Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Ho, ho, ho! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope you have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing the children back at school on Monday, 6 January 2025!

This week has been filled with festive cheer! Our Christmas Concert was a highlight, with a packed audience captivated by the incredible performances of our Choir, Orchestra, Rock Band, and 5P Ukulele group. The students' enthusiasm, confidence, and talent was amazing. A big thanks to Mr. Ron, Mr. Tang, and all the staff and students who contributed to this fantastic event. A special thanks to the parents of the performers for coming to watch. We hope it got you into the festive spirit.

Christmas Concert Photo Album

Bus Students - Important message for next term

If your child is NOT taking the school bus due to another engagement, please email bus@kennedy.edu.hk, and also let the bus mother know and inform your child’s teacher via email. This is important as we need to make sure every child is returning home safely each day.

End of Term 1

Students can wear dress casual tomorrow with a little bit of festive cheer if they would like to. Here are the dismissal times for Friday:

Parent Information Workshops - Are you interested in learning more about West Island School?

For more information and to register for the coffee morning in the first week back in Term 2, please visit:

Parent Information Workshop Series

PTA Administrator Vacancy - Part-time

Please refer to the vacancy below in the PTA section.

Warm regards,
Brenda
顧仁達

Kennedy Sports ECAs

Term 2 Staff Run Sports clubs registrations

There are still spaces available in our Term 2 sports clubs. Our Year 5/6 Hockey club will train on Wednesday mornings with a Valley Hockey coach and our very own Hong Kong Hockey player Mrs Harris. Next term, we will be looking to enter a team in the HKPSSA Interschool Hockey tournament, so please sign up! Please discuss with your child which clubs they would like to sign up for and follow the registration process. Registration closes on 3 January at 8.00 pm.

Please be aware that each club has specific start and end dates. Please check Gateway for all the relevant details. No reminders will be sent.

Please sign up for the Cross Country Run!

ESF Cross Country Challenge - Calling all runners from Year 3, 4, 5 and 6!

This is a great event to train for to burn off all the excess holiday energy. This running event is open to ALL GIRLS AND BOYS across the school in Year 3 to 6. It will take place at King George V School on Saturday 18 January 2025. This is only open to ESF students in the following boys and girls races.

1. Year 3 - 1200 metres approx. Approximate start time 9:15 am

2. Year 4 - 1700 metres approx. Approximate start time 9:45 am

3. Year 5 - 2200 metres approx. Approximate start time 10:15 am

4. Year 6 - 2200 metres approx. Approximate start time 10:45 am

If you haven’t yet registered your child to run in this event, please read the form below and fill in your child’s details carefully. Please note that the form will close on Friday 10 January at the latest.

ESF Cross Country Run Form

As part of our Individual Pursuits unit in PE lessons, students in Years 1-3 will have the opportunity to learn how to ride a bicycle safely. Students will be supervised by an adult whilst riding a bicycle on the lower playground at school and will be working in small groups of 1:5. Whilst cycling, students will wear a cycling helmet, and knee and elbow pads provided by the school. There is no cost involved in this activity as it will take place during your child’s PE lesson. As this activity involves an element of risk, we request that you give your consent for your child to take part in this vital life skill.

Please see the message on the ESF App sent to you yesterday to give permission for your child to take part in this exciting project.

We would also like to know about your child’s current level of cycling experience by completing this short form below. This will help us to group our students and differentiate the lessons to suit your child’s ability.

Cycling in PE Information for teachers

If your child is part of the Year 6 WIS morning swimming training, you will have received a message from me regarding transport arrangements. Please note this club starts on Tuesday 7 January and all swimmers should attend a meeting with me on Monday 6 January at 12.30 pm in our school gym.

Last weekend, Theo Cheung from 6B completed his first-ever 10km run at the HK Streetathon! He ran the 10 km event in a fabulous time of 1 hour 10 minutes.

Also Laurence Hyde (4K) joined the YSL tournament on 24 November as a Boas team player, and his team won first place and he was awarded the MVP.

Last weekend Laurence, Clay Roskam (4R) and Hayden Wong (5S) went to Thailand for the Pattaya football international tournament. Laurence’s team won the U9 championship.

Keep up the training during the holidays!

Many thanks to the community for purchasing a christmas poinsettia! We raised $1600 which will be used to improve our gardens.

As part of our ongoing commitment to celebrate diversity and promote literacy, we are excited to enrich our collection with mother-tongue picture books. These books not only enrich our students’ reading experiences but also help them connect with their cultural heritage.

If you are going home for the winter break, and would like to buy and donate a book in your home language, we would love to add it to our collection.

Thank you for your generosity and for helping us create a more inclusive and vibrant library!

Click HERE to order a Birthday Book for your child.

Happy Holidays from the PTA
It’s been a fabulous term–and we couldn’t have done it without you. We started with a Year 1 coffee morning to welcome our new parents to our school community. We also held many fun dress-up days, from the Year 5 Olympics theme, to a cosy pyjama dress up from Year 6, and “Future Me” from Year 2 – and we’re looking forward to more in Term 2!

Our Festive Fair was brilliant - the rain held off, everyone pulled together, and we saw how our children had a really special and magical evening. It was a real highlight and a huge fundraising success. Thank you all for your support and festive spirit.

We loved rounding off the year with our PTA tradition of loading up Santa’s sack with candy canes for the Year 1 and Year 2 parties. We are so happy to be able to add these little touches and treats for special occasions, and our children love these surprises.
Stay tuned for more informative and social coffee mornings and events. There are lots more to come!

End of Term 1 Photo Album

But for now, we wish all our Kennedy School families a happy, healthy and safe holiday break. We hope it is restful, fun and a chance to reconnect. We look forward to seeing you again in January!

Job Opportunity - PTA Administrator (Part-time, 17.5 hours per week)

The Kennedy School PTA is looking for a Part-Time Administrator to join our team. As an integral part of our school community, we strive to enhance school spirit and engagement, raise funds for key projects, and provide opportunities that enrich student learning and family engagement.

Responsibilities
Working with the existing Part-time Administrator, this role will provide support to the PTA Committee, particularly the Chair and Hon. Treasurer and will focus primarily on finance governance. Fluency in both written and spoken English and Chinese is essential.

This role would suit someone 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. 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.

LAST CHANCE: PTA Christmas Cards for Sale in Reception

Friendly reminder that children and families can purchase a bundle of 5 Christmas cards for $5 (cash only) at the school reception. These cards are perfect for posting to friends and teachers in the Kennedy School postbox.

Trivia fans, keep your eyes peeled!
Oops! We had a little error on our save the date last week.

Our famous quiz night will be on Friday 28 February 2025. More details to come next term.

PTA Office Hours

We will be closed over the Festive period, returning on Monday 6 January 2025. We wish you all Happy Holidays!

The joy of the festive season was the inspiration for ESF Sha Tin Junior School student Colette Lee, who created the wonderful design of this year’s ESF Christmas card.

Her painting was selected by ESF Chief Executive Officer Belinda Greer as part of our annual ESF-wide art challenge and shows a festively decorated home, which Colette says is “a warm and welcoming place, just like our school.”

“Her artwork beautifully embodies the spirit of Christmas and reflects the sense of belonging which is at the heart of our ESF community," says Belinda. “Congratulations to Colette and to all our talented students who participated in this year’s art challenge.”

We hope you’ll enjoy spreading some festive cheer with this heart-warming e-card, which can be downloaded from our ESF website.

1. Chinese Weekly Learning Links:

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

2. Parent Information Workshop Series (Please bookmark)

3. Kennedy School Annual Report 2023-24

4. Kennedy Today Newspaper - issue 1, issue 2, issue 3 NEW!

5. Draft School Calendar 2025/26

6. School Calendar 2024/25

7. Hot Lunch Service

8. School Uniform Guide

9. School Uniform Shop

10. ​eLibrary platform (For Years 4,5,6)

• Login: Your child’s school email address

• Password: KSbooks1

Disclaimer Notice: These are sponsored advertisements by outside agencies. Kennedy School cannot be held accountable for the accuracy, trustworthiness or reliability of these advertisements.