29 Mar 2019

Family Bauhinia Newsletter (March 2019)

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

> Message from the Vice Principal

> Celebrating Family Bauhinia Achievements

> SIS PTA Parent Education Evening – Math Workshop (9 April)

> End of Term Arrangements (12 April)

> Inter-House Schedule (Term 3 2018-2019)

> After School Activities (Term 3 2018-2019)

> Important Dates For Your Diary

Message from the Vice Principal

Dear Bauhinia Parents,

As we complete Term 2 of the school year, it is a good time to reflect on the amazing school community we have here at South Island School. There is always so much happening around the school, some of it well publicised, and some of it behind the scenes.

Last week we appointed our new Student Council for the next academic year including our new Head Girl, Vereta Gour (12M2) and Head Boy, Nicholas Ng (12B2) who will lead the school next year as well as Head Girl, Jessica Rowe (12M1) and Head Boy, Matteo Marchi (12N1) for Family Bauhinia. I am always impressed with the level of maturity and ability our students possess and their desire to use their skills to Make a Difference in our school. Looking at the students in Family Bauhinia, I cannot help but wonder which of these amazing students is our future Head Girl and Head Boy!

This edition of the Family Bauhinia Newsletter is a celebration of day-to-day accomplishments of our students and the school community.

We would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday.

Carolyn Andrews
Vice Principal / Director of Middle School
MYP Coordinator

Family Bauhinia Prefect Team (2019 – 2020)

Message from Head of Year 7

Huge thanks to the group of Family Bauhinia MaD Reps who prepared, delivered and served food to the homeless on Saturday 16 March through our partnership with ImpactHK. The Reps also engaged in a kindness walk delivering items to those in need around the Olympic area of Hong Kong. While visiting ImpactHK, we also passed on the kindness mat that we have been busy creating over this term. We are now in the process of planning our main fundraiser in Term 3 to support ImpactHK. We will keep you posted.

As we come toward the end of this half term, teachers have noticed that some of our Year 7’s appear quite tired in class. We often bring to the attention of the students during PLC sessions the benefits of ‘a good night’s sleep’ and ‘healthy food options’ which truly support the mind and body to help to increase focus and reduce stress. Thanks for your support with this.

Andy Thums
Head of Year 7

Message from Head of Year 8

This term has provided a lot of opportunities for Year 8 students to engage in Inter-House activities including Gecko Maths and Racketathon.

Gecko Maths encourages students to collaborate with friends that are in the same tutor group, but not necessarily in the same Maths class. Each group solves mathematical puzzles and submits an answer for checking before moving to the next puzzle. The alert rhythm of music and the cognitive stretch always makes Gecko Maths a happy end of the school week! Racketathon is an opportunity for the students to test out their ball skills and promotes team spirit and enjoyment for all students who take part. Students who take part can demonstrate and practise their skills in tennis, table tennis and badminton.

Ms Nicola Bosson, the Inter-House Coordinator, has created a new scoring system in the hope of improving attendance by all students to the Inter-House competitions, which typically run on a Friday afternoon (your child will know the schedule of events). From now on tutor groups will not only be able to win points depending on their winning position and by turning up to events in their House shirts, but they will also collect points for attendance. It is therefore very important that after-school appointments are not made when Inter-House competitions are running. Participation in events is not only compulsory, but it could make the difference as to whether a House wins or loses the overall Inter-House competition at the end of the school year! Thank you for your support.

Victoria Butcher
Head of Year 8

Family Bauhinia Disco

The Wellbeing Representatives have already met this term and have begun to discuss the next Family Bauhinia social event to celebrate the coming of the Easter holidays. Students would like to host a disco for all of Years 7 and 8 students on 4 April at lunch time, please encourage your child to put on their dancing shoes and join the party!

Celebrating Family Bauhinia Achievements

For the month of March, 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 a wonderful place to be. Please see below the names of some of the children who have Made a Difference this month.

Aidan Leung (8M2): Taekwondo Championships

In the 23rd Asian Cities Taekwondo Championships, held at Kowloon Park Sports Centre on 23 March 2019, Aidan won three prizes: Gold (12-14 Individual), Gold (12-14 Mixed Pair) and Silver (12-14 team).

The competition included such cities as China, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore and Taiwan!

Excellent accomplishment Aidan!

‘SIS Goes MaD’ 2019

Placement announcement for all SIS Goes MaD trips was made on 11 March 2019. For trips requiring payments, please issue cheques made payable to “South Island School”, with student name, tutor group and “SIS goes MaD” marked on the back for identification. Cheques can either be handed into the dropbox at SIS Main Reception on LG/F, C Block, or sent by post to “South Island School, 50 Nam Fung Road, Hong Kong”.

Please take note of the following important dates listed:

Placement Announcement: 11 March 2019
Deposit Deadline: 29 March 2019
Balance Deadline: 13 June 2019

Yokee Kwan
Trip Administrator

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Our school photo provider, Techni Photo has launched an online order platform. The platform will allow you to see the school photos with your child, place an order and pay online.

Your child has been provided with a Proof Card of their photograph for your convenience. To view the images, just log in to the website www.techni-photo.com/order with the information provided on the Proof Card. Instructions on how to order online can be found here. The online order deadline is Friday 29 March 2019.

Curriculum Update

Year 8 Restaurant Activity

Students created their own menus with typical dishes from the Spanish speaking world. In the Atrium, they set up their restaurants and students from other Year 8 classes played the roles of customers. They were able to practise ordering food in Spanish, so they are well-equipped for their next holiday to Spain or Latin America!

Holly Dauncey
Head of Spanish

Community Project Sharing Platform

On 22 March, we held our first Community Project Sharing Platform for Year 9 students. It was a chance for the Y9 students to talk to people from our SIS community to discuss concerns and share ideas for action. The purpose of the event was for the current Y9 students to gain information for them to develop their Community Projects.

Thank you to the following parents, teachers and Y10 students who came to the event and made it a productive and informative session for the Y9 students:

Ms. Pia Wong, Mrs. Cassie Jullienne, Ms. Anita Chan, Mrs. Elisha Parsons, Mr. Ben Edwards, Mrs. Beverly Cook, Mr. Andrew Rueger, Mr. Ian Meekcoms

Chloe Jazzy Lau, Alyssa Wong, Michelle Kim, Aiswarya Rambhatla, Natalie Lin, Aqru Chan, Ines Chiu, Rachel Lu, Johan Van Den Berg, Kavinda De Alwis, Hana Meekcoms, John Baker

Chile Le
Head of Interdisciplinary Learning and Community Project Coordinator

Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival

“The 2019 Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival was a great experience! It was an action-packed day and was very entertaining. It had many different questions that made your brain think and was worth it. The questions were very intriguing and exciting, and we fully immersed yourself with the question. It was a unique Maths competition as it was non-competitive and very engaging. The facilitators were very friendly and helped you understand when you get stuck. It improved your logical reasoning skills and helped you improve many other skills like teamwork and analytical skills. There were many original questions and games too. The event was very technologically advanced and involved using phones and downloading fun Maths games. There were Maths riddles and many other different types of questions; each helping you improve, not only were they life skills but also useful problem-solving skills such as cancelling out possibilities, algebraic formulas, physical representations. It was fascinating, and it was a worthwhile experience!”

Karthik VENKATESH (9K2)

Evidencer Reflections

During Term One, we saw the relaunch of Evidencer – students were encouraged to share work that highlighted their learner profile strengths. It has been amazing to see the Years 7 and 8 portfolios filled up with images, videos and classwork. Below is just a small sample of the 3000 pieces of evidence that have been uploaded by students from Years 7 and 8 since the start of the year:

Year 7 and 8 students are currently in the process of reflecting on their work and progress against the IB learner profile. These reflections will be ready for parents to view and comment just before the Easter break.

Shaine Bushell
MYP Academic Coordinator

SIS PTA Parent Education Evening – Math Workshop (9 April)

The South Island School PTA have the pleasure to host a workshop presented by Mathematics Department where we discuss Mathematics teaching and learning. Some interesting puzzles are available from 6 pm.

Date: 9 April 2019 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Venue: The Space (5/F), South Island School
Target Audience: Years 7 – 10 Parents (all year groups are welcome but exclusive to SIS parents)

The structure of the evening draws from parents’ frequently asked questions, as well as from the feedback that we received when we ran similar sessions, with the last one being in November 2016.

The outline of the workshop is as follows:

WHAT are the most common myths about mathematics learning?
WHAT are the significant changes in the teaching and learning of mathematics?
HOW are these changes reflected in the learning experiences of our students and in the ways we assess learning?
HOW can parents help their children?
WHY are we all here, together?

Embedded throughout the evening are collaborative problem-solving experiences, as well as discussion and reflection points.

Dr. Daniela Vasile
Head of Mathematics

End of Term Arrangements (12 April)

End of Term 2 is Friday 12 April and it is also a dress casual day for the students. It will be in support of the fundraising event that all ESF Secondary Schools are contributing to – supporting Jockey Club Sarah Roe School to purchase a new minibus for their students! Together we are stronger!’

We look forward to seeing the students back and ready for Term 3 on Monday 29 April (Week 2).

Inter-House Schedule (Term 3 2018-2019)

After School Activities (Term 3 2018-2019)

Thursday, 2 May 12:30 – Friday, 3 May 2019 (15:30)	VIEW ONLY
Friday, 3 May (15:30) – Sunday, 5 May 2019 (23:59)*	SIGN-UP Period
Monday, 6 May 6th (12:30) – Tuesday, 7 May 2019 (16:30)	PROCESSING
Wednesday, 8 May 2019 (15:30)	Allocations Confirmed
Thursday, 9 May 2019 – Friday, 10 May 2019 (12:30)	Payment Due
Wednesday, 15 May – Thursday, June 13 2019	Activity Period

How to Sign up: Please click here for instructions on how to sign up for after-school activities.

*Students may sign up at any time during SIGN-UP period. Please note that sign up is NOT first-come-first-served, so it does not matter when a student signs up during the sign-up period.

Activity Allocation

Students may choose up to 4 activities.
Allocation for each activity will be selected in random order. This is to make it fair for all students. It is NOT first come first served.
On Wednesday 8 May, allocations will be finalised. Students are to check the status of their activities after this time in the VLE.

Cancel Activities

E-mail sawong@sis.edu.hk (Mr Samuel Wong) or visit the PE Office to cancel a booked activity.

Extra information:

Activities will run from Wednesday 15 May – Thursday 13 June
Activity buses for After School Activities will operate starting from Wednesday, 15 May

All activities incurring an additional fee must be paid for and appropriate forms signed by Friday 10 May or the allocation will be given to the next student on the list.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday MARCH Babies!

Important Dates For Your Diary

March 2019

29 Mar – Deposit deadline for ‘SIS goes MaD’ 2019 (please click here for details)
29 Mar – Online order deadline for school photos
29 Mar – Term 2 activities end (activities buses will not run after school Mon to Thurs from this date)
30 Mar – Innovation

April 2019

3 Apr – Sports Award
4 Apr – Family Bauhinia Disco Party @ The Hall (12:35 – 1:10pm)
5 Apr – Public holiday (school closed)
9 Apr – SIS PTA Parent Education Evening – Math Workshop @ The Space (6:30 – 8:00pm)
12 Apr – Years 7 and 8 Evidencer 2
12 Apr – Last day of Term 2
15-26 Apr – Easter Holidays
29 Apr – First day of Term 3 (this is week 2)

May 2019

1 May – Public holiday (school closed)
2 May (12:30) – Term 3 after school activities schedule opens (VIEW only)
3 May (15:30) – Term 3 after school activities sign-up opens
5 May (23:59) – Term 3 after school activities sign-up closes
8 May (15:30) – Term 3 after school activities allocations confirmed
8-10 May – LSC Camp (please refer to LSC Newsletter)
10 May (12:30) – Term 3 after school activities payment due
10 May – Year 7 Inter-House (Gecko Maths)
13 May – Public holiday (school closed)
14 May – CPD Day (school closed for students)
15 May – Term 3 after school activities begin (activities buses start)
17 May – Family Bauhinia Assembly
17 May – Year 7/8/9 Inter-House (E-Sports)
24 May – Year 8 Inter-House (Basketball)
30 May – Year 6 Parents Evening
31 May – Cross ESF Pastoral Day
31 May – Year 7/8 Inter-House (Y7 Netball/Y8 Waterpolo)

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

As always, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the above information.