Bradbury Newsletter 15 January 2016
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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE |
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Dear Parents, Greetings to you all! You may recall my email informing you of the recent passing of our former Teacher Librarian, Debbie Alvarez. Rather than flowers, Debbie’s family asked that books be donated to a library in her name. We have a list of her favourite books and so will be purchasing these for our library, commemorating them by placing a name plate in the front that Debbie’s family designed. If your family has a favourite book that you would like to donate a copy of in remembrance of Debbie, you are most welcome to do so. We will also add a book plate to mark your gift. We will designate a corner of the library to place these books. We will also be donating some books to a school library in the Philippines in Debbie’s name, as this is where she loved to holiday. School Uniform: Recently, we relaxed our school P.E. shoe requirement as some parents reported difficulty in finding suitable white trainers. Unfortunately, this appears to have encouraged a real mish mash of shoes across the board, with a resulting decline in our uniform standards. Please note: cross trainers are to be worn with the P.E. uniform only. If you can find plain white or black that are suitable, that is the preference. No flashing lights or other ‘fashion’ accessories e.g. colored laces are to be worn. The dress uniform requires school shoes. Slip on casual shoes such as “Toms’ are not acceptable. Also, nail polish and jewelry is not acceptable. Plain studs only for girls. Please support us in keeping our students looking smart, with a high standard of uniform. No Parking Reminder: No parents are to park in the staff carpark unless you are authorized to do so by the Principal. Also a reminder not to double park when picking up your child.
Sandra Webster Principal |
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IMPORTANT DATES |
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WANTED: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS |
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Do we have any parents who are structural engineers or landscape architects, who would be willing to help us develop the plans for our roof development? If so, please contact the school office. Amanda Bremner – P.Y.P. Coordinator |
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SCHOOL TERMS AND HOLIDAYS FOR TERM 2 & TERM 3 (UPDATED) |
Updated: 08 January 2016 |
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EXTRA-CURRICULAR MUSIC ACTIVITIES |
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CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA Both choirs and orchestra will recommence during the week beginning 18th January as follows: Years 2 and 3 choir: Wednesday lunchtimes from 12.40 pm – 1.10 pm Years 4 to 6 choir: Thursdays from 3.00 pm – 3.45 pm Orchestra: Tuesdays from 3.00 pm – 3.45 pm You do not need to have registered your child for one of these activities through Gateway and I welcome all new members to join this term. All activities take place in the music room. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT There are still places available for children to learn to play a musical instrument with one of our peripatetic instrumental teachers. If you would like your child to have lessons, please email Mr Clothier for more information (clothierg1@mybradburyschool.com) Lessons are available on the following instruments: Violin, Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, French Horn, Saxophone, Guitar, Drums, Singing Gethyn Clothier – Music Leader |
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P.T.A. NEWS |
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The PTA shop will be closed on 18 January due to an ESF meeting. Year 4 Cake Sale The Year 4 cake sale will be held on Thursday 21 January 2016. We would be grateful if each Year 4 student could contribute one dozen (only) individual sized cakes for this event. Please have your child deliver the cakes to the lobby on Thursday morning. If you would like your container returned, please clearly label both the top and bottom with your child’s name and class. Please remember no nuts or nut products and brownies and healthier cake are more welcomed. Volunteers – we require 9 helpers on the day between 9:30a.m. to 11:30a.m., please email PTA at pta@bradbury.edu.hk or call 2893 2256 if you can help. All years – We have increased the price this year for the first time in more than 10 years. So if you would like your child/children to buy a cake, please provide them with $10 per cake and they will have an opportunity to buy cakes at morning break on Tuesday. Many thanks Lin Gong – Bradbury School PTA Limited |
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SCIENCE ALIVE |
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Science Alive is here once again and from 5 – 18 March 2016 various academics and communicators in the fields of science will be engaging Hong Kong students, teachers and the public to promote wider understanding of science. You can register as audience members online through the British Council website https://www/britishcouncil.hk/en/programmes/education/science/science-alive. Some of the topics on offer are the following: Feel the Force Build your Own Circuit Board Slime Time Make a Moisturiser Extraordinary me… Amanda Bremner – P.Y.P. Coordinator |
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YEAR 2 INVESTIGATES FORCES |
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Year 2 have spent this week investigating different types of forces to start their learning around their new unit of inquiry. Our central idea is “Forces act upon people and objects”. We set the children some challenges around friction, gravity, floating and sinking and air resistance. The children noted down their observation and have complied long lists of questions which will be the focus of their learning over the next couple of weeks! We will all be Force experts by Chinese New Year! May the force be with you! Katie Phillips – Year 2 Leader |
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HONG KONG EAST ISLAND ATHLETICS |
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Several Year 5 and Year 6 students attended the Hong Kong East Island Athletics at the Wan Chai Sports Ground on Friday the 8th January. The students performed very well and several students were placed in their event. Sam Nicolle – 2nd in Boys B 100m TIme:14.44 (District representative for the 18th All Hong Kong Inter-Area Primary Schools Athletics Competition – 4 March 2016) Maya Tobback – 2nd in Girls Long Jump – jumped 3.24 (District representative for the 18th All Hong Kong Inter-Area Primary Schools Athletics Competition – 4 March 2016) Miriam Lo – 3rd in Girls C 100m – time: 16.04 Max Koker – 6th in Boys C 100m – time:16.08 Sara Dyck – 5th in Girls B 100m – time:16.22 Octavia Peel – 4th in Girls B 200m Time:33.34 Ella Uyede – 4th in Girls B high Jump – jumped 1.15 (same height as 3rd place) Ewan Ballantyne – 8th in Boys long jump – jumped 3.35m Nicholas Stevenson – 6th in Boys B softball throw – threw 33.23M Kara Roulton – 7th in Girls C Long Jump – jumped 2.87M Other participants and results: Markus Ip – Long Jump – 2.86M Iona Nicholas – Girls C 60m sprints – time: 10.5 Maxwell Winslow – Boys B 60m sprints – time:10.7 Sherman Wong – Boys 200m – time:36.25 Boys B 4×100 relay – time:1:05.52 Congratulations to Sam and Maya for advancing to the Hong Kong Inter Area Primary Schools Atheletics Competition! |
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E.S.F. NETBALL TOURNAMENT |
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The annual ESF Netball Tournament was held on Saturday, 9 January at the Chinese International School and Quarry Bay netball courts. The girls played very competitively and continually improved with each game. This rounded off the season and saw the girls ending it on a high note! Amanda Bremner – P.Y.P. Co-ordinator |
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MINDSETS – MISTAKES AND CHALLENGES |
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Famous Failure: Walt Disney Mindsets Affect Perseverance, Focus and Success The concept of mindsets is based on the ideas and research of Carol Dweck
More information about C. Dweck’s research: Short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTsF2TaEaJA Longer video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXhbtCcmsyQ
Carol Farrington – P.S.E. Leader |
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BRADBURY SCHOOL’S NEW ROTATING COMPOST BIN |
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To further develop the composting program at Bradbury School, funds from the Greening Subsidy Scheme were used to purchase a rotating compost bin and a series of information banners. The banners displayed with the compost bin have been designed with student input. The banners give information on how compost is made, what can be composted and how to use the compost bin. Students across all year levels have enjoyed reading these banners during their break times. Lorinda Thomas – Y4 Teacher/Eco Dudes Leader |
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YEAR 6 TO YEAR 7 TRANSITION |
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Welcome back and a very happy new year to you all! Our Year 6 students had a fantastic start to their transition process from Year 6 to Year 7 last week when they all attended South Island School for two days. 6D and 6H went on Tuesday and Wednesday and 6A and 6B on Thursday and Friday. The days included lesson experiences as secondary students and the challenges of following a timetable and the students finding their way to the next room – something I’m sure we can all remember being quite daunting! Our class teachers were there to support our students and everyone managed to get to the right place at, more often than not, the right time! The South Island staff, led by Carolyn Andrews, who some of you will remember from her time at Bradbury, were fantastic and gave up their time to ensure our children had an excellent introduction to secondary school life. Although our Year 6 students are actually moving on to several ESF secondary schools in August, we really appreciate that South Island invite all of our students as not only is it a hugely beneficial experience of secondary school life, it also means that they can experience this introduction with their peers and can support each other, both at the time and afterwards. It also gives our class teachers a common point of reference when discussing transition with their students. Other secondary schools will be running their own transition programmes and will contact parents directly with these details. All ESF secondary schools will be involved in the foundation wide Pastoral Day on Friday 3rd June. On this day, all Year 6 students will visit their new schools. Thanks again to the staff and students at South Island for all of their work in organising this day, and I hope that the canteen and cafe staff have recovered, as I’m sure you can imagine the excitement of over 100 ten year olds trying out their Octopus cards was quite overwhelming!
Stephen Fennelly – Vice Principal/Upper Phase |
