Family Bauhinia Newsletter (January 2019)

Family Bauhinia’s latest newsletter is available to read now.  Find out the latest news and upcoming events on Volume 7, Issue 5.

>  Message from the Vice Principal

>  Message from Head of Year 7

>  Message from Head of Year 8

>  Celebrating Student Achievements

>  Family Bauhinia Achievements

>  Curriculum Updates

>  Upcoming Reporting and Information Sessions

>  Chinese New Tear Celebrations (Friday 1 February)

>  ‘SIS Goes MaD’ 2019

>  Inter-house

>  Internet Safety Week (11-15 February)

>  Year 8 Options Evening (Tuesday 12 February)

>  School Photos (18-20 February)

>  School Uniform

>  Bus Behaviour

>  Happy Birthday!

>  Important Dates for Your Diary

Message from the Vice Principal

Dear Bauhinia Parents,

Happy New Year! In this Newsletter, we can say that twice!  We hope everyone had a happy Christmas holiday and will have an even better Chinese New Year holiday!  The students have been back to school for 4 weeks and a lot has happened during this time: we welcomed the Year 6 students to our school for transition visits, we welcomed 4 new families to Family Bauhinia, Year 8 Student Led Consultation, Year 8 InterD trips, Term 2 activities started, Inter-House and we ended with a Year 7 PCC and a parent workshop on understanding our reporting and assessment schedule – we are a very busy school!   We are very proud of our students and how well they thrive in this busy environment! A big thank you to you as parents for being so supportive and active in the lives of your children! A positive home-school partnership is very important to all our children.

Included in this Newsletter are highlights of the events in December/January as well as what you can look forward to in the month ahead.  And as this will be the final Newsletter before Chinese New Year, we would like to wish you a happy and healthy New Year and best wishes for the Year of the Pig! Kong Hei Fat Choi!

The next Family Bauhinia Newsletter will be sent at the end of February but you will also receive the weekly SIS e-bulletin found here.

Welcome new students to Family Bauhinia

We are very pleased to welcome 4 new families to SIS.  The children have settled well and well supported by their classmates.

Welcome:

• Harry Keegan (7C2)
• Sojiro Kisa (7C2)
• Bill Xiao (7C1)
• Dana Mak (8K2)

Sincerely,

Carolyn Andrews
Vice Principal / Director of Middle School & MYP Coordinator

Message from Head of Year 7

A busy and productive start to term 2 so far.

It was fantastic to receive so many volunteers from Year 7 who were busy helping with the Year 6 students visit the school last week. Our students were extremely helpful and made huge steps in reassuring the Year 6 students regarding life at SIS, in preparation for them starting in August. Thanks to everyone who helped with these visits.

The MaD Reps have been busy preparing the kindness mats that we are making for ImpactHK .  Hopefully, we will have some completed mats to show in the next newsletter. Thanks to all those who contributed spare plastic bags in order to support this project.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, may you all have a wonderful holiday and all best wishes in the upcoming Year of the Pig.

Andy Thums
Head of Year 7

Message from Head of Year 8

I was so proud to see so many of our Family Bauhinia students take to the stage and perform for the rest of their peers during the Christmas Talent Show. The performers put on a wonderful performance and the audience created a great atmosphere with well over 250 students supporting the event!  Photographs below.

In the coming weeks Year 8 students will be out and about in Hong Kong filming at their chosen location to raise awareness for a social concern that they feel passionate about. This is such an exciting opportunity as Year 8 will have the opportunity to nominate the best film in their class to enter the SIS Film & Media Awards 2019, a prestigious event run by the Film and Media department. It has been wonderful to see the Digital Leaders, a group of self-selected students who are passionate about film and who work closely with Mr Williamson, coming into various Interdisciplinary lessons and teaching Year 8 important film techniques, which will serve to enhance the students’ work.  Please do take the opportunity to speak to your children about the filmmaking process and be sure to watch their social awareness advertisement which they aim to have completed by the end of this term.

All the very best for 2019.

Victoria Butcher
Head of Year 8

Celebrating Student Achievements

For the months of December and January, we have noted some students who have Made a Difference in the SIS community.  We are incredibly proud of our students and how they Make a Difference in a variety of ways to make SIS an wonderful place to be.  Please see below the names of some of the children who have Made a Difference in the last couple of months.

We have Made a Difference

Family Bauhinia Achievements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ottillie Chung (8M1) – Published Author

Ottillie has once again written and published books which are now available on Amazon!  We are very proud of Ottillie for her hard work and dedication to writing. Well done Ottillie!

 

 

 

Sherman Ming (8N2) – places second in Speech Competition!

Congratulations to Sherman Ming who represented South Island School and won second place at the 70th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival!

Sherman has been practising the dramatic duologue (Secondary 1 and 2) with his partner from West Island School for several months. They both received positive comments from the adjudicator. Great job Sherman!

Minjun Koo (8B1) and Jason Choi (8C1) – Amazing Archers!

Congratulations to Minjun Koo who placed 1st receiving a silver star which placed him 2nd overall in his division and Jason Choi who placed 4th in the Youth Archery Competition on Saturday 1 December.  The boys competed with a compound bow.

Both of them won trophies at another competition, with Minjun winning 2nd and Jason winning 3rd in their division. The boys made a difference as they greatly improved from previous results evening shooting at 30 meters. Well done boys!

 

 

 

Rachel Lui (7S1) – Proficient Pianist

Rachel has passed her Trinity ATCL Piano Performance Diploma Exam with distinction! This is Rachel’s second Diploma award in Music Performance.  She passed her ABRSM ARSM Piano Performance Diploma Exam with distinction in 2017.

To add to this impressive accomplishment, Rachel was awarded First Prize in the 2018 “Golden Classical Music Awards” New York International Music Competition!

It takes great commitment and perseverance to accomplish so much – we are very proud of you Rachel!

Aidan Leung (8M2) – Talent Taekwondoin

Aidan Leung won the first runner-up of black belt group for his age category (12-14) at the 2018 Hong Kong Poomsae Competition which held on 30 December 2018.

Aidan is a member of the Hong Kong Junior Taekwondo Poomsae Team which caters for children under 15 years of age.

 

 

Cormac Byrne (8K1) – Principled and Caring

Cormac found a wallet near the school with over $1000 inside. He brought the wallet to the school and we managed to return it back to the very happy and grateful owner! We are very proud of you Cormac!

 

 

 Michelle Yuen (7M1) – Caring for Others

Michelle decided that she could make a difference in the world by cutting her long hair and donating it to the Hope Foundation of Cancer Care in Taiwan.  When asked what motivated her to do this, she had this to say,

‘I donated my hair because I was inspired by a boy I read about online who did not cut his hair for a whole year, just to help the kids that have cancer.’

We are proud of you Michelle for taking action to care for others!

SIS Tennis Champs!

Our U14 Tennis Team competed in the recent  ISSFHK Boys Tennis Competition and took home first place!  This is the first time our team entered the competition and we won!  We are very proud of how hard our boys work to achieve such an accomplishment.  More importantly, the boys had fun and played very well as a team – taking care of each other! Congratulations!

 

Curriculum Updates

Pastoral Learning Curriculum (PLC) 8M2 – Healthy Eating Infomercial

One of the learning engagements for the Year 8 PLC was to create a one minute infomercial to encourage teens to eat healthily. The areas to consider consisted of: improving memory, healthy skin, energy levels, promoting good sleep,  concentration, improving positive moods, immune system and digestion.

Healthy eating is a major theme in Year 8 PLC at the moment and 8M2 were very engaged in the topic.

Please click here to view an example of the exceptional quality of infomercials that were created.  Special mention to Sahil Harjani and Clarice Lam for creating this video.

Year 8 Individual and Societies (InSOC)

Year 8 students showcasing their physical maps of China as part of their early investigations into the geographical, historical and cultural aspects of China.

Mother Tongue Day (Thursday, 21 February)

To help promote the linguistic diversity and cultural heritage of the school community, this year at SIS we will be celebrating international MOTHER TONGUE DAY on Thursday, 21 February.

All languages lessons for Years 7-10 that day will focus on celebrating native languages, with other activities including:

• Cantonese play for selected Year 7 and 8 students
• ESF-wide quiz with prizes for the winners
• 2-minute video competition celebrating students’ native language(s)

Sam Thater
Head of Languages

Year 9 InterD – Community Project

This term is an eventful term for the Y9 students as they will begin their Community Project at the end of February 2019. The Community Project is an opportunity for the students to apply their skills and knowledge to research and investigate a community issue, take action as a team and share their findings with others. It will enable them to develop creative new insights and deeper understanding of current community concerns.  Students will be asked to think about personal interests and goals that they would like to accomplish for this project. The goals that the students undertake will vary from raising awareness, participating actively, informing others, creating or innovating, changing behaviours or advocating for the rights of others.

In March, students will be organised into groups within their InterD classes based on interest and they will participate in lessons to support them in the research, planning and recording of their project.  The students will complete their project in May and have an opportunity to share their findings with the larger South Island School community, including friends and family at an exhibition event.

A Parent Information Evening is organised for February to provide interested parents with more information. This is a very exciting time and all the InterDisciplinary teachers are looking forward to working with the students on their projects.

Chile Le
Community Project Coordinator

Upcoming Reporting and Information Sessions

Evidencer – Making Learning Visible

During term one we saw the relaunch of Evidencer – students were encouraged to share work that highlighted their learner profile strengths. It’s been amazing to see the year 7 and 8 portfolios fill up with images, videos and classwork. As a year 7 tutor, I’m getting a real insight into the variety of work my tutees are doing across the school.

The student reflections have also been great to read; as you would expect there are some lovely comments about MAD week, making new friends and all the fantastic experiences from term one.

The most important thing that happened this term was MaD week. The learner profile I have evidence is knowledgeable because during MaD week I showed my skills on knotting. – Henry AU YEUNG

During my time away with Year 7s, I was able to challenge myself in lots of different ways (new food, new skills, and new friends) therefore I think I was a Risk Taker. – Harshita GUPTA

Our boy’s football inter-house, we were more successful than any other inter-house we played. From the Learner profile, I achieved being Principled, because I had to make the teams fair and let everyone play. – Richard LEE

Finally, I have to say a huge thank you to all those parents who have already engaged in the process. Students from across the family have commented on how much they have enjoyed the sharing process. Although we have dedicated time for Evidencer throughout the year, you can sit down, with your child, and view their uploaded evidence at any time – you never know what you might see.

Shaine Bushell, MYP Academic Coordinator

Year 7 Progress Check Card 2 (Thursday, 31 January)

In Year 7, PCC2 is a full report indicating how your child is progressing academically.  Your child’s teachers will give a rating to express how engaged they have been with their learning in each subject (please see table below explaining the grading scale), as well as an achievement level in each criterion for each subject group – each criterion can be found here.  Teachers will also include next steps in learning for each subject to support student progress.  This report has been developed to meet the requirements of the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).

Year 7 PCC2 will be live to parents on iSAMS on Thursday, 31 January at 4:00 pm

Year 7 Student Led Consultation (SLC) (Tuesday, 19 February)

Following from this report we will host the Year 7 Student Led Consultation (SLC), information has been shared with you in a separate email.  Online booking for appointments will open Friday February 1st from 12:30 pm.  One important point to note for this SLC: the report will have a section for teachers to indicate whether or not an appointment is necessary.  

Please click here for an example of the Year 7 report format.

As there is not enough time for all parents to see all teachers in one night, we hope this will support you in making your online booking.  Please remember, our doors are always open, you do not have to wait until a SLC to approach any of the teachers at school.

MYP Reporting and Assessment – Parent Presentation (Thursday, 31 January)

There is a lot of information in our PCCs and other assessment documentation which can be confusing.  In an effort to further support our parents, we will host a parent information session on MYP reporting as well as go over the rationale behind our assessment schedule.  The presentation will take place on Thursday, 31 January at 5:30pm in the SPACE.  A separate email with a sign up for the event to follow.

Chinese New Year Celebrations (Friday 1 February)

The Year of the Pig is just around the corner!  To celebrate this exciting festival, we will host a whole school CNY Assembly on Friday, 1 February.  We encourage students to wear Chinese traditional clothes or something red to guarantee luck and happiness in the Year of the Pig!

On this day, the students will be dismissed at 12:55pm with school buses leaving school at 1:15pm.

 
Family Bauhinia students participating Chinese New Year activities.

‘SIS Goes MaD’ 2019

The SIS Goes MaD 2019 website will be open for viewing on Thursday, 31 January.  After this date, please click on the link here to view general information and details about each MaD Trip.

Enrolment will occur from the 11 to 22 February for current Years 7-9s & 11s only.  For instructions on how to enrol, please click here.

*Please be reminded that this system is NOT first-come, first-served.  It is a random allocation.  Please take your time during the enrolment phase and sign-up once you and your child have thought about how best they can make a difference.

For your convenience, please take note of the following important dates listed:

• Enrolment application: from 11 to 22 February 2019
• Placement Announcement: 11 March 2019
• Deposit Deadline: 29 March 2019

Balance Deadline: 13 June 2019

Inter-house

(Revised on 22 January 2019)

Inter-House Cross-Country

Congratulations to all the Year 7 and 8 students who have been chosen to represent their House in the upcoming Cross-Country race!  This is a big Inter-House event and a chance to earn several points! Please see full list of names below. This is by invitation only so a big well done to the students who qualified.  If the students have not been chosen, they do not need to attend this Inter-house.

Event Details:

Date: Friday 15 February 2019

Time: 12:35 – 3:00 pm
Where: Black’s Link
Transport: The bus will leave school at 12:35pm to Black’s Link – return to school for 3pm in time for Activity Buses for Bus Pass holders or the students can make their own way home
Route distance: 3km
What to bring? – Snack and a Water bottle
– Please wear house T-shirts!
– Warm clothing (Jumper/sweater or tracksuit)

Good luck to all of our runners!

Internet Safety Week (11-15 February)

During the week 11-15 February, South Island School will be reminding students about the importance of maintaining appropriate ethical behaviour online.

‘Internet Safety Week’ will be delivered as part of tutor time each day and is of particular significance to our children in Family Bauhinia.  Many of you will remember the laptop induction presentation delivered just before students received their laptops in Year 7. The presentation outlined several key online concerns before suggesting strategies for parents to use in supporting their children to be responsible users of digital technology.

During the course of the school year, it is important to remind students of the dangers faced online and subsequently tutor periods throughout the week will focus on digital footprints, cyber safety, oversharing online content and the rise of messaging apps. By raising awareness, we hope to reiterate the importance of sensible, balanced and most importantly, safe use of online resources.  We will have specific lessons during Tutor Time to support the children during the week.

YEAR 7

• Digital Footprints
• Thinking Before You Post
• European Digital Rights
• UNICEF Online Safety Survey
• Sherry Turkle TED Talk, ‘Connected but Alone’ (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Xr3AsBEK4)

YEAR 8

• Download app Moment (iOS) or Quality Time (Android), which is used to record the time spent online using mobile phones  
• Online Gaming Dangers
• Logan Paul controversy based on the controversies surrounding a well-known Youtuber (known to many of our younger students) and an example of posting inappropriate content, which nearly ended his career.
• Social Media/Game/App Poll
• The consequences of ‘Posting Your Image Online’

Students will post some of their findings from the various tasks, discussions etc onto their online portfolio, Evidencer, which will give you further information on their learning from the week. We hope that the debates stemming from the resources used during Internet Safety Week will provide continuity, which builds on the philosophy of Year 7 Laptop Induction Evening and helps students to navigate the many dangers associated with online use.    

Iain Williamson
Head of Media Literacy

Year 8 Options Evening (Tuesday 12 February)

It’s coming to that time of year when Year 8 students will be able to choose some of their subjects for Year 9.  On Tuesday, 12 February, we will host a Year 8 Options Evening for parents to give information on the different subjects as well as the options process.  Information regarding the evening has been sent to parents in a separate email.  The students will have a similar presentation during an Assembly on the same day to support discussions at home regarding choices.

Options forms with choices for next academic year are due in on Friday, 8 March.

School Photos

From Monday, February 18th to Wednesday, 20 February, students will have their school photos taken. Parents will receive a proofcard and order form, 3-4 weeks after the photos are taken and can order the photos online or mail directly to Techni Photo.  Please do not send envelopes to the school, ordering is made directly through Techi-photo. Click here for detailed instruction about ordering photos online.  

Please see below the whole school schedule and make special note of the following:

• Students must wear school uniform, NOT PE kit for individual photos.
  • Year 7 Monday 18 February
  • Year 8 Wednesday 20 February
    

• Students are encouraged to wear their HOUSE shirts for the Family Bauhinia Photo.
  • Tuesday 19 February

• Sibling photos will take place on Tuesday February 19 from 8:25 am – 10:05 am.  Students do not need to sign up, simply go to the Hall with their sibling(s)

School Photo Schedule:

School Uniform

As the weather is becoming cooler, students will require warmer clothing.  As a reminder, students must wear school uniform at all times in the school.  We have a sweater and hoodies (summer and winter) for the students to choose from in the PTA shop – no outside clothing is to be worn inside the school.  The classrooms are heated, so there is no worry of the children being cold at school.

Exceptions for the cooler weather:

• Girls, they may wear black leggings under their skort to keep the legs warm
• Boys and girls may wear a white long-sleeved undershirt under their school shirt
• Students may wear a warm jacket (non-uniform) to school but they must take it off once they are in the building.  Classrooms are heated so the students will not need the extra layers.

Bus Behaviour

We have received a few complaints from members of the community about the behaviour on local buses, in particular 41A and 76.  We have been talking to the students about appropriate behaviour and it is clear that they all understand what is appropriate and how to take care of others.  The next step is to support students in choosing to the right thing, even when no one is watching. We have received Road Safety Bulletins from Transport Department and the Road Safety Council outlining Safety Tips for Public Transport Passengers which indicates this is a big issue.  Please see below the Safety Tips that we have reinforced with our students. It would be greatly appreciated if you would speak to your child if they travel on the local bus and make them aware of these tips.  Also, to let them know we are here for them if they encounter any difficulties on the bus.

Safety Tips for Public Transport Passengers

• Do not obstruct or distract the driver (this includes loud music/shouting, moving around the bus in motion.
• Behave politely and respect each other (do not leave a bag on a seat so others cannot sit, use of inappropriate language).
• Do not get on or off a bus unless it has stopped completely.
• Do not chase the bus or try to stop a bus when the bus is leaving the stop (many  students do this and we worry about their safety).
• Do not rush in and be patient for the next departure when the bus id crowded or is leaving (buses leave every 20 minutes, students are welcome to wait in the school).
• Do not stand on the staircase and upper deck of a bus.
• Wear a seat best if the seat is fitted with one.
• Offer your seat to people in need.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday December Babies!

Happy Birthday January Babies!

Important Dates for Your Diary

January 2019

• 31 Jan – Year 7 PCC2 live on iSAMS after 4:00pm
• 31 Jan – Parent presentation: MYP Reporting and Assessment (5:30pm @The SPACE)

February 2019

• 1 Feb – Booking System for Year 7 SLC opens for parents
• 1 Feb – Chinese New Year Assembly (students will be dismissed at 12:55pm)
• 4-8 Feb – Chinese New Year Holiday
• 11 Feb – Enrolment application for ‘SIS goes MaD’ 2019 begins (11-22 February 2019)
• 11-15 Feb – Internet Safety Week
• 12 Feb – Year 8 Options Assembly
• 12 Feb – Year 8 Options Evening for Parents
• 14 Feb – ESF Festival of Music @SIS
• 15 Feb – Inter-House Cross Country (by invitation only)
• 18-20 Feb – School photos
• 19 Feb – Year 7 Student Led Consultations
• 21 Feb – Mother Tongue Day
• 22 Feb – Enrolment application for ‘SIS goes MaD’ 2019 ends
• 22 Feb – Years 7&8 Inter-House Gymnastics
• 25 Feb – Year 8 Spanish food event
• 27 Feb – Year 7 Languages & InSoC Trip to Stanley

All dates and information can be found on our school calendar.  To view the calendar, please click here or go to our school website and click  .

Happy New Year!

Carolyn Andrews
Vice Principal / Director of Middle School
MYP Coordinator