Newsletter 13/2017-18
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
Warning – Disturbing content on YouTube Featuring Characters Popular With Young Children
Digital Citizenship
School Photos
Club News
Government Vaccination
ESF TEDx talk – Wednesday 22nd Nov
PTA News
Principal’s Comments
Key dates for Term 1
Please click here
Key dates for next week:
- Tuesday the 21st of November – photos for the teams, new student/staff as well as absentees
- Wednesday the 22nd of November – Lower school pizza Lunch
- Thursday the 23rd of November – Upper school pizza lunch
- Friday the 24th of November – Class assembly (4Y/4T) for parents (To view the Class Assembly rota, please click here)
Dear Parents,
The Year 6 students from 6B and 6M did a wonderful assembly this morning, all related to different government systems. The children showed their understanding through the clever use of animals in a zoo. The whole audience had to vote for the animal they wanted to be their ruler and laughed when the elephant won! It was enjoyed by everyone. The students used a range of ways to show their understanding of government systems and how the style of government could affect people’s lives.
Author Harry Baker, the Slam poet, came to visit QBS on Monday. The children were fascinated to learn about how Harry has to compete against other poets and enjoyed listening to him. There is a great video on Qoodle of Harry sharing a lovely poem for Kindness day.
It was dress casual on Monday to celebrate International Kindness day. There were different appreciation stations around school and suggestions on how we can be more explicit in showing our kindness towards each other. The children enjoyed the day and some of their comments are posted on Qoodle. As one child said “Kindness isn’t just for today, it is how we should be every day.” This aligns well with our code of conduct in the school of Kind Hands, Kind Feet, Kind Words and Do the Right Thing.
On Thursday evening, the PTA held the first of their Wine, Cheese and Shop event, which included a selection of vendors. The evening also included the PTA AGM where the Chair of the PTA reported on the annual business of the PTA and thanked members of the PTA for all their continued support.
The weather is very inclement at the moment so we would like to remind all student to have a raincoat in their bags.
Have a lovely weekend
Regards,
Ms Sue YEE
Vice Principal
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.
Warning – Disturbing content on YouTube Featuring Characters Popular With Young Children
We would like to alert parents to a growing number of unofficial videos on YouTube featuring popular characters and containing extremely violent, sexualised or other disturbing content. Characters include Peppa Pig, Frozen, Mickey Mouse and PJ Masks.
Unfortunately, many of these videos look like legitimate official videos at first glance and also bypass filters on YouTube, children’s search engines and the YouTube Kids App.
Please do not allow children to browse YouTube unsupervised and consider previewing all videos yourself before allowing very young children to watch them.
More information can be found in this New York Times article.
Digital Citizenship
How can you promote healthy media habits for your kids?
This thought provoking article from Common Sense Media is worth reading.
School Photos
The photographer will be in school on Tuesday 21st November to take photos for the teams, new students/staff as well as absentees. Please click here for details.
Organising teachers will inform the students to be involved.
Club News
QBS Clubs Term 1
Term 1 QBS Academic Clubs will finish on the 17th November and the QBS Sports Clubs will finish on the 24th November.
Here are some clubs that will run longer than the Term 1 dates:
- Last day of Chinese Dance 4th 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
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.
Government Vaccination
The Government Immunisation team will be coming to Quarry Bay School on the 29th of November 2017. The Year 6 students will receive their MMR (Measles , Mumps, Rubella Vaccine) and Hep B (Hepatitis B) vaccinations. Forms have been sent home today.
If you would like your child to have the vaccine at school, please return the completed form along with the child’s original immunisation records by 22nd of November 2017 to Nurse Delia.
No late forms will be accepted.
Regards,
Nurse Delia
ESF TEDx talk – Wednesday 22nd Nov
Fancy for inspiration? ESF TEDx: Inspiring Innovation is offering you a whole new perspective on innovative ideas and creativity!
Speakers from the ESF community will share their unique ideas and vision on transforming imagination to reality, as well as encouraging students to adopt creative ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ when approaching their future goals and desires.
Guest speakers include:
- Mr Pindar Wong, Chairman of VeriFi (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Director of the Board of ASTRI
- Ms Anna Champion, CEO of the Talent Lighthouse
- Mr Charles Caldwell, Human Resources Director of ESF
The event is FREE to all members of the ESF community. Seats are limited. Register NOW at http://www.esf.edu.hk/tedx2017/ by 21 Nov.
Learn more at http://www.esf.edu.hk/event/esf-tedx-inspiring-innovation/
PTA News
UPCOMING EVENTS
PIZZA LUNCH
- 22nd November 2017 – Lower School
- 23rd November 2017 – Upper School
Thank you to all students for submitting your pizza order forms. Final chance: If you have not yet placed your order – please do so before Monday 20th November 2017.
[Preceding this date – No Refunds are applicable]
Please note:
- Cash payment only;
- Payment to be put into an envelope and sealed. Please state the name of student, class name, contact number, and state “Pizza Lunch” on the envelope;
- All orders are to be sent to: PTA Office directly;
- Orders without payment will be returned;
- Orders confirmed may be cancelled for refund on or before Tuesday, 14th November 2017 – after which no refund is applicable under any circumstances;
Click here to download – Lower School Pizza Lunch Order Form
Click here to download – Upper School Pizza Lunch Order Form
We welcome Parent Volunteers who would like to help with the event to contact us as soon as possible at mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk
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 click here to download the form and send it to the PTA office as soon as possible. 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
So if you would like to head your food stall please contact us on ptaevents@qbs.edu.hk or mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk asap. We will liaise with you and assist you closely to make all the arrangements of supplies for the event.
BAKE STALL: Are you a good baker? If yes, register to bake for our bake stall now at: mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk.
TOMBOLA: Are you interested in operating the booth? Or making a contribution? Or donating an item (new items only please)? If yes, please let us know by email at: mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk, or you may bring them directly to us at the PTA Office.
2ND HAND BOOKS (in useable condition): Please drop off items in drop boxes outside the PTA Office.
WHITE ELEPHANT STALL (items donated are to be in useable conditions): Please drop off items in drop boxes outside the PTA Office. If you would like to help to run the stall – please let us know at: mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS – CHRISTMAS FAYRE:
We will require support and assistance of parents to make this event a success, as in past years. So if you would like to support or help in any way, please let us know immediately by email at: mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk or click here to download Xmas Parent Volunteer Form
PARENT VOLUNTEERS – GIFT HAMPER WRAPPING
(will be done on 29th November 2017 at 9:45am – outside the PTA Office):
We request help from parent volunteers who would like to help in wrapping the Class Hampers. Please email us at mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk if you are interested asap.
DONATION CONTRIBUTIONS
If you would like to contribute with a donation (by cheque) towards the event, please download the Donation Form here. Please complete and send it into the PTA office. All donations above $100 are subject to tax exemption for which a receipt will be issued.
[ALL proceeds raised at PTA events will be given as donation to school to enhance learning facilities for the betterment and benefit of all the students to make a difference! ]
PTA SCHOOL BUS SERVICE
All Term 2 cheques will be banked-in between Tuesday 21st November to Thursday 23rd November 2017. Please ensure you have sufficient funds to cover the payment.
[All returned cheques are subject to $100 surcharge.]
PTA SHOP
The PTA is pleased to announce Ms Amy Tsoi as our Shop Supervisor. She will be available to serve your shopping requirements or queries during shop operating hours. 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
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”