Click to download the 2023-24 Hillside Calendar. You can also access the school calendar via the ESF App.

21-23 November: IB Evaluation Visit

23 November: K1 Sharing The Planet Dress Up Day 

1 December: Bradbury Night Market 

8 December: Family Beach Picnic (Separate Message)

11 December: School Holiday (HK District Election)

13 December: Last School Day of Term

14 December: K1 Admissions 2024/25 (No Classes)

15 December: Staff Meeting Day (No Classes)

18 December: Winter Break Commences (School Closed)

8 January: Term 2 Begins. Classes Resume

Dear Hillside Families

I want to begin this newsletter by saying I'm so proud of our team and school! During the previous few weeks, we've had several visitors from ESF head office, parents (current & prospective) and colleagues from other ESF schools. We've had positive feedback from all parties, and it comes down to the professional dedication and hard work of all our staff. 

This week, we have two representatives from the IB spending three days at Hillside evaluating all aspects of the programme we offer. We are proud of our ability to deliver a rich, inquiry-driven, play-based educational programme for every child. I feel we are in an excellent position to go through the evaluation process and come out shining. 

Parents and teachers have always been a team. I also want to shout out to all our parents for your support in many different ways, such as being a volunteer, mystery reader or parent reps for the IB! Your participation has a positive impact on the children's overall learning experience. It is very much a home-school partnership - team Hillside!

We shall share any initial feedback from the IB evaluation team once we've completed the process. 

Warm regards
Audrey

The aim of this brief survey is to collect your ideas to help us plan a parent webinar on the power of play in children's learning. Children learn best through play and we would like to share more about how important this is and how parents and carers can encourage all different types of play at home. By filling in the survey, your ideas will help us to better design a webinar catered to your interests and needs.

We want to express our gratitude to all the parents who have actively supported our communication efforts by setting up WhatsApp groups and sharing helpful information. Your continued involvement will greatly foster a strong and connected community.

After a few rounds of call-outs, we now have designated Class Parent(s) for most classes. Our senior leadership team met with the Class Parents last week to kick-off this initiative. We are excited to introduce our designated Class Parents for this academic year (this was shared in a separate message last week). We want to thank the Class Parents for volunteering their time to support our school community. We are optimistic that the involvement of our Class Parents will enrich the experience for all.

It has been a Hillside tradition to foster the spirit of giving every Christmas. Not only does this tradition create a connection with our learning community, it also transfers our learning into an "action." 

Action is an integral part of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and an opportunity for children to make a meaningful contribution to their community and also be change-makers. 

We would like to take action and give back to our local community by supporting Rebooked, a non-profit social enterprise founded and managed by students! Their goal is to extend the shelf life of a book by providing a convenient and eco-friendly platform for books to be reused and enjoyed by other young readers. The books are also shared with NGOs and community partners as a way to support early literacy for underprivileged children. Watch this short video of Stripey & Kuma visiting Rebooked!

Building on our sustainability principles, please donate slightly used pre-loved English books to bring joy to a new reader. If you're interested in purchasing, please head over to Rebooked. Our Christmas appeal will run until 13 December.  

We will once again invite interested parents to donate preloved uniform items as we plan to run a Pop-up Uniform shop with ​​the proceeds to enhance our excursion experiences. Families can bring in donated items anytime so our staff can begin sorting them. 

A message from ESF:

We are proud to share the news that ESF is an official supporting organisation of the Weez Walk 2024. This annual fundraising event is close to the heart of our community as it was set up in memory of Jamie Bruno, one of our students. Jamie took his own life in 2017 when he was 15 years old, and his parents founded the Weez Walk to raise awareness about the warning signs of a potential suicide to help prevent tragedy. The event name is also a tribute to Jamie, who loved street art and used "Weez" as his graffiti art signature. The Weez Walk route follows the 60km coastal trail around Hong Kong Island and can be completed in one go or many shorter stages during the event period, from 20 January until 25 February. Registration is now open with a special discount before 30 November. All proceeds will fund the suicide prevention programme of youth services charity KELY Support Group. Let's show our full support and help make this event a huge success. You can sign up here.

As the holiday season approaches, we are excited to announce that ESF is inviting students to submit original artwork to be featured on this year's ESF Happy Holidays card. 

Please upload your submission in this folder by 5pm on Monday, November 27. Please ensure that the artwork adheres to the following guidelines:

• Theme: The holiday season!
• File Type: Please submit your artwork in either JPG or PNG format (not HEIC)
• Resolution: Please make sure you have a high-resolution scan of your artwork in case it is selected for publication. This will allow us to present the artwork in its full beauty and detail.
• Orientation: The artwork can be either portrait or landscape. 

We encourage all children and families that are interested to express their artistic talents! This is an incredible chance for them to exhibit their artwork and be celebrated within the ESF community. 

Parent Handbook
Inclement Weather Arrangements
School Uniform
Please contact kinder@hillside.edu.hk for Lost Property