Island School PTA Newsletter
April 2015
Message from the Co-chairs
Dear Parents,
We are looking forward to seeing you all at the much-awaited Spring Fair, which will take place on April 17th, 2015. Do join us with family & friends.
As mentioned in our February Newsletter the ISPTA comprises of a team of highly motivated volunteer parents with each one taking on a specific role and responsibility. We organize ourselves in sub-committees that work on specific initiatives. We have already introduced you to a few of the sub-committees in the previous newsletter, here’s a peek into some more and the amazing parents that coordinate their efforts.
Secretary: Andy Lowe has the challenging role of being the Secretary for the ISPTA. She is the backbone of the team and handles the PTA minutes so efficiently that she makes it look deceptively easy! Andy has also been a regular Career Representative at our annual Careers Fair.
IT / Website: David Fung is responsible for the ISPTA website as well as all IT needs that arise while implementing our various projects. We are currently in the process of redesigning our current website & are brainstorming on the ways in which we can enhance the user experience.
Parent Representative Coordinator: Angela Wong coordinates the efforts of our Parent Representatives. She plays the key role of helping us reach out to various year groups within school through the Class Reps.
Newsletter Editors: Giovanna Cocomazzi and Lucia Maruzzelli are our wonderful newsletter team. The newsletter is sent out once a month and is a valuable source of information for the parent community.
We will continue to introduce you to some of our other committee members in the next Newsletter.
Please email us if you would like to help out or get involved in the various PTA initiatives. Our wonderful Volunteers Coordinator - Deepali De Blank is looking forward to hearing from you.
SONALI LAUL & CHRISTINE BRENDLE
Co Chairs ISPTA
SAVE THE DATE !
- APRIL 13th (Monday) - First day of Term 3; PTA Committee Meeting
- APRIL 17th (Friday) - SPRING CULTURAL FAIR
- APRIL 24th (Friday) 8pm - Y11 Parents' Dinner at Giando
- APRIL 29th (Wednesday) 12:15pm - Raffle Draw at Block 5 Playground
- MAY 29th (Friday) 4pm - Y13 Graduation
- JUNE 2nd (Tuesday) - Careers Fair
- JUNE 3rd (Wednesday) - Parents' Graduation Dinner
For more information please click here to visit the ISPTA website.
SPRING CULTURAL FAIR 2015
Come and enjoy an evening of cultural entertainment.
MasterChef finals
fashion show · drama performances
art competition · origami · Chinese calligraphy
Japanese tea ceremony · Japanese taiko drumming
Bollywood dancing · ballet · contemporary street dance
musical entertainment including performances from ‘Retro’ finalistsTaste the delights of our International Food Hall (run by volunteer parents), accompanied by a delicious glass of Sauvignon Blanc or San Miguel beer (soft drinks will also be available).
Do some shopping at our selection of Commercial and PTA stalls (Baked Goods, Kitchenware, 2nd Hand Books).
PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO PARKING AVAILABLE ON THE NIGHT
DONATIONS!
2nd Hand Books and DVDs (no pirate copies please!), Baked Goods and Desserts.
Please bring to the PTA Office (8.30am-3.30pm Mon-Fri) or to the Assembly Hall on the day of the fair.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Our most popular spring cultural fair on 17 th April is approaching soon.
It has been a great success in the past, not possible without the help of you parents.
The fairs are a reflection of the true community spirit going on within Island School. It's a great opportunity for all of us to be part of these events.
We need hands to join together to make this fair yet another success.
We need volunteers from 4pm onwards on 17th April (the fair ends at approx 9:30pm) on the PTA Stalls (2nd Hand Books, Kitchenware, Baked Goods and Wine Bar). Please donate 2 hours of your time, 4pm-6pm or 6pm-8pm or 8pm-10pm, to support any of our stalls.
Please contact Dee De Blank at isptavolunteer@gmail.com.
Alternatively you can contact Sandra Logan, our PTA Manager, at pta@online.island.edu.hk or walk into our PTA shop to let us know how you can help out – whatever works for you – we are happy to have you on our team!
Y10 Parents' Dim Sum Lunch
We had a lovely dim sum lunch at Chung’s Kitchen in Times Square on the 17th of March. We had a great turn out of 20 Mums and Dads with so much to talk about and great food!
Quest Week options for the Y10’s opened the night before and we most of our kids and parents held a countdown till 8pm. Discussions about GCSE options and Mocks that were coming up and kids preparations for them were popular topics.
The parents decided to form a WhatsApp group to keep in touch; we have 35 parents and counting. Please message Alefiyah – 9753 4721 or Michelle Tse – 9406 6333 if you would like to join, with your name and your child’s class.
It’s been a pleasure to represent Year10 and we look forward to meeting more of you parents at our next event. We are thinking of organizing a drinks evening / dinner in May. Look out for the invitation.
Cheers,
Y10 Parent Reps
Alefiyah Ebrahim (Ammar 10E )
Michelle Tse (Gary Yip 10E )
Teresa Weir (Alex 10E)
Below are some souvenir photos of this social event.
CAREERS FAIR
Remember! Parents we would like your help with the ISPTA Careers Fair!
The Careers Fair is a joint initiative by Island School & the ISPTA. We are working on trying to provide students with the unique opportunity to interact with & hear from a variety of professionals pursuing different careers.
Do you have a career you'd like to share? We are looking for parents from the following fields to share their careers with students on 2nd June 2015:
Acting, Alumni Association, Events Management, Fine Arts, F&B, Financial Planning, Human Resources, Music, Real Estate Broker, Sales & Marketing, Advertising, Amusement Park (e.g. Disney, Ocean Park, etc.), Biotechnology/Genetics, Environment & Sustainability, Firefighting, Media, Hotel, Police, Sports Management, Sports Star, Professional Photographer, Auto Mechanic.
The Careers Fair presents not just a great opportunity for our children but also a wonderful way for the parent community to get involved by volunteering to be a Career Representative & share their work life experiences with the students at the event.
You may also visit last year 2014 Careers Fair review here
Please contact Angela Wong via pta@online.island.edu.hk for details.
CALL PARENT VOLUNTEER FOR COOKING LESSONS - NOVEMBER 2015
Do you want to share one or two of your favorite family dishes with the students? Our kids are curious about the cuisine in the countries of origin of their classmates. Therefore the school is planning a course of international cuisine that will be held during the next Quest Week (November 2015).
If you would like to be chef for a day with the supervision of the teachers, please sign up right now. We are not looking for professionals, just people who enjoy cooking.
Please contact our Committee member, Mr. Julian Reed via julian.reed@online.island.edu.hk or Mr. Derek Bailey via derek.bailey@online.island.edu.hk
Thank you!
SCHOOL BUSES
The PTA, in conjunction, with the school, recently conducted a random bus pass check with an emphasis on the buses which go to Central and Admiralty, #9, #9A and #9B. This highlighted a number of issues on which we’d like to remind all parents.
- Only those who have paid for the bus service and have been issued with a bus pass may use that particular bus route.
- No other bus route should be used.
- Bus passes should be carried at all times ready for inspection. Those without bus passes will not be permitted to board.
If a bus pass is lost, please send an e-mail to pta@online.island.edu.hk. A replacement will be issued on payment of $20 and production of a new passport sized photograph.ISLAND SCHOOL PARENT REPRESENTATIVES 2014 - 2015
NEW Parent Representatives Welcome!
We're still looking for Parent Reps for Year 9. If you are interested, please contact Angela Wong for more information on isptavolunteer@gmail.com.
Shop News
We need volunteers on a daily basis to help out in the bookshop. Please notify Sandra, pta@online.island.edu.hk or Christine, pta.book@online.island.edu.hk , in the PTA office if you are available to help out for a few hours a month. It doesn’t have to be a regular commitment, it can simply be when you find you have some free time. Fathers are especially welcome.
Thank you to a group of dedicated parents that volunteered their time to help sort out and price a huge amount of kitchenware stored in the PTA storeroom. They also helped with generous pre-sales! Our kitchen utensil stall is famous being very affordable!
Thanks to their tireless effort on March 17th, 19th and 24th, we are pleased to say that the Kitchenware Stall is now well organized and ready to go for the Spring Fair!
Sandra Logan
PTA Office Manager
pta@online.island.edu.hkPTA minutes - March 9th 2015
The raffle was discussed and, given the complications with applying for a license, a contingency plan was put in place to draw the raffle on April 29th.
We welcome volunteers to help with the distribution and collection of tickets. A competition will be run again between the form classes – whichever class sells the most raffle tickets will have a pizza party (sponsored by the PTA).
The spring fair is on April 17th and volunteers are being organized. It promises to be a wonderful cultural evening with lots of different international cuisines, cultures and traditions to enjoy!
The PTA manager has been liaising with the bus company about the proposed routes and fee increases next year. Information will be mailed out to parents later in third term.
The date of the next meeting is April 13th at 5.30pm in the school library. Please join us!
Treasurer’s report
· Usually January not a busy month. Net loss of c $14,000.
· YTD net surplus up 47%, due to most of commitments on Wishlist not yet having been paid for, so this figure will change.
· 99% membership fees collected. Treasurer thanked Sandra for doing a great job.
· Query was raised regarding some of the stall proceeds from winter fair. Due process was followed, some funds unidentified, and allocated as such.
· Going forwards we need to encourage stall holders to have stall name clearly labeled on pink slips as monies are collected at the fair.
· PTA can collectively make an informed decision subsequently to reallocate unidentified funds on basis of what is known – this still will follow due process.
· Old PE polo shirts: we have $17,000 worth of polo stock left. Small amount in context of things. Only selling 1-2 pieces now. Are we ready to stop selling the old ones now? School agreed we can discontinue selling and write off the shirts, subject to Christine W giving Jessie a valuation. A decision was made to stop selling the old PE T-shirts.
A decision was made to stop selling the old PE T-shirts. Historically PTA donated old uniform stock to school charities – eg. Baiwan and Katja House. Chris to advise.
· Calculators – shop has 5 old A-level calculators which are no longer of use to maths department. Chris to consider and come back to committee with suggested use.
Principal's Report
· Frantically busy since last meeting ; green week, book week, GCSE drama evening, Retro this week, fashion show,
· IB workshop, 700 teachers from around the world coming to IB workshops here, enormous amount of work done by IS staff, all successful.
· CPD day – some teachers went to a variety of different, recently built schools and look at areas of architecture, furniture etc that would be interest in decant and redevelopment plans.
· Lots of discussions today about various aspects of decant; timetabling, staff moves, house structures, links between the 2 campuses,
· Public examinations starting on 28th April and IB kick May 2nd.
· Most finish by end of May.
Reminder for volunteers to take part in Truth or Lies interviews for Island Time Y8 (21st April, 9-11am).
Chris Binge
Principal
Island School
20 Borrett Road
Hong Kong
School Uniforms
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Island School PTA - Contact us
Email: pta@online.island.edu.hk
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/online.island.edu.hk/island-school-pta/latest-news
Location: Borrett Road, Mid-level, Hong Kong
Phone: 2140 6806
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