DBIS News

Newsletter Update

Wednesday 3 March

 

Dear Parents

We had some very sad news last weekend with the passing of Mr Cheung.  Mr Cheung had been unwell for a number of days in hospital and passed away last Saturday morning.  Some of you will recall Mr Cheung when he was working as our school gardener for thirteen years.  Others will recall Mr Cheung being around our school when Mr and Mrs Cheung lived here on site, as Mrs Cheung took over the role of school gardener following her husband’s retirement.

Mr Cheung was a real character of our school, always with a beaming smile ready to share, while caring so much for our school.  Our thoughts and special wishes are with Mrs Cheung at this sad time.

Kindergarten Sports Day:  Weather permitting, we are all set for a great family morning of excitement at our Kindergarten on Friday with our Reception Sports Day starting at 9:15 am and finishing at 10:00 am (please bring your Reception children to their teachers at 9:00 am).  Nursery Sports Day starts at 11:15 am for all classes and finishes at 12:00 pm (Starlight students are to report at 11:10 am to their teacher – all other Nursery classes are to come to their classes at 9:00 am – with parents returning at 11:15 am).

Year 4 Camp:  Best wishes to all of our explorers in Year 4 as they set off on their camp.  Remember to look after yourself, look after each other – and please look after our teachers!  Be sensible, be safe and have fun.

E-Safety: We continue to promote and model wise practices with regard the use of Internet technologies both during and outside of the school day.  As a school we were extremely pleased to hear about the YouTube security feature.  When this feature is turned on it will automatically hide objectionable videos from the site.  To activate the safety mode, just go to YouTube.com, scroll to the bottom left and toggle the link that says “Safety mode is off.”  This will block videos that contain adult content along with clips that may have graphical images of violence.  Whilst this might not be a fail safe mechanism it is a great move towards making YouTube a safer environment.  For further information please refer to the article:  http://www.labnol.org/internet/make-youtube-kids-safe/12820/

Secondary School Netball Team:  Our under 13’s netball team played in their first tournament on Monday 22nd February and what a great start they had to their competitive campaign.  With only 7 players the girls had to endure 4 full games with no chance of a rest. All girls gave top personal performances and it was great to see the team dynamics develop throughout the event. They won their first two games 8-3 and 7-0 against French International School and Shatin college.  They went on to draw 7-7 in a very exciting match against Island school.  They lost their final match 10-3 to a very strong West Island school, however they took away a valuable experience and realize now what needs to be worked on for next time.  Overall it was a great effort from our team in a competition where the majority of our team is at least one year younger than the opposition teams.  Well done girls and let’s look forward to the next one on Monday 8 March.  (Gill Hadley – PE Coordinator)

DBIS Rugby – Monday Games #1, Valley 22 February:  Our DBIS tackle rugby team had its first hit-out of the season last Monday in Happy Valley.  The afternoon was a success with a chance to train, and mix with some other promising players from around Hong Kong.  The next event will be held on March 15 at the same venue.  Thank you to all of the parents who came and supported our boys. 

Results:

DBIS (4) v Australian International School (1)

DBIS (7) v French International School (0)

Running outside of School:  Over the next 3 weeks our students from Year 3 to Year 6 are preparing for their sports day.  Time trials for the 400m (year 3 & 4) and 800m (year 5 & 6) are taking place during PE lessons.  These runs will involve our students leaving the school grounds with their PE teacher, and running part way down Seabee lane.

Student Safety and Potential Vandalism:  As previously mentioned in our newsletter, we have a small number of children / teenagers climbing on to the school roof areas and also managing to get into the walkways of the Discovery Centre.  Further barriers are being put into place to stop this unsafe and damaging practice.  Our security guards do their best to deter any people trying to access these areas of our school.  

It seems to be an increasing and unfortunate sign of the times that people are deciding to use our school as a gathering point for silly activities and to simply have a party in the evening.  Our Advisory Committee have already committed to increasing the gate access to our school.

Upcoming dates on the calendar:  please refer to the attached events list or refer to our school website calendar in detail for upcoming events:

March events:  http://www.dbis.edu.hk/whats_happening/calendar/3/2010 

April events: http://www.dbis.edu.hk/whats_happening/calendar/4/2010/

 

Kind Regards

Grant Ramsay

Principal

 

Community Notices

Disclaimer - The following notices are presented as a community service.  While the content is proofed and generally summarised, it is important to state that the information contained in these Community Notices in no way reflects Discovery Bay International School policy or practices.

WANTED! Bright, sparkling DBIS superstars to sing and dance live on stage with children’s pop sensation "Scotty & Lulu":  Last week, children in Year 1 through to Year 6 brought home a letter to parents regarding the 2010 Scotty & Lulu Dance and Drama Programme. Budding DBIS stars are invited to take part in the award-winning theatre duo’s dance and drama workshops, run by the Glenda Allen Dance Academy, and to perform live on stage with them at the HK Academy for Performing Arts in their 10am show for HK schools and kindergartens on Friday 4th June.


Their new show - “Roar!” - tells the story of how Scotty & Lulu meet a dinosaur called Thor who has lost his roar, and their magical journey to help him find it. If you enjoy singing, dancing and acting, come and join Scotty & Lulu on their exciting adventure to help Thor find his ROAR! No experience necessary, just endless enthusiasm required.


Only eight schools have been invited to join their HK programme, and others taking part include HK International School, Chinese International School, Kellett School, Kennedy School, Bradbury School and Discovery Mind Kindergarten.


The workshops begin March 21st and will be held on Sunday afternoons at DBIS. Interested students need to send their application forms to the Glenda Allen Dance Academy before Monday 8th March. Further details are in the letter and, if you did not receive one, you can pick up a copy at the DBIS office. For inquiries, please call Glenda Allen on 2987 7370.

Play Sport Coaching Ltd:  Hong Kong's Premier Sports Coaching Company will be running FUN packet Easter Sports Camps on Discovery Bay for children aged 2-5yr @ 6+yrs - all classes are fantastic fun and are for all abilities.  We will also be running a brand new Summer Term Sports Programme with a wide range of new fun, exciting activities for all to get involved in.

Activities Include: Soccer tots, Mini - Sports for 2-5yrs and professional football coaching for children aged 6+yrs. All classes will be conducted by ex Liverpool and Preston North End Footballer Joey Livesey so don't miss out!!

For more details and to book a course please visit: http://www.playsport.com.hk or call the office on 28189453.

Motivating your child to study:  With Christina Russell, Educational Child Psychologist.  Christina has spent the last 6 years working in the capacities of a private practitioner as well as a school psychologist.  She will be holding a seminar on: 

Thursday March 18th  at 7pm

Working it out – Homework trouble

Target audience: parents of upper primary and secondary students

What are the basic strategies to improve motivation, organization and, taking responsibility for their own learning?

In this hour and a half seminar Christina will discuss the following: 

• The general difficulties with homework and independent learning

• How the understanding of a teenage brain helps parents to understand their teenager’s moodiness and motivation 

• Help your child get organized and get started  

• Help them to maintain attention and motivation

• Foster independent learning

For more information please contact Island Health Family Practice

E-mail: Tel: 2987 7575