Abacus Newsletter 16th September 2019
Abacus Kindergarten’s latest newsletter available to read now. Find out the latest news from around the school and upcoming events.
- Coming Week
- Important Dates
- Lantern Festival
- Parent Volunteers
- Abacus Fair
- Speech and Language Screenings
- Occupational Therapy Screenings
- Class Teachers
- Links
- Class Pages
This Week
Week Beginning – Monday 16th September |
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| Monday | Speech and Language Screenings |
| Tuesday | Speech and Language Screenings |
| Wednesday | |
| Thursday | |
| Friday | |
Next Week
Week Beginning – Monday 23rd September |
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| Monday | School Photos |
| Tuesday | School Photos |
| Wednesday | |
| Thursday | |
| Friday | |
Important Dates This Term
Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September – Staff Training
Monday 30th September – ESF Staff Training (School Closed)
Tuesday 1st October – Public Holiday
Monday 7th-Sunday 13th October – Half Term Holiday
Monday 14th October – Staff Training (School Closed)
Saturday 23rd November – School Fair
Friday 13th December – Last Day of Term 1 – Christmas Concert
Although we are not governed by the statutory holidays for schools, we follow the ESF schools calendar. During every year we have 5 teacher training days built into the calendar. This is in addition to the contact days with children. These CPD days are added onto our calendar not removed from the contact days with children.
Abacus Calendar for 2019-2020 is available here.
Lantern Festival
We had our lantern festival parade on Friday around the garden. The children enjoyed showing us the huge array of lanterns they had been making at home. Here are the photos.
We hope you also had a great lantern festival evening.
Abacus Fair and Meeting
Every year we have a fair day at Abacus, the main purpose of this event is for all of our families to socialise and have fun. It is also a fundraiser for extra bits and pieces we would like to buy to enhance the provision at Abacus.
The date for this years fair is Saturday 23rd November. As you can imagine this event takes quite a lot of organisation. We would like to ask for some parent volunteers to come and help us organise the event. If you would be willing to help with the event organisation we will begin planning at a meeting next Tuesday at 8.45am in the library. If you would be able to attend and volunteer to organise please let Frances know in the office. Later on we will also be looking for volunteers for on the day.
Parent Volunteer Scheme
We are now taking sign ups for parent volunteers at Abacus in both K1 and K2. Please visit your child’s class page on Moodle to sign up. On there you will find a link to the correct Volunteer Spot sign up.
Before you volunteer in school we ask that all parents view this Volunteer Screencast vide which will give you more information. On your first visit you will also need to visit the office and sign a ‘Working with Children’ declaration form.
Parent Volunteer Screencast available here.
Speech and Language Screenings
Harmony Choi from ENT Laser will be running the speech and language screenings here at Abacus on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th September 2019.
Screenings are very useful in identifying children with speech and language delays or sound articulation issues who would benefit from speech and language therapy.
We would advise you to participate and if you are unsure whether your child’s language is appropriate for their age please speak to your child’s class teacher. Screenings are paid for by parents and details about this can be found in the speech screening letter from Harmony Choi.
Occupational Screenings
Abacus is pleased to be offering Occupational Therapy Screenings next month. Screenings are very useful in identifying children with delays or issues in general development skills such as; fine and gross motor, graphic, self care, sensory processing and attention.
We would advise you to participate as this type of screening and early detection of any issues can be worked on in school and at home. Screenings are paid for by parents and details about this can be found in the sign up letter from Linsey Irvine.
Occupational therapy can help children develop their independence and reduce any challenges they may be experiencing.
If you would like to participate please follow the instructions in this letter from Linsey.
Completed forms and payments should be returned to the school office on Friday 13th September at the latest. Linsey Irvine will be scheduling these appointments with you directly on receipt of those wishing to participate.
Class Teachers for This Year
The new class teachers for this year are as follows:
K1 English Class – Hannah Derisley, Sue Tyson/Penny Loveridge and Michelle Chan
K1 Bilingual Class – Olivia Kane, Allison Fung and Maria Lee
K2 Bilingual Class – Zena Deal (Maternity cover) Danielle Evans, Susanne Liu and Anita Jims
Danielle is currently on maternity leave until December. Zena is joining us from Clearwater Bay School for the term to cover.
K2 English Am Class – Suzanne Carrigan, Bridgette Walker and Hannah Jamieson
K2 English Pm Class – Fiona Hall, Bridgette Walker and Hannah Jamieson
Links
(All links open in a new tab/window)
Moodle – Your child’s portfolio and reports, class news, school news and photos.
Gateway – Change personal details, sign up for events and book parent consultations on Gateway.
The School Calendar – All important dates can be found here for next year.
