Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Half Term

As we approach half term I wanted to acknowledge the wonderful work from the teaching staff and EAs who have settled the children so well into their class routines and learning programmes. Our Year 1 students have come ahead leaps and bounds and are much more familiar, settled and confident in their learning environments. Our new students have been warmly welcomed by their peers and when visiting classrooms, I am seeing lots of energy and enthusiasm for learning which is great.

Student Leaders

As I get to know the school more, I am seeing lots of wonderful leadership experiences taking place through the Buddies programme. It’s exciting seeing the older children taking the lead in teaching and supporting younger students and sharing their passions and strengths for the benefit of others. This programme demonstrates that all students can be leaders and have a positive impact on others.

Our Year 6 ambassadors have now been elected and they were delighted to receive their badges last week. They will make such a difference in the areas they are supporting and I know they will be great role models for others. A big congratulations to all of our Year 6 student leaders.

Year 6 Student Leaders

Uniforms

At the moment we are noticing a variety of creative approaches to wearing the school uniform. We would like to tighten this up to ensure we all look smart and are wearing our uniform with pride.

UNIFORM GUIDELINES

We’d like these guidelines to be followed and have all children wearing the uniform correctly straight after mid term break please.

What are the Vaccine requirements for us to return to ‘Full Day School’ and be able to eat lunch in classrooms? Please note that these requirements are different to the Vaccine Pass.

ESF’s COVID-19 Student Vaccination Advisory Note:

The following information is a summary of the recently updated EDB guidance in relation to student vaccination requirements. All ESF schools shall adopt this guidance with immediate effect.

With effect from 29 September 2022, any student that fulfils any of the following criteria shall be considered as being “fully vaccinated”. This should be used for the purpose of calculating the number of fully vaccinated students to allow continuation of whole school days and cessation of alternative eating arrangements (above 90%), or for undertaking certain ECA and mask off activities.

A) SINOVAC Vaccine

A.1. Students of any age above 6 months old are considered fully vaccinated if they:

• HAVE NOT had COVID-19 infection and have 3 x doses of vaccine in total.

• Are required to have 3 x doses of vaccine but are in the “interval” period for their 3rd dose and intend to get their 3rd dose within 7 days of the interval period lapsing.

• HAVE had COVID-19 infection and therefore can have one less dose of the vaccine, that is 2 x doses of vaccine in total.

• Tested positive with COVID-19 infection within 14 days of their first vaccine dose, and therefore do not “qualify” for one less dose and have received 2 x further doses of vaccine, that is a total of 3 x doses.

• Have never been vaccinated and HAVE had COVID-19 infection can be vaccinated 30 days after recovery and must receive 2 x doses of vaccine in total.

• Have had 1 x dose of vaccine at least 14 days prior to their COVID-19 infection and therefore must receive 1 x dose of vaccine after COVID-19 recovery.

B) BIONTECH Vaccine

B.1. Students aged 5 to 11 years old are considered fully vaccinated if they:

• HAVE NOT had COVID-19 infection and have 2 x doses of vaccine in total.

• Are required to have 2 x doses of vaccine but are in the “interval” period for their 2nd dose and intend to get their 2nd dose within 7 days of the interval period lapsing.

• HAVE had COVID-19 infection and therefore can have one less dose of the vaccine, that is 1 x doses of vaccine in total.

• Tested positive with COVID-19 infection within 14 days of their first vaccine dose, therefore do not “qualify” for one less dose and have received 1 x further doses of vaccine, that is a total of 2 x doses.

B.2. Students age 12 years old and above are considered fully vaccinated if they:

• HAVE NOT had COVID-19 infection and have had 3 x doses of vaccine in total.

• HAVE NOT had COVID-19 infection and are required to have 3 x doses of vaccine but are in the “interval” period for their 3rd dose and intend to get their 3rd dose within 7 days of the interval period lapsing.

• Tested positive with COVID-19 infection within 14 days of their first vaccine dose, therefore do not “qualify” for one less dose and have had 2 x further doses of vaccine, that is a total of 3 x doses.

B.3. Students age 5 to 17 years old are considered fully vaccinated if they:

• Tested positive with COVID-19 infection within 14 days of their first vaccine dose, therefore do not “qualify” for one less dose and have received 1 x further doses of vaccine, that is a total of 2 x doses.

• Have never been vaccinated and HAVE had COVID-19 infection, can be vaccinated 30 days after recovery, and have had 1 x dose of vaccine in total.

• Have had 1 x dose of vaccine at least 14 days prior to their COVID-19 infection and therefore DO NOT need any further dose of vaccine, that is 1 x dose of vaccine only.

B.4. Students age 18 years old and above are considered fully vaccinated if they:

• Have had 1 x dose of vaccine at least 14 days prior to their COVID-19 infection and must have 1 x dose of vaccine after recovery, that is a total of 2 x doses.

• Have never been vaccinated and HAVE had COVID-19 infection, can be vaccinated 30 days after recovery, and have had 2 x doses of vaccine in total.

Let’s all work together as a community to try to make the 90% happen.

Parent Webinars - Mandarin Programme

We have now nearly completed all of our Mandarin Programme Webinars with the last one to be concluded this evening. Thanks for your attendance and support.

Parent Consultations

The first round of Parent Teacher Consultations will take place on October 11th and 13th. Thank you for booking your appointment.

Open Day Afternoon for Current Parents

We will be conducting some open afternoons for parents and caregivers after mid-term - more details to follow.

Year Group Assemblies

Over the last two weeks, we have been exploring the concepts of Empathy and Friendship. Please discuss with your child to help reinforce these concepts.

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 at bcook@kennedy.edu.hk.

Kind regards,

Brenda

顧仁達

Staff Run After School Activities

Please note that if the school has to cancel staff run after school activities due to inclement weather, a decision will be made around noon. Parents will be informed by email of any cancellation and the children will go home as usual at dismissal time.

Please check your email for possible notification.

FROM THE CHAIRPERSON

Happy October everyone! The last 6 weeks have flown by with the kids getting settled into school life. A warm welcome from the PTA to those who have joined the Kennedy community in the last few weeks. We look forward to meeting you all.

We have had a busy month planning all sorts of fun activities for the kids/parents taking place in the next few weeks. Some highlights include themed Dress Up days, a CHINESE- A-THON and our famous KS PTA QUIZ for the parents.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank the PTA members who participated at the Open School event last week. Your enthusiasm about the school and our community really helped make it a wonderful event.

On a final note, last month the PTA reached out and organised and funded a mindful art activity for 6RI and 2S during their period of online learning. Each class enjoyed a 45 minute "De-stress Doodle Art" session led by Katie Flowers from Wild at Art.

I leave you with this image created by some of our 6RI students.

Natasha Petit-O’Connor

PTA EVENTS

Click on the links below to access more detailed information about the main PTA events….we will add more details about 2 additional events in November in the next newsletter….watch this space.

• Thursday 13th October Christmas Card Competition deadline (please read guidelines)
•  Friday 14th October Yearband Led Dress Up Day - Year 6 has decided what the whole school should come to school wearing - Pyjamas & to bring in Bedtime Story Books. Children need to be ready to “Drop everything and look at/read a book”
• Wednesday 26th October - Diwali Performance & whole school are invited to Dress Brightly to celebrate “The Festival of Lights”
• Friday 28th October - “Fun-O-Ween” - Whole school is invited to wear a fun costume to school, and have their photos taken at breaktime photo booths.
• Friday 18th November - QUIZ NIGHT returns…..at El Charro - register HERE

The annual Hong Kong Young Writers Awards competition is happening again. It is for aspiring writers to showcase their talents and creativity in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and cover art.

The competition’s main aim is to foster excellence in creativity by providing students with the

opportunity to develop their expressive talents and expand their horizons. The awards encourage and recognise excellence in English writing and artwork among students, aged from 6-18, of various age groups, diverse backgrounds and different learning abilities. Since its inception in 2010, the competition has been a resounding success, with more

than 1200+ innovative entries coming in from 200+ participating schools across Hong Kong, Macau and China in 2022.

This year the theme is ‘New Tales of the Judge Pao’. One winner will be chosen in each of the groups, and one lucky student will be named The Hong Kong Young Writer of 2023. The Hong Kong Young Writers Awards website provides more details on the following information:

• HKYWA

• Registration Details

• Categories & Groups

• Word Limits

• Judging Criteria

If your child is interested in entering this competition, please contact Yoon-Ah Lee our PYP Coordinator at ylee@kennedy.edu.hk by Monday the 24th of October.

The submission deadline to school for entries is Thursday 15th of December 2022.

Games Programme

Our Games programme will begin after the half term holidays starting the week beginning Monday 24th October. Please note your child's games day below and remember that your child should wear their PE kit on their PE and Games days unless it is a special school event.

Games Days

Year 1 - Friday

Year 2 - Friday

Year 3 - Tuesday

Year 4 - Wednesday

Year 5 - Monday

Year 6 - Wednesday

PE Uniform Policy

A gentle reminder also about the PE uniform policy:

• No jewellery, except plain stud earrings, are to be worn (jewellery - If worn for religious reasons, please apply to the school office. Unless otherwise permitted, they should be removed during PE activities).
• Watches that are fitness trackers are permitted but should not have functions that allow students to connect with the internet, communicate with others, record other students or play games.
• These watches / fitness trackers must be worn under a plain colour wrist sweatband during PE activities.

Netball

This week, the girl netballers headed down to Wong Chuk Hang for Kennedy School’s first tournament in 3 years. They were nervous and excited to play against lots of local teams from ESF and beyond. Tall nets and even taller opponents made the games challenging, but the girls didn’t let that stop them, getting stuck in and giving it their all. The progress they made over the afternoon was amazing and they should all be proud of themselves. Well done girls!

A huge thank you to Miss Noakes for her time and effort in coaching the team.

We are supporting the Box of Hope charity again this year! Can we beat the 1,080 boxes we collected last year?

If you are new to this charity, please click on the presentation below to learn all about it:

What is Box of Hope?

Sounds interesting? Here’s what to do:

1. Look out for this large sticker in your child’s school bag. (Print it out if needed)

2. Find a box or bag.

3. Wrap the box. Here is an example of how to wrap it.

4. Choose the recipient of the box. (boy/girl /age group)

5. Start collecting items as listed on the sticker.

6. Wait to hear about when to bring the box/bag back to school. (It will be in the first half of November)

7. Make another box/bag!

Here are examples of boxes made by students:

For more information, please go to the Box of Hope website or their Facebook page.

If you have more questions, please contact your class teacher or ttremmel@kennedy.edu.hk.