Glenealy School Newsletter
30th August 2017
Message from Brenda
Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students
Thanks so much for coming to the Meet the Teacher evening last Thursday. Many of you have requested the teacher’s presentations which we have made available to you. You’ll find information on how to access these in the body of the newsletter.
Personal Digital Devices in School
We have a growing number of children who are bringing phones to school and some are wearing devices that also have connectivity to the internet. At primary school we don’t expect students to be bringing these sort of devices to school.
If is is essential that your child has a phone with them, please email their teacher to let them know why and we will make special arrangements for the phone to be secured throughout the day. Students should not be playing with phones before or after school in the playground. Thanks for you help with this.
Island School meeting at Glenealy School
A reminder to RSVP here if you haven’t already done so...
Are you interested in becoming a new Parent Representative on our Glenealy School Council? If so, please refer to last week’s newsletter here for more information. Nominations close today. Candidates are required to have a proposer, if you would like nominate a candidate (please obtain their prior permission) and click here https://goo.gl/forms/rTSeJ0eu8rKEC4Ak1 for the nomination form.
Staffing
Welcome to our two new staff members. Joann Cheng has joined the Mandarin department as a full time EA and Edmund Ho has joined our site staff as a full time cleaner.
Regards,
Brenda
Dates for the Diary
1st - 30th September
Year 1 ESF Central Application period
4th - 15th September
Year 7 ESF transfer application opens on Gateway for Year 6 students
Wednesday 6th September
Island School parents meeting @ 5.30pm at Glenealy School
Friday 8th September
Year 6 fundraiser @ 3pm
Tuesday 12th September
South Island School open day
Thursday 14th September
- School Photos
- Family bingo evening @ 5pm
18th - 19th September
Year 6 camp
Friday 29th September
CPD day - no school for students
October 2nd - 6th
Half term break - school closed
Sunday October 22nd
ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon - carnival day (see below)
Instrumental Lessons
The instrumental lesson times at Glenealy are now full and the wait list has been closed due to over subscription. Thank you to everyone who applied. If places become available throughout the year priority will be given to students on the wait list.
Reminder!
For more information about our after school/activity policy please click here.
PTA
Welcome Back to School Coffee Morning
Thank you to those who joined the ‘Welcome Back to School Coffee Morning’ on Tuesday. It was lovely to meet parents new to the school and to visit with some of our existing families. Thanks also to those parents who donated home-made cakes, biscuits and decorations.
Year 6 “Space Carnival” Fundraiser
The Year 6 Bake Sale fundraiser will take place on Friday, 8th September at 3:00 p.m. in the playground. Please bring $10-20 and join us for games and sweet treats!
Family Bingo Night
Please join us for an evening of Bingo, food and the chance to win!
The PTA will host a Family Bingo Night in the Centre on Thursday, 14th September from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (first call at 5:30 p.m.). For Health & Safety reasons, seats are strictly limited.
To get your tickets you need to:
1. Fill out the Google form
2. Send in your payment – clearly labelled with child’s name and class
3. Receive your tickets – they will be sent home with your child
Please click here for ticketing information and the google form. We are also looking for volunteers to help at the event. Please contact Erika at pta@glenealy.net
PTA Subscriptions
Thank you to all families who have paid their PTA Subscriptions for the 2017-18 school year. If you have not yet done so, please forward your payment as soon as possible. Your family will have received an invoice from ESF Centre for PTA Subscriptions. Payments can be left in the PTA Tray in the office or posted directly to ESF Centre (details on the invoice). The PTA thanks you for your support.
Parents as Partners
Parents as Partners on The Glenealy Globe
In last weeks newsletter we provided information on how to access the Parents as Partners section of the Glenealy Globe (see here). You can now also access all the ‘Meet the Teacher’ presentations, as well as, the Year 6 camp presentation in the Parent Workshops section of the Globe.
Building on from this I would like to share information on how to access curriculum information, learning outcomes, word lists and online learning platforms that can be used to support students in Chinese.
After following the instructions to enter the Parents as Partners page on Glenealy Globe (shared last week) Click on the following buttons:
The GS Chinese Curriculum button will take you to Year group specific areas that share the learning objectives and Chinese characters explored for both CNN (Chinese Near Native) and CSL (Chinese as a Second Language) students.
The Reading and Writing button will take you to an area linking to a number of online learning platforms that can support our Chinese programme.
Like the mathematics resources shared last week it is important to note that it is not an expectation for students to systematically work through all of these materials, instead they are there to support any personalised home learning targets that the students may have, or for students to explore further due to an interest in the area.
Kind Regards,
Dave Buckley
ESF Year 1 and Year 7 Admissions
Year 1 Central Application period for children born in 2013 commences 1-30 September 2017. Please click here for Year 1 key dates.
For Year 6 students, the submission of the Year 7 secondary transfer application on Gateway commences Monday 4 September - Friday 15 September 2017.
Allocation for secondary schools will be determined by residential zone at the start of Year 6.
For further details, parents should refer to the information available on the ESF website at http://www.esf.edu.hk/year6-to-year7-key-dates/ for key dates and http://www.esf.edu.hk/esf-zones for school zones.
All newly joined Year 6 students are guaranteed a Year 7 place but not necessarily for the school of zone.
Please note, ESF reserves the right to redirect students based on majority of transferring cohorts in primary school should there be overcapacity at any of the secondary schools.
Year 7 offer letters will be sent to parents from the respective secondary schools in early December and the Year 7 deposit payment deadline to secure their secondary school place is Friday 15 December 2017.
South Island School Open Day: Tuesday 12th September
We would like to extend a warm invitation for you to visit South Island on our Whole School Open Day. This is a chance to see the school in action – and to gain an authentic feel for our school and our learning environments. In the past, parents have found this a valuable opportunity to visit the school, gain an understanding of our location and facilities and to meet some of our staff.
The structure of the day:
10:35 am – 10:50 am Presentation from our Principal (Hall, 2/F)
10:50 am – 12:35 pm Classroom Visits
12:35 pm – 1:15 pm Light refreshments with the PTA and our Head Prefects – Question time (Hall, 2/F)
Student lunch – all students will be out of lessons at this time
1:15 pm – 2:45 pm More Classroom Visits
2:45 pm Whole School Open Day ends
On arrival, please come to the School Hall on the second floor of the Ching Ling Soong building (“C block”) to register, we will provide refreshments, maps and students who will be happy to conduct you on a tour of the school. If you are unable to attend the Presentation, you are welcome to visit the school throughout the session. Please feel free to visit classrooms, get a taste of the lessons that are in progress, and get a flavour of the way our curriculum is developed. It is not expected that you stay for the duration of a lesson, rather that you pop in for a ‘taste’ of what the lesson is like. It is also an opportunity to visit other classrooms and subjects so you are able to experience all age groups. As you walk around the building you will be able to view some of our recent renovations and excellent facilities. We would ask that you refrain from any videoing of lessons as this does contravene student privacy.
Due to limited parking on the school site, we advise you to travel by public transport or taxi.
We look forward to meeting you on Tuesday 12th September. In the meantime, should you have any questions concerning this event do not hesitate to contact me by email at candrews@sis.edu.hk
Carolyn Andrews
Vice Principal / MYP Coordinator
South Island School
ESF 50th Anniversary Marathon
Date: Sunday, 22 October 2017
Time: Starting from 8:00am
Venue: Lung Wo Road, Central
Distance: 1Km, 3Km, 6Km and 10Km
Open to: Students and families, teachers, support staff and their families and friends
Registration fee: Individual $180 / Family Run $300 or $400
Online registration: http://marathon.esf.edu.hk
Useful School Forms
Medical Authorisation Form - required should your child need to take medication whilst at school, on a school trip or camp
Lance King - Parent Seminar
Extra Curricular Activities, Term 1
Disclaimer Notice: Glenealy School does not endorse or represent the accuracy, truthfulness or reliability of these advertisements placed by outside agencies.
Reminder!
Please ensure the person responsible for collecting your child is at school before this time. For further information regarding the after school policy please click here.
Instrumental Lessons
The instrumental lesson times at Glenealy are now full and the wait list has been closed due to over subscription. Thank you to everyone who applied. If places become available throughout the year priority will be given to students on the wait list.