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Preparatory News:Head Teacher's Message:

“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is achoice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”

Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Once again, a very warm welcome to everyone but especially all our new families to Term one of the newacademic year. It was good to see so many parents at our first assembly and those of you who were there willknow that our value focus for this half term is RESPECT. We will be discussing this in form time, in assembliesand in PSHCE lessons.

As I have written to you with updates this week already, this is just a short note to invite you to our “Meet theSchool” function. This will take place on Wednesday 12th September at 4pm and will be an opportunity for youto meet your class teacher, discuss routines and expectations, followed by an informal meeting with the staffteam in the Prep Hall. There will be a supervised session for pupils in The Space during this time from 4pm. Ilook forward to seeing you there.

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A short reminder that at the end of last term, we communicated with you about new Class Representatives.They play a crucial role in the school community, serving as a liaison in each class for feedback and thedissemination of information and announcements relevant to the class groups as well as welcoming andbuilding relationships with new parents and the whole school community.I would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing reps for all the work and support they offered last year.There is still time to nominate class reps for the current year. Frida and Flo on main reception have a form if youdo not already have one. Nominations should be submitted to Frida and Flo by  14th September please.

Please note the new morning line up time of 8.00 am. Pupils should not be dropped prior to 7.45 am as they willbe unsupervised prior to that time.In the meantime, enjoy a relaxing weekend and see you next week.

Best regards, as ever,

Vikki AldenHead Teacher Preparatoryvikki.alden@hillcrest.ac.ke

Early Years News:Head Teacher's Message:

Welcome back to our new term in HEY.  I am delighted to be joining the Hillcrest family and it was wonderful tomeet so many of you on Wednesday morning for coffee.  A big welcome to all our new families to Hillcrest, I amsure that you will soon feel that you are part of the Hillcrest family too.Your children will have brought home a copy of their timetable and their project news this term and we willshare some of our progress with these topics in our future weekly bulletin.

As I have walked around the classes this week it has been wonderful to see our children smiling and happy,already enjoying learning and exploring new things.  I am sure they are going to love their new projects.

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Next week we have our ‘Meet the teacher’ sessions which we hope many of you will be able to attend.  Theyare taking place between 2.30 pm to 2.50 pm in your child’s classroom.  Nursery 1 and Playgroup on Monday10th, Nursery 2 on Tuesday 11th, Reception on Wednesday 12th and Year 1 on Thursday 13th.  I shall lookforward to meeting many more of you then.

It is also time to think about nominating new Class Representatives.  They play a crucial role in the schoolcommunity, serving as a liaison in each class for feedback and the dissemination of information andannouncements relevant to the class groups as well as welcoming and building relationships with new parentsand the whole school community. Frida and Flo on reception have the forms which should be returned to themby 14th September.

Thank you once again for your warm welcome here at Hillcrest.  Have a wonderful weekend and I will see younext week.

Jackie LeesonHead Teacher Early Yearsjacqueline.leeson@hillcrest.ac.ke

Message from Deputy Head Prep

As a successful week one of this academic year ends, we have all settled into our new classes and are gettingused to the timetable. As you may have noticed PSHE and RE are timetabled together. They are now under thewider umbrella of SMSC ed (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education), which will cover PSHE/RE andRelationship education from Year 2-8. Form Tutors are the first pastoral support for the pupil and therefore willbe responsible for this area of the curriculum. To facilitate the teaching and learning of SMSC, in addition to the40 minutes lesson, all classes now have 20 minutes of form time every school day. Teachers have developedskill statements for the three areas of SMSC and will be planning activities during form time as well as lessontime to empower pupils in their learning. We are committed to our vision for each child to achieve personalexcellence as a valuable member of our global community.Have a good weekend.

Surbhi VashishtDeputy Head Teacher Prepsurbhi.vashist@hillcrest.ac.ke

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Thank you to all of you to follow us on social media – it really helps that you share all our wonderful stories.We would love to see you at a number of our upcoming events this term:-

Saturday 22nd September - Nairobi Hospice Walk in Ngong Forest – See poster for details.  T-Shirts can becollected at the Front Office.

Saturday 22nd September & Sunday 23rd September – Safesteps School Expo at Carnivore Grounds.  Popalong to say hello and let your friends know they can come and chat to us there. We’re planning a very colourfulstand!Saturday 29th September – Nairobi Chess Academy Tournament – at Hillcrest Prep U8, 10,12, 14, 16.Please let the office know if you would like your child to take part.

Marketing News:

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Saturday 6th October – Hillcrest Community Hike to William Hill – approx 6 hrs, flat & hilly, some tricky terrain.Saturday 6th October – KSPCA Annual Shaggy Dog Show – come along to support a great cause and say hito us on one of the stands.

Christina LaceyHead of Admissions and Marketing

Junior School News:

It has been a fantastic first week of school in the new academic year and we are glad to see the pupils come toschool energised and ready for what this term has to offer. A warm welcome to all the new families who havejoined the Junior School as well as to the Year 2 children who have adapted well into the routine of the Prepschool.As the term commences, it is important to take note of the information that has been shared to you by FormTutors in their welcome letters regarding the expectations within year groups. Some of these includeexpectations on homework, labelling of all articles of the school uniform, our ‘No Hat No Play’ policy, amongothers. More details will be shared with you during the ‘Meet the School’ meetings scheduled for Wednesday12th September starting at 4:00pm. Please do plan to attend.Have a great weekend.

Mary MuchangiHead of Junior Schoolmary.muchangi@hillcrest.ac.ke

Senior School News:

Welcome to the 2018/2019 Academic Year.  It was lovely welcoming the children back after their summerholiday. We also had the opportunity to welcome the new member of staff and the new children to the Hillcrestcommunity.  The first week has gone by quickly – the children got to know their Form Tutors for this academicyear and have now familiarised themselves with the timings of the new school day and the expectations whileat school.

Mrs. Alden led Tuesday’s whole school assembly on Tuesday 4th where she introduced the theme for this term;Respect. We then had our Pastoral Assemblies on Wednesday 5th September 2018 where the Senior Schoolhad the opportunity to welcome the Year 5s. Our Pastoral assemblies will take place fortnightly as they did lastyear.

Part of the changes to the new school day include a longer form time. This will be instrumental in allowing FormTutors to spend more time with their pupils in a pastoral capacity. They are your first point of contact in allmatters concerning your child and will by now have sent you an introductory welcome letter. You will have anopportunity to meet and interact with them on Wednesday 12th September at the “Meet the School” eventscheduled to start at 4pm.

On Monday 10th September 2018 an IAPS Maths Challenge will be taking place at Kenton School. Twenty-fourchildren from the whole school have been selected to represent us at the event. Each participant has beengiven their letter of invitation. We wish them the very best and look forward to hearing all about their experiencewhen they get back.

This year, we will be looking to further empower the pupils in terms of student leadership. In addition to the

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Student Council and the Prefect Body, we will have a new rotational Student Ambassador role which willempower our pupils and enhance their leadership skills. More details about this role will be shared in classes bythe Form Tutors.

Have a lovely weekend.Julie KimutaiHead of Senior Schooljulie.kimutai@hillcrest.ac.ke

Sports News:

Welcome all!We come into Term one looking at building upon last years’ success and making more progress both in thelessons and on the games fields. This term sees us taking part in Swimming, Athletics, Cricket, Rounders andFootball.We are also excited to be announcing the captains of these sports over the next week or so.We hope to see many of you coming along to support the children during the next few weeks.

Nigel MoyseHead of Physical Education and Sports Departmentnigel.moyse@hillcrest.ac.ke

ECA Trip News:

The extra-curricular clubs fair was held on Friday and the children were excited to see their last terms coachesand instructors. The children took interest in the new clubs, Makers Club, which will focus on Science,

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Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths and Fun French. All activities are designed to inspire and encourageyour child’s learning experience. Sign up forms should be returned on Monday, 10th of September and theterms full payments to be made on or before the14th of September.This term, each class will go for a bonding trip where they will participate in team building activities with theirpeers and teachers. This will enable our pupils to develop their communication, leadership and teamwork skills.Class bonding trips for this term:Friday, 7th September 2018:

Year 2: Ololua Forest KarenYear 8: Karura Forest, Kiambu Road

Thursday, 13th September 2018:

Year 3: Stedmak Gardens, Karen

Friday, 14th September 2018:

Year 4: Karura Forest, Kiambu RoadYear 7: Paradise Lost, Kiambu RoadYear 6: GP Karting, Langata Road

Wednesday, 19th September 2018:

Year 5: Ice Rink, Panari Hotel, Mombasa Road

Barbara Simiyu & Jacqueline MwangiCoordinatorsbarbara.simiyu@hillcrest.ac.ke or jacqueline.mwangi@hillcrest.ac.ke

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