![page background](https://cdn.smore.com/_fr/flowersonbranch.1467b75c.jpg)
Island School PTA Newsletter
2018-19 Term 2-3, June 2019
Message from the Chair
As we end this academic year of 2018-2019, we reflect on our busy term. We achieved so much for our community as the ISPTA committee supported and organized many things for the students, teachers and parents.
April, May & June were busy with the Year 11 sitting for their IGCSE exams and the Year 13’s their IB. We celebrated these milestones with our families at their graduation ceremonies. Photos are linked below.
We reflect over our ability to constantly change and adapt to our decant campuses and ensure that our community continues to access and benefit with our collective efforts.
We held for the first time the Spring Carnival successfully and have brainstormed ways to improve for the next one, we look forward to your support at our next event.
This summer, work will be carried out within the school and the ISPTA offices. We will welcome the school admin staff to share the space in our Tai Wai office. The ESF will help maintain the ISPTA identity in the shared office as we continue with our daily operations. Our Big Chill Lounge will still be available for our parents in Tai Wai. However, The Uncommon Room in Shatin Wai will not be available as it will be converted for use by students in the new school year.
Lastly before I end, I would like to share that we take pride in our Island School spirit that was showcased at the ISPTA EGM and throughout the year while we prepared for the Transition to Association from a Limited company. I would like to thank all those who helped through the process. A special mention to Christine Meaney and Kelvin Lee.
I would like to thank our fabulous committee, including parent members Alex Chin, Manju Anand, Tarja Joro, Jennifer Seeto, Lamey Chang, Tania Shao, Ekta Sachdev, Terry Kwok, Soundari Mukherjea, Gini Lo, Alisha Ma, Anishi Sheth and David Fung, our teacher members Mary Lacey Vittachi, Stephanie Weathington, Steve Coats, our principal Stephen Loggie, as well as C.W. Lee & Azeez Kasubhai.
The committee has been amazing to work with. Members have repeatedly stepped forward to help each other out and friendships have formed and deepened.
It has truly been a heartwarming and exciting year and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with a like minded and engaged team
I wish you all a happy holidays, and look forward to welcoming you in August 2019.
Warm Regards,
Alefiyah Ebrahim ( ISPTA Chair)
The year so far at ISPTA
2018-19 has been a busy year for ISPTA. We have supported the school with purchase of 16 cafeteria tables (8 for each campus) to allow the students more space to enjoy their snacks and lunch time. This is in addition to 10 hexagonal tables and folding umbrellas purchased in summer 2018. ISPTA supported the textile department's up cycling program, and contributed sponsorship towards Rainbow Trek, school drama production "Ill-met by Moonlight", and technology talk. ISPTA also contributed towards the Nicola Myers - Kenneth McBride bursaries. With the financial year still ongoing, a full list of this year's contributions will be communicated in August, and financial report will be presented in the Annual General Meeting taking place in September.
Just before the Spring Carnival ISPTA purchased 300 glass plates, 300 glass bowls, 500 wine glasses and 500 stainless steel forks and spoons to be used at various ISPTA and school events. This helps us to keep school events environmentally friendly and green.
On the events side, ISPTA has arranged a round table for Y10-13 parents, a sunset cruise in Victoria Harbour to welcome new Y7 parents, and a parent social for each year group parents. To facilitate communication between parents and senior leadership team, a coffee morning was arranged for each year group as well. The main social event and fundraiser of the year was the Spring Carnival which was a big success. The ISPTA also organized the breakfast reception at Year 11 Graduation and the cocktail reception at the Year 13 Graduation, and assisted with welcoming the incoming Y7 parents on Induction Day.
Spring Carnival
We held our first Fair since decant to Shatin on Saturday 30th March at the Shatin Wai Campus. Thankfully, weather was on our side and after a little morning rain, we welcomed over 900 attendees and more than 150 student, teacher and parent volunteers to the Spring Carnival.
A big Island School thank you to the Spring Fair Organizing Committee - Jennifer Seeto, Tania Shao, Alefiyah Ebrahim, Ekta Sachdev, Mary Lacey Vittachi, Kate Sommerville, Rebecca Lucas-Timpany, Steve Coats, Stephanie Weathington, Manju Anand & Azeez Kasubhai who spent over 4 months working on the organization of all aspects of the Spring Fair. Their commitment to weekly meetings, promoting a Green Fair and making this a fun filled, successful event for the community has been amazing.
Our thanks also go to the Food Hall Coordinators, who provided us with a truly international choice of foods from the Curry Corner, Chinese, Japanese & Korean cuisines, a huge array of baked goods, drinks, the Teacher’s Bar and last but not least, the impressive 3 grill BBQ station! We could not have done this without the support of our coordinators Mika Ebihara, Adeline Fung, Carrian Hung, Ellie Kim, Chikako Kurata, Will Morris, Kayomaz Palkhiwalla, Eunsook Seo, Stacy Tan and Chris Lord as well as the many parent donors and volunteers on the day.
Over 20 student performances were held throughout the Fair and a big thank you to Steve Coats, Joe Travers and everyone who performed, auditioned, hosted and help operate all the AV equipment. You did us all proud.
Our thanks to all our external vendors and Masterful, who again sponsored the Kitchenware sales. This year, we also had a wonderful Silent Auction, which raised $28,270, of which 50% was donated to NMKM. The Silent Auction donations, would not have been possible without Lamey Chang, Tarja Joro, Teresa Ng and the generosity of our many sponsors.
To everyone who bought their own bottles, eating utensils, bags, the amazing WANBO team and Ross Burrough, who worked with HK Community Composting to help us collect 18kg of food waste for composting and recycled anything that could be recycled, we thank you for helping us make this the Greenest Fair ever!
To all the teachers, students, staff and parents who organized, volunteered and helped in any way for the House Activities, ticketing, setting up, dismantling and Finance support, a big thank you for your time and support! With your help and the support of everyone who attended, we were able to raise almost $157,000 for Island School, which will help go to fund items that will enhance students experience on the current campuses.
Last but not least, we would like to thank our Spring Carnival sponsors – Chartwells, ETAK, Impossible Foods, Magic Seasons Organics, Masterful, Ticketflap, Santa Fe & Vitasoy.
Spring Carnival pictures on school web site
Year 11 Graduation
The first ever Island School Year 11 Graduation took place on May 2nd. The ISPTA hosted a breakfast reception at the Tai Wai campus, with almost 400 guests in attendance.
Later that evening, students had their dinner dance at Renaissance Harbourview in Wanchai. After the celebratory hour of the dinner dance, some of the parents had their own get-together at Oolaa Petite, Wanchai. This event was organised by Y11 parents Manju Anand and Alefiyah Ebrahim.
ISPTA wishes the students all the success as they start their last two years at Island School.
Year 13 Graduation
The Year 13 Graduation took place on the afternoon of 28 May at the Shatin Wai campus. This was followed by a cocktail reception hosted by the ISPTA for the almost 500 guests who came to celebrate the graduating class. That evening the students all enjoyed separate House dinners to conclude a wonderful day.
On 30 May, Y13 held their final Island School Dinner Dance at the Harbour Grand, North Point. Parents joined for an hour to take photographs, before some proceeded to their own dinner celebration organised by Y13 parents, Lakshmi Jacota and Zohra Jabbar at Enoteca in Quarry Bay. The ISPTA wishes all the new graduates the very best with their future endeavours.
Y7 Transition Day
ISPTA warmly welcomes all new Islanders and their parents.
Town hall meeting and ISPTA Ltd EGM
ISPTA Coffee Mornings - Y7, Y8, Y9-10, Y13
Several year groups had their coffee mornings during terms 2 and 3: Y7 (February 18), Y9-10 (February 27), Y13 (March 4) and Y8 (May 10). Please find short summaries of the events HERE.
Mother Tongue Books collection
A big thank you to all parents who have supported the mother tongue books collection! Many great books have been added to Library's collection of mother tongue books – books in languages spoken at homes of our Island School students.
We continue the project, and reach out to parents to continue donating mother tongue books in new or near-new condition in approximately Y7-8 reading level. Please keep the initiative in mind during your summer travels!
As the Library has already good collection of books in English, Chinese, Japanese, French and Spanish (languages are taught at IS), they are focusing on all other mother tongues: Hindi, Korean, Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Dutch, Urdu, you name it!
They are interested in both books originally written in mother tongues, as well as mother tongue editions of some of the very popular fiction series, like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Land of Stories, The Diary of Wimpy Kid, etc.
For further questions, please contact our librarian, Mrs Emily Leung at emily.leung@online.island.edu.hk, or ISPTA through Tarja Joro at tarja.pta@icloud.com. Books can be dropped off at the library on either campuses.
SAVE THE DATE!
ISPTA Key Dates
- June 28th - Last day of Year
- August 12th - School starts for new students in Y12 and all of Y13
- August 13th - School starts for Y7, new students in Y8-Y11 and all returning students
Please see school calendar at http://island.edu.hk/calendar/ for details on school events
ISPTA Parent form for 2019-20
It's a good way to be in touch with other parents from your child’s year group and address queries, advice, ideas and help in settling down and being part of the Island School community.
We have seven WhatsApp groups managed by Parent Representatives of each year group, who help to connect the parent community. These groups are especially useful for parents who are new to Island School.
If you would like to sign up, you can email PTA at pta@online.island.edu.hk or alefiyah@gmail.com. Please include parent's name, child's name, phone contact & class.
Parent Lounge - The Big Chill
The Tai Wai Lounge (The Big Chill) is located on the ground floor between the library and general office.
Tea, coffee and cookies are available.
Free wifi and power sockets are available at the lounge.
REQUEST FOR APPLE AND ANDROID CHARGERS
Island School Council and ESF Committee of Parents
Island School School Council
ISPTA representative | Alefiyah Ebrahim
ESF Committee of Parents
ISPTA representative | Alefiyah Ebrahim
Island School Trust
ISPTA representative | Tarja Joro
Parent Representatives
Suggestions
If you do have any suggestions for improvement, please email us at pta@online.island.edu.hk
Please do leave your contact email or phone so we can update you on how we addressed your concern.
Newsletter published by our lovely ISPTA committee ladies
Island School PTA
Email: pta@online.island.edu.hk
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/online.island.edu.hk/island-school-pta/latest-news
Location: Island School, 波老 道沙田 Hong Kong
Phone: 2140 6806
Island School PTA is the owner of the copyright in all content of this publication. Distributing, modifying, copying or using any content of this publication in any manner for public or commercial purposes without written permission from Island School is strictly prohibited. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of Island School or the English Schools Foundation.