Newsletter 23/2015-16

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

 Communication

 Year 4 Athletics Event

 DBIS Rugby Tournament

 Girls Cricket @ K.C.C

 Parents as Partners

 Peter Sullivan Mathematics Workshop for QBS Parents

 Safer Internet Use

 Workshop for Parents: Emotion Management and Strategies for Individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

 Guys and Dolls – A South Island School Production

 PTA News

Principal’s Comments

Important dates for your attention:

• Wednesday the 24th of February (close of business) deadline for all Y1 (2016/2017) deposits for school place
• Thursday the 25th of February – Parent Teacher Consultations

Kung Hei Fat Choi

I have been pleased to see the students back at school this week. Following the break, they have been happy, energetic and quick to settle back into their learning routines. I certainly hope all families enjoyed lovely Chinese New Year holiday and I wish everyone a prosperous and successful Year of the Monkey.

I am delighted to announce to parents that Mr Andy Thompson has been promoted to the senior leadership role of Vice Principal at Beacon Hill School (ESF) and begins his new role in August 2016. His promotion is very well-deserved and a wonderful career opportunity for him. Mr Thompson was promoted in a strong field of international candidates. For the last three years Mr Thompson has done an outstanding job leading the school’s curriculum, teaching and learning. Mr Thompson has had a significant impact on improving the quality of learning experiences and approaches to learning across the school. He is highly regarded, well-respected and valued by colleagues. It is no secret that all of us at QBS will be sorry to say goodbye to Mr Thompson at the end of the academic year. I will certainly miss his professionalism, hard work, positive leadership and a very good sense of humour. We will be advertising Mr Thompson’s leadership position internationally.

Parent Teacher Consultations

Thank you for your continued interest and support as we commenced the Parent Teacher consultations this week. I was able to chat with parents waiting for their appointments with the teachers and this is something I always enjoy and appreciate. The consultations will continue next Thursday afternoon with the teachers. If you have been unable to make it to your appointment this week, or haven’t yet arranged a time to meet with your child’s teacher, I urge you to follow up with us because we have reached the midway point in the school year and valuable learning discussions are currently happening with your child’s teacher.

Year 4 Athletics Day

The Year 4 students enjoyed their decathlon this week. There were ten track and field events organised as part of the Athletics Day and they were the culmination of their current unit of work in PE. Again, the parental support and interest was appreciated by all. Parental presence at school really does add to the enthusiasm we see from the students. Well done Year 4 students and thank you to all involved.

QBS Rugby

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the rugby tournament at King’s Park this week. QBS had three teams of boys and girls in the tournament. The teams played well, enjoyed the matches and were great sporting ambassadors for QBS. I look forward to more tournaments as the term progresses.

New Teachers for QBS in 2016/2017

QBS will have some new teachers in August 2016. Prior to the Chinese New Year I informed you Mrs Cerys Ferriday, Mr Ian Armour and Mr Iain McColm would join QBS in August 2016. Mrs Jessica McGraw and Miss Ellie Creighton, current QBS staff, will continue in permanent teaching positions from August 2016. I am pleased to introduce these new teachers. Please click here to learn more.

Sadly, we will have to say farewell to some highly-regarded teachers at the end of this school year. Mrs Kerry Massarella (6T), Miss Geraldine Brien (1B) and Mr Peter Lee (Music) will be leaving QBS in June 2016. Mrs Massarella will be moving to Singapore with her family to take on a new career opportunity at Dulwich College. Miss Geraldine Brien will be moving home to the United Kingdom to continue her career and be closer to her family. Mr Peter Lee will relocate with his family to Australia to pursue new opportunities. I will be sorry to see these colleagues leave QBS as they are positive, hard working and excellent teachers who have made significant contributions to the lives of students at QBS.

Regards,

Communication

At QBS our door is always open to parents and we welcome contact about your child and school life. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, specialist teachers, myself or members of the school’s leadership team if you need any assistance with matters related to your child.

Year 4 Athletics Event

Congratulations to all of the Year 4 Athletes, who competed this week at the athletics event.

All the students can be very proud with the progress they have made since last year. Individual athlete results all improved by a big margin, which was very impressive.

There were many individual event and team awards in the presentation, but a special mention must go to the students below who were the top scoring decathletes in their year group.

DBIS Rugby Tournament

On Thursday QBS fielded 3 representative teams to participate at the DBIS Rugby tournament at Kings Park. All 3 teams played really well throughout the day and were excellent representatives for QBS. You can see our teams in the pictures below.

The boys A team qualified for the plate competition and reached the final, but were unlucky to lose very narrowly 2 tries to 1 against RCHK.

The Girls team topped their group and after extra time lost in the cup semi finals against Harrow International.

The Boys B team went through in their group with a win, a draw and a loss, finishing 6th overall after a play off against DBIS.

Finally a big thank you to our coaches (Mr.Mason, Mr.Ogilvy, Mr. Kirby and Mr. Glencross) who have helped to prepare the teams and advise them throughout the tournament. We look forward to hearing how they get on at the next tournament.

Girls Cricket @ K.C.C

KCC ladies cricketers will be running a free workshop for girls on Sunday 21 Feb at 12pm (please see the attached poster). The ladies will also be playing a league T20 match at the KCC after the workshop
and all girls are invited to stay behind to watch the game.

The workshop is open to any age and to any standard. Our Ladies captain – (reneemhk@gmail.com) can be contacted for more details.

Our goal is simply to offer an enjoyable afternoon and to expose more girls to cricket.

We hope that some of our QBS Girls will get involved this weekend.

Parents as Partners

Our Children’s Health and Wellness Presentation

Getting our children (and ourselves) to eat better and be healthy and happy can be stressful and overwhelming! We are constantly being bombarded by information (a lot of which comes with confusing, mixed messages). It doesn’t have to be that hard – come along and listen to a balanced, simple approach toward living better – one that you create around a lifestyle that suits your family. This will be perfect for parents, but also helpers or other family caregivers, as we are all the gatekeepers to our children’s health and wellness!

Monday 14th March from 11:00 to 12:00
Click here to register a place at this free presentation

Peter Sullivan Mathematics Workshop for QBS Parents

Tuesday 8th. March, 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the school hall

Peter Sullivan is Professor of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, at Monash University in Australia.

He is the immediate past President of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and was the lead writer of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.

Peter is one of the world’s leading authorities in mathematics, and will be visiting our school from March 7 – 9th., to work alongside our teachers.

The workshop for parents will focus on a problem solving approach to the teaching of mathematics, alongside the importance of conceptual understanding.

This would help parents to understand how they may be able to help their children, in the development of mathematical thinking.

If you would like to attend, click here to register.

Safer Internet Use

Using the internet is an increasing part of life, and there are many excellent ways in which online resources can be educational and entertaining. Unfortunately, there are also risks, which children as they develop their understanding may not fully understand. These risks can be difficult to understand and manage for parents also. On February 9th, it was Internet Safety Day in the UK, and the website for this event provides a useful information pack for parents. Please click here to access the information.

Workshop for Parents: Emotion Management and Strategies for Individuals with
Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

ESF have been fortunate to organise a parent workshop led by leading Canadian Psychologist Isabelle Henault. The workshop on ‘Emotion Management and strategies for individuals with Autism and Asperger’s syndrome’ will be held on Saturday 12th March from 9.00am at ESF Centre. Please see the attached flyer for details and registration links. There is no cost for parents of ESF students and there are also a number of spaces for non-ESF parents available for a small fee.

Please click here to learn more.

Guys and Dolls – A South Island School Production

Please come along and see South Island School’s fabulous and funny production of Guys and Dolls Monday 22nd Feb, Tuesday 23rd Feb and Wednesday 24th Feb at 7.30pm in the school hall. Singing, dancing and a live band bring this classic musical comedy to life! Tickets for sale in the school foyer and on the door, $150 for students, $180 for adults. See you there!!

PTA News

Upcoming Events – Term 2 & 3

Term 2 will feature a host of exciting events, as below, so please mark your diaries accordingly:

• Paddyfield’s Bookclub: February / March 2016
• Popcorn Sale: 23rd March 2016
• QBS “THEMED DISCO”: 21st April 2016

Details of all the above events will be given in upcoming newsletters.

School Buses

Term 3 – School Bus Fees

All Term 3 school bus fees (i.e. cheques in advance) will be banked on 1st March 2016. We request all parents and carers to ensure sufficient funds in your accounts to prevent cheques being returned. [Each returned cheque is applicable to a $100 admin surcharge]

Feedback or Suggestions

If you have any feedback or suggestions you would like to give on our event or services provided, please email directly to: ptasuggestions@qbs.edu.hk. Your email will directly be received by our Chairman who will reply 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”.