Bradbury Newsletter 4th March 2016

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

On Friday night, some of our students camped out in our school to experience what it would be like to be homeless.  On Tuesday, we had students joining in with Sunshine Action to distribute food to street people and I have just spoken to a group of girls’ preparing stress balls for sale on Action Day (details of this one in this newsletter).  I love the way that an inquiry approach means hands on learning. It then becomes a meaningful and relevant experience with high levels of engagement.

If you would like to visit the Year 6 Exhibition, you are welcome to come to school on 22 March 2016, to share in this experience.

Sandra Webster

Principal

IMPORTANT DATES

MINDSETS:  LANGUAGE CONVEYS MINDSETS, USE THE WORD “YET”

·  You haven’t achieved it yet

·  You’re on the learning curve

·  I can’t do it yet

·  Your brain will get stronger

·  I really want us to stretch beyond our comfort zone on this

·  After we do this we’ll all share a mistake we have made so we can learn from it

·  I want you to challenge yourself, stretch to learn this challenging skill / idea / concept

·  We’re in the learning zone today, mistakes are our friends

Famous Failure: Michael Jordan

Carol Farrington – P.S.E. Leader

2016 BOOK WEEK ACTIVITIES AND AUTHOR VISIT

• Year 1 – students will be bringing in their favourite ‘forever’ book from home to share with the class ( a ‘forever’ book is the one that you would want to read again and again and remember ‘forever’) and also working with a Year 6 buddy to design and make a special bookmark.
• Year 2– students are having a fun fortnight doing a range of activities that have a focus on the books by the author Julia Donaldson and also sharing their own favourite books. Just today students came in their pyjamas with their favourite bedtime stories to share.
• Year 3 – students will workshop with each of the Year 3 teachers who will be sharing their own favourite stories with the class.
• Year 4 -For two week the students are focussing on the book “ The Day The Crayon Came Home” and using this as inspiration for writing stories from their own pencil cases’ point of view.
• Year 5 -Starting next week students will select a favourite book to keep on them all week for plenty of unexpected ‘Stop, Drop and Read’ opportunities- so watch out for year 5 students reading in unusual places next week. They will also prepare and share book talks with their partner classes.
• Year 6 – Will be working with the Year 1 students to help them design and make a bookmark for their favourite book.
• CHINESE – Teacher will read their favourite Chinese stories to students over the two week period.

Author Visit – Marc Tyler Nobleman

On Monday 7 March we will have a visit from the graphic novelist Marc Tyler Nobleman. Published books include ‘Bill The Boy Wonder’ and “The Secret Co-Creator of Batman’.

Marc is an experienced school speaker and will be talking to our students in 4 different sessions over the day- Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6.  It is always a good inspiration for our students to hear the stories of successful writers – perhaps we have a graphic novelist waiting to emerge from our student body.

You can see his recent Ted talk ( aimed at adults!) using the link below if you are interested.

https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi4–z_1aPLAhWCn5QKHZGqCjkQyCkIHDAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSkDA3nhfMSQ&usg=AFQjCNFn-wFj_il22u38lVIRU0IWsOn7Qw&sig2=tTUxq8cfK4PSAQ1b7eg32w

Happy reading everyone!

Therese Gallen – Vice Principal/English Leader

MATHEMATICS PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS

REMINDER: SPACES FILLING UP QUICKLY

We have had a great response to our invitation to attend our Maths Parents’ Meeting.  Spaces are filling up quickly. Please do let Ms. Fritzi fritzi.yu@bradbury.edu.hk  know if you can attend. Here is a recap of the two meetings:

10 March (5 p.m. TBC) by Professor Peter Sullivan.  Professor Sullivan is currently Professor of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Monash University, Australia and has extensive experience in research and teaching in teacher education.  Professor Sullivan will be speaking to you about general trends in maths teaching and learning and why this may look very different from what you experienced as a student at primary school.  For example, the move away from ‘teacher telling’ to children working things out for themselves (in other words, inquiry in maths).

17 March 17 at 5pm will be led by our Maths Curriculum Team, which has a representative from each year group on it. Together, we will be sharing our vision for maths at Bradbury and demonstrate to you how concept progression works and the importance of mastering each step of understanding along the way. It will look at why we value the process and not just a correct answer, as well as the importance of the practical application of knowledge.

We hope you can all come along! While it is preferable to come to both sessions, if you can only make one session, that is fine.

Sandra Webster – Principal

YEAR 6 EXHIBITION UPDATES

AGENTS OF CHANGE DAY

On Friday  26 February, Year 6 students took part in an ESF wide Agents of Change Day at Kowloon Junior School. Students got to meet local NGO’s, ask questions related to their exhibition issues and gather ideas to help then take action. This was a very successful day which the students enjoyed.

THE YEAR 6 EXHIBITION

The Year 6 Exhibition unit is well under way and the students have been busy, visiting many N.G.O.’s and local organisations to find out more about what they do. There has also been a variety of guest speakers come into Bradbury, to talk with students and answer their questions as well as trips and events to see and experience the issues first hand.

Amanda Bremner – P.Y.P. Co-ordinator

ACTION DAY – 8 MARCH 2016

PLASTIC FREE SEAS MERCHANDISE

Hello Bradbury School! We are the Water Pollution Team again! This time we have a set of Plastic Free Seas Merchandise to sell for our Exhibition. Plastic Free Seas is a NGO specializing in water pollution.

We are trying to raise the money for Plastic Free Seas to help them buy life jackets. The items for sale are stainless steel water bottles, cutlery sets and t-shirts. The water bottle is a reusable metal bottle and the company is known to make long-lasting quality bottles. The cutlery set is exclusive to Plastic Free Seas and contains a metal fork and spoon, chopsticks and even a metal straw with a pipe cleaner for it! The t-shirt is made out of quick-dry material which is the best for water activities such as kayaking.

All of them are the best quality and are fairly priced. The t-shirt is $120 for all sizes in stock (XS, S, M and L), the water bottle is $150, while the cutlery set is $110. They may be a bit pricey but I can assure you that they are going to help the ocean. If you would like to buy it, please send money with your child to class 6D or email me on harida1@mybradburyschool.com with your child’s name class and product wanted. Please remember to send the money with your child  on 8 March 2016 – YEAR 6 ACTION DAY. Thank you for your kind attention!
Arhaan, Sydney, Kent, Arthur and Megan

DEBBIE’S CORNER

We have finished accessioning most of  the books donated to our school library in Debbie Alvarez’s name. They have been added to a section of our library called ‘Debbie’s Corner’.

This is the corner of the library at the entrance Debbie and I bought furniture for. We wanted it to be like a lounge students would have at home- a quiet, cosy comfortable place to settle down and read a book.

Additionally, an artist friend of hers designed a little square logo, a bit like a stamp, that we are going to put onto the cover of each of ‘her’ books so that students can easily identify them. Of course, each book also has the custom designed book plate in the front.

Do drop by and have a look next time you are in school.

Sandra Webster – Principal

P.T.A. NEWS

Curry & Quiz Night

We held our 6^th annual Curry and Quiz night last Friday and it was a fantastic evening with great food and a wonderful atmosphere.

I would like to thank everyone for coming!  We had a great turnout with 12 teams competing in what turned out to be a very close contest. It came down to a tie-break between the returning champions and the teachers, with the “We are still only here for the curry” team retaining their winner’s crown for the second year. Congratulations to both teams!

I would also like to say a HUGE thank you to our amazing Quiz Master Surjit Mahal. So much time and hard work goes into creating such a great evening and we really appreciate it!  A big thank you to Helen and Arjun as well for their help making sure it all ran smoothly!

PTA Facebook page

To make it faster and easier to find out about PTA events and fundraising activities, we have started a Bradbury School PTA Facebook page. The link can be found below and will also be on the PTA page of the School website.

Please take a moment to visit the page and click LIKE so that you will automatically receive updates on your Facebook feed.

https://www.facebook.com/BradburyschoolPTA/

We would like to put some photos from past (and future) events on the page. If you would NOT like your child’s photo to be used please email me at juliaedunn@gmail.com or pta@bradbury.edu.hk.

Julia Dunn – PTA Chairperson

WHAT IS SCREEN ADDICTION ?

By: Year 6 Addiction Exhibition Group

Are you addicted?

Do you think you know someone who is addicted or are you addicted yourself?,

• Preoccupied with the internet
• Stay’s online much longer than originally intended
• Showing aggression when online and their time is interrupted
• Increasingly giving up time with ‘real life’ friends
• Unable to sleep, is more than usual irritable, moody or lethargic

What can you do to help?

• Two game nights per week. Break out the cards and board games
• Go out during the weekends and kick a ball around. Even go for a hike
• Have family dinners every once in awhile
• Talk about things together e.g books you’ve been reading or events at school/work
• Be mindfully present for them so they can talk to you when they need you

6H Addiction Exhibition Group

YEAR 1 UNIT OF INQUIRY

Amanda Bremner – P.Y.P. Co-ordinator

RESTRICTING THE SPREAD OF INFLUENZA AND OTHER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS

AND ADDITIONAL MEASURES ON TEMPERATURE MONITORING

There is currently a high level of absentees at Bradbury School due to a variety of symptoms.

In order to attempt to restrict the spread of respiratory or influenza type symptoms, we are asking for your help in the following ways:

–          Please ensure that you check your child’s temperature every morning before school and record it on the sheet found in your child’s diary. If your child has a fever (oral temperature higher than 37.5℃, or ear temperature higher than 38℃), regardless of the presence of respiratory symptom, they should not be allowed to attend school. Please seek medical advice and avoid returning to school until 48 hours after the fever has subsided.

–          Please reinforce the following good hygiene practices with your child:

• Wash hands with liquid soap and water properly;
• When hands are not visibly dirty, clean them with 70-80% alcohol-based handrub;
• Wash or clean hands frequently, especially before touching the mouth, nose or eyes, or after touching public installations such as handrails or door knobs;
• Cover nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and wash hands properly afterwards;
• Dispose of dirty tissue paper properly in a lidded rubbish bin;
• Wear surgical mask and seek medical advice promptly if symptoms of respiratory tract infection or fever develop;
• Maintain good ventilation;
• Avoid going to crowded or poorly ventilated public places when influenza is prevalent; high-risk individuals may consider putting on surgical masks when staying in such places; and
• Maintain a balanced diet, exercise regularly and take adequate rest.

We thank you for your help and vigilance during this seasonal outbreak of flu like illnesses.

Steve Fennelly – Vice Principal