Messages from Brenda

 

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

 

Great News!

Huge celebrations today! EDB gave permission to remove perspex screens from all areas of the school. We've been waiting in anticipation for this moment and the staff and children are so happy that they can teach and learn in a collaborative setting again! We are delighted, this will make such a difference!

 

EDB has also stated that overnight camps can resume if vaccination requirements are adhered to. We have made contact with our camp providers to see if changes can be made at this late stage. As our camps are all planned and our providers have already fully staffed for day provision, we are unsure if we will have flexibility to change. However, we want to reassure you that we are trying our best to see what they can do. Rudi or I will keep you updated.

 

Our submission for full day school has been submitted to EDB. As we have met all of the criteria, we will be good to go for our new timetable for full day school starting on Monday December 5th. This means:

• Timetable changes

• Slightly later pick up times for buses

• Later drop off times for buses

• School gates will open at a later time of 8.15am

• The official timetable will begin at 8.30am

• Bus children will leave at 2.50pm

• All other children will be dismissed at 2.57pm

• After school activities will commence from 3.00 pm

 

We will be sharing more details with you over the next couple of weeks so that as a community we are all prepared for the positive changes in December.

 

Principal Recruitment - Update #2 from Chris Geary - School Council Chair.

Many of you will be aware that the previous permanent KS Principal Mr John Brewster resigned from the position effective from August 2021. During Covid it was difficult to secure a strong international pool of candidates for the position.

 

ESFC made internal one-year secondment arrangements during this time with Mina Dunstan joining Kennedy last year from ESF Quarry Bay, and this year Brenda Cook from ESF Beacon Hill School. Now that the world has opened up, more senior leaders are looking to work internationally again. This is a good time to recruit and attract a strong talent pool for this pivotal position at Kennedy School.

 

I am pleased to update you that the initial phase of the recruitment process has been successful and has attracted a high calibre of internationally experienced applicants. The process has now proceeded to the interview stage and will be followed by an in person assessment program held in Hong Kong, where finalists will visit the school and meet a cross section of community members. I will follow up with more information about this phase of the process in our next Newsletter.

 

Written Communication from the School

A communications team consisting of parents, teachers and myself was set up to explore the effectiveness of the written communications sent from the school. We want to ensure you are getting timely communications and that all the important information is in one newsletter. Hence, starting from today, you will receive a newsletter in this format on a weekly basis instead of bi-weekly. This will provide you with all the ‘need-to-know’ information on a weekly basis, including a comprehensive diary of events to help you plan in advance.

 

Group newsletters will now be sent out at the beginning of each Unit of Inquiry. This will give a comprehensive overview of the learning that will be taking place over the course of the Unit. We know parents love to see photos of their child learning at school and to see examples of their child’s learning. This is an effective way for you to have a window into what’s happening with your child’s learning and helps promote discussions at home. Some year groups are already doing this and it is very successful. All year groups will be exploring current practices and will explore the best ways of doing this with the view to starting after Christmas. It’s an exciting new change to encourage lots of talk about learning and school within families.

 

Open Afternoons

What an incredible turn-out we had for these! Thanks so much for your enthusiasm and for taking the time. The kids were so excited to show you around and I hope you found the school to be a great environment for learning. You will have noticed that most of our playgrounds need a good revamp. Don’t worry - we’re on to it and over the next 2 years you'll see lots of changes.

 

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 me via email at bcook@kennedy.edu.hk.

 

Kind regards,

Brenda

顧仁達

Principal

 

Important Dates

 

School Wide Dates
11 Nov	Chinese-a-thon
17 Nov	Dress Up Day for all - Rainbow Dress up
18 Nov	PTA Quiz Night (7.00 - 10.00 pm)
2 Dec	PTA Coffee Morning (8.15 - 9.15 am)
5 Dec	School Resumes Full Day Schedule (8.30 to 3 pm)
12 Dec	PTA Winter Wonderland Performance (6.00 to 7.30 pm)
16 Dec	Last Day of Term - School ends at 12 noon

General

 

Dates for Year 1
15 Nov	HK Forest Adventure Trip - 1C

 

General

 

Dates for Year 3
21 Nov	Trip to Hong Kong Park - 3S, 3F
25 Nov	Trip to Hong Kong Park - 3C, 3R
28 Nov	Trip to Hong Kong Park - 3H

General

Dates for Year 4
11 Nov	Elephant Society Talk
24 Nov	Year 4 Mini Exhibition - 4C, 4O (9.15 to 10.30 am)
25 Nov	Year 4 Mini Exhibition - 4R, 4J, 4W (9.15 to 10.30 am)
5, 6 Dec	Year 4 Camp (Day Camp)

 

General

Dates for Year 5

 

11 Nov	Coastal Exploration Day - 5K, 5P (9.30 am to 1.30 pm)
15 Nov	Biodiversity Lantau Trip - 5D
15 Nov	Parents Year 5 Camp briefing on Zoom (5.00 to 5.45 pm)
18 Nov	Chinese Assembly (Tsang Laoshi and Li Laoshi’s classes only) 9.00 to 9.45 am
23 Nov	Chinese Assembly (Cai Laoshi, Zeng Laoshi and Ma Laushi’s classes only) 8.30 to 9.15 am
24 Nov	Biodiversity Lantau Trip - 5T
25 Nov	Biodiversity Lantau Trip - 5B
28,29,30 Nov	Year 5 Camp (Day Camp) - 5P, 5D, 5B
1,2 Dec	Year 5 Camp (Day Camp) - 5K, 5T
1 Dec	Parent Consultation with Chinese Teachers on Zoom
6 Dec	Biodiversity Lantau Trip - 5P
8 Dec	Biodiversity Lantau Trip - 5K

General

 

Dates for Year 6
15 Nov	Year 6 Science Museum Trip (9.20 am to 12.20 pm)
22 to 25 Nov	Year 6 Outward Bound Camp (day camp)
2 Dec	Swire White Christmas Performance at Taikoo Place - Senior Choir (Year 6 only)

PTA News

 

October was full of exciting moments for Kennedy School and the PTA. The Year 6 Pyjama dress up day was super fun. We also had a wonderful Diwali Festival, where Garima Jain from the PTA produced a wonderful show, and of course, Fun-O-Ween. Please check out the photos in the links section below.

 

The PTA also has a business function which involves deciding how we spend the money raised. As a committee, we approved funding proposals worth over HK$200,000 - for items such as new robotics equipment, new camera equipment, and IN Toolkits for classrooms.

 

November and December is all about joy, community and finally meeting each other during the festive season. I am excited about our Quiz night, coffee morning, and the class parents gathering. I also look forward to seeing the Chinese-a-Thon results, as I know all our kids have been working hard on their Chinese learning. Year 5s are super excited to announce their dress up theme for the whole school on November 17th - please see below!

 

Have a wonderful month and see you all very soon!

Natasha Petit O’Connor

 

A) Kennedy School Christmas Cards - in production

The 2022 Kennedy School Christmas Cards are in production and will be available to purchase by the end of next week. More news to follow….

Preview of PTA Christmas cards

 

B) November Events

i) Chinese-a-thon - tomorrow -Please fill in the form below to submit the total sponsorship amount raised. You will be issued with an invoice next week to enable you to transfer sponsorship online (please do not send cash to school for this.)

CHINESE-A-THON sponsorship form

 

ii) PTA Coffee Morning - Friday 2nd December (only)

As we have had a number of registrations from parents with more than one child, we have decided to host just one coffee morning.

Therefore, there will not be a coffee morning this week - join us on Friday 2nd December 8:15-9:15 am.

Please sign up if you have not done so already.

PTA COFFEE MORNING

 

iii) YEAR 5 HAS DECIDED!

Yearband-led Dress Up Day - Thursday 17 November

Year 5 has decided that on Thursday 17th November, everyone should come to school dressed in RAINBOW colours - based on the colour theme chosen by them for your child’s yearband (see below).

Please send in a recommended donation of $20. The Year 5s are saving up for something fun to enjoy together and are grateful for your support.

 

Year 1	YELLOW
Year 2	WHITE
Year 3	RED
Year 4	GREEN
Year 5	BLUE
Year 6	BLACK

 

iv) QUIZ NIGHT - Friday 18th November - final call to register!

QUIZ NIGHT REGISTRATION

We already have approximately 15 teams registered to compete for the coveted title of “Kennedy School PTA Quiz Night Champions 2022”

We do have a little extra space if you would like to join a team or submit a whole one.

*Registrations will close promptly at 12 noon on Friday 11th November*.

 

 

C) PTA - on the website

If you need to check the most up-to-date PTA Event schedule - or would like to look at photos of recent PTA run events - do bookmark our page on the Kennedy School website (click on the “Events” tab.)

https://www.kennedy.edu.hk/pta/

 

Recent photo albums you may enjoy looking through are:

YEARBAND LED DRESS UP DAY - Year 6 - Pyjamas & Bedtime Stories - Friday 14th October

DIWALI - Wednesday 26th October

FUN-O-WEEN - Friday 28th October

Useful Forms and Links

 

Chinese Weekly Learning for:

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3 

Year 4 

Year 5 

Year 6