Messages from Brenda

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Full-Day School

Thank you for making the changes necessary for your child’s full-day school experience. It’s good to get back into the 3 pm routine. With it has come quite a few adjustments and changes to timetables which are taking everyone a little time to ease into. Lunch eating is working well, and in time, the students will get used to the longer day. Generally, the children are tired at this time of the year anyway, so I’m sure it will all be fine after the holidays.

 

Outdoor Education

Year 4 and 5 students have loved their day camp experiences and have made the most of every opportunity. Thanks to all the staff for making these experiences possible and supporting the students and activities enthusiastically. The Year 5 students have also been hands-on, learning about native and non native trees in Hong Kong, watering and planting seeds on Lantau Island as part of Biodiversity studies.

  

Sports Tournaments

Students have loved taking part in inter-school sports tournaments. Teachers have noted the students' great attitude and their love of playing against other children. Teachers have also commented on how much the teams have improved throughout the term. A big thanks to the parents who have supported us and the teachers who have helped coach the teams. Go Kennedy!

  

Farewell, and Good Luck to Staff

Yoon-Ah Lee, Vice Principal and PYP/Curriculum Coordinator, will be leaving Kennedy School and Hong Kong at the end of this school term to return to her family in Adelaide, Australia. This is bittersweet for Yoon-Ah as she has loved working at Kennedy School and living in Hong Kong. Yoon-Ah has made a great impact during her 4.5 years with us. Those of you who have attended workshops with Yoon-Ah or talked with her about teaching and learning will know how knowledgeable and passionate she is about ensuring our students get the best learning experiences. Yoon-Ah is progressive in her thinking and has helped build knowledge and practice in using the PYP framework at Kennedy School. Yoon-Ah led the IB PYP accreditation process in May 2021, highlighting the programme's strengths and areas of development in the next phase of the school’s PYP journey. Yoon-Ah is an empathetic and thoughtful leader who has forged positive and meaningful relationships with students, staff and the wider community. She will be missed by us all. We are excited for Yoon-Ah to be moving to the next stage in her career and returning home to be with her extended family. We are sure Yoon-Ah will stay in touch.

Archana Manglik has worked as an Education Assistant at Kennedy School for 19 years. She has given incredible service to generations of Kennedy School students and families. Archana is a calm, warm and supportive member of staff who always has the children’s best interests at heart. Archana has developed strong and positive relationships with staff, students and families and is a pleasure to work alongside. Archana is looking forward to spending more time with her family, and we hope she will return to Kennedy School when she is ready. A big thank you, Archana, from all of us. We will miss you and wish you all the very best!

Jason Ho, our ICT Manager, will be moving into the corporate world after the holidays, and we wish him well in his promotion and thank him enormously for the work he has put into the role since joining Kennedy School two years ago. Amandine Tsao, our part-time EA in 6S, has resigned from her post. We know everyone in 6S has loved working with Amandine, and we wish her well in the future.

 

New Staff

Cath Wan will join us as our new Vice Principal and Curriculum Coordinator in Term 2. Cath is an experienced and passionate educator with over 20 years of classroom and leadership experience. She is a leading member of the Asia Pacific International Baccalaureate (IB) community with extensive experience. Cath is joining us from her role as Deputy Principal/PYP Coordinator at the Japanese International School, Hong Kong.

We have made an offer to an experienced ICT Coordinator who has accepted, and we are finalising the contract to begin in Term 2. We are currently recruiting for EA positions so expect to be fully staffed on our return in January.

 

Performances

Congratulations to our Senior Choir for their outstanding performance at the Taikoo White Christmas Festival. Watch it here. A big thank you to our Year 2s for entertaining the audience with their fantastic Christmas performance. It was a lovely story, and the children did well with their parts. We look forward to their next performance tomorrow!

Here are the livestream links so you can rewatch them together:

Thursday’s performance

Friday’s performance at 9 am

Thanks to all the staff who were involved in preparing the choir and helping put the Year 2 production together. We appreciate your time and effort.

 

PE Uniform

The weather can be cool in the morning and yet warm during the school day. Students should come to school wearing their regular PE shorts underneath their tracksuit trousers. This way, they can take off their jacket and long trousers and participate in PE and Games comfortably.

 

PE Uniform Addition

The new, long-sleeved Kennedy School PE Polo shirts, are now listed on the Kennedy School uniform website and are available for order in the four house colours. They are available here.

Please prepare for the winter months by purchasing the appropriate layers that your child will likely need as the weather gets cooler. Please remember to name all items.

 

School Photographs

Photograph orders will be delivered to classrooms before the end of the term.

 

Lost Property

As we move through this changeable weather, we have noticed many more lost property. Please check the Lost & Found boxes outside the Medical Room for items before the end of Term 1. Please ensure all items are named so that they can be returned.

 

Plant Sale

We hope that you have re-potted the Begonia seedling that your child brought home last week. Thank you also for supporting our plant and plant kit sale yesterday. The funds raised will be used to replenish the East Wing Roof Garden.

 

Term 2 Staff Run After-School Activities

Please discuss with your child the various sporting opportunities that are on offer in Term 2. We especially welcome students who have previous experience and interest in our sports clubs. It is from these extracurricular activities (ECAs) that many of our successful Kennedy Sports teams are chosen from. Please read the details below to register your child in after school staff-run clubs.

 

Final Day of Term 1

As a reminder the last day of term will be Friday 16 December. The school will close at midday. Timings are as follows:

11.50 am	Dismissal for students taking the school bus
11.57 am	Dismissal for all other students

I look forward to seeing the families of the performers at the Winter Wonderland evening and the parents of Year 2 on Friday.

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

Important Dates

School Dates
12 Dec	PTA Winter Wonderland Performance (6.00 to 7.30 pm)
16 Dec	Last Day of Term - School ends at 12 noon
9 Jan	First Day of Term 2

General

Dates for Year 1
12 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’

General

Dates for Year 2
14 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’

 

General

Dates for Year 3
15 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’

General

Dates for Year 4
13 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’
10 Jan	4W Eco Walk on Lantau
12 Jan	4C Eco Walk on Lantau
13 Jan	4R Eco Walk on Lantau
17 Jan	4O Eco Walk on Lantau
19 Jan	4J Eco Walk on Lantau

 

General

Dates for Year 5
13 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’

General

Dates for Year 6
15 Dec	Christmas Party - wear ‘Xmas cheer’

Term 2 Staff Run After School Activities

Term 2 Staff Run After School Activities

Staff Run After School Clubs will begin the week starting 16 January 2023.

Please review the list of clubs available below.

Club sign ups and details will be available on Gateway from Tuesday 13 December 2022 at 12 noon.

To learn how to sign up for an after school staff run Club, please refer to this document:

How to Register for After School Staff Run Club

Note: According to the EDB, only students who have 2 COVID-19 vaccinations are eligible to participate in staff-run after school clubs.

Note 2: Registration for a club is complete when payment is made on the epayment system.

AFTER SCHOOL STAFF-RUN ACTIVITIES TERM 2 2022-23
DAY	ACTIVITY	YEARBAND	TIME	COST PER TERM
TUE	Y5,6 Tennis Club	Y5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Basketball Club	Y5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Junior Choir	Y3,4	3:00 - 3:45	$150.00
	Hockey Club	Y4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Design Club	Y4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$200.00
WED	Y4 Tennis Club	Y4	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Kidding Around Yoga	Y3,4	3:00 - 4:00	$150.00
	Y5,6 Running Club	Y5,6	7:00 - 8:00 am	$550.00
	Senior Choir	Y5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$150.00
	Y2,3 Multisports Club	Y2, 3	3:00 - 4:00	$500.00
	Origami Club	Y3,4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$150.00
THU	Y3,4 Boys Football Club	Y3,4	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Y4,5,6 Girls Football Club	Y4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Arty Crafty Gardening Club	Y3,4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$200.00
	Orchestra (Grade 2 & above)	Y3,4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$600.00
	Drawing Club	Y5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$200.00
	Film Club	Y5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$100.00
FRI	Tag Rugby Club	Y4, 5, 6	3:00 - 4:00	$550.00
	Chinese Music Ensemble Club	Y3,4,5,6	3:00 - 4:00	$1,440.00

Beep Beep

We still have some of our gorgeous Christmas Merchandise available for sale. Order below!

PTA CHRISTMAS MERCHANDISE ORDER FORM

Winter Wonderland - Monday 12th December

The PTA Winter Wonderland concert takes place on Monday 12th December and is now fully booked. For those who secured tickets, doors will open from 6 pm.

The performance is also available to be viewed via Livestream. The performance itself will be held between 6.30 to 7.30 pm.

Winter Wonderland Livestream Link

If you would like to join in with the family carols, here is the sheet of words!

Winter Wonderland Carols - for audience participation

Thank you to everyone who donated items to the Winter Wonderland Hampers - and to the parent helpers who volunteered their time this morning to create a whole host of wonderful boxes packed full of goodies. The Kennedy School community is a very special one, and we continue to be so grateful for all the support we receive in the PTA Office.

Winter Wonderland at Delaney’s, Cyberport!

If you would like to get a group together to watch the performance at Delaney’s Cyberport, they are happy to stream the concert to the screens inside if there is sufficient demand.

Please email the PTA by lunchtime on Monday 12th December if you would like to watch it at Delaney’s to ensure they are well prepared in advance - pta@kennedy.edu.hk