Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It was fantastic to see so many of you at the West Island School coffee morning last Friday and at the Zoom Language Workshop last night! Please note the presentation and video link, as well as the registration link for the next WIS session are here. We appreciate your participation and have been delighted by the positive feedback. Many thanks to the staff for planning and leading these events.

Reminder - on Friday 24 January, school will finish at the usual time of 2.50 pm.

Celebrating the Chinese New Year: Welcoming the Year of the Snake.

The school community is preparing for a range of exciting events to celebrate the Lunar New Year and to welcome the Year of the Snake.

Events Schedule:

• Monday, 20 January: Chinese New Year Fun Carnival: This event will feature a variety of games and activities for all students inspired by Chinese culture and language. Students are invited to wear casual clothing. A donation of $20 is requested to support the costs associated with the carnival, assembly costumes, and school banners and decorations. 

• Tuesday, 21 January to Thursday, 23 January: Chinese New Year Assembly Performances: Our students have been working hard to prepare a special CNY assembly performance. We are pleased to offer live streams of these performances for those unable to attend in person. The schedule and links are as follows:

• Tuesday, January 21st (8:30-9:00 AM): Intended Audience: Years 5 & 6 and parents of performers.

  • Livestream Link
• Wednesday, January 22nd (8:30-9:00 AM): Intended Audience: Years 3 & 4 and parents of performers
  •  Livestream Link
• Thursday, January 23rd (8:30-9:00 AM): Intended Audience: Years 1 & 2 and parents of performers

  • Livestream Link

• Friday, January 24th: Whole School Chinese New Year Celebration: This event will feature fantastic performances by our student Lion and Dragon Dancers, as well as a professional troupe generously sponsored by our wonderful PTA. Students are encouraged to wear Chinese-inspired clothing or attire in bright colours.

  • Livestream Link

We look forward to celebrating the Lunar New Year with the entire school community.

Stakeholder Survey Following-up

Following last year's stakeholder survey, we've focused on giving parents a deeper understanding of how their children learn, along with resources and improved communication about student progress to support learning at home.

Key improvements include:

• More communication: Increased face-to-face meetings and Zoom sessions with teachers to find out about learning and wellbeing.

• Enhanced reporting: Mid-year reports now link to classroom assessments on Seesaw, and are discussed at parent consultations. Teachers and leaders are available throughout the term to address concerns.

• Parent workshops: A series of online and in-person workshops offer practical support strategies. Parent Information Workshop Series. 

• Online learning platforms: Reading Eggs (Y1), IXL (Y2, Y4-6), Mathletics (Y3), and Seesaw (all year groups) are available for in-school and home learning (huge thanks to PTA sponsorship).

• Additional resources: Supplementary materials and homework activities are provided.

• Community building: PTA coffee mornings and gatherings are held, with plans for a support network for parents of students with additional needs.

School Photographs

School photographs will be delivered to school shortly by Techni Photo. These will be sorted and sent home in the children’s school bags next week. If you ordered school photographs, please look out for them.

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

Go Kennedy Runners!

Good luck to all students who are taking part in the ESF Cross Country Challenge this Saturday 18 Jan 2025 at ESF King George V School. This running event is open to ALL GIRLS AND BOYS from Year 3 to 6. This race is inclusive to all with an open invitation to everyone. If you haven’t signed your child up to race and would like to, please read the information carefully and fill in this ESF Cross Country Run Form.

Good Luck Kennedy Footballers

On Monday 20 Jan 2025, we will take a girls and a boys football team to play in the HKPSSA Year 3/4 Football Tournament against other international schools at King’s Park. Based on the training our students put in last term, I am sure they represent our school in the right way and enjoy the event. We wish our teams well!

Kennedy Sports ECAs

Term 2 Staff Run Sports Clubs Start Next Week

We look forward to starting our sports clubs next week. Please note that there are still spaces available in some of our Term 2 sports clubs.

Our Hockey club will train on Wednesday mornings with a coach from Valley Hockey and our very own Hong Kong Hockey player Mrs Harris. This club is now open to boys and girls in Years 4, 5 and 6. We will be training students to play in the HKPSSA Inter-school Hockey Tournament, so please sign up!

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.

Sports Day - We need your help!

Thursday, 6 February

Morning Y3/4 Sports Day 9.00 to 11.30 am

Afternoon Y1/2 Sports Day 12.30 to 2.30 pm

Friday, 7 February

Morning Y5/6 Sports Day 9am - 12.20 pm

For the event to run smoothly, we need 4 parent volunteers per class to help score the activities. As a volunteer, you will be instrumental in this very exciting day and be best placed to enjoy the events at the same time!

For more information about the event and the simple scoring system, please see the Sports Day activities booklets below:

Year 1 and 2 Sports Day Information

Year 3 and 4 Sports Day Information

Year 5 and 6 Sports Day Information

Volunteers should meet the PE team at 8.45 am or 12.15 pm at the HKU running track for a briefing before the students arrive.

If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please message your child's class parent and class teacher to let them know.

Quiz Night

Dust off those pockets of obscure knowledge in your brain, it’s their time to shine! Our QUIZ NIGHT is coming up!

Join us on Friday, 28 February at El Charro at Cyberport for a night of FOOD, FUN and FACTS! Places are limited, so book your tickets asap.

Open to Kennedy School families and their friends, feel free to bring your brainiac buddies, but prepare them to be stumped by a few specific Kennedy School questions!

Teams are in 6s. You can gather your own team or come along and we’ll match you up with new friends to form a team.

BUY TICKETS

Seeking Silent Auction Prizes

We are looking for donations of silent auction prizes for our Quiz Night. Think big ticket items that will inspire a fun (but quiet) bidding war. Dining vouchers, gift baskets, unique art pieces -- we're open to all suggestions! Funds raised will go towards the PTA and all the cool things we do.

E-mail gadams@kennedy.edu.hk with information about your donation.

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

Closing date 17 January 2025.

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.

Please click here.

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