Click to download the 2022-23 Hillside Calendar. You can also access the school calendar via the ESF App.
4 October: Public Holiday
5 October: Parent Webinar - Play & Agency (Details coming soon)
17-21 October: Mid-Term Break
Dear Parents
It has been a month since the start of school. I am so proud of how the children have settled. We’ve had a few visitors from ESF Centre who cannot praise our children enough for their confidence, independence and engagement in their own learning. This reminded me of a Ted Talk: How every child can thrive by five, and wanted to share it with our community. This 7-minute video sends a powerful message on how parents and caregivers can support children's development. Highlighting the “benefits of play on lifelong learning, behaviour and well-being, sharing effective strategies to help all kids thrive by the age of five.” - Ted.com
Warm regards
Audrey
The Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB) announced the new Student Grant Scheme. The government's Student Grant Scheme applies to every student attending a Secondary, Primary, or Kindergarten school in Hong Kong, making them eligible for a HK$2,500 grant payment. This scheme applies to ESF and all of our schools. Click here to see the information from the Education Bureau (EDB).
By way of highlighting, here are the procedures:
For parents who applied for the grant last year (returning K2 families), EDB will issue a Hillside-specific form (Form B), and we will distribute these to parents once they arrive.
For parents applying for the first time, or if your child has just joined our school this academic year (K1 families or any brand new K2 families) - Please download the blank EDB form here (Form A) and print it out.
We will be in touch again once we have a timeline for the distribution and collection of the forms.
As you may know, the teachers have started blogging about the children’s learning in class. Please click on the Class Blog tile on the ESF App to access your child’s class blog. The teachers will update the blog fortnightly with photos to share and provide information on your child’s recent learning in class.
Our PYP Coordinator, Brenda, and our Chinese teacher, Yammi, will also guest blog at times to share other relevant information about the children’s learning. So please do visit the blogs regularly to keep up with the latest class happenings.
Brenda has posted information about your child’s current learning in their first Unit of Inquiry “Who We Are”. Please head to the class blog to view the post. To jump straight to the video overview of the unit, please view K1 and K2 here.
Toileting accidents are part of the learning process and are to be expected. Children may sometimes be so interested in something that they forget about going to the bathroom until it is too late. These toileting accidents can happen with K1 and K2 children. Children who have learned to use the toilet may feel embarrassed if they wet their pants. Children who are toilet training might get upset because of an accident or setback. In both cases, please reassure your child that it's ok and there's no need to worry.
In general, toileting accidents are handled casually, and we would give the child a calm, matter-of-fact response. We would ask parents and other caregivers at home to do the same, as we've had some children worried about bringing home "wet clothing."
We are prepared for toileting accidents and wetness during this phase- please ensure spare clothes and underwear are in your child's school bag to facilitate us changing as needed. Please note that we will not return any badly soiled underwear as per CHP guidance.
Thank you for your support and cooperation in building toileting independence at home.
Guardianship: Thank you again to Anisa Ramanathan for facilitating the session on Guardianship for us. In this session, Anisha shared information on guardianship within HK. Anisha is one of our parents within our community, and she has kindly offered to share her expertise, as we know this was a hot topic of discussion as families navigate through COVID times.
Please access the slides from the presentation HERE.
What is the PYP? Thank you to parents that joined us for the webinar last week to further understand learning in the early years. We hope it was a helpful introduction to the Primary Years Programme (PYP). We value your thoughts and feedback and would greatly appreciate you giving us some time to fill out this survey. Your input will help us to plan future parent sessions. Many thanks! Here are the session recording and slides.