4 September

  • For this week
  • Children’s Absences
  • Sending Unwell Children Home
  • Staff Calendar
Morning all, I hope everyone was okay and safe from the typhoon. Based on the local news, I was worried that it would span over 3 days and thought of all the poor kids stuck at home for so long, but the storm wasn’t as bad as they had anticipated. I can’t believe another typhoon might come again though 🤦🏻‍♀️.


I was worried Hillside would suffer from bad flooding or leakage, but luckily, our building survived the storm with only a few leaks, as expected. However, there is some damage to the playground; part of the fence is damaged. The ESF facilities team has cleared most of the debris and checked our school on Sunday. We will do another check on Monday morning to assess the playground and set everything back up again. We aim to give everyone the go-ahead by 9am.


Please check your class areas, as it might take a few days for any residual seepage to appear, and let Jaz know of any further damages.


We’ve also informed parents to expect bus delays tomorrow due to the typhoon impact and the first day of school across HK.


For this week

Tuesday 

  • Staff lunch meeting at 12:00 in the shared area. Please take a look at our working document for school planning and bring any feedback/ideas to the meeting. 
  • The Director of Facilities, John Stewart, will come for a visit in the afternoon.
  • K2 Meet n’ Greet after school.

Wednesday - Members of the ESF Education Team: Chloe Pollack (Head of Curriculum) and Natasha Williams (Head of School Improvement) will come for a school visit.

Thursday - PYP induction (Pt. 1) for new staff. This is for the same group that attended new staff induction, anyone wanting a refresher is also welcome! 12noon in the Tiger class. 


Children’s Absences

A warm reminder: if we have not heard from the family for 2 consecutive days, the teacher/ admin should follow up with a telephone call on the 3rd day. We are obligated to investigate and report to EDB if a child is absent for 7 consecutive school days without reasons or under doubtful circumstances.


Sending Unwell Children Home

We’ll be reminding parents to keep unwell children home and not to send sick children in with a face mask. 


Staff are advised to contact parents if the children have these symptoms:

  • A fever
  • 2+ URTI symptoms (cough & snotty nose)
  • Green/ yellow snot (Not a runny nose due to allergies)
  • Diarrhoea (with abdominal pain and loose stool)
  • Vomiting (Not from motion sickness - i.e. just arrived from the bus)

  • Signs of severe illness include irritability, crying more than usual, difficulty breathing, or a quickly spreading rash.

These are just a few common symptoms. If unsure, please check with SLT before calling parents. 


In the case of a URTI outbreak, CHP recommends that the unwell children rest at home until the fever has subsided for 2 days.

In reality, it’s difficult to track, so I would stick with sending children home if they have symptoms or seem out of sorts. If they are symptom-free and the child appears to be well enough, they can attend school as normal. 


Upcoming Dates

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2023/24 Calendar


Thank you, and have a fab week!