Newsletter 2/2016-17

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

 InCAS Tests (For Year 2 – 6 parents)

 Chinese Information Night

 Year 1 Central Admission (Born 2012)

 Peter Sullivan Mathematics Workshop 2016 for QBS Parents

 Expressive Arts News

 ESL Clubs

 PTA News

Principal’s Comments

Next Week at QBS

• Wednesday the 31st of August at 6.00pm – Chinese Curriculum Information Evening for Parents (QBS Hall)
• Thursday the 1st of September at 6.00pm – Year 5 Treasure Island Parent Camp Meeting (QBS Hall)
• Thursday the 1st of September – ESF Central Online Applications open for Year 1 2017/2018

Please click here for other key dates for Term 1

Please click here to read the QBS Home Learning policy (under School Policies).

Please be aware of your child’s class assembly date for this academic year. All class assemblies commence at 9.00am in the QBS Hall. Please click here to view the Class Assembly timetable. For parents of children in class 4V and 4Y, please note the amended date on this schedule.

All class timetables will be shared to parents next week via email. Please watch for the email containing class timetable information in the near future.

Please read the summary of QBS electronic communication from last week’s newsletter.

Welcome Back to QBS Evening

Thank you to all parents for attending the welcome evening on Thursday. We hope you found it informative and helpful. Please be reminded that contact with staff is welcomed throughout the academic year. If you need assistance with any matter related to your child’s life at school, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

For those parents who were unable to join us, the slide presentations have been sent to all parents by email today.

QBS Year 1s

It has been lovely to have our Year 1s in school this week. The staggered start for the Year 1s ended on Monday. The students have been managing themselves very well as they get to know QBS and attend school all day. The older students have been particularly attentive and caring with the new Year 1s each morning when they arrive on the buses. It has been pleasing to observe this caring attitude during the week.

QBS Uniform

Thank you for ensuring your child is properly dressed in school uniform. Uniform expectations are very high and this support from home is valued by staff.

Regards,

InCAS Tests (For Year 2 – 6 parents)

Dear parents,

Assessment is an important part of our teaching and learning cycle at QBS. We assess where children are in their learning so we can best support and extend them. Some significant aspects of assessment are teacher judgement and knowledge, and both standardised and non-standardised assessments.

As part of this cycle, all students in Year 2 through to Year 6 will be completing ‘InCAS’ tests this half term. InCAS is a standardised assessment tool from Durham University and is completed online via computer. We have used these tests now for several years both at QBS and across ESF schools. Once all students have completed the tests, results will be shared later in the term via the Gateway.

The various InCAS tests are in the form of short quizzes completed on computers and do not require prior preparation. They are being completed at this point in the school year to give students the best opportunity to show their learning. However, we recognise that the assessments, being snapshots, only give limited information, and will be used alongside teacher judgement to provide useful information.

The tests cover the following areas of learning:

Reading (word recognition, word decoding, comprehension and spelling)
Spelling
General Mathematics (number, measures, shape and space and handling data)
Mental Arithmetic
Developed ability (picture vocabulary and non-verbal ability)
Attitudes (attitudes to Mathematics, reading and school are assessed)

Please contact me should you wish to discuss any aspect of these assessments.

Best regards,

Michael Dewey

Vice Principal

Chinese Information Night

Dear Parents,

We are happy to see the children settling well in their Chinese classes. We would like to invite you to join us on Wednesday 31st August at 6pm for the Chinese Information Night. It will give you an opportunity to gain a better understanding of your child’s Chinese learning at QBS.

The evening will consist of the following:

• General information.
• Mini-workshop with your child’s respective teacher.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Regards,

Miss Katherine Ong
Chinese Department

Year 1 Central Admission (Born 2012)

If you have a child born in 2012 and would like to apply for a place in an ESF school, you will need to complete a Central Application to ESF Primary Schools. The Application Period is 1st – 30th September.

Please visit http://www.esf.edu.hk/application-form on the ESF website for more information.

Peter Sullivan Mathematics Workshop 2016 for QBS Parents

Monday 5th September 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 making his second visit to our school from September 5 – 7th to work alongside our teachers again.

The workshop for parents will focus on “The ways that fluency and deep learning both contribute to the learning of mathematics”.

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.

Expressive Arts News

QBS Dance Off 2016

There has been a fantastic response to the QBS Dance Off 2016 competition and next week the solo auditions will take place. Please click here to find the solo audition timetable.

Remember if you need any more information about QBS dance off 2016, please go to this google document – this has dance tips and the overview timetable of the whole competition.

Expressive Arts Clubs
Today in assembly, the children were informed of all the QBS clubs that will take place in term 1. We are particularly excited this year to introduce two new Chinese Expressive Arts clubs – Chinese dancing and the Chinese Orchestra – children enjoyed watching demonstrations from the club leader. Here is a brief overview of the Expressive Arts Clubs: (For the QBS clubs please sign up via Gateway, for the private clubs please go to the school website)

• Mon lunchtime – Junior Choir – Yr 2/3
• Mon after school – Filmmaker club – Yr 4/5/6 (Private)
• Tues after school – Drama club – Yr 5/6 and Chinese Orchestra – Yr 4/5/6
• Wed after school – QBS Orchestra – Yr 1-6, Rock Band – Yr 5/6 and Chinese dragon dancing -Yr 4/5/6
• Thurs after school – Choral Concert Choir – Yr 4/5/6, Chinese dancing – Yr 3/4/5/6, Chinese drumming – Yr6
• Fri lunchtime – Yr 5 Elite Recorder
• Fri after school – Ballroom dancing (Move for life)- Yr4/5/6 (Private)

Ceri Hill (ceri.hill@qbs.edu.hk)

ESL Clubs

Spanish and Writing After School Programmes

Please click here for more.

ESF Sports

29th August – 13 December 2016
Our enthusiastic approach, combined with expert coaches with a passion for sport, enables every student to develop a broad spectrum of acquisition skills to increase their self-confidence in a range of activities, both individual and within a group or team dynamic. This year, we are introducing our new Multi Sports programme, which is a development programme for ages 2-5 in building skills and abilities to better position themselves in entering a specialist sport(s). We are also introducing many new locations for Football and Gymnastics. Enrol online at www.esf.org.hk

ESF Language & Learning

6th September – 12th November 2016
ESF Language & Learning is the premier provider of extracurricular English language and enrichment education in Hong Kong. Our nurturing, friendly approach enables students to flourish as they develop their skills and interests. Suitable for all pre-school and school age students, our small group courses are run by our friendly, qualified, English speaking teachers. Enrol online www.esf.org.hk.

PTA News

Upcoming PTA Events:

• Thursday, 8th September 2016: Lantern Walk
• Sunday, 25th September 2016: Junior Chess Star Competition 2016
• Monday, 31st October 2016: PTA Annual General Meeting
• Friday, 11th November 2016: Pizza Lunch
• Friday, 2nd December 2016: Winter Fair

Lantern Walk

[Event Timing: 6:30pm-8:00pm]

The PTA will be supporting this school-organised event with a Food and Drinks Counter on the evening.

We are pleased to invite Parent Volunteers to help us either cook and/or help at the stall. Please click here to register as a parent volunteer. All proceeds raised at the event will be donated to school to upgrade resources, enhancing the learning platform for all our students.

5th Junior Chess Star Competition 2016

[Event Timing: 8:30am – 5:15pm]

[Please find the information below to facilitate online registration.]

We are pleased to announce that Quarry Bay School PTA LTD will be hosting the 5th Junior Chess Star Invitational Competition 2016, sponsored by Quarry Bay School, on Sunday, 25th September 2016.

We invite all students studying in ESF & PIS primary schools, for the academic year 2016-17, to join the event.

See here for more information on the Poster.
Please click here for online registration.

Parent Volunteers – Chess Competition
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.

PTA School Buses

The PTA offers a standard bus service with nominated stops. With nearly 83% of our students travelling on the school bus daily, it is difficult for us to offer a door to door service. We therefore request parents and families to select a nominated stop closest to your residence to avoid later changes in bus routes and or stops, especially since most of our bus routes are completely full. If you would like assistance to decide on your bus routes, please contact Dorothy Ho on pta@qbs.edu.hk.

You are requested to be at the stop 5-8 minutes prior to the scheduled times to avoid missing the bus. The school bus will NOT wait for any late students. All students who are not collected at the stops by guardians in the afternoon will be bought back to school by the bus mum, for which extra transportation charges are applicable (as stated in the bus rules).

Change in Daily Travel Schedule: Parents are requested to inform the PTA by email ONLY to pta@qbs.edu.hk for any change in daily travel schedule for their child/ren before 12:00noon. You are also required to inform the school/class teacher separately.

Parent Concerns/Requests Related to Buses

We request parents to refrain from boarding the school buses to discuss bus matters with the bus escorts, especially since the buses are on a tight schedule to ensure students arrive at school on time and avoid delays in the schedule. All school bus concerns/requests are to be addressed to the PTA directly. You may contact our Bus Administrator, Dorothy Ho, on 28871004 or by email at pta@qbs.edu.hk, who will be happy to assist.

Please note the following dates in the school bus schedule during the upcoming weeks:

• Thursday, 15th September 2016: CPD – No School for Students (No School Bus)
• Friday, 16th September 2016: Public Holiday (No School Bus)
• Thursday, 22nd September 2016: Parent-Teacher Consultation – School Closes at 12:00noon

[Bus Schedule for Early School Closure will be posted in the next newsletter].

PTA SHOP
The PTA Shop is out of stock of the following items:

• Eco-Friendly School Bags
• Eco-Friendly Book Bags – Red

We expect new stock of the above to arrive in September. Notification of arrival will be posted in a future newsletter. Pre-orders are most welcome for the bags.

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”