Glenealy School Newsletter
24th August 2016
Message from Brenda
Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students
Over the last six months we have been revising some of our school’s guiding statements. We would appreciate any feedback you have on these statements, as it’s important that you have input and feel that they match what you want for your children also. Our staff will also share these statements with you at the Meet the Teacher evening.
Feedback can be emailed to: brenda.cook@glenealy.edu.hk
Our Guiding Statements
Our vision is for every student to be the best that they can be.
At Glenealy our mission statement is to empower learners to flourish and make a positive difference.
We believe every student will be successful. We will support and challenge students to ensure continual academic progress and personal growth.
Our learners will be:
· happy and balanced
· active, engaged and reflective
· kind, caring and respectful
· inclusive, embracing diversity
· organised, independent and responsible
· creative, innovative critical thinkers
· confident, resilient and courageous: seeking challenge as an opportunity to grow
· effective communicators, who make positive connections with others
· safe, creative and responsible users of technology
· global citizens who are passionate about making a difference
Characteristics of our school:
A small school with a big heart
Inclusive
Progressive and innovative
A vibrant international community
Meet the Teacher/Parents Evening and PTA AGM. Tuesday 30 August - 6pm start.
Please keep the evening of Tuesday 30 August free. This will be a time for you to meet your child’s teacher and for the teacher to get to know you too. The teachers will share a learning presentation with you and communicate the areas of focus for the year. Class routines and organisation will also be covered which will make things clearer for you all.
Year 1-6: The Meet the Teacher/Parents session will be held in your child’s classroom from 6.00pm until 7.00pm. If you have more than one child in the school you will need to choose between the sessions or if two of you are able to come you can go to one each. If you have a child in year then I would make these presentations a priority. Although the evening is for parents only, we are aware that some of you may need to bring your child/ren with you. If this is the case, the library will be open and supervised from 5.50pm-7.05pm. This service is not available for pre-schoolers or babies - sorry!
The PTA AGM will follow the classroom meetings at 7.15pm in the Music room opposite the hall, which we would encourage you to attend. It is always an interesting and enjoyable evening. AGM paperwork and details have been sent out to you by email.
One final note, parents please encourage your children to bring and wear their hat in the playground. If they don't wear a hat they will be asked to play in the shaded areas.
Kind regards
Brenda
Dates for the Diary
Friday August 26th
Deadline for Student Health/Dental Service forms to be returned
Monday August 29th
PTA Coffee Morning @ 8.30am in the playground. All parents welcome.
Tuesday August 30th
- Meet the Teacher evening @ 6pm
- PTA AGM @ 7.15pm in the music room
September 1st - 30th
Year 1 Central Applications
Thursday September 1st
Scholastic Book order forms due
Friday September 2nd
Payment deadline for Vision and Hearing Test - more information to come
September 5th - 16th
Year 6 parents to complete Year 7 transfer on Gateway
Friday September 9th
Year 6 fundraiser, more information to follow
Thursday September 15th
School Photos
Friday September 16th
Public Holiday - school closed
Thursday September 22nd
Parent's Party @ 7pm at Fly - no tickets required
Thursday 29th September
Child/Parent/Teacher Conference (3 way conference)
Thursday 6th October
Child/Parent/Teacher Conference (3 way conference)
October 10th - 14th
Half term break - school closed
Monday October 17th
CPD Day - no school for students
October 24th - 28th
Book Week
Thursday October 27th
Character dress up parade @ 8.30am
Friday October 28th
Year 5 Fundraiser
Letter to the ESF Community
WIS Open Day
Recruitment at Glenealy School
ICT Technician
Glenealy is currently recruiting an ICT technician. The successful applicant will provide technical support to staff and students on ICT related tasks.
Visit the ESF's online recruitment site at https://recruit.esf.edu.hk/joblist.asp to apply.
Further details are also listed on the schools website https://recruit.esf.edu.hk/joblist.asp
PTA Book keeper
The PTA Committee is recruiting an experienced part-time book keeper to work 10-14 hours per month. Working hours are flexible and restricted to term-time only. For more information or to apply, please view the full advertisement on the school’s website here.
Music News
Please note that Mr. Benzie is currently working through the instrumental lesson enrolment forms. It may take another week to finalise the instrumental teacher's timetables as there have been a large number of applications this year. We kindly ask for your patience with this process and should have a definitive answer about availability of lessons by Friday September 2nd.
Likewise if you have already been offered a lesson time could you please confirm by replying to your email within two days otherwise your child's lesson allocation will be passed to the next person on the list.
Year 3 Violin
Thank you to everyone in Year 3 who has filled in the eNotice and returned their cheque for the hire of violins. If your child already has a violin there is no need to complete the eNotice.
Violins will be sent home this Friday with children who have returned their payment.
Year 2 Recorders
Please hold off buying recorders and books. I am in the process of ordering new stock and this may take a couple of weeks. I will send a note when the stock is in and we are ready for you to make your purchases.
Choir
Choir rehearsals start this Thursday in the Music Room at 1pm. Choir is open to anyone who wishes to join in Year 4, 5 and 6. If your child is interested in joining please remind him/her to come to the music room at 1pm this Thursday.
Students should eat their lunch at the normal time and in the normal place before attending.
Orchestra
School orchestra is open to students in Year 5 and 6 who have been learning an instrument for at least 2 years and who can play to the equivalent of Grade 2 standard.
Members of the orchestra will need to have lessons with a private instrumental teacher who can help them with their pieces.
Rehearsals are in the music room after lunch.
Storing Instruments at School
Please note that we have no facility to store instruments at school overnight. Students may leave instruments in the music room for safe keeping during the day but need to take them home at the end of school.
Thanks
Mr. Benzie
PTA
PTA Subscriptions
Thank you to all families who have paid their PTA Subscriptions for the 2016-17 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 and 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.
Welcome Back to School Coffee Morning
On Monday morning, 29th August 2016, new and returning parents are warmly encouraged to join us in the playground to celebrate the new school year. Join us for tea, coffee and a chat straight after drop off.
PTA Committee Nominations
The events and activities of the Glenealy School Parent Teacher Association are overseen by the PTA Committee, comprised of Brenda Cook and Phil Sangster for SMT, Rachel Lavery as Teacher Representative and a number of Parent Representatives. Parents who are interested in becoming more involved in the school community and helping out with social and fundraising events are invited to nominate for the position of Parent Representative for the 2016-17 PTA Committee. Nomination forms are in the PTA tray in the office and need to be submitted by this Friday, 26 August 2016. The new Committee will be confirmed at the PTA AGM on 30 August 2016 (7.15pm in the Music Room).
If you would like to talk to someone about the role of Parent Representative or get more information about what is involved in joining the Committee, please email Erika at pta@glenealy.net and a Committee member will be in touch.
AGM
A reminder that the Glenealy School Parent Teacher Association Ltd. Annual General Meeting will be held immediately following Meet the Teacher on Tuesday, 30 August 2016. The AGM will commence at 7:15 p.m. in the Music Room. All parents and caregivers are invited to attend.
Uniform Shop News
Shop opening times for the new school year will remain as follows:
Mondays: 2:45 - 3:15 p.m.
Thursdays: 8:20 - 8:45 a.m.
We are recruiting for new shop volunteers. If you can commit 45 minutes, once every two weeks and are interested in making a positive contribution to the school community, please contact Erika at pta@glenealy.net.
Uniform Stock
Please note that some items of uniform are currently out of stock. An order has been placed and parents will be advised via the newsletter when new stock arrives. In the meantime, parents are advised to consider our high quality second hand garments. If there is no alternative, Mrs Cook has advised that parents may use non-uniform items as a stopgap e.g. plain blue shorts in place of PE shorts.
Save the Date
Join us for a casual get together on Thursday 22nd September 2016, 7:00-10:00 p.m. Enjoy Happy Hour prices and great company at Fly Bar - G/F, 24-30 Ice House Street, Central - Clubfly.com.hk. Please note this is a parents only event and no tickets are required.
Netball Club
From the Medical Room
Student Health Service and Student Dental Service forms have been sent home with children this week. This is an optional service and forms are only required to be returned should you wish for your child to enrol. All children enrolling in this service must return the forms to school (with $20 for Dental Service) by Friday August 26th. Please note this service is provided by the Hong Kong Department for Health and should you have any questions please call 3163 4600 for Health Service enquiries and 2892 2157 for Dental Service enquiries.
Book Week
MARK YOUR DIARIES...Book week is coming in October this year.
Monday, October 24 - Friday, October 28.
It’s going to be bigger than ever!
Fabulous authors, cool competitions, stories and games, the famous Bookazine book sale and our amazing dress-up book character costume parade!
Our ever-popular, "Catch me Reading" photo competition is back this year.
All you need to do is take a photo of your child reading – somewhere, anywhere! They can get ‘caught’ reading in the bath, at the dinner table, brushing their teeth, walking the dog, beside the pool, at the beach, on the playground, at a restaurant etc – be creative! You can email your photos soon – details will be the Library Newsletter emailed to parents in the next few weeks.
Help your child to start planning their book character costume now! The character parade for all children and staff will be on Thursday 27th October at 8.30am.
Scholastic Book Order Catalogues
All classes have now received the latest Scholastic Book Catalogues.
If your child would like to order any of the books, please return the order form by Thursday, September 1st, together with a cheque (no cash please) to the Library.
Reminders for the New School Year
Packed Lunch
Children are required to bring their snack, lunch and water bottle to school with them each morning. Parents and helpers are not permitted to bring snack/lunch to children during school hours.
Playground Supervision and After School Activities
The playground is supervised from 8.15am until 3.15pm. Children should not be at school before this time. Please ensure a responsible adult is at school at 3pm to collect your child and take them home, unless they are partaking in an after school activity. Glenealy School policy regarding after school activities can be found here.
Student Diaries
Your child has been provided with a Glenealy School Diary. Please take a moment to read through the first few pages with them, which provide some very useful information.
The cost of the diary is $75.00. There is no need to send in that payment now, we will add this cost to the first invoice for class events or excursions that your child takes part in.
Year 6 Transfer Application for Year 7
Parents wishing for their child to transfer from Glenealy School to an ESF secondary school must submit a transfer application for Year 7 via Gateway from September 5th - 16th only.
Applications are processed according to residential address at the time of application; change of residential address following submission of application and prior to entry to Year 7 will not be considered.
All Year 6 students enroled in an ESF primary school by 1 December 2016 are guaranteed a place in an ESF secondary school on completion of Year 6, with the following provisos:
- A student joining before the end of Year 5 is guaranteed a place at the secondary school of zone according to residential address at the time of application;
- A student joining Year 6 on or after 15 August 2016 is guaranteed an ESF secondary school place but not necessarily at the school of zone (conditions for period of commitment will apply).
- A student residing in Discovery Bay is zoned to Island School unless requesting to follow a sibling currently attending another ESF secondary school.
A student joining Year 6 after 1 December 2016 cannot be guaranteed a secondary school place but will be given high priority on any waiting list.
Important note:
ESF reserves the right to change the present zones to reflect the distribution of transfer applications. Secondary school zones will be confirmed in November 2016. Any changes to existing zones will be posted on ESF and school websites on or before 25 November 2016.
*Deposit payment deadline to secure your child's Y7 place will be 13 December 2016.
Year 1 Central Applications
The central application period for parents to submit an online application for Year 1 2017/18 is September 1st - 30th only.
http://www.esf.edu.hk/application-form
Please ensure all sibling applications for Year 1 are made during this period to secure ESF priority for an interview.
Junior Chess Star Invitational Competition 2016
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.
Please click here for online registration and here for the information poster.
Run for UNICEF and run for Glenealy!
With an estimated 14,000 runners joining UNICEF HK this year, the aim is to raise $11 million HKD for UNICEF's 'Unite for children, Unite against AIDS' global campaign.
The UNICEF Charity Run is organised by UNICEF HK and supported by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association. It is taking placing at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on Sunday, November 27th, 2016.
You can join as part of the Glenealy family 3 km Fun Run which is suitable for all ages! An application form and details will be available via the newsletter or your child's diary next week.
Please note that if you were planning to run at this event anyway, we would be grateful if you could wait to sign up as a Glenealy group as a space has already been preallocated to you!
Many thanks and regards,
Vivian Pan
Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF
(Also a Glenealy parent)
ESF 2016/17 Calendar
Here is the final calendar for 2016/17 including the Glenealy CPD days. Please click here to view the calendar online. We do ask when planning your family holidays that you refer to the holiday periods as indicated on the calendar and try to take your holiday during these times.
After School Activities at Glenealy - Term 1
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 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.