Upcoming Dates

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 below)

10-13 October: K1 Parent-Teacher Conferences (Details below)

17-21 October: Mid-Term Break

28 October: Dress Up Day (not necessarily Halloween related)

31 Oct - 3 Nov: K2 Parent-Teacher Conferences (Sign-ups coming)

Principal's Message

Dear Parents

Please do take a few minutes to read through this newsletter, as we have several important items to share with you.

I am pleased to share with you a simple graphic that illustrates our school priorities for this academic year. These priorities are drawn from staff discussions and stakeholder input from the last school year. 

Wellbeing will be our overarching theme, encompassing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI). Within learning & teaching, our focus will be on enhancing play and inquiry facilitation, learner agency, and PYP enhancements. We will also continue to work on partnerships and growth through home-school partnerships, staff development and connections with feeder schools.

Many of these themes will likely continue next year as we restore our learning community from the pandemic. We look forward to more opportunities to connect with our families and to enhance the learning experience for children.

Warm regards
Audrey

K1 Parent-Teacher Conferences

K1 PTC sign-ups are now available. Please look out for a separate app message with further information and make an appointment at your earliest convenience. You will have a choice of 2 days, appointments are about 10-15 minutes long for each child.  Please appreciate that these are the dates when we have arranged cover for teachers and we would like to keep to them as much as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on 2540-0066.

These meetings will take place via Zoom, so please be reminded to Zoom from a quiet space to avoid poor audio connections. Please also note it will be a normal school day for the children as classes will continue as per usual throughout the PTC week.

Upcoming Parent Webinar

How does the Open Play programme support learner agency?

Oct 5, 2022 @1pm

In the session, our PYP Coordinator, Brenda Yuen, will talk about Hillside’s Open Play programme and how it supports your child’s self-efficacy and agency in their learning. Join us to learn more about our curriculum and some ideas on extending opportunities for your child to exercise agency at home. 

Zoom link [Web Link]

EBD Student Grant Scheme

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). Please refer to the App message on Monday for distribution details. 

• 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.

Once the form is completed and signed, submit the original copy of the completed form to Hillside by Friday, 28 October 2022. 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.

New "Parent Partnership" Function on ESF App

There is a new "Parent Partnership" function on the ESF App. This function is an additional channel for parent engagement, as we value parent input and feedback. However, we encourage parents to contact us directly in the first instance via traditional channels such as direct email, phone and face-to-face conversations. These are vital to sustaining meaningful engagement and will likely receive a more timely response. 

A Message from ESF Wanchai Learning Centre

New language classes are available in the afternoon at ESF Wanchai Learning Centre! Enhance your child's early literacy skills through play and inquiry-based learning programmes. 

Lower Kindergarten English (K1)
Upper Kindergarten English (K2)

Don't hesitate to contact our colleagues at (852) 2838 2276 or languagecentre@esf.org.hk or visit their website for more details:

[Web Link]