Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We have had a wonderful week at school and students have been enjoying the cooler weather - especially in our new East Wing garden. Some students have also investigated nature beyond our school grounds in hikes around our neighbourhood. We have had the school photographers in school this week to capture individual and class photos of the students - the main highlight being the whole school photo on the lower playground on Tuesday morning!

Happy Diwali

• We would like to wish our community a happy Diwali and if you celebrate, we hope you thoroughly enjoy the festivities.

• Next week, we will hold a series of assemblies where students will share their culture through Diwali stories, dance, music and presentations. Students love to learn from each other and it really feeds into our mission of Belonging, Learning and Thriving.

• To further embrace the spirit of Diwali, we encourage our school community to wear culturally inspired clothing or bright coloured clothing on Monday 27 October, to celebrate Diwali. This is optional and no donation is required. However, we’d love your child to join in the Diwali spirit on the day.

Year 6 Swim Gala

Tomorrow, we will host our Year 6 Swim Gala. All Year 6 parents are invited. We will start at 9:00am and finish by 12:30. Please see the PE message for details.

Halloween - with a touch of spooky and fun!

By popular demand, Halloween Dress-Up day is confirmed for Friday, October 31. Children should wear fun or fancy dress costumes or costumes with a spooky theme.

Please avoid costumes that are scary or gruesome in nature. It is essential that we ensure costumes meet this criteria to avoid frightening younger children. Please do not send any money or sweets/candies.

School Renovations

Following on from the upgrade to the East Wing Roof Garden (which featured in the PTA section of last week’s newsletter), we’re excited to share that both the North Wing Rooftop and Octagonal Playground will be renovated in Term 2. In preparation for this, the shading on the North Wing has already been removed and staff have communicated with children that they can only play there if they wear a hat. Children without a hat are encouraged to move to the other shaded playgrounds around the school.

Please look out for further details in the forthcoming newsletters about the organisation of the play areas around the school, in Term 2. We are fortunate to have HKU across the road where we have made additional bookings for more children to access during this time.

Staff who have been part of this exciting new playground project, have taken inspiration from other ESF schools, including Clearwater Bay School and Quarry Bay School and their playground and rooftop spaces as per the photos here. We look forward to sharing more updates in due course!

Kind Regards,
Brenda
顧仁達

This week, we continue to explore the Learner Profile by examining how it is developed in Chinese lessons.

Issue #5: PYP in Action

All issues of all PYP newsletters can be found HERE.

Year 6 Swim Gala

We look forward to seeing all Year 6 parents at the Year 6 Swim Gala tomorrow!. We are aware that the water temperature has decreased due to the recent weather but we are confident that with the good weather forecast there will be no problems for our students. The race schedule has been confirmed and we are very grateful to Mr Harding and the WIS Sports Leaders for their support at this event.

Date: Friday 24 October 2025

Time: 9.00am to 12.15pm approximately

Venue: HKU Stanley Ho Swimming Pool

Students will wear their regular swimming suit; long hair must be tied up under a swim cap (in House colours). Students will need to bring a small snack, water bottle and towel. Sunscreen should be applied before school.

Last Week of Swimming lessons

Your child’s water safety swim lesson will take place in your child’s final swim session of this term. Please look carefully at the swimming schedule as some classes will be swimming at different days and times to their usual session.

Information about the water safety swim lesson

Students need to bring in the following clothes IN ADDITION to their usual swim kit:

Year 2: white T-shirt (for the first lesson of the week only)

Year 3 & 4: light coloured baggy shorts and white long sleeved T-shirt

Year 5 & 6: light coloured tracksuit/pyjama bottoms and white long sleeved T-shirt.

Only white or light coloured clothing will be permitted in the pool as dark colours react with the chlorine.

STUDENTS WILL BE UNDER STRICT SUPERVISION BY THE AQUAKIDZ EXPERIENCED AND FULLY ACCREDITED TEACHERS AT ALL TIMES .

Please see the final week’s swimming schedule:

Term 1 Swimming Schedule

Good job Kennedy Year 5/6 Swim Team!

Well done to everyone who took part in the DBIS Swim Gala last Thursday afternoon. I was really pleased to see how well they did and how they supported each other in a tough competitive environment. The results of your races are:

HKPSSA Island Primary Swimming Results October 2025

A big thank you to coach Anson and coach Jason from Pacific for their hard work training the students every Monday and Friday morning before school at West Island School pool.

Friendly Football Match

Next Thursday 30 October, we will host friendly Year 5/6 Boys football matches against our friends from ESF Glenealy on the newly redeveloped HKU Pitch 2 from 7.00 to 8.00 am. Parents are welcome to attend the match. This event will give our players the chance to play together in a competitive environment before we have the HKPSSA Island School Football Tournament at TKO on Monday 3 November. Let’s go, Kennedy!

Well done Lawrence and Tristan

Laurence Hyde (5F) has done it again, with his team winning the U10 category at the LaLiga Academy Shanghai Football Tournament 2025 (Oct 3-5) at Tianma Country Club. Overcoming a summer foot injury, he’s back with impressive skill and a stronger mindset. Well done, Laurence!

Tristan Pidgeon (5P) recently competed in and finished a 15km race in very wet conditions. We are impressed with your stamina and determination, congratulations Tristan!

We are very excited to announce the Orchestral Instrument Hiring Programme to provide students with the opportunity to explore orchestral instruments without the financial burden of purchasing their own. With this programme, students can hire a variety of orchestral instruments at 20% of the cost. To learn more, please read this letter:

Orchestral Instrument Hiring Programme

It’s nearly time for our Box of Hope collection! We hope everyone is making boxes of joy that will be distributed to less fortunate children in Hong Kong and Asia.

Year 4 should bring their boxes into school on Thursday 30 October before going to camp.

All other year groups should bring their boxes by 8.20 am on Friday 31 October.

Additional box labels can be printed from HERE.

We hope to beat our target of 900 boxes this year!

Learn more at the Box of Hope website https://www.boxofhope.org/en/

Whole School Dress Up Day: Clash of the Patterns - Friday 7 November

Our next Whole School Dress Up Day is led by Year 6, who have decided that everyone should come to school with mismatched and clashing patterns. Wear stripes, polkadots, tie dye, plaid together with flowers, hats, bold colours and mix them up as much as possible for our Clash of The Patterns Day. We suggest a donation of $20 which will go towards the Year 6s fund for something the whole year group can enjoy.

Festive Fair & Concert News - Friday 14 November 2025!

Tickets and coupons are available NOW. Please go to Gateway to purchase yours!

This year, all stalls and activities on the Ground Floor will accept coupons, making it quicker, smoother, and way more fun for everyone. Coupon books will also be available for purchase at the fair using Octopus, cash, or PayMe.

Volunteers

Parent-child duos - join the fun at our Festive Fair & Concert. We are looking for 5 dynamic duos per class to help run stalls, games, and activities. It’s a fantastic way to team up, spread some festive cheer, and create magical memories together.

Example: First name: Terry & Jake 1B. Every bit of time and energy makes a big difference. Thank you for helping make this special day happen! ❤️

Sign up today: https://volunteersignup.org/JA8XR

Donations

Please drop all your books in good condition to “The Space by the PTA” so they can be re-loved and build imaginations. Baked goods link here

If you're keen to donate some Chinese snacks this year please complete the form here.

Quiet Room at the Festive Fair & Concert

The Festive Fair & Concert will have a Quiet Room available for children or adults who may need a calm space away from the main action.

The room is available throughout the evening, with sensory activities and a peaceful environment. You can also borrow ear defenders here if needed.

To help us plan and ensure the space meets everyone’s needs, please pre-register if you think anyone in your family—including siblings outside of Kennedy School —might benefit from using the Quiet Room. Please email pta@kennedy.edu.hk

Festive Fair & Concert Accessibility

If anyone in your family requires specific accommodations for accessing our Festive Fair, or concerns around accessibility, please get in touch so that we can support. Please contact Cruz Macalligan at cruz.macalligan@gmail.com.

Opening Hours of The Space by the PTA Monday to Thursday - 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

1. Bus Service Overview & FAQs

2. Birthday Book ordering

3. Chinese Weekly Learning:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

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

• Login: Your child’s school email address

• Password: KSbooks1

5. Gateway Log-in

6. Hot Lunch Service & Hot Lunch Order Portal

7. Kennedy Today Newspaper

8. Medical Updates

9. Parent Information Workshops 2025/26

10. PYP In Action UPDATED

11. Inclement Weather Procedures

12. Seesaw Log-in

13. School Calendar 2025/26 UPDATED

14. School Uniform Guide & School Uniform Shop