11 November
- For this Week
- Open Play Reset Time (TODAY)
- Hillside Teams' Observable Impact Goals
- Author Lisa Burman Visit
- Fire Drill (new updates)
- Teacher Term 1 Check-in (PRD)
- Christmas Staff Social (Friday, 29 Nov, 17:00 onwards)
- Power of Play Materials Summit
- Draft ESF Calendar 2025/26
- Maternity Cover Recruitment
- Staff Calendar
Morning everyone. We have several updates for today. Please take a few minutes to note all the updates.
For this Week
Monday: EA PRDs
Tuesday: K2 Science Museum Excursion; Jean-Pierre Adamson (ESF EY-P advisor) and Lisa Burman (EY author) visit in the AM and will tour the school
Wednesday: Fire drill
Thursday: Teacher meeting in staff room @ 12:15
Open Play Reset Time (TODAY)
To ensure a smoother transition between the two groups, we will now include a reset period between K2 and K1 open play sessions. This will allow us to tidy up the environment and prepare for the next group effectively.
Please note that some stations may require more time to tidy up, so I encourage you to manage your time accordingly during the reset periods. All staff must respect the reset time. It is crucial for maintaining an organised and welcoming environment for our children.
K2 and K1 EAs can utilise this buffer time to exchange relevant information regarding the station. At the start of reset time, 2 K1 EAs will come down first to support the reset and other EAs will monitor the stairs to support the children.
The proposed schedule is as follows:
- K2: 9:15 - 10:10 / 1:30 - 2:25
- !Reset/No Kids Time! 10:10 - 10:20 / 2:25 - 2:35
- K1: 10:20 - 11:15 / 2:35 - 3:30
This adjustment aims to create a more organised play environment for our children, ensuring that they benefit from a fresh and engaging space for their activities.
Moving forward, we will aim to use January as a transition period before merging K1 and K2 into a "community play" format.
Hillside Teams' Observable Impact Goals
Thank you to all class teachers for sharing their team's Observable Impact goal with the wider school community. Our hope is that by having an understanding of what we're working towards, there are opportunities for conversations over shared goals and strategies, and in turn, celebrate each other's small wins and successes. To recap, here are everyone's OI goals.
Author Lisa Burman Visit
Last year, several colleagues from across ESF participated in a book club to discuss Lisa Burman's book "A Culture of Agency" (Hillside has a copy if anyone is interested) Lisa is in Hong Kong for a short while doing some consulting work at other schools, and wanted to reconnect with ESF. ESF Centre approached us as a possible site for her visit, and we're happy to welcome her. Lisa's work centres around learning environments that support agency, so we'll be showing her our classroom spaces. Thanks for accommodating this visit!
Fire Drill (new updates)
A reminder we planned a fire drill on Wednesday, 13 Nov. Please make a note of this date and review our Evacuation Procedures. The times will be around 9:10 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. We will evacuate to our playground and line up by class.
The auditors are very particular about the 6-month requirement, so we have planned our next one for Wednesday, 7 May, to ensure we meet this EDB requirement.
*Update* Unfortunately, Brenda and I won't be here in the morning to support the drill due to a last-minute clash with an ESFC meeting. We will ask Jaz and a floater to take our place in the plan. Thank you.
Teacher Term 1 Check-in (PRD)
Teachers, please use this link to schedule a Term 1 check-in session with me any time before the end of November https://calendly.com/audrey-tang
As mentioned, our professional learning/development will continue throughout the school year by engaging with the Observable Impact framework, so this is just an opportunity to check in and see how everything is going in other areas apart from T&L.
Here are a few questions to frame our PRD check-in discussions:
- Teaching and learning focus (Observable Impact)
- How are you prioritising your well-being?
- What are some ways to support collaboration and community growth?
Christmas Staff Social (Friday, 29 Nov, 17:00 onwards)
Thank you all for completing the poll regarding our Christmas social. We have secured a booking at Alto Rooftop Bar and Restaurant in Causeway Bay. We will have private-use of the half rooftop bar, with canapés and free-flow drinks.
As per usual, we will arrange a bus to transport us to the venue after school. We will send out one more poll to confirm numbers shortly. Looking forward to celebrating the festive season together! 🎄🥂🍾
Power of Play Materials Summit
The summit has now come to a close, but Hillside has purchased a lifetime access pass so you can go back and rewatch recordings if interested.
Go to Fairy Dust Teaching, log in using kinder@hillside.edu.hk and the password "Hillside2024", then scroll down and you will find "2024 All Access Pass".
Some recordings that caught our attention include Designing Block Centers; The Incredible World of Reusable Materials for Play; Materials for Songs, Stories and Rhymes, and way more!
Draft ESF Calendar 2025/26
Please find below the draft calendar for 2025/26. The two PL days, and the gazetting of the 2026 public holidays has yet to be confirmed.
Maternity Cover Recruitment
Firstly, thank you for the support and encouragement you have shown towards our internal applicants. It is a testament to the collaborative spirit we foster at Hillside.
For this round of recruitment, we have been fortunate to receive applications from strong candidates overall.
After carefully considering all candidates, we have decided to proceed with an external applicant, primarily due to their skill set and experience. She has a strong early years background with curriculum lead experience. We hope she will bring new perspectives and ideas to our team during this period.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strengths and efforts of our internal applicants. It was a challenging decision as you all have many strengths. Your contributions are invaluable, and I want to express my gratitude to our amazing team.
Ammie will commence her maternity leave in December and extend until next school year. We are waiting for HR to complete their due diligence process before finalising the appointment. I appreciate your understanding and patience as we work through these final steps.
Please check our internal calendar below. We might forget to remind everyone of odd dates. We will continue to add events as soon as they're confirmed. Here's the full 2024/25 Calendar.
Thank you!
