Dear Parents

As a welcome and rewarding excursion for term 2 HFS would like to take students to the HHI Art gallery to see the Great Graffiti Exhibition. The trip will take place on Friday 8 February and is open to year 2 to Year 9 students. The outing will be comprised of a tour of the works on display at the exhibition and the trip will be from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. Parents are asked to complete the online permission form here by no later than Wednesday 6 February. This promises to be an informative outing and I look forward to it being an eye-opening experience. After school activities will not be affected.

Best Regards,

Dear Parents

Term Two is now in full swing and we have been fortunate to have had a mild winter season this year. A few short announcements for this week’s newsletter.

HFS Fire Safety Drill Inspection

I am pleased to report that HFS passed our Fire Safety Drill Inspection with flying colors. It is mandatory for all institutions to undergo an inspection from the fire department to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of its fire safety procedures. All the students evacuated the building in a calm and orderly fashion, remembering to follow the instructions to cover their mouths and crouch to avoid inhaling smoke. The fire department was impressed with the speed and efficacy with which we mustered on the field and rewarded the students with photos in and around the fire engine. Please click here to see more pics on our Facebook page. Well done, everyone!

The HFS Parent Teacher Association Facebook Group

Our Parent Teacher Association is a valued and vital part of our school community and I recommend you join the Facebook group to stay up to date with events and information that they might share. Please click here to view and join the Facebook group.

Seollal Celebration on Wednesday 30 January

Being part of the Korean community means acknowledging and celebrating the most sacred holidays and traditions that are a part of this wonderful culture. The Korean Lunar New year will take place from the 4th to the 6th of February, the school will be closed for those three days but we will celebrate at school a little earlier on Wednesday 30th January. Students are encouraged to dress in Korean traditional clothing, or traditional clothing from their country, for the day. We will have a short program acknowledging the significance of the New Year. The program will be as follows

• 12:30 Lunch and Ddeok snack in the cafeteria.
• 13:00 Playtime as normal
• 13:30 Seollal assembly – Year 2/3 song, Year 4-9 presentations,
• Ceremonial bowing and placing New Year wishes on the tree.
• 14:15 Seollal games – Whole school moves to the gymnasium and, in classes, play traditional Korean games
• 15:00 Move to the Futsal field to do Kite flying
• 15:20 Return to class for dismissal.
• Please join us from 1:30 pm and be a part of the HFS Seollal celebration.

F1/2 Year1 School Trip to Dongrami theatre

Our budding actors in the early year’s classes are in for a treat on Thursday 31st January. They will be visiting the Dongrami theatre as part of their IPC Unit on “Let’s Pretend”. They will get a tour of the facilities and be able to play on the stage, dressing up in costumes and learning about actual stage productions. I am very pleased that the HFS partnership with the Dongrami theatre company can provide such a valuable learning experience for the little ones. To allow your child to attend this school trip please complete the online permission form by Monday 28 January by clicking here.

That is all for this week. Thank you for your continued support and have a splendid weekend.

Best regards,

Scott Kearney

Dear Parents

We are moving steadily in to term two now and I hope you are settled and keeping warm in this blustery winter weather. There are a few announcements this week that I would like to share with you.

Olivia McCarthy’s Award

I am pleased to announce that one of brightest year 2 students, Olivia McCarthy, received an award for her outstanding abilities in Speed Skating. We presented the award in our assembly on Monday and she was shy but excited to receive it. Well Done, Olivia! We are all proud of you.

Silly Hat Day

What a wonderfully fun day it was. There are certainly a few “Mad Hatters” in our midst at HFS. The students came up with amazingly silly designs and creations which they proudly displayed on the day. We had votes to select the silliest hat in each class and then the school chose the overall silliest hat as a winner. Congratulations to Noah Dunn for his madcap top-hat creation, complete with roads and cars (it was almost bigger than him!)

Fire Safety Inspection

At HFS, the safety and security of your children is our top-most priority and on Monday 21 January we will be visited by the Ulsan fire department as they inspect the effectiveness of our Emergency evacuation procedure for fire. We have practiced this as a drill in the first term and I have no doubt that the students will follow procedures in a calm and orderly fashion as they evacuate the building. We may even be lucky enough to have some photos of the children with the brave firefighters and their fire engine after the drill.

Scholastic book order

Today the popular Scholastic book catalogue went home with your child. Please take advantage of this wonderful resource and browse the catalogue, completing your online orders by no later than Sunday February 10th. The orders will then be delivered to the school and distributed to parents accordingly. Remember, Readers are Leaders!

Order Here ☞ http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/hyundai-foreign

Indoor Play due to Poor Air Quality and Low Temperatures

Unfortunately, due to the poor air quality earlier this week it was necessary to have indoor break a few times. At HFS we take the health and well-being of the students very seriously and we check the air quality index each morning. If the Air Quality index shows a high rate of particulate matter, we will keep the children indoors for their own health and safety. This is true for the temperature as well, if the temperature should fall to 0 degrees or below the children will remain warm indoors for play time. Fortunately, both the air quality and temperature improved during the latter part of this week and we could all enjoy our outdoor play time.

That is all for this week. Thank you for your continued support.

Best regards,

Scott Kearney

Dear Parents

Welcome back to a new year and a new term at HFS. I hope you are rested and refreshed from the winter break and all had a fantastic festive season and new year. There are a few exciting announcements that I am happy to share with you in the first newsletter of 2019.

Welcome to Jisika and Minel

HFS is excited to welcome a few new students to our school. Jisika Philip has joined the FS1 class and Minel Simsek has joined FS2. They have settled in nicely and we are delighted to have them as part of the HFS community.

HFS After-school Club Activities

I am happy to report that we will have a full complement of dynamic new club activities that will commence from next week, 14 January. These include arts and crafts, Film making club, Fun Korean learning, knitting and basketball. Violin and swimming club will also be running from next week for those who are participants.  If for any reason you have not joined a club but would like to participate please contact the admin office as soon as possible. We will limit the number of club participants to 20 with a minimum number of 6 in order to make the club viable. It promises to be a fun program of after school activities this term.

National Hat Day

Heads up everyone, Tuesday 15 January is National Hat Day. We would like to celebrate this by allowing students to wear the silliest hat that they can find, make or buy for the day. Each class will have a competition judging and deciding which hat is the silliest hat in their class. I look forward to some amazingly wacky creations on display.

PTA Meeting

We will have our first PTA meeting of the term on Thursday 17 January at 3:30. I look forward to seeing all the members of the group and welcoming any new members who would like to be a part of the parent teacher association for this term. I do enjoy the monthly meetings and discussions with our valued parent group and look forward to seeing you at the meeting next week.

Parent Lunch-time Volunteers

Thank you to all the parents who kindly volunteered their time to assist during our lunch period. The extra set of hands an eyes is much appreciated. A new volunteer list is up outside the admin office for any parent who would like to offer assistance during the lunch period this term. Simply put your name on the list for the day you would like to volunteer and be there on that day. Your assistance with this endeavor is greatly appreciated.

Going for Goals

I am happy to announce the establishment of another program at HFS to instill in our students the qualities of good HFS citizens. The going for goals program is a weekly initiative where students will set a goal to work toward and achieve during that week. Setting and achieving goals is a positive habit and has all the merits of a growth mindset. I am certain that this program will be as successful as other character-building programs at HFS.

That is all for this week. Thank you for your continued support.

Best regards,

Scott Kearney