School Days are Here Again: Timing is Everything. ☺
Dear Parents,
It has been a wonderfully busy two weeks back to school as the returning children
settled back into their routines and new students were welcomed into their classroom
environments. Many smiles and hugs have been exchanged, along with some tears
as children (and parents!) realised a little more independence. Along the way all
children were greeted with love and care from our supportive and encouraging
teaching staff.
As children and teachers all settle into our classroom routines, we would like to take
this time to ensure our parents also have an understanding of our daily classroom
schedules so that you too may settle into your family routines. You will find a copy
of the class schedule attached and also posted on our notice boards in the hallways at
school.
Please take a few moments to review with us some important features we would like
to highlight:
1. 8:20 – 8:40 am: Arrival Time. School doors will open at 8:20 every
morning to welcome children into their classrooms. Please help us ensure
children are practicing their punctuality by arriving by 8:40, as we believe this
instils an important sense of responsibility. Children arriving after 8:40 will be
considered tardy. Arriving on time helps children demonstrate how to value
their own time as well as that of others. It also enables them to begin their day
in a peaceful manner.
Children arriving after 8:40am will be received at the reception area by one of
our teaching staff, who will escort the child to the rooftop for the morning
exercises.
2. 8:40-9:00am: Morning Exercises. We are very excited about this addition
to our schedules this year. Primary children will go up to the rooftop and
Toddler children will have their morning exercise in the garden on the ground
floor. It is especially important for children to arrive on time so that they may
participate in their morning exercises from beginning to end, as this serves to
prepare the children both mentally and physically to begin their day and settle
into their daily routines.
3. 9:00-9:30am: Virtues lesson. Every class will have a daily half-hour
whole-group virtues lesson beginning after the morning exercises. We would
like to reemphasize the importance of punctuality, as arriving around the top of
the 9 o’clock hour would be disruptive to classmates and the child arriving late
will have missed the beginning of the school day, the morning exercises.
4. 12:00-12:15pm: Dismissal for half-day children in toddler classes.
4:00-4:15pm (Mondays-Thursdays): Dismissal for full-day toddlers and
primary children.
3:00-3:15pm (Fridays): Dismissal for full-day toddlers and primary
children.
12:00-12:15pm on LAST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH: Dismissal for all
children.
Dismissal is at the entrance to your child’s classroom. In order to support us
in ensuring the safety of all children, please refrain from going up to the rooftop
to pick up your child.
We appreciate your support in picking up your child/ren on time, as our
teaching staff have additional responsibilities after the children are dismissed
to ensure the classroom environment is properly prepared for the next school
day, attend meetings, etc.
If you are unable to come on time to pick up your child, please inform your
class directress. Thank you for your consideration.
5. 4:30pm: School closes, except for those children participating in
After-School Activities. The school building will be closed after dismissal
time, with the exception of children attending ASA. The school will be closed
until the end of the activities, when our doors will open again for pick-up of ASA
children.
6. After-school Activities (ASA). ASAs are organized and led by the activity
leaders, not our school staff. The leaders will also collect each child from
his/her classroom for the activity; therefore, parents do not need to pick up ASA
children until the of the activity. Should you have any questions or comments
concerning these activities, please contact the activity leaders directly.
Please also ensure your punctuality in picking your child up at the end of the
activities. We appreciate your cooperation in supervising your child during
after-school hours.
7. Safety of all children: please help us to ensure proper supervision. Our
school is operating at full capacity for enrolment; therefore, with the increased
number of children, we naturally appreciate everyone’s cooperation in helping
us to protect the security of all children at all times. In this respect, please
refrain from lingering in our hallways, outside classrooms after arrival and
dismissal times.
On days of special events (e.g. family events, parent learning workshops)
the school will still close at 4:30pm and will re-open a half an hour prior to the
start of the event. We appreciate your understanding that our staff will need
to prepare our school environment for the event and would be unable to
supervise children in classrooms, etc.
8. Curriculum updates. In order to facilitate cohesive programming across the
school and recommit to our Montessori foundation, we have made some
improvements to our curriculum. As much as possible, all courses are
integrated into the Montessori work cycle, this includes: Chinese (math and
characters), art, yoga, piano, music, and ballet (for children 4 years and older).
With as few interruptions as possible to the children’s work cycle, we believe
these complement to our Montessori core will only enhance the children’s
potential for learning and growth.
9. Peacefulness Policy: Peacefulness is a virtue that we strongly uphold at
TFLH. We try to put it into practice at every opportunity and our teachers
teach this by example. It is our objective to raise children who will be
peacemakers in society – refraining from all forms of violence.
At home, to reaffirm the value of peace, we would suggest that you limit the
amount of video and media that your child is exposed to and eliminate all forms
of media that contain any violent content. Thank you for respecting our goals in
creating a welcoming and safe environment for all children and anyone who
enters The Family Learning House.
10. Uniforms: Please ensure your child comes to school dressed in the
appropriate uniform for his/her class, whether it be the Toddler uniform, or the
Primary one.
Also please note that all primary children are required to purchase a school
backpack for school to be used on school outings. Additionally, should your
child require a backpack for carrying personal items to school daily, please only
use our school backpack.
Uniforms (and bakcpacks) may be purchased at the reception Wednesday and
Thursday mornings. Please indicate your purchase order and submit your
payment to the receptionist. The uniform/backpack will be delivered to your
child’s cubby before the end of the school day.
11. Parking of strollers and bicycles at front door: In accordance with Jianwai
SOHO property management guidelines, please refrain from parking your
stroller or bicycle in front of the school entrance. Please look for the
designated parking area (or ask our receptionist for directions) nearby.
12. www.thefamilylearninghouse.com All correspondence from TFLH is
available on our website. If you do not receive our e-mails, you are invited to
view the contents at our site.
Karyn Robarts, our founder, has regretfully been unavailable for the opening of our
new term due to personal family business. We know you have missed her presence,
as we all have. Rest assured, she is still very much an integral part of our school and
we look forward to the return of her lovely smile. In the meantime, we are keeping
Karyn in our thoughts and send her and the Robarts family our best wishes and plenty
of warm hugs.
We have had an enthusiastic start to the new academic school year and are looking
forward to every minute and step of growth and learning that our children, parents,
staff members, and families will experience together. While we realize that these
changes might take a bit of time to get used to, we also value that change is growth.
In celebration of our continuous growth and development we want to reaffirm our
commitment to educational excellence, always! Our most important objective is to
provide the best we can, at all times, to our children: we are in their service.
We are fortunate to have all our encouraging and supportive families with us and look
forward to another brilliant year of learning and spending many moments of laughter
and growth with everyone.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to your child, and for your continued trust in
us.
With warmest regards,
The Family Learning House