  • Filipino
  • Italian
  • European

[If your country is not mentioned above, and you would like to run the stall – please let us know as soon as possible and we will add you in.]

Please contact us on mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk asap with your contact information (your mobile number, your child’s class number, and your child’s name), with a list of items on your menu which you will be serving at the fayre. We will liaise with you and assist you closely to make all the arrangements of supplies for the event.


SCHOOL BUSES

After School Activities (QBS Clubs, ESF Ed Svcs Clubs and Private Clubs):

We have received club lists. If your child is listed for the club they will be classified as a “Walker” unless we are notified by email of any further changes to their travel arrangement. All parents/Carers are requested to send email notification directly to pta@qbs.edu.hk with the following information included: student’s full Name; class number; bus number; name of activity and the day your child will be a walker.


PTA SHOP

  • Winter uniform – Purchase
    Will be available for purchase from 10th October onwards. You may contact us to obtain order forms or download them from the PTA Section of the website, to place your pre-orders. All pre-orders can be collected after 16th October 2017.
  • Winter Uniform – Effective
    November will be transition month for uniforms. Students can opt to either wear summer or winter uniforms. A combination or mixture of both is not allowed.
    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”