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Issue No. 8 (4 October 2019)

4 Oct 2019

Support during troubled times

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

The developments over the last few months in Hong Kong have been significant and also unsettling. It may be that this has caused some anxiety for your child/children. I am writing with some information that you might find helpful to support your child at this time.

 

Practical suggestions

The following suggestions may be helpful for you and your child.

  • Reassure your child that they are safe and are genuinely valued by the adults around them.
  • Your child will find routine comforting so keeping to a normal schedule and remaining calm will be helpful.
  • Let children know that it is alright to be upset.  All feelings are OK, but not all behaviours.
  • Emphasise resilience: Focus on your child’s many strengths and abilities which they can draw upon to cope with their feelings. Create opportunities for your child to exhibit their strengths. This can happen with books or art too.
  • Provide opportunities for physical exercise for your child. Exercise is valuable to develop natural chemicals in the brain which help us cope with feelings, such as shock.
  • Look after both yourself and your child. In times of stress, we can have less energy and there is potential for illness. It is especially important to eat and sleep well.
  • Communicate any concerns with the school.  There are many things the school can do to help further.

 

Active Listening

One of the most helpful ways of providing support to anyone is to be available to simply listen with empathy and without judgment. We are often busy racing around and are not always good at genuinely listening. However, actively listening usually has a positive impact on the recipient and is known to develop positive connections and relationships. The links below provide some helpful tips on active listening and the positive impact it has on others.

Active Listening. How to be a great listener
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_-rNd7h6z8

TED Talk – The Power of Listening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saXfavo1OQo

The Art and Value of Good Listening
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201209/the-art-and-value-good-listening?collection=107271

Please also see below a resource produced by Geoff Wheeler @ RCHK entitled “Parenting during troubled times”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UPRHpWTRTkr8bvVAeL-o8wYxl85j80ak/view?usp=sharing

 

Counselling

It may become apparent that your child needs some additional support from a professional counsellor. Please see the link below about the counselling provision at South Island School which was sent to you at the start of this term. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with the school if you have any concerns.
https://www.sis.edu.hk/information-about-counselling-at-sis/

We have a very experienced pastoral team at South Island and so please do not hesitate to get in touch with your child’s Tutor, Head of Year (Y7+Y8) or Head of House (Y9-13) should you have any concerns, questions or special circumstances of which you would like to make us aware.

I wish you and your families a peaceful October Half Term break.

Warmest wishes,
Lucie Purves
Vice Principal, South Island School

4 Oct 2019

Shtepi MaD Week 2019 was a blast!

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It was great to see so many people enthusiastic and involved in our events – a massive thank you to ALL of you! Needless to say, the first House MaD Week of the year was a success, ultimately allowing us to raise awareness for global literacy in collaboration with ‘Love Reading Campaign Association’ and ‘Room to Read’.

Our Shtepi MaD Week started off on 23 September with a Book Drive, where we collected English books of elementary to primary level for ‘Love Reading Campaign Association’. Thank you EVERYONE for your generous contributions: we received a total of 1338 books! These donated books will be given to a library in an orphanage that ‘Love Reading Campaign Association’ is currently constructing.

The number of books donated by each house are as follows:

  • 6th: Casa – 109 books
  • 5th: Kuca – 137 books
  • 4th: Maison – 195 books
  • 3rd: Bahay – 253 books
  • 2nd: Namas – 258 books
  • 1st: Shtepi – 386 books

Thank you to all the house’s effort!

Next, on 25 September, we held our first Shtepi Bookworm Bingo. Thank you to EVERYONE who participated, as we managed to have a high participation rate and raised a total of $670 with just the Bookworm Bingo! Congratulations to our winners Sophie Rumble, Lise Rodier and Lindi Luyt all from 8B1, who will be enjoying a FREE PIZZA LUNCH after the half term break!

Finally, today, we had our annual ‘Dress Up As Your Favourite Book Character’ Day. This year, prizes (sponsored by Love Reading Campaign Association) were awarded to the following…

  • Most Outstanding – Louis from 7B1 who dressed up as a Ghostbuster!
  • Most Creative / Best Constructed – Poppy, Kaitlin, Ella and Sunehri (from 8C2 & 8S2) who dressed up as characters from Winnie the Pooh.
  • Most Unique – Max from 12N1
  • Best Group Effort – The Military Guys (Wing Fung, Nick, Ryan and Matteo)
  • Best Dressed Teacher – Mr. Roberts

Notable mentions go to the girls in Year 9 who dressed up as the Ninja turtles, 11S2 who dressed up as the 101 Dalmatians, the Year 13 girls who came in as characters from Tintin, and everyone who came to the Lower Playground with their costumes! A big THANK YOU for everyone’s donations too!

Thank you EVERYONE for participating in our Shtepi MaD Week and for MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Also thank you for all the help during Shtepi MaD Week, hopefully you saw our note on your desk – we raised a total of HK $10,001.70! Have a great half-term break!

 

Michele Liu and Sarah Shum (Shtepi MaD Council) and the Shtepi House Team

4 Oct 2019

Sports Bulletin – 4 October 2019

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It was another busy week at South Island as we head to mid-term break next week, kick starting the week with our A Grade’s Boys HKSSF football game against La Salle. It was a tough pool for the boys this year, and with a few key players missing on Monday, South Island won 1-0 against La Salle. Great teamwork from the boys and great defence. Good luck to the rest of your season!

The A Grade Girls also kick started their first HKSSF game this week. A Grade Girls absolutely smashed their first HKSSF game against DGS! They won 39-2. Great work from the team! Woman of the Match goes to Caitlin Donovan. Good luck to the rest of your season!

It was a busy Thursday afternoon as we had C Grade Football, A Grade Boys Football, junior girls Football and A Grade Boys basketball matches. The C Grade Boys Football played against Island school and won 8-1. Well done to the team! After a win on Monday for the A Grade Boys Football, unfortunately it was not their day as they lost to CDNIS. We hope they will keep their heads up and win the next game. The junior girls football also played against Island School and drew 2-2. It was a hard fought game and the girls played very well. Woman of the match goes to Joy Tan playing as goal keeper! Our A Grade Boys HKSSF basketball league kick started last night. They played against SKW and won 43-36. A very close game and a win is a win. Well played and good luck to your season ahead.

We also had the girls swimming team participating in the annual HKSSF Swimming Competition at Victoria Park. It’s a two-day event and the finals day will be on Thursday 10 October 2019. This is during mid-term break but you are all very welcome to come and support South Island Girls Swim Team. We have numerous finalists for the day and all relays will be raced on the day as well. It will be held at Victoria Park Swimming Pool from 8:00am.

 

Fixtures for the week

Unfortunately all HKSSF fixtures have been cancelled for this weekend 5-7 October due to safety reasons, so there will be no Boys and Girls Tennis or A Grade Boys Football matches.

Have a lovely break!

3 Oct 2019

Our students connected well at Making Links 2019

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28 NGOs, organisations and groups came along to the 7th MaD Council who collectively organised our annual ‘Making Links’ event at South Island School yesterday. 16 of those were NGO’s from outside school, and 12 were student groups from within SIS wanting to garner support for their cause.

Making Links is designed to do exactly what it says – to make links between those who want support, and those who want to do the supporting, that is, our students in school. All students in Years 9-13 had the opportunity to find out more about what groups as diverse as Sai Kung Stray Friends, Children’s Medical Foundation, World Vision and Kids4Kids do – and more importantly, to make links by offering their time and energy in support of those causes.

One of the groups present was Social Career – providers of the app where SIS students can continue to sign up for any of volunteering opportunities with these organisations throughout the year.

Thank you to the NGOs and groups who came along to raise awareness for what they do – and a very big thank you to the student ‘Making a Difference’ Council, led by Canaan Chan and Minji Kwon, who organised the event from start to finish.

25 Sep 2019

SISPTA AGM – 22 October 2019

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NOTICE – South Island School (SIS) PTA LTD – Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the South Island School Parent Teacher Association Limited will be held on:

Date: 22 October 2019
Time: 6:30pm (Refreshments available from 6:00pm onwards)
Venue: 5th floor, The Space, South Island School, 50 Nam Fung Road, Aberdeen

The Agenda will be:

  1. To receive and consider the audited Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2019
  2. To appoint Auditors 2019/20, FTW & Partners CPA Limited retired and offer themselves for re-appointment
  3. To elect Committee Members for the year 2019/2020
  4. To transact any other ordinary business of the Company

If you wish to NOMINATE a parent or to join the PTA Committee, please complete the Nomination Form. This Nomination Form should be returned to the Chairman on or before 18 October 2019 2:00pm by email to pta@sis.edu.hk or by hand to the SIS PTA Office.

Notice of the AGM, Agenda, Financial Reports, Minutes of the AGM of SIS PTA LTD held on 3 October 2018 and Nomination Form 2019-2020 are available on the school website.

If you are attending, please click here to register. We do look forward to meeting you at the AGM.

Thank you!

SIS PTA LTD

24 Sep 2019

Laptop Induction Evening

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Parents and Year 7 students gathered together in The Space on Wednesday last week and this week to collect laptops. This is understandably an anxious time for parents, so I would like to share this very helpful article below, which addresses what Common Sense Media have referred to as a ‘new wave of so-called Digital Wellness features designed to prevent screen overload…’ 

The accompanying video includes Screen Time Settings in iOS12, Digital Well-being in Android Pie, YouTube Graphs, Snapchat’s Do Not Disturb and Time Limits in TiKTok. 

Click here for the “Use Your Phone Less” article.

Iain Williamson
Digital Literacy Coordinator   

9 Sep 2019

Treatment and Prevention of Head Lice

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Dear Parents,

A case of head lice was reported at school. Therefore, we thought this would be a good time to send you advice on how to identify and treat this common problem.

Head lice are not serious but do need immediate attention, as they do give discomfort and are easily spread. It is recommended that you examine your child’s head so that, if necessary, immediate treatment can be started.

If your child has head lice, all household members should be checked and treated, if necessary. You do not need to go extraordinarily extensive with housecleaning because head lice will not survive long if they fall off a person and cannot feed. To prevent reinfestation, concentrate on cleaning the things that your child’s head came into direct contact with in the past few days.

Outbreaks of head lice are common in schools, especially when the weather gets warmer.

 

How to Identify Head Lice

Head lice, or pediculus capitis, are very small insects that live on the human scalp. They are whitish-grey in colour, but they turn reddish brown after feeding on blood from the scalp. They regularly lay clusters of eggs, called nits, on the roots of hair, which appear yellowish-white in colour. The young ones are almost translucent until they have had their first meal, when they turn red. These small insects are fast-moving but cannot jump or fly.

The most common symptom is an itchy head. Tiny red bite marks may also be visible around the hair line, and head lice may be visible behind the child’s ear, or on the nape of their neck.

 

Treatment and Prevention

Wash or dry clothing and bed linens at temperatures above 130°F (54.4°C). This will kill stray lice and nits. Seal clothing or other items that are not washable in a plastic bag for two weeks, or put them in the dryer. Soak combs and brushes in very hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. Remind your children not to share combs, hair ornaments, or hats, and ask them to stuff their jackets into their backpacks at school, rather than hang them on a communal hook.

 

Try a Simpler Approach Instead

The experts say that the best approach is also the easiest: using a wet comb.

Coat your child’s hair and scalp with conditioner or a safe lubricant such as olive oil. Use a wide-tooth comb to separate hair into sections. Follow with a metal nit or flea comb, concentrating on the area close to the scalp. After each comb-through, wipe the comb on a paper tower and inspect for lice. Continue combing until no lice are found. A single session can take 15 to 60 minutes depending on the length and thickness of hair.

Repeat every three to four days for several weeks, and continue regular combings for two weeks after any session where an adult louse is found.

Jeanette Hui
School Health Professional
6 September 2019

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