CWBS Newsletter – Friday 20 November
Principal’s News News from the Eco Warriors Medical News PTA News
Principal’s News
Dear Parents,
You will no doubt now be aware of the EDB decision to suspend classes for students in Years 1 – 3 across all primary schools from this Monday, 23rd November, onwards, in the interests of student and community health. This suspension period is for an initial two weeks. Distance learning will be implemented for our Y1-3 students during this period.
In this week’s newsletter:
- Y1-3 Class Suspension – learning provision
- Full Days at School Planning
- Diwali Celebrations
- Medical Update
- Box of Hope
- PYP – Year Six Students’ Creativity
Year 1 – 3 – Class Suspension – Learning Provision
Due to the class suspension for Y1 – 3 students, distance learning will be implemented from Monday 23rd onwards for these year groups. Class teachers will share further details with parents via email. Key elements of the daily provision will be:
- Live connections – check in at 9am and check out at 2:30pm
- Live lessons with class teachers each day – times TBC
- Learning tasks will be posted on Cahoot by 4pm the day prior
- This Monday’s tasks will be posted by 4pm this Sunday
Please note – live connections with specialist teachers will not be possible on Monday 23rd. Timetables are being reviewed to implement specialist provision as soon as possible for Y1-3 students.
Full Days at School Planning
Although the health situation is currently complex, in order to maximise in person learning time for students, a plan requesting a return to full day operations at CWBS has been submitted to the EDB. Comprehensive planning has been undertaken to safeguard the health and safety of all our students and staff, whilst providing the best learning experiences we can at school. We await a response from the EDB and will of course communicate again with all parents as soon as we are able.
Diwali Celebrations
Many families in our CWBS community celebrated Diwali, the Festival of Lights, over the weekend. This week, students from across the school shared photos and stories about the celebrations with their classes. Thank you to the families who shared these lovely photos with us. We hope everyone had a happy Diwali!
Medical Update
Please continue to prioritise your child’s health at this time. If students are unwell, please keep them at home. Further advice is included below in the Medical News section. Please contact our school nurse if you have questions about your child’s health.
Box of Hope
A reminder that we are now supporting the ‘Box of Hope’ charity. This group aims to support underprivileged children in Asia, and is taking place this year as an online donation (via their website www.boxofhope.org) rather than item collection as in previous years. Thank you in advance to any families able to support this action.
PYP
Students in year 6 are currently focusing on the transdisciplinary theme of Where We Are in Place and Time. They are inquiring into the central idea that ‘Inventions evolve when needs and opportunities stimulate creativity’. As part of this, they have been thinking about the design process and what it means to be creative.
Year 6 Inventors
To help them think creatively as inventors, groups of students were given a piece of wood, glue and string. They were then asked to invent something new. Here are some of their fantastic designs.
Year 6 Art
Students were asked to show their passions, interests, hobbies, likes and personality traits using collage. This provided us with a wonderful opportunity to see what is going on inside the brains of 6B. Enjoy the photos of these wonderful pieces of artwork.
It is appreciated that these are challenging times for families. Please be assured that we are committed to supporting student learning and wellbeing whether the children are in school or learning at home. As ever, should you have any questions, suggestions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Class teachers are available for questions specific to your child. Please contact myself or a member of the leadership team in relation to whole school issues.
Michael Dewey
Principal
News from the Eco Warriors
Outdoor Education Month
Did you know that Hong Kong is one of the 36 “biodiversity hotspots” of the world with species and habitats precious and unique to the region? During the months of November and December, CWBS students will be participating in outdoor education activities at school. To support this initiative, our school has been entered into a contest where we are competing against other schools in the city by taking photos of and identifying different species of plants and animals using an App called iNaturalist. For the month of November, students and teachers from all over Hong Kong will join Hong Kong’s largest synchronised biodiversity monitoring event. Today some of our Year 6 iNaturalist experts and our Year 5 eco warriors worked with some of our younger students during play time to engage them in this event. The students were able to spot many species such as the black collared starling bird, great egret bird, and sleeping hibiscus flower. You can check out more observations by following this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/hong-kong-inter-school-city-nature-challenge-2020
Medical News
Medical Advice
A warm reminder that at this time, students should only attend school if they are symptom free. Students with fever of >37.5 forehead skin temp, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, headache, muscle aches, generalised malaise should rest at home and not be sent to school. If a student develops these symptoms at school, the parent/guardian will be asked to pick the student up from school and it is recommended by CHP that the student seeks medical advice.
Health Monitoring
We have an ongoing responsibility to monitor absences and sickness. Please continue to let us know if your child is ill in any way by emailing Nurse Teresa with a description of symptoms (nurse@cwbs.edu.hk). Also, if your child has seen a doctor and been confirmed with an illness, please send a copy of the doctor’s note.
PTA News
At the recent AGM, a new PTA committee was elected. The committee has begun considering community events that could take place in creative ways in alignment with current health restrictions. In the near future, details will be shared about a poetry and art competition – watch this space for more details.