Newsletter 32/2015-16

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

 Battle of the Books Semi Final Competition

 Book Donation to Li Sing Primary in memory of Doug Alvarez wife Debbie

 Student Withdrawals

 Sharing for a Cause

 PTA News

Principal’s Comments

Important dates for your attention:

• Please click here for all the key dates in Term 3 at QBS.
• Tuesday the 10th of May, Year 6 Athletics Day (CIS Field) – 8.30am – 11.45am
• Wednesday the 11th of May, Year 5 Athletics Day (CIS Field) – 8.30am – 11.45am
• Thursday 12th of May, New Year 1 Parent Curriculum Information Evening (QBS Hall) – 6.00pm – 7.00pm
• Friday the 13th of May – PTA Pizza Sale

Jamie Atkinson

I am delighted to inform you that Mr Jamie Atkinson has been appointed to the role of PE teacher at the French International School (primary section). Jamie will lead Physical Education across the school. It is a fantastic career opportunity for him. Jamie has been a wonderful addition to the QBS staff. Sadly he has only been with us in a temporary capacity for part of this academic year. At QBS Jamie has proven himself to be an outstanding teacher in the early stages of his career. He is respected by staff and students. We are pleased to know he won’t be too far away next year and we will see him (along with his sporting teams) at tournaments in the future. Congratulations Mr Atkinson on a very well-deserved appointment as leader and teacher of PE at French International School.

Year 5 Museum

Recently the students in Year 5 have been researching ancient civilisations and how they influence modern life. It has been very enjoyable to see all of the different artefacts arriving at school – the students have been extremely motivated and interested. The students created museum exhibits based around their learning and invited parents to visit. The enthusiasm and knowledge from the students was impressive. The students used both drama and visual arts to enhance their exhibits and also demonstrate their knowledge. The students also had the opportunity to invite peers from Year 4 and Year 1 to visit their museum which added to the learning experience. Well done Year 5 students!

Class Assembly

Next academic year QBS will provide an overview of all class assembly dates at the commencement of the school year. This way parents will be better able to plan their working calendars and other commitments around their child’s assembly. More details will follow about class assemblies for 2016/2017 in the future.

2K and 2J did a great job reminding everyone about the attributes of the Learner Profile (e.g., carer, communicator, inquirer, thinker) through drama this week. These characteristics or attributes are life long habits and helpful for everyone no matter how young or old.

Athletics Days

We look forward to more sunny weather next week so that the Year 5 and Year 6 students can enjoy their athletics days. Please click here (Year 5 / Year 6) for details.

Regards,

Battle of the Books Semi Final Competition

On Wednesday 4th May, the QBS Battle of the Books (BoB) team went to Clearwater Bay School for the semi final competition. The competition requires the teams in every school to read a total of 20 chapter books chosen by the committee. Our BoB club members have been reading diligently all year to be a part of the team. The final team battled within the group to become the semi final competitors.

On Wednesday, they battled against Harrow, CWBS and GSIS during the course of the morning. It was an extremely close battle but we will not be going to the final this year. We were very proud of all the children that travelled over to battle or support. They were superb ambassadors for QBS and worked hard to acquire the excellent knowledge they have about those 20 books.

Book Donation to Li Sing Primary in memory of Doug Alvarez wife Debbie

It was very sad for our community when Doug Alvarez’s wife passed away last year after a long battle with cancer. Doug was a Year Six EA from Aug 2013 to June 2015 and his wife Debbie was the Teacher Librarian at Bradbury School. She had a massive impact on the love of literature with the students at Bradbury School and is greatly missed. To commemorate Debbie’s memory and her passion of literature, the QBS Staff chose to donate children’s books to Li Sing School, Tai Hing. The staff and children at Li Sing Primary School were very appreciative as you can see from the photos. The books have a special place within the Li Sing’s School library and we look forward to children enjoying the stories during their reading time.

Student Withdrawals

Should you plan to withdraw your child at the end of the academic year, please download and complete the Student Withdrawal Notice and return to the Admissions Office in school via email at admissions@qbs.edu.hk before 1 June. Otherwise, we will assume that your child is returning after summer and parents are liable to pay the tuition fees for September, even if the student does not return to school.

Sharing for a Cause

This year we are very excited to be able to support Kids4Kids campaign, ‘Sharing for a cause’. This campaign’s goal is to alleviate ‘invisible poverty’ in Hong Kong by providing some of our poorest families with stationary and computer items. We are a donation centre so you can drop off your items in our gym. These donations will then be collected and distributed to families in need.

Below are two photos that show the type of items that will be collected.

Here is a link to a video to show how to pack computer items.
The types of items we are not collecting are:

• Old, unusable
• Non-hygenic
• Broken
• Missing parts

The campaign starts on May 1st and runs for the whole month. If you would like to know more about the campaign then click here. It is a fantastic way to spring clean for a good cause!

PTA News

Upcoming Events

Term 3 will feature a host of exciting events, as below, so please mark your diaries accordingly:

• Pizza Sale: 13th May 2016
• Paddyfield’s Spring Bookclub: May/June 2016

Pizza Sale – Order Forms

Please complete and send in your orders to the PTA office. Payment in cash ONLY please. The deadline for all orders is 6th May 2016.

Please Remember: this event is a “Bring Your Own Plate” event.

Pizza Sale – Parent Volunteers

We would like to request for parent volunteers to help with the pizza sales. If you are available, please send an email to mona.diwan@qbs.edu.hk, titled “Pizza Volunteer”, to enable us to send you further information by return email. Looking forward to your support.

Paddyfield’s Spring BookClub

Order forms have been distributed to all students yesterday. Please send in your orders to the PTA office before the deadline ie. 20th May 2016.

PTA School Buses

URGENT: Release of Students by Bus Escort

Please be reminded that all Bus Escorts will only allow students off the bus once the parent/carer of the student comes up to the bus to ask for the student.

• All uncollected students will be brought back to school directly at the end of the route. Parents/carers will be required to collect the students from school reception, and settle the Bus Escort’s overtime pay and transportation charges to PTA.
• Therefore to avoid the above all parents/carers are required to arrive at the bus stop 5 minutes ahead of the bus arrival time.

Notification to PTA and Class Teachers

All parents/carers are responsible to inform the PTA and class teacher simultaneously for any of the below – by EMAIL only (instructions by phone will NOT be entertained):
[Student name, class number and bus number is to be stated on all correspondence]

• Change in standard travel plans on the Bus;
• Any after-school activities your child which requires a change in travel plans;
• If you child is absent on a particular day;
• If your child does not travel to school in the morning but requires travel on the bus in afternoon; &
• If you child is a walker.

PTA Email: pta@qbs.edu.hk.

PTA Shop

QBS Sports Performance Kits (Year 4, 5, & 6 students only):

The kits have arrived and available for purchase now.

[All cheques issued in payment for the kits will be banked in next week – please ensure you have sufficient funds to cover your payments. All returned cheques are subject to HK$100 admin charge.]

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”.