BRADBURY NEWSLETTER – 17 AUGUST 2018
Dear Parents,
What a great first week we have had! It has been a very smooth start right from Year One through to Year Six. The bus buddies have started and are doing a great job. Thank you for all of your great support in ensuring that your child is well supported as they start back at school. You should have, or will soon, receive an invitation to come and talk to your child’s teacher. An important aspect of doing a good job is working in partnership with you, which in turn means really knowing the family and child each teacher is working with. This invitation is for every parent and is an opportunity for school to listen and learn from you.
Please save the date for our school picnic on September 7th. This is always a great evening.
Sincerely,
Sandra Webster
Principal
First Whole School Assembly
Start of Year Housekeeping
By Therese Gallen, Vice Principal, Head of Literacy
Welcome everyone, both returning and new families. We have had a very positive start to our new school year, and there has been a lovely feeling of excitement around the school with students starting back with new classes and things to learn.
With so many new families joining us, and also as a reminder for everyone else, I ask that you please read the following ‘housekeeping’ procedures carefully. These procedures help our school to run smoothly and also ensure the safeguarding of our students, and we look for the support of all parents and carers with these procedures.
Use of Phones/Cameras and other recording devices on school grounds
Due to privacy issues and to safeguard students and teachers, all parents/visitors/helpers are asked not to take photos or videos of other students or teachers whilst on school grounds. We ask for your cooperation with this request and please tell other family members, who may come to school, about this requirement.
Sharing Contact Details
Also due to privacy issues, teachers are unable to provide you with names, class lists or contact details for other students at school. Through the class parent system some parents have, in the past, set up their own contact groups to facilitate out -of- school social arrangements.
School starting and finishing times
School starts at 8.30 am and finishes at 2.40 pm. Students line up to go into school at 8.20 am. Please ensure that students are not dropped at school before 8.10 am , as there is no teacher supervision at school before that time. Any children being dropped earlier need to be accompanied by a supervising adult until 8.10 am. Please ensure that students who are ‘walkers’ (children not catching the bus) , are picked up from school at 2.40 pm. If you have a problem getting to school please ring the front office to let us know that you are running late. Any students who are not collected by 3pm will be taken to the front office area to wait and we will try to contact you.
After School Activities
Students who are in Years 3,4, 5 and 6 and attend after school activities that start at 3 pm, should go straight to the playground outside the gym and wait there until the activity starts. Please ensure that there is an adult there to collect students by the end of the activity.
If the activity starts after 3 pm all students should either leave school and return later, or have an adult stay with them for supervision until the activity starts. Students must not be left unattended to wait, as the school is open to other members of the public from 3pm and there is no teacher supervision.
Students in Year 1 and 2 who attend after school activities at any time must always have an adult collect them from the undercover playground to take them to the activity.
Uniforms:
A reminder that school uniform shoes are black, and sports shoes should only be worn on timetabled specialist PE days. We encourage our students to take pride in wearing the correct uniform and additional, non-uniform items should be left at home.
Raincoats
The PTA shop sell a very functional red , ‘poncho’ type raincoat that we find our younger students manage quite well on their own. We would encourage all students to have this raincoat for wet weather days. Students in Years 1 and 2 should not bring umbrellas to school as they find them difficult to manage in the large group situation at school.
Food
A reminder that we are a nut free school due to a number of students with severe nut allergies. This includes all nut products. These foods must not be sent to school.
We encourage healthy food choices for all students. “Junk food” or special treat items such as lollies, chips, and chocolate should not be sent to school and carbonated drinks (‘Fizzy drinks”) are not permitted. The best drink to bring to school is water, and students are able to refill their drink bottles at the drinking fountains when needed.
At Bradbury we are also working hard to be environmentally friendly and reduce the amount of waste that we produce. Please consider the packaging of the food that your child is bringing. Our aim is to have ‘zero waste’ food breaks, with all food coming to school in reusable, washable containers.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Buses:
Year 1 and ‘bus buddies’-
All Year 1 students have been allocated a ‘bus buddy’ as they start to use the buses. The bus buddy is either their own sibling, or an older student who travels on the bus with them. The bus buddies will take their Year 1 student off the bus with them each morning and walk them to their lineup spot on the Year 1 & 2 playground. In the afternoon they will go to the Year 1 child’s classroom, walk to the bus with them and hand them over to the bus mother as they get on the bus. If a bus buddy is away from school the class teacher will help the student onto the bus. This program will run for the next two weeks.
Buses travellers and ‘walkers’
All students who do not use buses are called ‘walkers’. Walkers in Years 1 and 2 should be picked up by an adult in the blue undercover playground at 2.40 pm.
Students who travel home by bus in Years 1,2 and 3 will always be checked onto their bus in the afternoons. On any occasion that you do not want your child to use the bus you must write a note in the blue diary book that says “ today (child’s name) is a walker” and arrange to pick them up yourself. You must write the note on the actual day. If there is no note in the diary the default is always that the child goes on the bus. Students in Years 4,5 and 6 are not required to use this system and must take on the responsibility of knowing if they should be getting on the bus or if they are a ‘walker’ being picked up.
If you do decide to come to school at bus time to unexpectedly collect your Year 1,2 or 3 child and they are usually a bus traveller, you must let the bus mother know that you are taking them. Please do not remove your child as they exit school for their bus, without informing the bus mother, as this causes much time to be wasted as we locate the student before the buses can leave.
Emergency changes : If you need to notify the school about changes to your child’s travelling arrangements due to unexpected circumstances or an emergency on the day, please contact the front office, so that a message can be given to your child’s teacher. This must be done before 12 noon. After that time please do not make changes unless it is a genuine emergency, as it is difficult to ensure that messages are delivered before bus time, with children moving around the school and specialist classes. Do not ring or email the class teacher as they are busy teaching and may not see or receive the message before bus time.
Bus swapping:
Under no circumstances may children in any year level swap buses for any reason. Any social arrangements made by families or students cannot be facilitated through school by swapping buses. This rule is clearly stated in the bus contract that you have signed with the PTA and the bus company.
If you have any questions about buses please contact Lin Gong through the PTA.
Music Activities at Bradbury School
By Gethyn Clothier, Head of Performing Arts
INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS
Children at Bradbury School have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument and lessons are taught by experienced peripatetic teachers as follows:
Violin – Years 1 to 6
Guitar – Years 2 to 6
Flute – Years 4 to 6
Piano – Years 1 to 6
Singing – Years 2 to 6
These lessons are generally taught individually, either at lunchtime or after school and on a private basis. Lessons costs approximately $300 for 30 minutes, but this does vary slightly depending on the teacher. The school has guitars that can be rented for $400/term. If you would like your child to begin lessons, please contact the appropriate teacher directly to discuss specific arrangements such as time and cost of lessons, purchase of instrument, any books needed, etc.
Violin: Ayako Ichimaru – violinayako10@gmail.com
Flute: Jacqueline Leung – jacqueline.musictherapy@gmail.com
Singing: Celia Leung – celiakyleung@gmail.com
Guitar: Tony Yau – anjofriends@yahoo.com
Piano: Pinky Tsang – tsangchunyi@gmail.com
For children who might be interested in learning to play the clarinet, I will be running an introductory class on Tuesday lunchtimes later this term for a group of up to five. This will be for about 8 weeks and will be for year 4 children only. I will send details of this nearer the time, but please let me know if your child might be interested in joining this group.
SCHOOL PRODUCTION
There will be a school production towards the end of the first term involving children in years 4 to 6. We will hold three sessions after school on Thursdays, from 3 to 4.30pm starting on 30th August, which we will use to audition children who are interested in taking part. Rehearsals will continue after this on Thursdays from 3 to 4.30pm.
SCHOOL CHOIRS
The Upper Choir, for children in years 4 to 6, will begin in term 2 from 3.00 to 3.45 pm on Thursdays. We will prepare for the biannual ESF Primary Schools’ Choral Concert which will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium just before Easter and will involve a combined choir from all of the primary schools. All children in years 4 to 6 are welcome to participate in this.
The Lower Choir, for children in years 2 and 3, rehearses on Wednesday lunchtimes and will begin in September.
ORCHESTRA
The school orchestra will rehearse on Tuesdays from 3.00 to 3.45 pm. This is for children who play an orchestral instrument (not piano or guitar) to at least grade 2 level.
You can enrol your child for all of these activities on Gateway.
Important Dates
| DATE | EVENT | TIME |
| 20 August 2018 (Monday) | Third Day for Year 1 (Group B) | 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
| 21 August 2018 (Tuesday) | Year 1 Group A & B in School | 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
| 22 August 2018 (Wednesday) | Year 1 Group A & B in School | 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
| 23 August 2018 (Thursday) | Full Day for Year 1 Group A | 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. |
| 24 August 2018 (Friday) | Full Day for Year 1 Group B | 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. |
| 27 August 2018 (Monday) | Full Day for Year 1 Group A & B | 8:30 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. |
| 27 August 2018 (Monday) | Year 3/ Year 4 Parent Introductory Meeting | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| 27 August 2018 (Monday) | After School Activities (P.E. Led) Begins | 3:00 p.m. |
| 28 August 2018 (Tuesday) | Year 1/Year 2 Parent Introductory Meeting | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| 29 August 2018 (Wednesday) | Year 5/Year 6 Parent Introductory Meeting | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| 07 September 2018 (Friday) |
Whole School Picnic
|
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. |
| 24 September 2018 (Monday) | C.P.D. Day (No Classes) | —– |
| 25 September 2018 (Tuesday) | The Mid-Autumn Festival (No Classes) | —– |
| 27 September 2018 (Thursday) | Sunshine Action: Feeding the Homeless | —– |
| 01 October 2018 (Monday) | National Day | —– |
P.T.A. News
By Catherine Hufton, PTA Chairperson, & Lin Gong, Bradbury School PTA Limited
Class Parents 2018-19 – call for volunteers-
We are in the process of appointing class parents to each class for the 2018-19 school year. If you are interested in being the class parent for your child’s class please send an email to Ms Fritzi : fritzi.yu@bradbury.edu.hk with your expression of interest including your child (s) name and the year group ( or years ) and class (s) your children are in. Please place your expression of interest by Friday 24 August 2018. Note this expression of interest is not a confirmation of appointment.
Class Parents are the main link between the class and the PTA committee. The role does not take up a lot of time and the majority of the role can be done by email – this is a great way to get involved in school. All expressions of interest are welcome. If you have any questions about the role please contact Catherine Hufton via the PTA office – : pta@bradbury.edu.hk
Please note this is not an expression of interest to help in the classroom. This request will be made directly with the class teachers.
Once the class parents are allocated you will be notified who your class parent is.
Please consider being a class parent and getting involved in Bradbury PTA
Third-party Organized 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 enrol 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
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.
