Dear Parents,

It has been a positive and productive week of learning at Kennedy School - across the classrooms I have seen some great lessons where students have been active and engaged in a variety of experiences. The students are settling into very positive learning routines under the guidance of their teachers.

Mid Autumn Celebrations

I am delighted to report that the students have been enjoying Mid Autumn Festival assemblies led by their peers and teachers from the Mandarin Team. Having students performing again in assemblies has given everyone something to smile about at the start of the school day. It is the first time in two years we have returned to student-led assemblies for the year groups. These important opportunities for celebration and performance will continue to be reestablished at Kennedy School. Well done to all students involved in the assemblies and special thanks to the Mandarin Team for their effort and hard work.

Around the school, lanterns have been appearing in classrooms and corridors. The students have been creative and the lanterns are on display for all to enjoy. Again, thank you to the Mandarin Team for encouraging students to make a recycled lantern - they are beautiful!



Student Ambassadors

Congratulations to all of our new student ambassadors at school. Students have stepped up to nominate for a range of leadership roles across the school. I have been impressed to see how willing the students were to put themselves forward for consideration. Student voice and their action is valued at Kennedy School. The full list of student ambassadors include:

Kennedy School Council

Welcome to Richard Darracott and Ambra Debernardi, our new parent representatives on the school council. The school council members will recommence their important governance role in September. I am grateful in advance for their time and contribution to the community. These are the school council members:

New staff

Welcome to Skye Murphy who has joined the Kennedy School staff as a part-time Education Assistant in Year 6. Here is an introduction from Skye.

My name is Skye Murphy and I am excited to have joined the Kennedy School team as an Educational Assistant in Year 6! I have been a part of the Kennedy school community as a parent for the last four years with my two sons now in year 4 and year 1. I have been both a parent volunteer and most recently a supply EA in the school.

I am originally from Sydney, Australia but have lived in Hong Kong since 2006. I moved to Hong Kong on a one year secondment as a Human Resources Manager and can’t believe that 15 years later I am a Hong Kong permanent resident two times over!

In my free time I enjoy playing tennis, swimming, cooking, reading and doing arts and crafts with my kids.
 

Enjoy the weekend ahead.

Mina Dunstan
Principal


Please find included an overview of the school schedule from 1 October:

20 Sep - Lantern Walk

21 Sep - Year 3 Cultural Day

22 Sep - Public Holiday - The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

24 Sep - Gateway registration open for Online Parent Consultations (12 noon)

27 - 30 Sep - Maths Week

30 Sep - Gateway registration closed for Online Parent Consultations (12 noon)

1 Oct - Public Holiday - National Day

4 Oct - New School Schedule begins (8.00 am - 2.00 pm)

5 Oct - Online Parent Consultations

7 Oct - Online Parent Consultations

11 Oct - 15 Oct - Mid term break

The Central Application period for children born in 2017 (for entry to Year 1 in August 2022) will be from 1 to 30 September 2021.  

Applications can be submitted online via the ESF website at https://www.esf.edu.hk/application-form/.  

Please note that siblings of students already attending an ESF school will also need to submit their applications during the central application period. (https://www.esf.edu.hk/year1-key-dates/ for Key Dates)
 

A big thank you to the children who have brought in the tetrapaks.   We collect every Monday and the student ambassadors have done a great job in sorting them. We have collected the following so far :  

Lions - 6.2 kg
Phoenix - 3.53 kg
Dragons - 6.1kg
Unicorns - 4.2 kg 

Swimming Schedule for the next 2 weeks

Playpals Initiative

Today the Sports Ambassadors and Friendly School Ambassadors began training as Playpals.

The Playpals Initiative is an opportunity for the Year 6 Ambassadors to demonstrate their leadership qualities and lead activities for the Year 2 children during their breaktimes.

Activities include teaching ball skills, leading and refereeing small games as well as the all new PE Shed Challenge.

Girls Football and AFL ECA Opportunities

Spaces remain in the Girls Football and AFL ECA Clubs. I would encourage children to make the most of these amazing opportunities offered by our fabulous staff, not only to learn new skills but also to be active and socialise with new people.

We are now opening up these clubs to students from Years 4 to 6.

Please check the school Gateway system for further information.

Kennedy School has taken proud ownership of a shoe collection bin from Redbox Storage. This represents the next phase in a long term project of upcycling gently used football boots and trainers to worthy causes including the Indochina Starfish Foundation as well as the Pass it Back initiative with Laos Rugby. Over the years, the Kennedy School community has collected over 2,000 pairs of sports shoes and donated over 400 rugby balls to overseas charities. The association with Redbox Storage has made the whole collection process much easier and the continued support of DHL ensures the shoes are delivered where they are needed. Kennedy School also sponsors a Champa Ban team called the Butterflies which benefits the local community.

There are two ways to support this endeavour. The first is to place any unwanted sports shoes into the red collection bin outside the school reception. The second is to donate towards the sponsorship of the Butterflies team.

For further information please click HERE.

Class Representative Meeting

Today we were able to meet with our class representatives. It was a great opportunity to share ideas, look at the year ahead in terms of fundraising and community events and look at the role as Class Representative at Kennedy School.
 

You may not have heard from your Class Representative because you chose to "opt out" of us sharing your information. Please email Vicki in the PTA if you have changed your mind and are happy for them to add you! vrummun@kennedy.edu.hk

School Uniforms

Second Hand Items - As we await delivery of the new Kennedy Shirts and Blouses we are looking for any really good quality donations of the items below. Please only donate items you would want to buy yourself - no rips, stains and missing buttons!

Boys School Shirt - Sizes : 11 / 11.5 / 12 / 12.5 / 13

Girls School Blouses - Sizes 32 / 34

Girls Summer Dresses - Sizes 26 / 28 / 30 / 32 / 36

For other items please try to contact members of your child's peers, people in your building as for now we cannot house too much more!

School Buses Users

 - Any daily / weekly changes to your child's afternoon bus use, please contact Steven Chen at bus@kennedy.edu.hk

- You must contact Mr Chen BEFORE 12noon if you need to change your usual schedule. 

- As buses are full, we cannot accommodate playdates.

- Please arrive at your MORNING bus stop at least 5 minutes before your allocated time. A bus cannot wait for you. 

We do understand mornings can be hectic and sometimes we just don't make it on time - however if you are late, you must expect to make your own way to school that day.

Congratulations to our Kennedy mums Joanna Bowers and Kate Davies on the premier of the documentary ‘reFashioned’ which focuses on sustainability and a greener future.  The film is directed and produced by Joanna and Kate and will be premiering as part of Edko Film’s ‘Life is Art’ Festival on Sept 18th at the Movie Movie cinema in City Plaza at 5 pm. 

Ticketing details can be found here: https://www.cinema.com.hk/en/movie/details/13180
Trailer : https://vimeo.com/586682550/4ee18fea88