Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We’ve had a great return to school and the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed the CNY break. We hope you all did too.

Thank you for your contributions and $11,100 was collected on 5 Feb 2024. These contributions helped fund the week’s fair and activities.

Celebration of Learning Day - 5 March 2024

A reminder that we have our 3-Way, Student-led Conference opportunity, live in school, scheduled for Tuesday, 5 March 2024. Have you booked your time slot yet? Please get in quick to do this (parents of more than one Kennedy child can log in already and parents with one child can book their appointments from tomorrow, Friday 23 February, 8.00 pm).

APP message shared on 20 February 2024

A reminder about this day:

• Formal classes will not be in session, and children will come and leave with their parents.

• No buses will be running and there will be no lunch orders.

• Children can wear casual clothing.

• Each in-class session will last 50 minutes and will involve approximately four families. During this time, there will be a three-way conference (10 to 12 minutes) with the teacher, your child, and yourself to discuss and reflect upon your child's learning, including their strengths, areas for improvement, and progress to date.

• The remainder of the session will involve engaging in learning conversations with your child in the classroom, viewing learning samples, and participating in various interesting tasks. Your child will guide you through this part.

• Once your classroom session is completed (or before it, if you are not in the first session), we encourage you to take a tour of the school with your child. You can explore and experience learning activities in different areas of the school for example: PE, Chinese, Expressive Arts and the garden. There will also be a book sale held in the library. We will provide guidelines to follow, and your child will be your guide.

IB - PYP Workshop - 11 March 2024

We would also like to draw your attention to an excellent parent learning opportunity which will be held in school, the IB PYP Workshop - Diving Deeper into the Primary Years Programme. Please see the information below and register yourself for this valuable opportunity with Cath Wan, our VP and Curriculum Coordinator.

Please refer to the PTA section to find out more about a current opening for a part-time position working with the PTA. The closing date is on Mon 26 Feb.

Stakeholder survey

ESF will soon be sending out a stakeholder survey to parents, staff and older students. Please get involved by giving feedback to help us continually improve. The survey will come directly from the ESF central communications.

Dress Up Day - 23 February 2024

We look forward to seeing children coming to school in vibrant rainbow colours tomorrow, 23 February to support our Year 2 Led Dress Up Day in Rainbow Colours. Please refer to the PTA section below.

Kind regards,

Brenda
顧仁達
Principal

PYP Workshop - Diving Deeper into the Primary Years Programme

On Monday, 11 March 8:30 - 10:00 am, we will be hosting the workshop Diving Deeper into the Primary Years Programme. This hands-on, in-school workshop will be designed for parents who have already attended an introductory workshop or webinar about PYP and would like to further their understanding.

In this workshop, we will be exploring:

• What does it really mean to be an inquirer?

• How do we intentionally develop the skills and dispositions necessary to become a successful life-long inquirer in a school setting?

• How can parents support children in developing the necessary skills and dispositions to become a successful inquirer?

Please register for the workshop by filling out this short questionnaire.

There are a few questions on the questionnaire about your current thoughts on inquiry. Your answers will help to guide the planning of the workshop. The questionnaire should take no more than a few minutes to complete.

If you have any questions on this, please contact Cath Wan at cwan@kennedy.edu.hk

Ordering The Kennedy School Yearbook 2023-24

Kennedy School is very proud to present a fabulous momento of the experiences and memories our children have had this academic year. The Kennedy School Yearbook is packed full of children’s work, entertaining photographs, pictures of school-wide events and students’ amazing achievements. Every child is featured in the book as a celebration of school life at Kennedy School. Each hardcover Yearbook can be purchased for $340.

Due to the overwhelming demand for the Yearbook last year, we have started taking preorders for the book now. This mean that everyone who wants a book - or 2 or more - can order their copy/ies now by logging into Gateway and completing the eNotice there.

Sales will close on Friday 17 May 2024, after which, the books will be printed according to the orders placed. Note that while this gives everyone plenty of time to place their order, it also means that no books can be purchased after sales close.

When the books are ready, they will be delivered to the students' classrooms in June.

Calling all long-distance runners from Year 3 to 6

On Saturday 2nd March, there will be a cross country race at ESF King George V School (KGV) from 9.00 to 11.00 am. This is open to all keen long-distance runners from Year 3 to Year 6. Please click on this form to read the information regarding the distances and timings of the event and complete it if you wish your child to race. It is expected that your child will be able to run the complete distance for their respective race.

There is no parking available at KGV on the day. For safety reasons, if this proves to be a popular event, I will need to close the form after we have reached our maximum number of students. If you are unable to complete the form, it means that the list is full.

Kennedy Sports Wall of Fame

We would like to showcase our students’ healthy habits as part of our Kennedy Sports Wall of Fame. Please add a recent photo of your child keeping healthy over the Lunar New Year break to this folder here and we may add it to the display inside the Gym.

Kennedy at the HKPSSA Hockey Tournament

Well done to the Kennedy Hockey team in yesterday's tournament at Hong Kong Football Club. Our Year 4,5,6 hockey players performed so well in what was their first taster of a Hockey event for many of our players. Thank you to Mrs Harris and student teacher Mr Brown for their coaching and care for our students.

Please see the folder here for Hockey photos

PTA Sponsored Kennedy School Lion Dance Performance

PTA proudly sponsored the annual Lion Dance performance to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. A big thank you to the Chinese team for organising this beloved event. The children absolutely loved it!

Yearband-led Dress Up Day - February 23rd Friday

Year 2 has decided that tomorrow 23rd February, everyone should come to school dressed in RAINBOW colours. Please send in a recommended donation of $20. The Year 2s are saving up for something fun to enjoy and are grateful for your support.

Zebratasty Lunch

The hot lunch service on Tuesday 5 March will be cancelled due to the Celebration of Learning and 3-way Conference that day. Note also that Friday 22 March is the last day of term with school ending at 12 noon, so no hot lunches will be required. If you have already placed an order, you will receive a credit on your Zebratasty account.

For any inquiries regarding the credit, please contact Zebratasty at schoolmeal@zebratasty.com

More information about the Hot Lunch Service can be found here:

Zebratasty Hot Lunch Service

The PTA Committee at Kennedy School is seeking a part-time administrator. Kennedy School PTA organises a number of social and fundraising events each year and supports the school and parent community, for the benefit of all students.

This role would suit someone (possibly a parent) who would like to work mostly school hours, part-time (flexible) with all the school holidays off and be part of a really dynamic and fun school community. This role is a paid position working for ESF, Kennedy School.

The PTA Administrator is responsible for the organisation and coordination of PTA events and fundraising activities. This is a term-time position only.

If you enjoy working with children and families and wish to be part of the dynamic team, we will be happy to hear from you. For details of the position and application procedures, please click here.

Closing date: 26 Feb 2024

ESF West Island School Bazaar- March 2nd

West Island School invites the Kennedy School community to their Bazaar on Saturday 2 March. Please see the poster for details.

We are excited to announce an upcoming webinar on Sleep for ESF parents and families:

Lights Out, Sweet Dreams: a Practical Webinar on Sleep for Parents and Caregivers.

Date and Time: Thursday, 14 March from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

This webinar will be delivered by ESF Educational Psychologists Dr Rachael Edwards and Dr Steff Ho.

Please see the enclosed flyer for more information.

This information will be shared with ESF parents via the ESF App. We would also welcome your support in sharing this with your school community and colleagues.

Registration Link

If you have any questions or require more information please do not hesitate to contact rachael.edwards@esfcentre.edu.hk

Educational Psychology Team

Student Support Services

Education Department

1. Chinese Weekly Learning Notices Links

   1. Year 1

   2. Year 2

   3. Year 3

   4. Year 4

   5. Year 5

   6. Year 6

2. School Uniform Guide

3. School Uniform Shop

4. Inclement Weather Procedures

5. Kennedy School Calendar 2023-24

       6. Kennedy School Draft Calendar 2024- 25 (Draft)