BRADBURY NEWSLETTER – 14 SEPTEMBER 2018
Dear Bradbury Community,
It is my pleasure to write the Principal’s Message on behalf of Sandra Webster in this edition of Bradbury News.
As we prepare to start our sixth week of Term 1, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parent community for all your support in helping to make Bradbury School such a special place to nurture the hearts and minds of our children. An example of this was the attendance at the Family Picnic on Friday 7th September which resulted in the evening being a very convivial occasion. The courageous parents who volunteered to organise and sell cakes at the PTA Cake sale on Thursday also deserve a mention and we really appreciate the time and effort that they devote to supporting the event.
Wishing you a productive week and thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us during the day – they make our school come alive!
Sincerely,
John Ainsworth
Vice Principal
Photos from the School Picnic 2018
Important Dates
| DATE | EVENT | TIME |
| 14 September 2018 (Friday) | Year 7 Online Applications on Gateway Ends | |
| 24 September 2018 (Monday) | C.P.D. Day (No Classes) | —– |
| 25 September 2018 (Tuesday) | The Mid-Autumn Festival (No Classes) | —– |
| 26 September 2018 (Wednesday) | 2T/2K Educational Visit | 8:30 a.m. |
| 27 September 2018 (Thursday) | 2A/2F Educational Visit | 8:30 a.m. |
| 27 September 2018 (Thursday) | Year 6 Culture Day | TBC |
| 27 September 2018 (Thursday) | Sunshine Action: Feeding the Homeless | 5:45 p.m. |
| 28 September 2018 (Friday) | Deadline of Dental Health Forms | |
| 01 October 2018 (Monday) | National Day (No Classes) | —– |
| 05 October 2018 ( Friday) | Year 5 Art Gallery
5C/5B – 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. 5T/5F – 11:00 – 12:00 p.m. |
|
| 11 October 2018 (Thursday) | Year 5 Cake Sale | 10:00 a.m. |
| 12 October 2018 (Friday) | 3DB/3G Assembly | 8:45 a.m. |
| 12 October 2018 (Friday) | Deadline for Food Collection | |
| 15 October 2018 (Monday) –
19 October 2018 (Friday) |
Half Term Holiday (No Classses) | —– |
| 24 October 2018 (Wednesday) | Parent Teacher Consultations | 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. |
| 31 October 2018 (Wednesday) | P.Y.P. Information Session (TBC) | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. |
| 01 November 2018 (Thursday) | Parent Teacher Consultations | 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. |
| 07 November 2018 (Wednesday) | DTP Injections | 9:00 a.m. |
Student Health Service/Dental Care Service 2018-2019
By Lauren Lau, Health Professional
Please note that Student Health Service/ School Dental Service Application forms will be sent out to the students today. Please fill in the form and hand it in before the 28th September 2018(Friday).
If you are interested in applying for the School Dental Service for your child, you are required to submit the completed application form together with a cheque of HK $30, made payable to Bradbury School. Please write your child’s name and class at the back of the cheque.
If there are any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Helping Our Children Navigate the Online World
By Steve Fennelly, Vice Principal
Dear Bradbury School community,
I have been asked in the past, by several parents, about the best methods to help our children use the internet safely and responsibly. There are many different technological ‘solutions’ that can help in this matter, and are easily available on the internet – for varying costs. However, whilst advocating Google safe searching settings and child friendly search engines, I feel the following article by Christine Elgersma is a useful read for those parents who are considering expensive and ‘techy’ answers to this dilemma that, as parents, we all feel. Please take some time to read the article below and try to tie these ideas in with your family technology use agreement.
Why the Best Parental Control Is You
Instead of flipping a switch, be the voice in their head.
By Christine Elgersma commonsensemedia.com
If your child is online, there have probably been times when you’ve wanted to track everything they’ve texted, see their entire social media history, or just shut off the internet entirely. Those are the times you wish for the perfect parental controls — something that will grant you all the access and authority you want without making a bad situation worse. The truth is, while clicking a few buttons on a hardware device or downloading a monitoring service seem like no-brainers, the most effective parental control is free and knows your child very well. That’s right: It’s you. Digital tools and settings can help you stay on top of your child’s online life, but can’t replace staying involved, having conversations, and helping them make responsible choices. Need more convincing? Here are the key reasons why you are the best parental control around:
Fighting tech with tech can fail. If they put their minds to it, children can defeat almost any parental control. One of the truisms of the digital age is that your children probably know more than you do, and it’s easy for them to Google “How do I get around parental controls?” and read step-by-step instructions for dismantling your carefully chosen software or device. Of course, there are tools that do what they promise and offer you some comfort and control … at least for a while. So, if shutting down the internet via a tap is helpful for your family, pairing it with conversations likely will make it more effective. And if your child does work around your parental control, let them learn to code so they can channel their skills in a positive way.
Spying isn’t sustainable. Children — especially older ones — may feel like parental controls invade their privacy. According to one study, the loss of trust prompted by parental controls can weaken your whole relationship. Simply shutting the internet off is one thing, but if you try to track your child’s social media accounts or read their text messages, they may just create new profiles and take their conversations to other platforms far away from your prying eyes. Instead, when you decide it’s time for them to go online or have a phone, let them know upfront that you’ll do spot-checks — not to “catch them” or get in their business — but to support them as they learn balance in the digital world. If you decide to use parental-control devices or platforms, integrate them into ongoing conversations so they can serve as a safety net as your child is learning the ropes. The world of digital media and its influence on our children are far too complicated for simple solutions or ultra-strict oversight.
What you say makes more of an impact. Instead of flipping a switch, be the voice in their head. Teaching and modelling a healthy approach to the online world will have a much more lasting impact. Being able to shut down the internet in your home at key times can be very helpful, but it’s also a bit like always fastening your child’s seat belt for them: Eventually, we want them to remember to buckle up on their own. To get a child to really remember something, research shows that some information requires repetition over time. A combination of showing them a healthy approach and discussing media and tech use over time, on multiple occasions, will help kids regulate themselves and build skills to carry into adulthood. When you say things like, “Remember to think before you post,” “Don’t talk to strangers on the internet,” and “Use strong privacy settings,” they’ll remember. As new technology comes and goes, we are our children’s North Star, the constant guidance in a constellation that keeps changing shape, and tech-based parental controls will never shine as brightly as our influence.
Sharing instead of shutting down sparks learning. Sometimes we let our children use devices because we’re looking for a few minutes to get something finished, and setting time limits and doing spot checks — verbally or with digital parental controls — is important. But the more we can watch and play with our children, the more they’ll learn from the media they’re using. Research shows that just sitting with your child while you watch heightens their awareness, which can make them more receptive to learning. It can also boost literacy skills and empathy, and when moments come up in media that apply specifically to our child’s lives, we can use those instances to start a discussion, ask questions, and make connections. Also, the more we model this dialogue with media for our children, the more they can look at it critically, ask questions themselves, and take away lessons for their own lives.
Thank You from the Shiu Family
Dear parents and staff,
Thank you for your tremendous support and generosity. Our family was so moved by the strong community spirit shown by the schools.
The assistance will prove to be a great help to our family. Gavin has exhausted his sick leave having been in hospital since January. Natalie now has to face the loss of months of school but her determination to receive treatment is encouraging.
The school community has impressive generosity and kindness. We are so proud to be part of that community. We are pleased that the awareness of Leukaemia has been usefully enhanced.
Thank you once more for such wonderful support.
From the Shiu Family
Home Reading Information Session
By Therese Gallen, Head of Literacy
It was great to see so many of you at the Home Reading information session on Wednesday morning. Developing all our students as readers is of the utmost importance to us. Positive support with reading at home supports positive gains for students- this effect is well researched. You are your child’s first reading teacher, and this home/school parent partnership is especially important during their primary school years.
For those of you who were unable to attend, the slides used at the presentation can be found on our school webpage under the drop down link – Communications/Parent Information Evenings. Copies of the information hand-out about “Helping Children With Their Reading” are also available from Ms Fritzi at the front office.
As always, if you have any concerns or are uncertain about any aspect of the Home Reading program, do contact your child’s teacher for clarification or contact me with your query/concern.
Happy Reading at Home!
Language ‘Matters’ – An update from the Language Coordinator
By Therese Gallen, Head of Literacy
Each year at Bradbury School we have a special curriculum ‘focus’ area where we examine and reflect on our teaching practices in a particular area. This is a part of our ongoing curriculum review and quality control cycle. Language and literacy learning is always a key area, but this year it is also our targeted curriculum focus. A great start was made with all staff attending CPD at the beginning of August, before our students returned. We have been investigating and fine-tuning reading strategies that ‘really work’ and will continue to do this across the year.
One factor for student success with reading that keeps coming up in the research is the importance of a supportive home reading environment. Students who see adults modelling reading at home, who have adults reading to them regularly and who have someone to listen to them read and discuss things with them, have a great advantage over those who don’t. So keep up the good work reading to your students on a regular basis.
Another important factor for reading success is called ‘reading mileage’. This means that the more a student reads the better they will be at reading- which is not really surprising. However, what is good to know is that it doesn’t matter what students read to get that mileage up. So re-reading favourite books multiple times, reading easy books, reading comics, reading jokes, recipes or every single book in a series about dinosaurs – it all counts, just as long they are reading more often. One way to support your child with this and to keep up a steady volume of books for them to read, is by joining the public library with them. It’s free to join and offers an excellent range of children’s books, and I hear that your are able to check out 8 books at a time.
Action: Feeding
By Amandra Bremner & Carol Farrington, Action Leaders
Action is an essential part of The Primary Years Programme and forms a key part of the school vision, “enriching tomorrow”. Action is all integral part in the learning process that can arise at any time, within or outside the Programme of Inquiry (POI) and can come in many forms: participation, advocacy, social justice, social entrepreneurship, and life choices.
Bradbury defines action learning as ” acquiring the knowledge, skills and attitudes that empower us to be socially responsible citizens and to take authentic, sustainable action within the local and global community in order to make a difference to the world around us”.
Our first community action event with Sunshine Action is on Thursday 27th September. This is a great opportunity for families to serve in the community together and to help people less fortunate than themselves. During this event we visit people living on the streets to deliver a hot meal and some basic food and toiletry items such as biscuits, fruit, and soap.
Please find the details below:
Where: Nam Cheong MTR Station Exit A – meet across the road outside Fu Cheong Mall
Time: 6.00pm to 7.30pm (meet 5.45pm)
Who: Year 2-6 students and families/friends (students must be accompanied by an adult)
How: MTR Tung Chung Orange line from Central MTR Station
Cost: $200 per person attending (this covers the cost of the hot food we deliver and is payable when we meet on the evening)
Bring: Recycled shopping bag
Wear: Comfortable clothing, walking shoes
At Bradbury, we provide our community with various events across the year, in which we can help others. ‘Feeding People in Need’ is one such event. If you are interested in taking part, please notify Ms. Fritzi in the school office 25748249 and either Ms Farrington or I will contact you closer to the time with more details.
Regards,
Amanda Bremner and Carol Farrington
amanda.bremner@bradbury.edu.hk
Photos from past feeding events:
Action: World Cleanup Day 2018
By Amandra Bremner & Carol Farrington, Action Leaders
It is World Cleanup Day and people all over the world will be cleaning up beaches and recording data on what they collect.
Date: Sept 15, 2018
Time: 2pm
Location: Meet at Nim Shue Wan, Discovery Bay
What to bring and wear:
- Bring a full reusable water bottle
- Wear closed-toe shoes (such as running shoes)
- Bring bug spray and sunscreen
- Wear appropriate clothing for the weather (jeans are not appropriate now)
- A hat is advisable
Here is a link to a map on our website.
It would be great to see loads of Bradbury families there.
Team Fear 2018
By Amandra Bremner, PYP Coordinator
Uncle Russ Coffee Adventure Challenge
25th November 2018
Dear Participants
Welcome to Team FEAR 2018!
Please find the latest news from our website for Team FEAR 2018.
Remember, we have a Facebook Group for participants and their families and all newsletter posts are posted there as well as on the website.
Team FEAR Sign-up – 22 Sept
Registration for this year’s race opens at 10am on Saturday 22nd September.
As in previous years, to ease congestion at PayPal’s payment site and to give parents a chance to register children in different ages groups, we are going to stagger the registrations with set times for each age group starting with the youngest groups.
Registration is on a first come first served basis. Only one payment per team will be required.
Check out the registration page for more information teamfear.hk/1Mp78wx.
P.T.A. News
By Catherine Hufton, PTA Chairperson
Thank you to all parents who attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM)of the Bradbury Parent and Teacher Association on Monday 10th of September. We had an excellent attendance and all agenda items were approved unanimously.
During the election of the executive committee took place at the AGM.
It gives me great pleasure to announce the Bradbury PTA Limited Executive Committee for the 2018/2019 year: I would especially like to welcome our new members to the committee.
Chairperson: Catherine Hufton
Honorary Secretary : Katie Francis
Honorary Treasurer: Khyati Mehta
Teacher members :
Sandra Webster (Principal – non voting member)
Amanda Bremner
Ally Maclay- new member
Parent Members:
Eric Tang
Janneke Lamaison
Helen Choi – new member
Lynda Taylor – new member
Saman Rizvi- new member
Kelly Daniel Booth – new member
Lizzie Young – new member
We are looking forward planning for the year ahead. We welcome new ideas so please contact us at pta@bradbury.edu.hk if you would like to get involved. Everyone is welcome.
Regards
Catherine Hufton
Bradbury PTA Chairperson
Bradbury PTA Limited
CLASS PARENT 2018 – 2019
Congratulations to the following parents who volunteered to be class parents this year.
Thank you for your support.
The role of the class parent are the following:
- To support your child’s class as a link between the PTA and the families.
- Finding volunteers for cake bakes, pizza sales, Winter Night Market, fundraiser events.
- Welcome call or email to new families – to include information on uniforms, language needs, after school activities.
- Supporting the teacher when asking for materials to use in class e.g. recycled boxes
| CLASS | NAME OF PARENT |
| 1N | Marjolein Graeper |
| 1ZC | Natascha Kanters |
| 1M | Monica Brennand |
| 1R | Nyree Chung |
| 1C | Emily Zhang |
| 2T | Kelsey Cheung |
| 2A | Kelly Y Xu-Booth |
| 2K | Lynda Taylor |
| 2F | Bhawna Shetty |
| 3S | Fiona Pang/ Rebecca Bonkers |
| 3C | Catherine Hufton |
| 3G | Tina Volking |
| 3DB | Marjolein Graeper |
| 4B | Khyati Mehta |
| 4A | Helen Choi |
| 4V | Katie Francis |
| 4H | Julia Dunn |
| 5C | Elise Phillipson |
| 5T | Malina Kirpalani |
| 5B | Tina Volking |
| 5F | Lisa Foote |
| 6B | Wendy Crammond |
| 6G | Jenny Wang |
| 6P | Saira Sujanani |
| 6C | Dawn McGrain |
Third-Party Organised After School Activities
Dear Parents,
The following companies are currently hiring our facilities to provide extra curricular activities for students. You may browse the school website under “LIFE AT BRADBURY” for their programs and enroll your child directly to the company:
ESF Sports, contact 2711 1280 or sports@esf.org.hk website: www.esf.org.hk
Soccer & Basketball Training – Adventure Sports Academy Ltd, contact Eilis Cheung at 3998 4042 or info@adventuresportsacademy.com website: www.adventuresportsacademy.com
Fabric Art—Creative Art with Fabrics, Fabric Design, Crafting & Creative Sewing – Alifya Kasubhai (Fabric Art), contact Alifya Kasubhai at 9281 5290 or contact@fabricart-hk.com website: www.fabricart-hk.com
Sanskriti/Hindi Language Class – Brilliant Learning International Ltd., contact Geetanjali Dhar at 3563 4300 or info@sanskritiglobal.org website: www.sanskritiglobal.org
Singing, Acting, Dancing – Ballet, Jazz, Tap Dance – CentreStage Studios HK Ltd., contact Imogen Taylor or Kaijah Bell at 5236 7960 or 2689 2272 or admin@centrestagestudioshk.com website: www.centrestagestudioshk.com
Astronomy Club with a Portable Mobile Planetarium – Discovery Dome Hong Kong Ltd., contact Lorne Ali at 9754 4081 or lorneali@hotmail.com website www.discoverydome.hk
Chess Class & Camp – HoYinPingChess, contact Yin Ping Ho at 9215 2682 or hoyinpingchess@gmail.com website: www.hoyinpingchess.com/index/lesson.html / www.hoyinpingchess.com/index/camp.html
Basketball Training – Hong Kong Star Basketball Training Centre Limited, contact Yuki Lai at 9669 4280 or yukilai@hk-bbstc.com website: www.hk-bbstc.org
Swedish Language and Culture – Swedish Cultural Society, contact Linda at 9316-6599 or svenskaskolanhongkong@hotmail.com Website: www.svenskaskolan.hk
N.B. Bradbury School is not responsible for the quality and safety of programmes offered by third parties. However, please note that all hirers are required to provide third party liability insurance. Parents are urged to take steps to ensure that they are satisfied with any and all aspects of the after school programme(s) they elect to opt in to.
