Newsletter- 01/09/23
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
Dates for Your Diary
13-14 September ‘You Tell Us’ Meeting (3-6pm)
2 October Public Holiday
23-30 October Mid Term Break
6-9 November School Photo
11 December Holiday after Local Election
15 December Last Day of Term (school ends at 12:00)
8 January First Day of Term 2
Principal’s Message
Dear KJS families,
Being the new Principal of KJS has been an incredibly enlightening experience. Like our students, I am learning new things each and every day. This week, I have taken the opportunity to visit some of the learning that is taking place across the school.
Talking to the children about their learning, it was clear how enthused and engaged they were. Whether that was listening to a discussion on what a ‘value’ is in Year 4 (and being quizzed on what ones were important to me) or reading some of the first person writing in Year 6. It’s also clear how thoughtful and dedicated all the staff are in providing such positive learning experiences for the students.
On Monday, we will launch our new lunch service with Chartwells. We are confident that the transition back to cooked meals will be a success.I would like to personally thank the members of the KJS PTA, I know the process for this to be implemented was a long and tiresome one. As with every new initiative, it may take some time to ensure the service runs as smoothly as we would like, so please bear with us.
As you are all aware the weather for the weekend is looking ‘challenging’ so please ensure you stay safe and follow all precautionary measures. I’m hopeful that by Monday, the worst of the storm will have passed but please do keep checking in with the usual school communication via the ESF app and school website.
Take care,
Mr Gavin MacGregor
Principal
KJS Parent Volunteer 2023/2024
We will start recruiting parent volunteers for this year’s field trips and in-school events. Interested parents please log in to the Gateway, sign the eNotice called “KJS Parent Volunteer 2023-2024” and submit your reply slip to us on or before Monday 11 September 2023.
If you forget your password to the Gateway, please refer to this document. For other questions regarding your login, please contact our IT Team at ictsupport@kjs.edu.hk.
Message from the Nurse
Student Health and Dental Care Services
An enrolment form for Student Health and Dental Care Services was sent home yesterday. For interested parents, please complete and return the form to the school on or before the deadline – Monday 4 September 2023. Please understand that any applications received after the deadline cannot be processed and you will have to wait until the next academic year to enrol again.
For details, please refer to this letter from Nurse Carmen.
Face-to-Face ‘You Tell Us’ Meeting
You can sign up via your gateway login > parent consultation, looking for ‘You tell us.’ Bookings open at the following times:
Parents with Siblings: Thursday 31st August at 5pm
All other parents Friday 1st September at 5pm
Bookings will close at 12pm on Monday 11th September
For details, please refer to this letter.
Library
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
KJS Library would like to host two in-person workshops to help you navigate your way through our Library, Library Splat page and Library Orbit page.
What’s the difference between Splat and Orbit page?
How will this help in my child’s learning?
How can I improve my child’s literacy? Are there tools to support reading at home?
How can I support my child during PYPx? What online research databases are there?
We’ll try to answer some of these questions and more. Come in person to the library on Monday, September 11th, 2023. There will be two sessions:
8:30-9:30
1:30-2:30
To register, please click here: https://forms.gle/t1VEqze5S2VNciuBA
Registration deadline is Thursday, September 7th, 2023.
Please email Ms. Lau at macy.lau@kjs.edu.hk if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
KJS Library Team
ESF Board of Governors
You should have recently received information from ESF regarding the election of parent members to the ESF Board of Governors.
All parents of ESF primary, secondary and all-through schools are invited to stand for election. If you would like to contribute to the ESF community by joining the ESF Board, please do not miss this opportunity. The letter sent by ESF gives links to more information about the specific role as well as further information on how to nominate yourself.
For any enquiries, please contact Peggy Wan at peggy.wan@esfcentre.edu.hk.
News from the PTA
Hello KJS Community,
We hope you are all safe and dry in this typhoon weather and enjoying the bonus family time.
The most exciting thing happening in school on Monday is the start of the new lunch service!
Lunch Provider Service – Reminder
We have had productive meetings with Chartwells and are ready to roll out the first lunches starting on Monday 4 Sept! For those of you who have enrolled and paid, please remember not to send lunch in on the selected days with your child, only their snack and water bottles.
Note: The children will require their own spoons, forks or chopsticks. You would have received information on this from Chartwells.
If you have any questions, you may contact Chartwells directly on
Hotline and Whatsapp: 9551-6983 (Mon-Fri, 8:00-17:00)
Email: kjs@compass-hk.com
We have worked hard in conjunction with Chartwells to ensure a smooth service, however there may be initial teething problems and we ask for parents to be patient in case there are.
We will actually get a better understanding of the full scope of the logistics (or pitfalls!) after we start, but we will closely monitor the process and continue to liaise with the provider and the school community stakeholders.
Upcoming PTA events
The PTA had a very productive and positive meeting with our new Principal, Mr Gavin MacGregor, this past week and are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a series of events to engage with the Community. Many of them will be year group based, but some will be school wide events held on site here at KJS.
We have tentative plans for coffee mornings, a Y1 social evening, special dress days, a themed disco and a big winter festival!
Thank you to all those who have signed the volunteer form, it’s been wonderful to have so many dedicated parents willing to give their time and energy. We will be allocating designated roles to those who have indicated interest soon via email, please look out for that communication from us.
If you have not yet registered with us, you may still do so via this Google Form or send us a Whatsapp on 6211-4154 giving us your name, your child’s name, class and details to identify yourselves.
As always, we welcome parents to reach out to Rekha Mahbubani in the PTA office to connect with us.
Email: pta@kjs.edu.hk
T: 3765-8709
Have a good weekend ahead and hopefully the weather will clear up for families to enjoy themselves.
Best wishes,
The KJS PTA Team
Student Success
Thank you for sharing your child’s achievements with us over the past year.
While individual achievements are undoubtedly significant and provide a source of pride for both the student and their family, sharing every student’s accomplishments on our social media channels is no longer feasible. Our intention is to create an inclusive environment where all students, regardless of their individual accomplishments, feel valued and celebrated.
That being said, we encourage you to share your child’s achievements with their teacher and peers, as well as within your personal social media networks. This way, your child’s accomplishments can be recognized and celebrated by those who know them best.
We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to navigate the post-pandemic educational landscape. Our school community’s strength lies in our collective efforts to celebrate the diverse talents, achievements, and experiences of all our students.
Disclaimer
- Kowloon Junior School, English Schools Foundation and its affiliates shall take no responsibility for any activities, events, and services that are organised by other organisations or individuals and are mentioned in our newsletters.
- Our newsletters may contain direct marketing materials that are related to students’ daily school activities and the KJS community. Parents who choose not to receive such materials should use their own discretion.
- In accordance with our Personal Data Handling Policy, Kowloon Junior School and English Schools Foundation may place your child’s photos, name, school work, activities and accomplishments in our newsletters or other publications (including but not limited to our websites and social media sites). If you would like to opt out, please email the school office at office@kjs.edu.hk.
