QBS Newsletter - Issue 03

Issue 03

9th September 2010

Principals Comment

Learning Centre News

Clubs

School Photographer

Medical

Parent Helper Meeting

Music

PTA News

Coming Up

Dear Parents

It was great to see so many of you at our curriculum presentation evening last week and I hope that you found the overview helpful. You can find the screen presentation on our Qoodle site for your reference.

A while ago we asked for some feedback from parents around our various reporting systems and one view that was shared by a number of people was that the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening was a great way for teachers to pass information on to parents but that there was no opportunity for parents to pass information to teachers.

In order to address this we asked all parents to submit a survey form to the teacher at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening this year, the teachers have found this information really helpful and it will help them to customise their teaching to suit the needs of all learners. If you have not submitted the survey form it would be great if you could you do so during the next week.

A copy of the survey form can be downloaded here.

Kind Regards,

Debra Gardiner
Principal

Learning Centre News

It is great to see the children coming into the Learning Centre this week. All of them seem so enthusiastic and we obviously have a great community of readers in our school.

This year the children will not just be reading in the Learning Centre but will also be having lessons in information literacy.

For Year 1 children this might be based around locating information and using simple systems that are used in libraries. Year 5 students on the other hand might be evaluating web sites for bias and unreliability.

“Information literacy forms the basis of lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become self-directed, and to assume greater control over their own learning.”
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilintro.html

This fits perfectly with our inquiry approach to learning, where children investigate, explore and question.
If you want to know more about information literacy try a little inquiry yourself and explore...

Steph Gilchrist and May Tang

Learning Centre

Clubs

QBS CLUBS

Please note that QBS Clubs start the week beginning 4th October.

There are some changes for the QBS clubs.

- Battle of the Books will be on WEDNESDAY not Thursday
- Showtime, Music Drama will be on TUESDAY not Thursday

The After School Activity Bus will commence on 13th September.

The form is available in the After School Activities booklet but can also be downloaded here.

The deadline to submit Term 1 applications and After School Activity Bus form applications is 17th September.

EXTERNAL CLUBS

Siblings, who are not involved in clubs, should not be waiting behind after school to go home with their brother/sister.
We regret that the school cannot accept responsibility for children that are unsupervised.

For any clubs starting after 2:50pm students must be supervised by a parent or helper while waiting as QBS playground supervision stops after 2:50pm.

School Photographer

The school photographer will be at school on Monday & Tuesday, 20th and 21st September. He will take photographs of the whole school, each class, each individual and school teams, on a ‘sale or return’ basis.

Family pictures can be arranged after school on Monday, 20th Sept., between 3pm – 5pm at QBS or by appointment at the studio at 6/F Ming Tak Commercial Building, 101 Wanchai Road, Hong Kong. Tel:2803-5988 Fax:2575-8083

Price List: Schedule A Schedule B

Please click here to complete and submit the online form to make an appointment.

Please do not send any money in yet.

Medical

All the students have been given a Medical Information Form but there are still some forms yet to be returned. Please return asap the medical room. If a replacement form is needed then please download from our Medical webpage.

**IMPORTANT**

I have noticed that many children have asthma. I need the inhaler/puffer in my office. If the child has an attack at school I need to be able to help them. Also any child who needs an EPI PEN due to a severe allergy I must have the Epi Pen in my office as well. This is very important so PLEASE can I have your co-operation in this matter.

Parent Helper Meeting

Now that the children are settling in well to their new school routines, it is time for us to give parents the opportunity to come in and help in school.

There are a wide range of areas that parents can support with and these will be outlined at the Parent Helper Meeting on Wednesday 15th September at 1:45pm in the school hall. If you are interested in coming in to school to help then please come along. At this meeting you will be able to sign up for regular sessions to support or indicate an interest in specific areas such as the Learning Centre of supporting productions.

I look forward to seeing many familiar and new faces!

Jason Taylor

Vice Principal

Music

Instrumental Lessons
Individual instrumental lessons are available after school hours and/or on a Saturday morning. Please download, complete & return the reply slip and we will make every effort to place your child. There are very limited places for some instruments at the moment. If the demand is high enough we will try to engage our teachers for extra days. Please be aware that this may not be possible.

Insufficient demand for certain instruments will result in an inability for QBS to offer that option.

• Most individual, half-hour lessons cost $250-$300 each, payable in advance usually by the term (though longer terms could be divided into 2 or 3 payments).
• A small number of instruments are available for hire at a reasonable fee, through the school.
• Parents are expected to liaise directly with the teacher once lessons have begun. For this reason it is imperative that all communication options are exchanged.

Please note these lessons are available for Years 2 – 6 only.
Some lessons are available from Y4-6 only.
Students already involved in lessons should expect to continue on the same day and need not respond again.

Download the 'Return Slip'

School Orchestras
Senior Orchestra started on the 2nd September. There will be an interschool orchestral event towards the end of September! Please note that the activity bus service may not yet have started. Children with sufficient skills on an orchestral instrument, who are not ready for the Senior Orchestra, may join the Friday lunch-time “Really Wild” Orchestra.

Any children wishing to join either group for the first time should arrange when to play for Mrs. O’Rorke to find out which group they are ready for.

Current members can continue as usual.

School Band
This year, for the first time, we are able to offer a band experience for interested children. Mr Lee is happy to begin with all children who are able to find their own way home for the first two weeks as the extra-curricular activities buses will not begin until later in September. He will inform members which Mondays to attend well in advance.
Each band will run for the duration of half an academic year ie a new band will begin in January.
The extra-curricular activity booklet describes this group in detail. One extra point to note is that there will be a number of Mondays when the group will meet after school so both Thursdays and Mondays should be kept free.

School Choirs
There are two choirs, one for Years 3 and 4 and another for Years 5 and 6 which both meet on a Monday at lunchtime. Membership is a commitment for at least one term at a time and children should expect to rehearse and/or perform on a small number of weekends.

Lunchtime Recorder Groups
Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtime recorder groups will cater for three different levels. All interested children in Yrs 5 and 6 should see Mrs O’Rorke to confirm their day.

New children to QBS also have the chance to learn this instrument.

PTA

UPCOMING PTA EVENTS
Term 1

- New Parent’s Cocktail & Annual General Meeting
- Halloween Disco
- Book Club – Term 1
- Christmas Carols Evening

Parent Helpers

We would like to request those parents who would like to participate and help with the organising of the events to please confirm with us by email: pta@qbs.edu.hk.

Please specify the name of the event, your child’s name, class number, your name, mobile/home number and email address. We will get back to you with confirmation and details about the event.

SCHOOL BUS – NEWS

Special Travel Arrangements or Change in Travel Arrangements
All parents and guardians are reminded to inform PTA, as well as the school, for any change in the regular travel plans of their child(ren) 1 DAY before the date and time concerned.

After-School Activities
All parents and guardians are reminded to inform PTA of all the after-school activities of their child(ren) for Term 1 as soon as possible by email to pta@qbs.edu.hk

Playdates / Social Meetings
The PTA and the school do not encourage the changing of school buses to facilitate play-dates / social meetings etc., as it causes disruptions for both the school and the bus escorts. Hence all parents are requested to make arrangements for such purposes after your child(ren) has been dropped off at the designated bus stops, or you may collect them as a walker from school.

Unauthorised Travel on School Buses
All students who are NOT registered users of the school bus services are not allowed to travel on the school buses.

Adults Travelling On School Buses
Adults with prior authorisation from the PTA are only allowed to travel on the school bus on a regular basis. Please be advised that this privilege is only offered provided seats are available. Priority will be first given to students, second to parent helpers, then to parents, and then EA’s.

Parent / Guardian Contact Information
Both the PTA and school have to be notified of any changes to your contact information, (in writing or by email). Parents are also requested to inform us if both parents are out of town, and the guardian details in your absence.

[The above rules and procedures are required to be followed, and are in the best safety and interest of the students, parents, the school, the PTA, and the bus provider.]

PTA SHOP – NEWS

QBS School Bags, Book Bags and Pencil Cases
The QBS School Bags, Book Bags (Blue & Red) and Pencil Cases are currently out of stock and we will notify all parents through the newsletter once they have arrived.
[Parents, please note that the design of the book bags are changed to a water-proof quality and therefore the price will be changed to: $35.00/ea]

Books – Musicland Recorder Book 1
The book is currently out of stock and we will notify all parents through the newsletter once they have arrive.
[Parents, please note that due to an increase in cost the books will be sold at $80.00/ea]

Books – Mandarin Books
- Chinese Made Easy 3: IN STOCK NOW.
[All students who have ordered the books are to come and collect them from the PTA Office.]
- All other new books are OUT OF STOCK
The books have not yet arrived and are currently out of stock. Parents will be notified through the newsletter once the books have arrived.

GREENER ENVIRONMENT
Help us in our drive for a greener environment.
We request all parents to support a greener environment by bringing in your own shopping bags when you come to purchase items from the shop.

Parents who have extra re-usable bags, in good quality, may bring them in or send them in for us to re-cycle and re-use for those shoppers who need bags.

PTA Opening Hours
• PTA Office: 8:00am to 3:00pm from Monday to Friday (as per the school calendar).
• PTA Shop: 8:00am to 11:00am and 12:00noon to 4:00pm from Tuesday to Thursday (as per school calendar).

For further queries on the above please do not hesitate to contact either Mona Diwan or Dorothy Ho at the PTA office either by phone no: 28871004, or by email to: pta@qbs.edu.hk