20 Feb 2017

Newsletter- 02/20/17

Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.

Y3/4 PARENT MEETINGS FOR PE, MANDARIN, MUSIC

ESF 50th ANNIVERSARY PRIMARY CHORAL CONCERT

ESF 50th ANNIVERSARY SPORTS GALA

OPPORTUNITY FOR ‘WANNABE’ TV STARS

ESF SPORTS AND LANGUAGE SPRING CAMPS

I hope you have been able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sunny weather with the children this weekend. There is a lot of news this week, please take the time to read through. I have highlighted important reminders below. In the meantime keep selling those raffle tickets – we are hoping for a record breaking year!

SKY GARDEN OPEN

For those of you who follow our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/kjseduhk/) you will already know that the children have been able to access the Sky Garden this week. The Sky Garden is a project driven by Mrs Hadley and paid for with the proceeds of last year’s school fair, generously donated by the PTA. We are determined to reuse and recycle materials for the Sky Garden – the decking and seating are already made from reclaimed wood. To this end, please let me know if you have any of the following to donate to the Sky Garden project:

Outdoor/Garden furniture

Natural rope

Bamboo

Indoor/outdoor plants and pots

Wood and wooden pallets

Thank you in advance for any donations!

SCHOOL FAIR

We still need more volunteers to help set up and run the white elephant stall, the book store, art and craft stalls, and the international food stalls. If you are willing to give us some time on or before the day, please take a moment to fill out the sign up sheet at:

https://goo.gl/forms/FM3d4nINl8GMmyFp1

Please contact the PTA Office if you have any questions.

There will of course be other ways you can help out….

Raffle tickets are already being sold and we are very impressed by the students’ motivation! There are prizes for the girl, the boy and the class who sell the most tickets. Please contact the PTA office should you need more raffles tickets to sell!

We are looking for donations of unwanted gifts, new or quality second hand household items for the White Elephant Stall. These could be toys, household items and appliances, bikes, CDs, DVDs, puzzles or board games! Please be mindful that we are not able to sell pirated copies of CDs or DVDs.

We are collecting second hand books(for children or adults) and would appreciate as many donations as possible. All donations should be sent to the PTA Office. Many thanks in advance for your generosity.

We are hoping to form a Community Choir for staff and parents, performing a simple, popular song during the fair. If you would like to join us, rehearsals will be at 5pm-7pm on Thursday 9 and 16 March, 2017. Please let the PTA know if you are planning to join us.

The PTA are collecting Cash Donations to help purchase items for the auction. If you are willing to donate money, please contact the PTA office. Thank you for those who have already donated.

ANNIE JR DVD FOR SALE

For those who wish to purchase a DVD of the Annie Jr show we have a professional recording for families to purchase at a cost of $100. This price give you two shows, featuring both casts. To order please send a cheque for the exact amount to “Kowloon Junior School P.T.A. Ltd.” All cheques should be sent in an envelope which must have the following information on it:

Child’s name:

Child’s class:

Amount of DVDs ordered:

Total amount:

Please note that envelopes which do not have the required information can not be processed.

Y3/4 PARENT MEETINGS FOR PE, MANDARIN, MUSIC

The Y3/Y4 parent meetings for PE, Mandarin and Music have been postponed until Tuesday 7^th March. Sign up will open from 4pm on Wednesday 22^nd February. Please note that there are limited appointments available for obvious logistical reasons. Please note, it is important to ask your child which teacher they have for each subject before you book. We have more than one teacher for each subject – I’m afraid that if you book to see the wrong teacher they will not have anything to say about your child.

MATHS WEEK

The whole school is gearing up for our annual Maths week (13-17th March) which promises to be filled with mathematical excitement. Under the theme ‘Maths is all around us’ students will take part in Maths activities including an opportunity for some students to meet Maths author David Schwartz on ‘Pi Day’, Maths dress up day, Maths challenge finals run by KGV, Maths fairs in each year group and a ‘Maths is all around us’ video competition. A full schedule and details of the week is coming soon.

ESF 50th ANNIVERSARY PRIMARY CONCERT

Students from the Senior Choir will be performing in this concert on 17 March 2017 (Friday) 6:30pm – 8:30pm at Queen Elizabeth Stadium (performance begins at 7:00pm) along with others from all the ESF schools. This event is always extremely impressive and a wonderful opportunity for the choir. Tickets are available on URBTIX.

DBIS RUGBY TOURNAMENT

On Friday our rugby players had their first touch tournament of the year at Kings Park. It was a hot day which made it tough for all the players as the game of touch is a very fast and demanding sport. Our team did well, improving with every game. We now look forward to a few weeks of hard training, ready to do even better in the next tournament coming up in early March. Well done to all the players involved: Matthew, Yashwin, Josh, Vikram, Cyrus, Samad, Sean, Chirag, Sanhida, Mateo and Ryan.

ESF 50th ANNIVERSARY SPORTS GALA

On Saturday I enjoyed watching some of our students running, playing football and netball in the ESF Sports Gala held on the field at KGV. Held in honour of ESF’s 50^th Anniversary, the Gala was organized by our very own Mr Riddell! Seeing so many of our students participating was the highlight of my weekend. The photograph above shows Kiara on her way to winning the Y5 Girls’ race. Alongside all our runners, Yeh Lynn, Aleisha, Nicole and Christopher, Yoshi and Mateja were selected for the ESF Kowloon netball and football teams. Unfortunately Wesley, who was also selected was unable to play due to injury.

MATHS WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Maths Workshop with Peter Sullivan this week. Peter challenged our thinking about maths, now quite different to how it looked when most parents were at school. He highlighted the importance of challenging children in their mathematical thinking and talking to them about their Maths journey, creating space and time to explore Maths together. He added that children can share ways of doing Maths that they have learnt at school and parents can share the ways that they do Maths. Most importantly, he explained how a positive parental attitude to Maths can have a hugely beneficial impact on the children’s confidence and attitude to Maths. His final tip to parents was in the learning of times-tables in which he demonstrated breaking down the task so that children need to learn only a few new times tables facts.

STUDENT ACTION

At the weekend Marti (2T) and Prima (2P) traveled to Tai Po and had a lot of fun! They were curious about forces and simple machines. Marti and Prima inquired through playful learning, inquiring into kites and bicycles. The children made observations, tested their theories and were able to communicate their ideas clearly. Both students were excited to share some photos and videos with their classmates. Well done Marti and Prima!

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Well done to all the KJS students from Trips Yoga Group who, along with some of their parents, performed the yoga dance for the Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of HKSAR. The event, organized by TST District Kai Fong Association, was performed for the elderly people of Hong Kong. Well done to Aarohi and Pihu Agarwal and their dad, Atharva and Urvi Mishra and their mum, Arjun Kapur and his mum and Aryan Sokhiya!

Curtis in 1W participated in Apkids 2017 last Sunday. He won two prizes for the 20m and 30m race for his age group. This is wonderful news – just in time for the upcoming Y1 and Y2 Sports Day!

On Sunday, Alicia (1B) and Lara (5W) took part in their very first tennis tournament, the ATA mini red and mini orange competition, respectively. Both girls demonstrated excellent sporting behaviour and played extremely well. Congratulations Alicia and Lara!

I am pleased to share that 8 KJS students took part in the Hong Kong Inter-school Team Chess Championship 2017 organised by the Hong Kong Junior Chess Club yesterday. There were 48 teams with over 190 students from local and international primary schools taking part in this tournament.

The KJS chess players included: Alex Martin Hon (3C), Jason Xia (2M), Daniel Kim (2G) and Roark Ruban Thottakath (2M) in the lower primary division; Harold Kwong (6T), Dhriti Sriram (5K), Sian Lee (4L) and Sumukh Diwakar (4P) in the primary division. All students demonstrated good team spirit and put in their best efforts in the competition. After 7 rounds of games, Alex was 2nd runner up in the lower primary division. Congratulations to Alex and well done to all KJS chess players!

ESF SPORTS AND LANGUAGE SPRING CAMPS

Please click here to download a printable version

OPPORTUNITY FOR ‘WANNABE’ TV STARS

RTHK would like to invite ESF students to audition for their next ETV programme ‘Say No to Chinglish part 4’. RTHK are looking for a boy and girl to take part who are 9-12 years old. You must look Chinese or Asian and have an interest in TV programmes. Children who have experience in stage work / drama / commercial shooting are preferred but those with no experience are also welcomed. Prospective applicants should be able to follow instructions and have the confidence to work with new people. Filming will be on weekends in March and early April.
If you are interested please send a resumé (with recent photos / age / height / nationality / acting experience) to Mr. Terry Cheung cheungyk3@rthk.hk. RTHK will contact you directly if they would like you to audition.

Please note that KJS is not affiliated with RTHK. I offer this in the newsletter in good faith that it could provide an exciting opportunity for one of our students.

I look forward to seeing you in and around school soon.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Karen Thomas

Head of School

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

21 February: 6T, 6RB & 6W trip to Kowloon Walled City Park

23 February: 6A & 6M trip to Kowloon Walled City Park

7 March: Y3 and Y4 specialist teacher meetings (Music, PE, Mandarin)

13 March: Maths Week

17 March: ESF Choral Concert

18 March: School Fair

23 March: Student Led Conferences 3-6pm

24 March: Classes suspended for Student Led Conferences

27 March: KJS Music Concert

28 March: Y1 and Y2 Sports Day 9am

31 March: Term 2 ends at midday