14 Aug 2019

BRADBURY NEWSLETTER – 13 AUGUST 2019

致白普理學

Greetings to the Bradbury School Community, especially those families who have joined us over the summer.

Welcome back to the new school year- my last, after what will have been 14 happy years at this wonderful school. We have had a very smooth start to the new academic year, and I would like to thank all parents for your support to make this happen. It is easy to feel the great ‘Bradbury vibe’ around classrooms. The energy, enthusiasm and excitement about being back in school is very evident!

 

A warm welcome to the following new staff:

Mike McKee, Vice Principal
Sara Pinelli, 1P Teacher
Alec Bowden, 1B Teacher
Simone Elimelech, 2E Teacher
Ed Lea, 3L Teacher
Satish Kandal, 3C EA
Stephanie Breteau, 4S EA
Kim Woo, Resources Asst
Eddie Ng, Finance & HR Mgr
Carrie Ho, Finance & HR Asst
Tong Yang Hsu, Asst Caretaker
Kim Zhu, Cleaner

 

Our classroom line up therefore looks like this:

Year 1:
1C – Sheryn Cribb (Teacher), Joanne Tse (EA)
1P – Sara Pinelli (Teacher), Kaesha Ramchandani (EA)
1Z – Zoe O’Reilly (Teacher), May Dy (EA)
1B – Alec Bowden (Teacher), Kalpana Gyawali (EA)
1R – Rebecca Ryder (Teacher), Maisie Walker-Rees (EA)

Year 2:
2T – Claudia Tarr (Teacher), Athena Chow (EA)
2A – Lewis Askew (Teacher), Liz Worley (EA)
2F – Tracy Fleming (Teacher), Julia Perry (EA)
2E – Simone Elimelech (Teacher), Sharon Dsouza (EA)

Year 3:
3G – Anna Gardener (Teacher), Elizabeth Turner (EA)
3L – Ed Lea (Teacher), Petra Lancelotte (EA)
3C – Jennifer Chan (Teacher), Satish Kandal (EA)
3B – Anika Barry (Teacher), Champi Lo (EA)

Year 4:
4A – Steve Allan (Teacher), Sam Campbell (EA)
4B – Melanie Broomfield (Teacher), Michelle Kang (EA)
4V – Brigitte van der Vossen (Teacher), Peta Cook (EA)
4S – Sigrid Balle (Teacher), Stephanie Breteau (EA)

Year 5:
5C – Matthew Cook (Teacher), Susanna Hurtig (EA)
5B – Steve Bemet (Teacher), Susanna Hurtig (EA)
5T – Lorinda Thomas (Teacher)
5M – Pamela Mirabella (Teacher)

Year 6:
6P – Katie Phillips (Teacher), Alison McArthur (EA)
6T – Katie Townsend (Teacher), Alison McArthur (EA)
6H – Chris Harris (Teacher), Anthea Lee (EA)
6G – Laura Gizzi (Teacher), Anthea Lee (EA)

 

Curriculum Focus Areas:

This year we have two major areas of curriculum and pedagogical focus: The Arts, led by Gethyn Clothier and team; and secondly, we will be examining the ways we offer feedback to improve both teaching and learning.

 

Changes to School Routines:

We have a couple of small changes that we have agreed to as a staff, that we believe will enhance teaching and learning at Bradbury School. The first one is that students will no longer line up in the mornings at 8.20 as from Week 2. Instead, they will go straight up to class on the 8.20 bell. In this way, we will encourage independence and also extend our teaching day ever so slightly- but over the year, all those extra minutes add up for learning opportunities! Note: Y1 teachers may choose for their classes to continue to line up in the mornings until further notice.

The second one is that in order to encourage healthy eating, reduce food and plastic waste as well as pressure on parents, as a school we have agreed that we will celebrate and acknowledge each child’s birthday within class without the need for parents to send along cake or cupcakes with their child or helper. Therefore, please do not send or bring to school any food, including any type of cake, or party bags etc for your child’s birthday. We will make it a special day for your child without these things.

 

Partnership with Bradbury Families:

At Bradbury, we have a strong commitment to partnership with our parents. A big part of this is knowing not just our children, but our families as well. This includes listening to your goals and aspirations for your child while they are at Bradbury. To facilitate this process, you are invited to a “You tell us meeting”, where you can sit and talk to your child’s teacher, one on one about your hopes for them over the coming year, your concerns, and anything else that would be helpful for us to know. Your child’s teacher will let you know when you can makes these appointments.

 

Traffic Disruptions:

We are all aware of the current disruption around Hong Kong at the moment. It is important to note that ESF cannot and will not be taking a stance on the issues central to the protests, rather that we will be concentrating on maintaining a safe environment for staff to work and for students to learn. If your child is impacted in any way by travel disruptions, please let us know. We will understand if your child is late to school for this reason.

 

Bradbury Family Picnic:

A great tradition at Bradbury is to start the year off with a family picnic. This is a very simple time of coming together as a community to enjoy each other’s company and get to know other parents. It is held on our tarmac area and all you need to do is to bring your child(ren), a picnic, and a rug to sit on. It is held between 5-7pm. The year, the date is: Friday 13th September. This is also Mid Autumn Festival, so bring along your lantern as well.

 

Parent Introductory Meetings:

In order to offer you the opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, and to learn a bit about the classroom routines, plans and the school day, you are invited to come to our Parent Introductory Meetings on the dates listed at the end of the newsletter.  The Chinese team and I will also present in the hall after the classroom presentations.

 

Normally, our newsletter goes out every second Friday, except for special ones, so our next newsletter will be Friday 30th August.

Sandra Webster
Principal


Important Dates

N.B. Dates and Activities may change from time to time. Please check the online calendar for the weekly updates on www.bradbury.edu.hk calendar. Thank you.

DATE EVENT TIME
13 August 2019 (Tuesday) First Day of School (Year 2 to Year 6) 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
13 August 2019 (Tuesday) First Day of School for Year 1 Group A 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
14 August 2019 (Wednesday) First Day of School for Year 1 Group B 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
15, 19, August 2019 Year 1 Group A in School 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
16, 20, August 2019 Year 1 Group B in School 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
21, 22 August 2019 Both Year 1 Group A & B in school 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
23 August 2019 (Friday) Full Day for Year 1 Group A 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
26 August 2019 (Monday) Full Day for Year 1 Group B 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
26 August 2019 (Monday) Y5/Y6 Parents Introductory Evening 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
26 August 2019 (Monday) After School Activities Start (P.E. Led)
27 August 2019 (Tuesday) Normal School Day for all Year 1 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m.
27 August 2019 (Tuesday) Y3/Y4 Parents Introductory Evening 5:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.
28 August 2019 (Wednesday) Y1/Y2 Parents Introductory Evening 5:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.
4-6 September 2019 (Wed—Fri) School Photos
12 September 2019 (Thursday) Y6 Cake Sale
13 September 2019 (Friday) School Picnic 5:00 p.m.—7:00 p.m.
13 September 2019 (Friday) Open Day at Island School (Y6 Parents)
17 September 2019 (Tuesday) Parent Teachers Annual General Meeting TBC
29 November 2019 (Friday) Night Market TBC


PLEASE NOTE: THERE HAS BEEN SOME CHANGES TO THE BUS ROUTES


Download this issue of the newsletter in PDF format: 

01 Newsletter - 13 August 2019.pdf

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