Dear Parents and Caregivers,

House Captains

A huge congratulations to our Year 6 House Captains who were elected at the end of last week. We were all so impressed with the presentations and motivation of all of the short-listed candidates. Having met our House Captains and seen them interacting around the school I know already that they will be great role models for others. Click here to see our new House Captains.

Year 3 - Focus on Culture

The Year 3 students have been exploring differences and similarities within their cultures and each child shared their culture and identity bag with others. This is a great way to promote respect and appreciation of each other.

Activities - Extracurricular (after school) and Co-Curricula (during school time)

We are delighted to be able to get back into full swing with all of our extracurricular activities. It is an amazing offering of activities which have been well attended. I’m delighted to share that the inter-school sporting tournaments are back too which is fabulous after being cancelled for so many years.

Co-curricular activities such as class/year group excursions took place with the Year 1 trip to the theatre yesterday and the Year 3 trip to cultural venues next week. More excursions will follow for other year groups this term. Extended camps (non-residential) will also take place in November and December for Years 4 to 6.

Vaccination Rates

Please check that you have updated your child’s vaccination information on the ESF App. Our current vaccination figures as of 22 August 2022 are as follows:

As you will know, when the school achieves 90% of students fully vaccinated, we can revert to lunch eating and a modification of the current timetable.

Please ensure that your child's vaccination record (including recovery record) is fully up to date on the ESF App. Please note the PE section for further information.

Vaccine Pass

Please click here for the dosage schedule for Vaccine Pass.

Please click here for the latest government press release on extending the Vaccine Pass requirements that cover children aged 5 to 11 years old.

Parent Webinars - Mandarin Programme

In September and October, our Chinese Department staff will be holding parent webinars to explain the curriculum and the differentiation model for students. Please look out for these invites on the ESF App.

Parent Consultations

The first round of parent teacher consultations will take place on October 11th and 13th. This will be a chance for you to talk with your child’s teacher for a 10 minute Zoom consultation. Mandarin consultations for Year 6 will also take place in October. Please look out on the App for the booking schedules which will be released soon.

Open Day Afternoon for Prospective Parents

We are holding open days and some online webinars for prospective parents over the next couple of weeks. The open day will take place after school.

Kennedy School Open Day Poster

Kennedy School Webinar Poster

Open Day Afternoon for Current Parents

We are very aware that many of the Year 1 to 3 parents or new parents have not been able to see the campus other than through our virtual tour. We will be opening up the campus after school on a couple of afternoons (Vaccine Pass will apply) for all of our parents/caregivers . This will be a chance for your child/ren to take you on a tour of their school and show you all the different facilities. We are aiming to do this in early November. I will update you with the actual dates soon. It will be lovely to have you back on campus for a look around. Hopefully sometime soon we can get back to inviting you to activities during the school day.

Year Group Assemblies

Over the last two weeks, we have been exploring the concept of Respect and how to have and nurture respectful relationships. This week, we tied our assemblies into International Day of Peace. We also encouraged students to participate in small acts of kindness for others, to show respect to everyone so all members of our community feel like they belong and to think of ways to continue to nurture peaceful relationships within the school community. I was very impressed with the children’s understanding and commitment and have seen on numerous occasions them following through with kind acts in the playground.

As always if you would like to make contact with any of the leadership team you will find us in the playground or reach out to us via email  bcook@kennedy.edu.hk

Kind Regards,

Brenda

顧仁達

PYP 101: A Parents' Guide to the IB Primary  Years Programme 

Wednesday 2 November 6.00pm to 7.00pm

This webinar is designed for parents to  find out more about the IB PYP, which is the curriculum framework we use at Kennedy School and across ESF. This webinar will focus on the IB Mission, the Learner Profile, key features of the PYP, and how our curriculum is embedded into the PYP framework through our Programme of Inquiry.

In other words, this workshop will answer the questions:

1. Why is my child learning this way?

2. What are they doing? Why are they doing that?

3. How does the curriculum support the way my child learns?

This webinar will be interactive and you will be discussing and working with other parents. It is a great opportunity for us to share, learn and grow together.

Please fill out the survey here and we look forward to seeing you virtually on Wednesday 2nd of November. We will share the link and additional information about the webinar closer to the date.

Swimming Programme

Next week will be the last week of swimming for this term.

We will finish our Autumn Term Swimming Programme one week earlier with our final swim sessions on Thursday 29 September 2022. This is due to the new vaccination requirements at the HKU swimming pool that begin on 1 October 2022.

Our swimming programme will commence again in Term 3 from May 2nd onwards and we will make up the extra week in the third term.

Games Programme

Our Kennedy Games programme will begin after the October half term holiday. Fully vaccinated students will be able to use the HKU pitches for Games. Non vaccinated students will also take part in Games but they will stay at Kennedy School for their Games session. Please ensure your child's vaccination records are fully updated on the ESF App so that we can finalise our Games programme.

Calling all Year 5 and 6 Boys and Girls!

Come and have fun and learn some new skills at our after school netball club on Wednesdays! No previous experience is required. We are looking for more players so we can take part in some friendly tournaments this year.

Chat with Ms Noakes (2N) if you want to know more or email office@kennedy.edu.hk. Gateway is open for netball applications till 30 September 2022.

Find out the basic rules of netball here:

https://youtu.be/V1qINnI-Dis

As part of the extensive and diverse Music and Performing Arts programme here at Kennedy School, we would like to offer you the opportunity for your child to learn a musical instrument on a one to one or small group basis.

If you would like to start lessons you should contact the teachers directly.

The lessons are FEE PAYING and will take place during snack time or directly after school. Fees depend on the group size and the teachers. Some lessons can be delivered in different languages.

If you would like more details, contact the teachers.

We are looking forward to making Marvellous Music this year!

Fruity Fridays

We collect fruit peels from classrooms after big snack every Friday which we then turn into compost to use in our school gardens. It also encourages healthy eating! Please pack an unpeeled small orange or banana for your child’s snack on Fridays.

En-trak visit

As part of their current unit, How The World Works, Tyler Holland from En-Trak came in to talk to the Year 5 students about how electricity usage in the school is monitored. The En-Trak system is available via the VLE for all students to access and it helps them visualise their energy impact instantly with real-time animated graphs and creative everyday units like hamburgers, noodles or bicycle trips. Hopefully this will inspire the Year 5s to take action and help reduce our carbon footprint.

Please click on the links below for the children's Chinese learning for Term 1. These links will be updated on a weekly basis. You may also bookmark the relevant pages for future reference: