Please click to download the 2024/25 Hillside Calendar. You can also access the school calendar via the ESF App.

19 August: First School Day of Term

4 September: Parent Webinar: What is PYP?

Dear Hillside Families

We hope you all had a lovely summer! We are very excited to welcome your family into the new academic year. 

We will generally send a weekly newsletter on Wednesday afternoon via the app messaging system. 

The first few weeks are always busy and have their highs and lows, but we are all here to support each other! As I shared during the recent Parent Welcome Zoom, a strong home-school partnership is the key to the children's success, so let's work together to create a joyful and supportive learning environment for our children! As the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child!"

Warm regards
Audrey
Principal

Thank you again for joining us for the Parent Welcome Zoom. We hope it was helpful.

Please find a copy of the presentation HERE. You may also access the recorded webinar HERE. 

Some parents have asked for storybooks on separation anxiety. Please find a few suggestions below:

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst [Web Link]

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn [Web Link]

Wimberly Worried by Kevin Henkes [Web Link]

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney [Web Link]

Bye Bye Time by Elizabeth Verdick [Web Link]

Arrival:

All walkers (non-bus children) will enter via the front "walkers stairs." 

New K1 families, please wait in the foyer during the first week. Our staff members will bring you up to the classroom in small groups.

All bus children will alight the buses in our playground and access the back "bus stairs."

Dismissal:

K2 walkers will use the "walkers stairs" for pick-up now they are older. 

K1 walkers will be collected in the foyer. Please note that the little ones will take longer at the start of the school year, so we will commence the dismissal process slightly earlier and bring the children down class by class. We request your patience and to follow our staff's instructions. 

Please also be reminded to show your child's digital pick-up card (sample attached) at pick-up time as our staff are still learning to recognise all the families. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

What is the PYP? (especially for K1 families and anyone new to the PYP) 

Wednesday, 4 Sept, 1pm

In the session, our PYP Coordinator, Brenda Yuen, will talk about “What is the PYP?” and what does it look like in the early years and at Hillside? How does it support learning through play? Join us to learn more about our curriculum and for some ideas on how to connect your child's learning between home and school.

Zoom link: [Web Link] 

We encourage parents to download or refresh the ESF App (IOS, Google Play) as soon as possible. All school-wide messages will be sent via the App. Please follow the instructions in this Parent Guide HERE to download the app. 

School-wide communication will normally be sent via the App. 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. Please do not wait for a formal Parent-Teacher Conference invitation if you have any questions or concerns. We ask for your understanding as the teachers will fully engage in person with the children. They are less readily available to reply to emails during the school day, and with 48 families (from AM & PM), it could take much longer to go through all the communications. If there is anything urgent that you need the class teacher to know, please call reception, who will help pass on the message.

Parent Handbook 
Inclement Weather Arrangements
NEW School Uniform
Pre-loved Uniform Swap
Please contact kinder@hillside.edu.hk for any general enquiries.