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| 2010/2011 Issue No. 1 Friday 27 August 2010 |
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Greetings to the Bradbury School community. We have all been impressed by how smooth and seamless the start to the new year has been. All students, including Year One pupils have been well prepared for school by you – thank you for this!
At Bradbury School, I consider that our greatest teaching resources are our teachers. It is important that they remain current and contemporary in their approach to classroom practice. To this end, next week all teachers and full time educational assistants will attend a two day workshop Friday 3rd September (note school will be closed) and Saturday 4th September, looking at revisiting our mission and vision statements. The past few years have been a time of much positive growth and change for Bradbury School. With three years of the PYP behind us and with a stable staff, it is timely that we do this now so that how we position ourselves reflects our philosophy, practice and beliefs. I will let you know what we come up with!
You may have heard from your child that there was an incident at lunchtime on Wednesday that resulted in three students receiving medical care. All students received appropriate and immediate care from our staff and as a precautionary measure an ambulance was called. At Bradbury School, the safety of our students is always our first concern.
Sandra Webster
Principal |
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| IMPORTANT DATES |
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DATE
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EVENT
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TIME
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30 August 2010 (Monday)
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Start of Term 1 After School Activities
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3.00 p.m.
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30 August 2010 (Monday)
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Year 1 (Group B) Full Day
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8.30 a.m. – 2.40 p.m.
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31 August 2010 (Tuesday)
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Year 1 (Group C) Full Day
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8.30 a.m. – 2.40 p.m.
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31 August 2010 (Tuesday)
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Year 1 Parents Workshop: Inquiry Learning
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1.30 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.
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31 August 2010 (Tuesday)
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Parents Introductory Evening
Y5/6 – 5.00 p.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Y1/2 – 6.00 p.m. – 6.30 p.m.
Y3/4 – 7.00 p.m. – 7.30 p.m.
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1 September 2010 (Wednesday)
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Year 1 (Group A) Full Day
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8.30 a.m. – 2.40 p.m.
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1 September 2010 (Wednesday)
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Year 1 Parents Workshop: Phonics/Reading & Writing
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1.30 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.
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2 September 2010 (Thursday)
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Year 1 (Group B & C) Full Day
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8.30 a.m. – 2.40 p.m.
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2 September 2010 (Thursday)
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Year 1 Parents Workshop
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1.30 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.
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3 September 2010 (Friday)
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CPD DAY ( School Closed) No Classes today
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13 October 2010 (Wednesday)
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Year 4 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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14 October 2010 (Thursday)
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Year 5 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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15 October 2010 (Friday)
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Year 6 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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12 November 2010 (Friday)
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Year 3 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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14 December 2010 (Tuesday)
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Year 1 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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16 December 2010 (Thursday)
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Year 2 Athletics Meet (Causeway Bay Sports Ground)
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9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon
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| PARENT INTRODUCTORY MEETINGS |
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Tuesday 31st August 2010
Y5 & Y6: 5.00-5.30pm
Y1 & Y2: 6.00-6.30pm
Y3 & Y4: 7:00–7:30 pm
As part of our Assessment, Recording and Reporting process (ARR), you are invited to meet your child’s new teacher to receive information about the curriculum for 2010-2011, general information about classroom procedures and about how you can support your child at home. At Bradbury School, we greatly value our parent partnership and believe that strong school/home links enhance the education of our children. In order to ensure common home/school understandings, it is important that you attend these sessions.
I am sure you will appreciate that this particular forum is not conducive to a confidential consultation and so this is not an occasion for individual consultations with the teachers. However, should you wish to meet with the teacher on another occasion, you are welcome to do so by mutual agreement.
The meetings will be held in your child’s classroom. Limited car parking will be available in the playground.
I look forward to meeting you all on Tuesday 31st August 2010.
Sandra Webster - Principal |
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| CAR PARKING - STUBBS ROAD |
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In the interest of the safety of your children please do not park your vehicles in the bus stop lay-by.
As we start our new school year can we again remind parents wishing to drop-off and collect their children by car of our procedures, which are designed to ensure the safety of our children as they enter and leave school. Your children should arrive at school between 8:10-8:30am and their school day ends at 2:40pm, when they can be collected.
In order to ease the traffic congestion on Stubbs Road at these busy times of the day and more importantly to ensure the safety of our children, can we please appeal for parents not to park their cars in the bus stop lay-by at the front of the school. Also, can parents who employ drivers ensure that they follow our parking procedures. It is reasonable to use the bus lay-by to pick-up and drop-off children but parking in the space for extended periods of time is unhelpful to the rest of our school community as it ultimately causes traffic congestion on Stubbs Road.
John Ainsworth – Vice Principal |
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| PYP NEWS - AUTHORIZATION VISIT NOVEMBER 2010 |
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Bradbury School has almost completed our third year as a candidate PYP school. On the 17th and 18th of November 2010 we are scheduled to undertake an Authorization visit from representatives of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IB). The aims of the Authorization visit include:
- · Evaluating the preparedness of the candidate school to continue implement the PYP
- · Determine whether or not the school is committed to the philosophy, aims, objectives, and standards and practices of the PYP
- · Obtain a clear overview of how the philosophy of the PYP compares with the educational
- philosophy of the school
- · Assist the school management in making appropriate decisions concerning the ongoing
- implementation of the program.
- · The focus of the visit is formal interviews and informal dialogues with individuals, teams or groups.
The IB visiting team will primarily:
- · Meet with the school management team, teachers, parents and students
- · View the school’s facilities
- · Assess resource and instruction materials
- · Visit classes
The aim of the authorisation visit is not to appraise or assess individual teachers or school administrators. At the conclusion of the visit a report will be produced and recommendations will be made to help us continue to implement the PYP at Bradbury School.
Chris Duncan - PYP Coordinator/Vice Principal |
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| LIBRARY NEWS |
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Welcome back to school. I hear Bradbury School is a school full of very keen readers, so I'm sure there was plenty of reading over the summer! I am the new Teacher Librarian at Bradbury School and have had a very warm welcome so far.
This will be a year of exciting changes for the library. As you know we will be starting work on the new library space over the coming months. The temporary library is now located on the first floor, and we have been very busy moving shelves and boxes of books getting it ready for use. As yet, we are closed for break times, classes, and borrowing. I will let you know as soon as this changes. In the meantime our teachers were prepared for this, and borrowed lots of books at the end of last term. Each classroom has lots of books so the children can continue with their reading.The next newsletter will have more information about library times, borrowing, and volunteers.
Thank you.
Pamela Gaukroger - Teacher Librarian |
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| P.E. NEWS / AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES |
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P.E. Curriculum
We have been back at school less than a week and things are already in full swing! Years 4 and 6 have already had their first soccer session with their teachers and the fantastic coach Bess from Bonzapie (www.bonzapie.com) Year 5 have had their first session of netball with expert coach Karin Looram. The Year 5 swimming program is also well underway with continued support from our resident coach Rob Wright from Harry Wright International (www.harrywright.com.hk) We also welcome a new addition to our coaching team this year; Aaron Stockdale. Aaron has coached both swimming and water polo to an extremely high level in New Zealand. He will be putting our top swimmers through their paces this year, with both their swimming and water polo skills. Aaron will also be working on a number of exciting water polo projects outside school. So watch this space for news of more opportunities for our children to participate in water polo.
On Monday we see the start of the Year 2’s visiting coaches. This year we have an extremely strong team of professional coaches working with the Year 2 staff and children in soccer, netball, basketball, rounders, rugby, tennis, cricket and hockey. These coaches have been brought together from a number of the sporting governing bodies and sports coaching companies across Hong Kong.
In specialist P.E. this term all classes will be working on athletics. At the end of the unit we will have a series of athletics mornings at Causeway Bay Sportsground. All parents are welcome to come to these lessons to see the children showcasing the skills they have been learning. The dates of these athletics meets are on the front of the newsletter.
For safety reasons in all P.E. lessons please ensure your child has the correct clothing and footwear. All long hair must be tied up.
After School Activities
We are extremely lucky at Bradbury School to have a large group of teachers who offer their free time to coach the students in a wide variety of after school sports. To support these teachers please ensure you are on time to pick up your child from the relevant activity.
The after school activities will all start this week (Monday 30th August). Please ensure your child is dressed in suitable P.E. clothes and shoes. As with P.E. lessons all long hair must be tied up and mouth guards and shin pads worn where appropriate.
Throughout the term we will be arranging matches, races and tournaments for the children enrolled in the after school activity program. Some of these events will take place within your child’s scheduled activity time. On other occasions, for a variety of reasons, these events may need to be scheduled at alternative times. If this is the case your child will be given a letter with all the details of the event and a reply slip that should be returned to Miss Farry’s office on or before the indicated date.
Please be aware that all invites to tournaments/matches/races must be returned to school regardless of whether or not your child is able to attend the event. It is not a problem if your child can’t attend; however, we need to know so we can offer the place to another child and so we still have a full team. We have been left in the lurch a few times recently with children who have told us at the last minute they are not coming to the event. This is unfair to the coaches, the rest of the team and the event organizers. It doesn’t teach the children the important values of commitment, sportsmanship and team spirit.
Marie Farry – P.E. Leader
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Term 1 after school activities are now up on our website. Please go to www.bradbury.edu.hk, click on Community. You can download the application forms. Please mail your payments directly to the company offering the after school activity. Bradbury School is not responsible for the quality and safety of programmes offered by third parties. However, please note that all hirers are required to provide third party insurance. Parents are urged to take steps to ensure that they are satisfied with any and all aspects of the after school programme(s) they elect to opt in to.
Thank you.
Sandra Webster – Principal
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| LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES |
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Learning Technologies @ Bradbury School
Welcome back to school! We are looking forward to a great year with lots of opportunities for your children to use technology to enhance and reinforce their learning.
The Buzz
The Buzz, our learning platform where your children can access online resources and their homework, is up and running and classes have been signing up this week and for next week, to make sure that the children’s usernames and passwords are still working. Year 2 – 6 children should have a piece of A5 paper glued into their diary where they have written their username and password by the end of next week. During these sessions we have discussed how we need to have ‘smart’ passwords that will not be easily guessed! If your child has any issues with logging on to The Buzz, please let me know at stephen.fennelly@bs.esf.edu.hk
Children’s School Emails
Children from Year 4 to Year 6 will have a school based Gmail account from the 1st September. This will be integrated with The Buzz to ensure that the students only need to sign in to one area. The Google Apps site (@mybradburyschool.com) gives the students the opportunities to communicate through email, collaborate through Google Documents and to create in Google Sites. We are really looking forward to fully utilizing this technology in the forthcoming year.
Learning Technology Acceptable Use Policy
At the start of every school year we ask students and parents to read through, discuss and sign our Bradbury School Acceptable Use Policy for using learning technologies. This can be downloaded from our school website under Learning at Bradbury > Parent Information Evening Handouts > Cyber Safety at Bradbury School. You can also find this document on The Buzz on the ‘Keeping Safe on the Internet’ page. Please ensure that this agreement has been signed and returned to your class teacher by Friday 3rd September.
Cyber Safety at Bradbury School
At Bradbury School we take cyber safety very seriously. We have a programme of study that the children begin in Year 1 and follow through to Year 6. All of the details of the areas that we look into can be downloaded from our school website under Learning at Bradbury > Parent Information Evening Handouts > Cyber Safety at Bradbury School. At school we use several filters and also have an on screen ‘dolphin protector’ that the students can click if they see anything that may concern them. Details on how to download this are on the cyber Safety PowerPoint found under Learning at Bradbury > Parent Information Evening Handouts > Cyber Safety at Bradbury School.
Stephen Fennelly – Learning Technologies Leader |
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| YEAR 1 APPLICATION PROCESS |
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Applications for Year 1 (born 2006) are required to apply for school place for August 2011 admission during the month of September 2010.
Year 1 (born 2006) – application period 1-30 September 2010 through the ESF Online Application form located on the ESF website www.esf.edu.hk. There is a $150 application fee payable online. Supporting documents along with a copy of your completed online application form should be sent by registered mail to the English Schools Foundation, Year 1 Central Admissions, 25/F Fortis Centre, 1063 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, H.K. by 30 September 2010.
There will also be an information session about the ESF Year 1 application process on Wednesday 1 September at 6.30 p.m. The venue for this session will be Bradbury School.
Chris Duncan – Vice Principal |
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| PERFORMING ARTS NEWS |
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INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS
Children at Bradbury School are offered the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument as part of the extra-curricular programme. These private lessons are taught by experienced peripatetic teachers as follows:
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Violin
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Years 1 to 6
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Voice
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Years 4 to 6
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Guitar
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Years 4 to 6
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Flute
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Years 4 to 6
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Clarinet
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Years 4 to 6
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Trumpet
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Years 4 to 6
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Saxophone
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Years 5 and 6
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Piano
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Years 1 to 6
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Lessons are generally taught individually, either at lunchtime or after school and are on a private basis. Lessons costs approximately $270 for 30 minutes, but this does vary slightly depending on the teacher. The school has several clarinets and flutes that can be rented for $750/term. If you would like your child to begin lessons, please email Mr. Clothier in the Music Department (clothierg@bs.esf.edu.hk) stating your child’s name, class and preferred instrument. One of the instrumental teachers will then contact you to discuss specific arrangements such as time and cost of lessons, purchase of instrument, any books needed, etc.
UPPER SCHOOL CHOIR
Upper school choir, for children in Years 4 to 6, will again take place from 3 to 4 pm on Thursdays in the hall, starting later this term. Mr. Clothier will arrange to speak to all interested children shortly, letting them know further details.
Thank you!
Gethyn Clothier - Head of Performing Arts |
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| P.T.A. NEWS / CLASS PARENTS |
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PTA Membership and Student Directory
Under the ESF Ordinance all parents are automatically members of the PTA of their child/children’s school.
The annual membership fee for the Bradbury PTA is $400 per family. This membership fee is used for the administration of the PTA which runs the school uniform shop, the school bus service and social and fund-raising activities for the benefit of all students. In the last school year the PTA donated over HK$1.25 million to the school for playground improvements, Library resources, school sports team kits and other smaller items. Included in your membership fee of $400 you will also receive a copy of this year’s school calendar and your contact details will be included in the Student Directory which you will also receive a copy of. Please be aware that this directory is for school use only and is not to be used for commercial purposes.
The membership fee is included in the bus fees for all bus users but needs to be paid separately by those not using the bus service. If you are not a bus user and have not yet completed the PTA membership form and paid the annual fee please complete the attached form and submit to the PTA office by 3rd September 2010.
This year’s Student Directory - which is a valuable tool for parents wishing to arrange social activities - will be printed in September. We will only be able to include details of those families whose membership forms have been received by 3rd September.
If you have any questions regarding this matter please call PTA Administrator Lin Gong on 2893 2256.
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The P.T.A. Committee
PLEASE PRINT YOUR INFORMATION BELOW USING BLOCK CAPITALS.
CHILD’S FAMILY NAME ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
CHILD/CHILDREN’S FIRST NAME CLASS(e.g. 3J)
1. ……………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………...
2. ……………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………...
3. ……………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………
ADDRESS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................
HOME TEL. NO. ……………….………………………………………… HOME FAX NO.…………………..….………..
E-MAIL ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
FATHER’S OFFICE TEL. NO. ……………………………………… FATHER’S MOBILE NO.……………………
MOTHER’S OFFICE TEL. NO.…………………………….………… MOTHER’S MOBILE NO.…………………..
EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME & TELEPHONE NUMBER (If the parents cannot be reached)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
PARENT’S NAME, IF DIFFERENT FROM THE CHILD’S FAMILY NAME ……………………………………
Please note that all names will be included in the school directory, published in the autumn term.
 Please tick if you do not wish for your details to be included.
REQUEST TO USE BUS (please delete it if bus is not required)
BUS ROUTE PREFERRED NO: …………………… STOP: (letter as on list) …………..………START DATE: ……………..
I agree to abide by all the rules and conditions for use of the School Bus Service.
SIGNATURE: ……………………………………………………………………… DATE: ……………………………………………..
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CLASS PARENTS
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Thank you for volunteering to be part of the Bradbury School Communication Tree. For some classes, the response has been overwhelming! I have included the updated Communication Tree and I would like you to make special note of the spaces still available. We have not had to use it yet, but as this is typhoon season, we may soon. If you would like to volunteer for one of the vacant positions, please e-mail me carolyn.andrews@bs.esf.edu.hk - your help would be greatly appreciate.
Carolyn Andrews – Vice Principal
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Class Parents & Link Parents – 2010 – 2011
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Class
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Class Parent
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Link Parents
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1F
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Mrs. Judy Stevenson
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Ms. Sonsoles Delgado
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Mrs. Phyllis Ho
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1H
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Mrs. Niamh Armitage
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Mrs. Cassie Jullienne
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1M
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Ms. Samantha Campbell
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Mrs. Tanya Keg
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Ms. Margaret Loo
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1R
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Mrs. Rebekah James
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Mrs. Samanatha O'Meara
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Mrs. Terri Toms
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2A
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Mrs. Maxine Gross
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Mrs. Marta Van Heerden
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2C
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Mrs. Alison Young
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Mrs. Katie Fyfe
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Mrs. Anthea Lydon
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2G
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Mrs. Amanda Nicolle
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Ms. Tarynn Hatton-Jones
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Mrs. Becky Sullivan
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2S
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Mrs. Kerys Powell
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Mrs. Elizabeth Moore
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3B
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Mrs. Jocelyn Cripps
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Ms. Liz Gower
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3F
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Mrs. Saman Rizvi
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Mrs. Danielle Gillard
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3L
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Mrs. Hanneke Leyssius
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Mrs. Karen Rowland
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Mrs. Paula Vinton
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3T
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Mrs. Georgina Moseley
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Mrs. Themis Li
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Mrs. Kim Rankin
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4H
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Mrs. Annette Steadson
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Ms. Connie Fung
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Ms. Jane Robinson
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4K
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Mrs. Cathy Davidson
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4M
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Mrs. Pamela Fordham
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Mrs. Petra Lancelotte
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Mrs. Nadene Goldman
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4S
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Mrs. Hester Grisel
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Mrs. Gisella Browley
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Ms. Angela Hancock
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5A
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Mrs. Joyce Mizuno
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Mrs. Stephanie Devonport
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5B
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Ms. Zohra Jabbar
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Mrs. Janet Chiang
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5HT
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Mrs. Jenny Laing
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Ms. Clodagh McCoole
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Mrs. Anita Clements
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5T
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Mrs. Jacqueline Hendriksen
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Ms. Liesbeth Ramondt
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Mrs. Donna Kelly
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6H
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Mrs. Hahnette Otten
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Ms. Sudha Swamy
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Mrs. Jackie McIntyre
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6S
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6T
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Mrs. Sue Tulloch
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6V
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Mrs. Bindu Kapoor
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Mrs. Kate Jackson
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