Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Happy 2025! We hope you enjoyed the festive season and of course, we’re looking forward to the festivities of Chinese New Year coming up soon too. The children returned to school happy and calm and we’ve had a wonderful start to the new year.

Staff Update

I wanted to share a few staff updates with you.

Today was Clara Lui’s last day with us as our Admissions Officer. So many of you will know Clara as she is often the first person parents speak to when you look to move to Kennedy School. Clara has been amazing at keeping things running smoothly, especially with all the ins and outs of admissions. She was also a big help in getting our new website ready (more on this soon!) We are really happy for her as she starts a new, promoted position at a university – congrats, Clara!

We are thrilled to welcome back Amelia Quinlan who is back from maternity leave and teaching 2M.

You will know Cindy Chen from her PTA administration role. She has now joined our team full-time as our Bus Coordinator and Procurement Officer. We are excited to have her on board in this new role.

And finally, a big welcome to Janice Ho, who has joined Kennedy School as our new Admissions Officer, taking over from Clara. We’re really looking forward to having Janice as part of our team.

Parent Information Workshop Series

We are delighted to continue our Parent Information Workshop Series with 2 presentations in the coming few days:

Friday 10 January: Coffee Morning - Learn More About West Island School

This is a great opportunity for parents of children in Year 3 and above to get to know WIS. Principal Vicki Hallat and members of her management team. Please sign up HERE.

Wednesday 15 January: Reading and Writing for Years 4 to 6

In the session, we will share how we teach reading and writing in upper primary and provide some tips on how to support your child at home. There is no need to RSVP. Please access the session via the Zoom link below:

We hope you can join us!

https://kennedy-edu.zoom.us/j/96162999596?pwd=SN3oHbx8aua0T1hejxq8Lhd7ER5P5j.1

Meeting ID: 961 6299 9596

Passcode: 589552

School Uniform - Winter Garments

Does your child have uniform layers ready for the cooler days? All uniform items can be viewed and purchased at:https://www.schooluniform.hk/collections/kennedy-school. School Uniform guidelines can be viewed HERE

Warm regards,
Brenda
顧仁達

Term 2 After School Clubs

We have a few spaces in some after school clubs. If you are interested in signing your child up for these, please register on Gateway. The deadline has been extended to Friday 17 January 2025.

Tuesday: Arty Crafty Garden Club - Years 4,5,6

Students will do fun activities in the East Wing Roof garden and also create cool artwork and learn new skills. This club is now open to Year 4s.

Tuesday: Kidding Around Yoga - Years 3,4,5

This is a fun introduction to yoga designed to motivate children to be active, build confidence and manage emotions. We will be learning about the benefits of yoga, trying out lots of new yoga poses and breathing techniques, as well as learning how to meditate and calm our bodies. This club is now open to Year 3s.

Wednesday: Battle of the Books - Years 5,6

This club prepares the Kennedy team for the HK Battle of the Books competition, a live school-on-school battle to find the book trivia champion school.

Wednesday: Hockey - Years 4,5,6 (See details in the PE section below)

Term 2 Staff Run Sports club registrations

There are still spaces available in some of our Term 2 sports clubs.

Our Hockey Club will train on Wednesday mornings with a Valley Hockey coach and our very own Hong Kong Hockey player Mrs Harris. This club is now open to boys and girls in Year 4, 5 and 6. We will train students to play in the HKPSSA Interschool Hockey tournament, so please sign up on Gateway.

Important reminders:

• Each club has specific start and end dates.

• Check Gateway for all the relevant details. No reminders will be sent.

• Registration to a club is only complete when payment is received.

• Handy Tip: You can set up an auto forward function in your ESF APP so that messages are forwarded to your email.

ESF Cross Country Challenge - Last chance to sign up

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 from 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 9.00 am.

ESF Cross Country Run Form

PE Wall of Fame photos

In the school gym, we have a growing display board of photos of our students being active outside of school. If you would like your child to be displayed taking part in a recent physical activity, please add the photograph to the folder HERE.

Welcome back to all our wonderful Kennedy School families! Wishing you a very, very happy new year!

What’s coming up

We are very excited about the Term 2 we have in store for you. Chinese New Year is fast approaching, and we know our children are going to love the Chinese New Year Performances on Friday 24 January – featuring a PTA-funded Lion Dance troop to ring in the Year of the Snake!

There’s lots more to look forward to. On 14 February, we have the Year 1-led Dress Up Day; our Quiz Night is on 28 February; and we have a Year 3-led Dress Up Day on 21 March.

PTA Coffee Mornings will also be coming up, so stay tuned.

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) 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.

Trivia fans, keep your eyes peeled!
Our famous quiz night will be on Friday 28 February 2025. More details in next week's newsletter.

Pre-loved Uniforms

It’s getting cold outside! Don’t forget to wrap up against the winter chills by popping along to “The Space by the PTA” and picking up pre-loved long sleeved shirts, fleeces, windbreakers and long trousers to keep your little ones warm.

PTA Office Hours

PTA is open from Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 3.00 pm. If you wish to contact PTA, please email PTA@kennedy.edu.hk or Tel: 2579 5699.

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

5. Draft School Calendar 2025/26

6. School Calendar 2024/25

7. Hot Lunch Service

8. School Uniform Guide

9. School Uniform Shop

10. Birthday Book

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

• Login: Your child’s school email address

• Password: KSbooks1

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