Click to download the 2021-22 Hillside Calendar. You can also access the school calendar via the ESF App.

25 - 28 October: K1 PTCs 

29 October: Halloween Dress-up Day

8 November: Parent Hack S3: Fussy Eaters & Speech Development (Sign-up)

Dear Parents

I hope everyone all had a good break despite the weather. I’m so glad the school is back in order after the damages caused by the typhoon. Unfortunately, we experienced severe flooding that impacted our electricity supply, causing our WiFi server, phone lines and air-con to stop functioning. The facilities team worked through the night the past few days and repaired all the damaged parts in time for our children to return this week. HK Electric also came to double-check everything over the weekend to ensure it's all safe before classes resume.

Hopefully, the weather will remain stable for the remainder of the term so that the children can enjoy more outdoor time. We are incredibly fortunate to have an outdoor play area that backs onto a lovely natural green space; however, this does mean mosquitoes and midges will be around. Don't forget to apply insect repellent before coming to school!

Kind regards
Audrey

Thank you again to those who were able to join the last "Parent Hacks Session 2: Curriculum". We hope you found the information useful in gaining a better understanding of the PYP. If you have missed it or would like to revisit the material - you may access the session recording and presentation slides here.

Please reach out anytime if you have questions or wonderings. We look forward to your participation in the next parent event as outline below:

Parent Hacks Session 3: Fussy Eaters & Speech Development

We are pleased to invite you to a lunch-time session with Joice Almeida, a specialist in the field of Feeding Therapy. During this session, Joice will be sharing her strategies for coping with fussy eaters and how this impacts their speech development.

The key topics she will cover are:

• Identifying red flags

• Reasons that children develop feeding difficulties

• Oral, sensory, motor and cognitive milestones relevant to feeding

• Strategies to promote enjoyment, confidence and internal motivation at mealtimes

Joice currently works at the SPOT Children’s Centre in Hong Kong.  She has over 13 years of international experience and holds the following qualifications:

• Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist 

• Member of the National Council of Speech and Language Therapy in Brazil 

• Certified in the S.O.S Approach to Feeding

• Oral-Motor Therapy, Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention Get Permission Approach to Anxious Eater

 Please click HERE to register in advance.

As we welcome the cooler weather, we are also now approaching flu season. The Centre for Health Protection, via Education Bureau (EDB), has issued proactive guidelines for managing communicable diseases. If you like your child to receive the seasonal influenza vaccination, please arrange to visit either your private doctor or a doctor enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. Please note that the seasonal influenza vaccination will NOT be arranged for children in the kindergarten. For many young children, getting a vaccination is an unsettling experience, and it would not be ideal for them to associate this feeling with coming to school.

The CHP reminds members of the public, as well as the staff of institutions and schools, to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene as a preventative measure against influenza and other illnesses. We will continue to follow CHP and EDB Guidelines.

To safeguard children’ health, parents are kindly requested to take the following measures:

• Do not send children to school if they have a fever and/or respiratory illness symptoms. (For the normal body temperature range, please refer to the guidelines pertaining to the means for measuring body temperature HERE.)

• Inform school immediately if children are off sick or have been admitted to hospital for surveillance. Please share a copy of any doctor's certificate with the school.

• Keep sick children at home until symptoms have improved and the fever has subsided. Then, take rest for at least 2 more days before returning to school.

• Cooperate with schools by picking up children not feeling well from school and consulting the doctor immediately.

• Before sending children to school, measure their body temperature; record the reading on the temperature record sheet every day.

– Referenced from Centre for Health Protection

We warmly invite you to sign up to be a storyteller in our class. To support children's international-mindedness and language development, we welcome you to choose a story in your mother tongue if you wish! Stories are so powerful as they act as both mirrors (reflecting children's own experiences) and doors (where new ideas widen children's knowledge and understandings) to the world.

Parents are often curious about "What should I read?" Here are some suggestions:

• To support children's international-mindedness and language development, we welcome you to choose a story in your mother tongue.

• You can invite your child to choose a book they love, that way they can take part in helping you tell the story to the class!

• You may also choose a book relating to what the class has been inquiring about - take a look at the class blog for ideas.

• Children love stories that come in all forms - books, puppets, role play - you are welcome to choose how you would like to tell stories. Feel free to be creative :)

In staying vigilant and keeping our school community safe, all volunteers must strictly follow prevailing social distancing and safety measures. This includes:

• All volunteers must be either fully vaccinated (2 doses + 14 days) or hold a valid negative test report (undertaken within 14 days of the meeting date) and provide documentary evidence thereon.

• All volunteers will need to do a health declaration upon arrival at school and adhere to mask-wearing.

*A friendly reminder to be mindful and courteous to limit or spread out your sign-ups to allow all parents an equal opportunity on the rosters.* Please access the sign-up via the ESF App to review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up.

Dress up days are a great opportunity to express ourselves, so we would like to invite all the children to join us for a Halloween dress-up day on Friday, 29 October. Children can come to school on this day dressed as a character that they enjoy. Costumes do not need to be elaborate or detailed – just something fun (and safe) for the children to wear. The children will be enjoying some fun and games within their own class. However, can we ask families not to send any goodie bags, sweets or treats on this day, please.

Following the announcement from last week, we have posted all grant forms out to our (returning) K2 families, please let us know if you have not received them by mid-week. 

New K1 and K2 families, please download the blank EDB form here (Form A) and print it out.

For details, please refer to the App message sent on 23 September, titled: HK Government Student Grant Scheme of HK$2,500 (2021/22 School year).

Once the form is completed and signed, submit the original copy of the completed form to Hillside by Friday, 29 October 2021. **If you are returning the completed form via your child's school bag, please send a message to let us know, as it can easily be missed.**

Please contact kinder@hillside.edu.hk if you have any questions.