BRADBURY NEWSLETTER – 30 APRIL 2018
Dear Parents and Bradbury School community members,
Greetings to you all and a warm welcome back to Term 3. A very warm welcome also to those new families and staff members who have joined us.
We welcome our staff:
Mr. Jonathan Chong – Resources Manager
Mr. Andy Chow – Head Caretaker
Ms. Maisie Rees – Y2 EA
Ms. Ann Hesketh – PT LSC EA
Ms. Ela Lee – PT LSC EA
We are very much looking forward to our Action Day next Friday. All of our school community is welcome to join us. We have a whole host of events planned. One major activity is packing of hygiene kits for HK’s homeless community. Many of you have contributed items for this which we thank you for.
We are about to start compiling class lists for the 2018/19 school year. If there is anything that you think we need to consider when placing your child, please let me know. Please note, this does not include requests for particular teachers or teacher gender.
Sandra Webster
Principal
Important Dates
| DATE | EVENT | TIME |
| 23 April 2018 (Monday) –
27 April 2018 (Friday) |
Book Week | All Day |
| 26 April 2018 (Thursday) | P.T.A. Sausage Sizzle | 12:00 p.m. |
| 27 April 2018 (Friday) | Action Day | 8:30 a.m. – 2:10 p.m. |
| 30 April 2018 (Monday) | CPD Day – No Classes | —– |
| 01 May 2018 (Tuesday) | Labour Day – Public Holiday – No Classes | —– |
| 07 May 2018 (Monday) –
11 May 2018 (Friday) |
CIS/IB Visit Team Evaluation | |
| 15 May 2018 (Tuesday) | Y3 Market Day | |
| 21 May 2018 (Monday) | CPD Day – No Classes | —– |
| 22 May 2018 (Tuesday) | Buddha’s Birthday – No Classes | —– |
| 29 May 2018 (Tuesday) | Y5/Y6 Student Led Conference | |
| 01 June 2018 (Friday) | New Year 1 Visits | |
| 06 June 2018 (Wednesday) | Y3/Y4 Student Led Conference | |
| 14 June 2018 (Thursday) | The School Production | 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. |
| 14 June 2018 (Thursday) | Y1/Y2 Student Led Conference | |
| 18 June 2018 (Monday) | Dragon Boat Festival – No Classes | —– |
| 19 June 2018 (Tuesday) | Year 3 & Year 4 Disco | 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. |
| 20 June 2018 (Wednesday) | Year 5 & Year 6 Disco | 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. |
| 21 June 2018 (Thursday) | Year 1 & Year 2 Disco | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. |
| 22 June 2018 (Friday) | Year 6 Celebration of Achievement Assembly (please note this is the new date) | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. |
| 29 June 2018 (Friday) | Last Day of Term 3
(School ends at 12 noon) |
12:00 noon |
Reminder: We are collecting toiletries up till Friday 27th April, Action Day!
Inclusion and Special Educational Needs Policy
By Catherine Blacklaws, Head of Learning Support and Individual Needs
This policy has been reviewed and re-written this year. It outlines the provision for supporting students with individual needs at Bradbury, including the interventions we offer for students with social and emotional difficulties. It is available on the school website.
If you have any questions about the information in the policy please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.
Admissions: Student Withdrawal
By John Ainsworth, Vice Principal
This is a reminder to parents who are intending to withdraw their children from Bradbury School at the end of this academic year (2017-2018). Please complete the student withdrawal notice and return it to our Admissions Officer, Crystal Chan (admissions@bradbury.edu.hk), on or before 1st June 2018. If the school has not been informed of student withdrawal before this date, it will be assumed by ESF that your child is returning to school for the academic year 2018-2019 and you will be liable to pay tuition fees for August, even if your child does not return to school.
Action Day
By Carol Farrington, Action Leader & Amanda Bremner, PYP Leader
This year we are having a whole school action day to celebrate the varied actions students have taken as a result of their learning. Our whole school action day, is scheduled for the Friday the 27th of April. On this day we will have a variety of events happening, as well as packing hygiene kits with Sunshine Action for some of Hong Kong’s most needy and vulnerable our homeless population. On the day up to 3000 kits will be packed by student and parent volunteers.
This will happen throughout the school day and it would be fantastic if we could have some parent volunteers. Here is an outline of the days proceedings:
8:15am- 9:00am – Assist with setup of tables for packing.
9.00am-10.00am We will be coordinating and packing hygiene kits with student volunteers
10:30am-12.00pm We will be continuing with this process.
From 1.00pm we will be loading the packed kits for dispatching. To make this day successful, we need a significant amount of parent volunteers to assist with all aspects of the set-up, packing, loading and tidying up at the end of the day.
Volunteers will need to wear comfortable clothing and shoes as there will be some lifting involved. If you are able to volunteer to work with the students on this day please contact Ms Fritzi to register your name and time. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
You are cordially invited to join us on Friday 27 April for Bradbury School’s
ACTION DAY 2018
All members of the community are invited to celebrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes that our students have developed through participating in ‘action’ opportunities.
On this day we will be: packing hygiene kits with Sunshine Action, making bracelets and earrings for Bethune House, acknowledging people who help us, printing volunteer t-shirts with the Print House, as well as packing and sorting collected books for the South African Mobile Library.
There will be a photo booth set up in the Hall to capture the relationships that students have with extended family members who help and care for them. We encourage drivers, helpers, aunties, grandparents, nannies, parents, or anyone who helps out in your family to come in and have a picture taken with your child.
Year groups will also be continuing actions with established organisations as well as taking ‘action’ around Bradbury school. Please see the attached timetable.
Please feel free to visit the students and share in their learning on Action Day.
Regards,
Carol Farrington and Amanda Bremner
The Legend in my Dreams
Hong Kong Young Writer’s Awards entry by Airiana Chan, Year 6
I once had this dream.
Until now, three years later, something about it still bothers me, I can’t figure out what. Maybe you can solve my problem. It all started on my tenth birthday…
“Happy Birthday Milly! This is your gift from Daddy and Mummy.”
My mother smiled handing me a big box that felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, “Go put this in your room then come down for breakfast, your friends will be arriving soon.”
“Thanks Mother!” I grunted under the weight of the box. I trudged up to my very messy room and dropped the box on the floor. I picked up my doodle set then went back down for my meal. I love drawing, I have a whole book for it, I want to be an artist some day. I sat down and drew.
An hour later my friends started arriving, last to come was Wendy, my friend from China.
“Seriously? A monkey toy? You know how much I hate monkeys.” I grumbled tossing it away on the floor.
“But this is very special, it from a famous story,” she tried to say but I stopped her.
The party was so much fun. We had games, cake, and gift opening. I eyed Wendy while she shifted uncomfortably.
That night, I was was so tired that I slept once my head hit the pillow. I drifted off into a deep sleep. Whoosh. I could hear the wind rush past me. Wait a second, my windows were closed! When I opened my eyes I wasn’t in my bedroom anymore. Instead, I was in the sky amongst the clouds, in front of the biggest palace I’ve ever seen. I had no idea how I got there or how I could even stand on clouds.
“AHHHHHHHH!” I yelled as a figure, that looked like the toy Wendy gave me, landed between me and the castle. He said something I couldn’t understand.
“Excuse me? Who are you? What are you saying?” I asked.
“You no speak Chinese?” the creature sighed blowing a raspberry, “Quick, follow me or we’re in trouble!”, he continued before taking off, this time pulling me. We dropped through the thick layer of clouds. I closed my eyes. Is my death near? There were many times I felt scared, but this time, I was terrified.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed even louder than ever as we tumbled down, and down, and down.
“Human no scare, look, we safe.” he laughed.
He landed on his knees. I lay on the ground still startled by everything that had happened. The environment around us was now filled with lots of dull, green trees, the forest seemed deserted.
“Human, my name Sun Wukong. Me hungry. Take peach from castle, in trouble. Now they come to find me. We friends now, you just call me Wukong!” he told me.
“Nice to meet you Wukong, I’m Milly. You seem familiar. By the way, what do you mean by ‘They’?” I asked.
“Protectors of Heavenly Kingdom”, Wukong answered, then he made this loud call that sounded like a bird call mixed with a sheep noises. A phoenix made a graceful landing in front of us that made me wonder how it could be friends with Wukong.
“Greetings Milly, my name is Trinity, born of the third star in the galaxy. I know you are thinking how I even know this monkey here. I saved him. In return, we are friends. Pretty unfair deal for me. Wukong, let me guess, you are in trouble and need me and Olandy’s help. Again!” Trinity said rolling her eyes. She was beautiful. Gentle embers gleamed around her wings, her black eyes shone like dark pearls, and she could read minds! I couldn’t believe a mythical creature was standing right before my eyes. A sheep appeared right beside her.
“Bahhhh, I can turn invisible and I know Kung Fu! Trinity can fly and breathe fire. I’m also very good at noticing things. Look at what I found here! ” Olandy smiled shaking a pencil out of his wool. A familiar marking was engraved on it.
“It is my pencil. I must have lost it when I fell down from the sky.” I thought
“You found her pencil Olandy.” Trinity read my mind again.
“What now? Plan?” Wukong asked. Just as he said that, we heard a loud yell.
“Wukong, you’ve stolen my magic peaches for the gods, now you shall pay. It is OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!” shouted the angry royal that just stepped down from the clouds.
“This is the worst mistake you’ve made WuKong,” Trinity muttered, “You’ve made the Queen Mother of Heaven angry.”
“Darn, she has staff!” WuKong groaned.
“Allow me,” a man standing next to the queen said taking the staff, “This is going to be fun!” A few swishing movements from him made the monkey fall to his knees yelling with agony.
“Your crown is squeezing your head, hurts now, right?” he asked.
“I hope you haven’t eaten the peaches yet. You’re in big trouble!” the queen commanded.
“Your thing.” Olandy whispered,“Draw a peach in the air. You’ll see what I mean!”
WuKong screamed again. Trinity made a wall of fire.
“That should keep the busy for a while.” she told us. I did as he told and the peach became real. Then I drew another one, and another one, until there were ten. Just then, I heard a voice.
“Wake up Milly, you’ll be late for school!” it yelled.
“I need to go. You have to take it from here.” I told my new friends as they disappeared from my sight.
My eyes fluttered open. It was all a dream! When I told Wendy about the co-incidence with her gift. She smiled.
“I’m glad you now know what I mean. I love the twist!”
What did she mean by twist?
Library News
By Jane Thompson, Teacher Librarian & Connie Leung, Library Assistant
BOOK WEEK
Although we are always celebrating books and reading, next week is the official ‘Book Week’. The teachers are busy planning reading activities for the children. Year One have already had a book parade. Teachers from across the school have volunteered to share their favourite stories with the children during break times in the library. We will be holding a competition to see who can recognise fifteen books from their cover as well as bookmark making and other activities. Don’t forget to ask your child what they did for Book Week!
SOUTH AFRICA MOBILE LIBRARY-ENGLISH BOOKS FOR COLLECTION
Thank you to all the families who have made donations to this worthwhile cause. We are still collecting books. The Sony Corporation of Hong Kong are collecting ‘gently’ used, English, children’s story books for this project. It’s a great opportunity to send used books to a good home. If you would like to donate books to this cause then please read the information below. We will collect any donations from you in the Bradbury School Library and have organised for the Sony Corporation to collect the books. The last date to send in books is on Action Day, Friday 27th April.
South Africa Mobile Library – Children’s Books for Collection We accept books as follows :
- Written in English Language
- Suitable for 6-12 years old
- Pages should not be yellow or brown (due to aging)
- No missing or torn pages
- No scribbling on the pages
- No Textbook
- No Magazines
- No Encyclopedias
BORROWING OTHER LANGUAGES BOOKS
All students from Years One to Six have now had their number of loans increased by one book. The extra book is to encourage and enable children to borrow books in another language and must be used for this purpose only. Our Chinese Department have recently purchased some lovely new books for the library and these will be out on the shelves shortly. The new loan system has commenced as of Monday 16th April and looks like this:
Years 1, 2 & 3: 2 books of choice plus one other language book (3 in total)
Years 4, 5 & 6: 3 books of choice plus one other language book (4 in total)
P.T.A. News
By Julia Dunn, PTA Chairperson, Catherine Hufton, Vice Chairman & Lin Gong, Bradbury School PTA Limited
SAVE THE DATE
April 26 Sausage Sizzle
May 4 Year Book Cover Competition Deadline – Deadline Extended!!!
June 19,20,21 School Discos
YEARBOOK COVER COMPETITION
There are lots of exciting things happening over the next few months, the first of which is the launch of our annual yearbook cover design competition. This is open to all Bradbury students and is a chance for them to show off their creative talents.
The only rule – it has to be an original idea created by the student. Please see the following poster for more information. Closing date is extended to Friday 4th of May. The first and second place winners will be the Front and Back Yearbook covers, and the runners up artwork will be used in the 2018/19 School Calendar.
SAUSAGE SIZZLE
Our next Sausage Sizzle is on Thursday, April 26. Forms will be sent home in your child’s diary straight after the holidays and will need to be returned by Monday April 23.
SCHOOL DISCO
Disco dates have now been confirmed:
Tuesday 19 June – Yr3/4
Wednesday 20 June – Yr 5/6
Thursday 21 June – Yr 1/2
We encourage classes to use these as end of year parties and more information will be sent to you via your class parents closer to the time.
As always, if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions for events or spending plans, or if you are interested in joining the PTA committee please email pta@bradbury.edu.hk.
Julia Dunn
PTA Chairperson
Email: pta@bradbury.edu.hk.
Website: https://www.bradbury.edu.hk/pta-2/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BradburyschoolPTA/
Spellbulary 2018
By Therese Gallen, Vice Principal
SPELLING COMPETITION
Interested students might like to test their spelling skills and word knowledge in the SPELLBULARY, spelling ‘competition’.
The competition is run by The Kelly Yang Project – a writing and debating centre here in Hong Kong. This is a city wide ‘spelling bee’ and is open to children aged 6-12 years old.
Students can register independently, and parents can attend with them.
The Spellbulary competition will be held on Sunday, May 6, 2018, in Sheung Wan.
Attached is an event poster with registration information. You can also refer to this short video for an idea of how the competition works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZUmIP9KvG0. Registration forms can be downloaded here.
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
Adventure Sports Academy Ltd. – Soccer & Basketball Training, contact Eilis Cheung at 3998 4042 or info@adventuresportsacademy.com
Website: www.adventuresportsacademy.com
Backershagen B.V. (LanguageOne) – Global Mother Tongue Education, contact Leandra Lok at 5501 5262 or
leandra.lok@languageone.nl Website: www.languageone.nl
Brilliant Learning International Ltd. (Sanskriti) – Sanskriti/Hindi Language Class, contact Geetanjali Dhar at 3563 4300 or info@sanskritiglobal.org Website: www.sanskritiglobal.org
CentreStage Studios HK Ltd. – Singing, Acting, Dancing – Ballet, Jazz, Tap Dance, contact Imogen Taylor or Kaijah Bell at 5236 7960 or 2689 2272 or admin@centrestagestudioshk.com
Website: www.centrestagestudioshk.com
Discovery Dome Hong Kong Ltd. – Astronomy Club with a Portable Mobile Planetarium, contact Lorne Ali at 9754 4081 or lorneali@hotmail.com
Website www.discoverydome.hk
Foundation Academy Ltd. – Foundation’s Filmmaker, contact Foundation Academy at 3107 8810 or
academy@foundationge.com Website: http://www.foundationacademy.co/filmmaker/
HoYinPingChess – Chess Class, Holiday Camp, contact Yin Ping Ho at 9215 2682 or hoyinpingchess@gmail.com Website: www.hoyinpingchess.com/index/lesson.html / www.hoyinpingchess.com/index/camp.html
Hong Kong Star Basketball Training Centre Limited – Basketball, contact Yuki Lai at 9669 4280 or yukilai@hk-bbstc.com Website: www.hk-bbstc.org
Move For Life Ltd. – “Move” Dance Class, contact Rosie Martin at 5491 2473 or info@moveforlife.asia Website: www.moveforlife.asia
Starlit Voice Ltd. – LAMDA Musical Theatre & Group Drama, contact Vincent Warren at 2108 2182 or info@starlit.hk Website: www.starlitvoice.com
Swedish Cultural Society – Swedish Language and Culture, 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.
