From Head of Stream

The possibility of being able to enter Hong Kong again without PCR testing and mandatory hotel quarantine, as in pre-Covid-19 times, has certainly led some of us to book a few exciting days at one of the most beautiful destinations in Asia at the last minute.

The elimination of entry restrictions is gratifying and makes it possible to once again take more advantage of both private and business travel. However, this can sometimes lead to both parents being abroad at the same time. In these cases, I would like to ask that, as in the past, you appoint us an official guardian to take over the supervision of your child or children while you are away. Please keep in mind that according to Hong Kong law, domestic helpers may not be appointed as temporary guardians.

Please inform us well in advance of your departure of the period of your absence and the contact details of the authorized person, and send this information informally by email to the respective school secretary:

KG: PFL_Secretary@gsis.edu.hk

GPD: primary_secretary@gsis.edu.hk

GSD: GSD_Secretary@gsis.edu.hk

[TOP]

Primary Corner

Parent Information Day Booking Reminder

On Wednesday, you should have received the email invitation to our first Parent Information days of the year. As a reminder,  the PIDs will be held over a 2 week period from Monday, 14 November 2022 to Friday, 25 November 2022.

Box of Hope Reminder

We will support the Box of Hope again this year. Please help your child to prepare a gift box following the instructions on the BoH website carefully. Children should bring their Boxes in to their classes from 7-11 November for collection on Monday, 14 November.

Parents- School-Connection

This week, our Pok Fu Lam Campus's parents received the first invitation to a series of Parents-School-Connection events. We are very much looking forward to sharing more of our culture and heritage and to learn from yours. Another event will be at the Peak Campus. Our school counsellor offers an information session on how to help children to establish good habits and routines. Please look out for these emails and sign up.

Priska Erni Head of German Primary Department Email

Beate Weinhardt Deputy Head of German Primary Department Email

[TOP]

Departmental News and Announcements

From Head of Stream

As a school, we are pleased to be engaging more with parents during November through our Parents Information Days as well as the ongoing meetings with KPRs and of course, the upcoming Christmas Bazaar. You will also soon have access to some filmed feedback from the SLT on parental questions so do let us know what you think of this new format.

On Friday, 11 November we are hosting our first TEDxYouth event where four ESD students will be sharing some ideas worth spreading on the theme of ‘Generation Future’. This project has faced a number of challenges and postponements over the past few months due to school closures and social distancing but the organisers, Nicole Huang and Nehal Lodha from Year 13 are pleased to invite you to the IB Hall next Friday afternoon. Sign-up details will be released very soon.

Academic References Requests

This is a time of year when some families may require the school to write an academic reference to support an application to another school. If you are considering this, we would request that you contact Sabrina Chan, the ESD Secretary, first rather than individual teachers as we prefer to coordinate this process centrally (). We will not respond to unsolicited requests from other schools without first receiving an indication of intent from families.

Discovery Week 2022

All our students enjoyed a tremendous three days of creativity, activity and service during this year’s Discovery Week. Given the weather this week I don’t think we could have asked for a more perfect three days, so we are very grateful for that. My thanks go to all the staff who ran these enriching trips and activities as well as our administrative team and the expert providers. We will soon be starting to plan toward reinstating overseas trips for next year with a particular focus on exploring Germany and Switzerland.

[TOP]

Primary Corner

Curriculum Information
Continuing our communication about our curriculum and approach in the English Primary Department, we would like to share our EPD Reading Curriculum video with you again. This video was created and originally shared last year. It provides an excellent insight into how we teach reading and will give parents, especially those new to the EPD, some great ideas for supporting their children with reading at home. Watch the video here.

Parent Information Day Booking - Reminder
On Wednesday, you should have received the email invitation to our first Parent Information days of the year. As a reminder,  the PIDs will be held over a 2 week period from Monday, 14 November 2022 to Friday, 25 November 2022.
Parents will be able to book their 15 minute online appointments with their child’s class teachers via Calendly. Please find the instructions on how to book your appointment in this document. Each class teacher’s booking link can be found in this Google Sheet. The booking system will be active until 48 hours before the appointments. The departmental secretaries, Susanne Dömmecke, 2180 0505 (Peak Campus) and Ashley Banach 2849 6217 (Pok Fu Lam Campus) will also be available to assist you with any enquiries.
If you attend your meeting in person, please be reminded that, in order to enter the school building you must:

• Scan the ‘Leave Home Safe App’
• Show a ‘Blue Code’ 
• Show proof of a negative RAT from that day

Box of Hope - Reminder
We will support the Box of Hope again this year. Please help your child to prepare a gift box following the instructions on the BoH website carefully. Children should bring their Boxes in to their classes from 7-11 November for collection on Monday, 14 November.

Donna Morley Head of English Primary Department Email

Eleanor Cowling Deputy Head of English Primary Department Email

[TOP]

Departmental News and Announcements