Newsletter- 16/11/16
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
Netball Tournament
Annie Junior
School Disco
New reporting format
Girls’ Football
Arts in the Park
Christmas Sale
Student Achievement
Action!
Performance Opportunities
Kowloon Junior School Facebook page
IMPORTANT DATES
Dear All,
Thank you to everyone for coming to the consultations over the last couple of weeks. It is always lovely to see you in and around school and to get such positive feedback about the process. With only a few weeks left of term we have a lot to fit in – please read through the following sections carefully so you don’t miss out on anything important. With a netball tournament, a musical, a Christmas sale AND a disco coming up we are certainly going to be busy. It never fails to astonish me how many wonderful opportunities are available for our students.
Y3 – 6 camps are coming up in the next few weeks – it is my absolute favourite time of year and such a treat to see students away from school, developing their independence. Please rest assured that all camps have thorough risk assessments, that we select menus that will ensure that all children are adequately and appropriately nourished and that the planned activities are designed to provide challenge and fun for the children. May I extend my heartfelt thanks to all staff who will be spending time away from their own families to ensure that your children have the best time and make memories to treasure for ever. Although there will be no ‘live feed’ from camp I will endeavor to share a few photographs on our Facebook page to give a flavour of the activities your children will be enjoying.
I am due to be out of school for the next couple of weeks, recruiting teachers for next year and then attending camps. Although not in school I will of course be responding to emails. I know I will leave the school in very good hands with Jane and Ciarian while I am away.
Looking forward to seeing you soon – don’t forget the Christmas sale this Thursday and Friday from 3 – 6pm!
Karen Thomas
Head of School
Netball Tournament
Good luck to our netball team on Thursday at the Kowloon Netball Tournament! Please note that all sports clubs will be cancelled on this day due to space restrictions.
Annie Junior
We had our first dress rehearsal on Tuesday and excitement is at an all time high. We are incredibly proud of the children and can not wait for you to see them on stage. As you know our official performances are on Thursday and Friday evening. Both performances will begin at 6 pm and will finish at approximately 7 pm. In order to help with after-school arrangements, all performers are welcome to stay at school from 2.45 pm this Thursday and Friday afternoon. They will be supervised by staff before getting ready for the performances.
Should you wish for your child to remain in school, please ensure that they bring to school a substantial snack/tea that can be eaten before the performance.
If your child is not going to stay at school before they perform, they must arrive at the hall by 5pm in order to have adequate time to get ready. Please make sure they have their water bottle with them.
After the show, as soon as the cast and dancers have changed out of their costumes, they can be collected from the ground floor playground at the end of the performance. Choir members and technical crew can be collected staright from the hall.
Thank you for your support – we look forward to seeing you at the show.
School Disco
I am really looking forward to seeing as many people as possible at the school disco on the 9th December – it has been a long and successful term and it is time to celebrate together. It will be a RAINBOW disco with a dress code to match for each year group. Please note there is no need to dress completely in your year group colour…. Just a little splash of your designated colour will do! Tickets can be purchased using the attached form.
New reporting format
Over the last few years our data showed that very few parents had been accessing their child’s end of unit reports. Having listened to parent comments we wanted to make sure that any adjustments to the format would both align with our philosophy and create an end of unit report which is more informative to parents and more personalized to student needs.
Rather than just the previous short piece of narrative, the new report format, to be sent out six times a year, is divided into different sections as outlined below:
1. UNIT OVERVIEW:
This introductory section gives the context of a child’s learning for the period of their Unit of Inquiry (approx. six weeks).
2. LINES OF INQUIRY
In this section parents are informed whether their child is working towards, working within or working beyond expectations for each of the conceptually driven lines of inquiry for their unit of work.
3. SKILLS AND DISPOSITIONS:
In this section, teachers and students have worked together to determine next steps in learning for some of the target skills and dispositions from their unit of work. As skills and dispositions are transferable, students are encouraged to continue to work on these beyond the Unit of Inquiry. There will always be opportunities for the skills and dispositions to be further developed at home. Parents and children are encouraged to discuss what success in each of the targets may look like at home.
4. EVIDENCE
This section enables parents to view work which exemplifies their child’s learning in the Unit of Inquiry. We hope that having these available will promote richer discussion about learning between parents and students. Key questions to ask your child when looking together at the evidence:
“ Tell me about your learning.”
“ What was successful about this learning?”
“ How might you make it even better next time?”
At present these are limited to Unit of Inquiry reports but we are looking to grow the use of this reporting format to include other areas of the curriculum.
A link to your child’s first report of the year will be sent to you in the next few days with clear instructions as to how to access it.
Girls’ Football
Our girls did fantastically well to win the shield at the ICHK girls football tournament last Wednesday. After a difficult start to the competition the girls steadily grew in confidence to beat first Shatin Junior 3-0 in the semis then the hosts ICHK in the final 2-0. Congratulations girls!
Arts in the Park
Thank you to all the children who participated in the ESF MASSIVE CHOIR at Arts in the Park at the weekend. Singing with students from Beacon Hill and Kennedy schools it was a wonderful opportunity to perform to a very large audience.
Christmas Sale
Last Thursday we had the first day of our Christmas Sale of goods given to us by Ayden’s Mum Suzanne. Our Christmas Stall has already raised a substantial amount towards a set of visualisers for the classrooms – the next sale days will be Thursday 17th and Friday 18th from 3pm – 5.30pm. See you there!
Student Achievement
At the weekend Yu Jie participated, along with Karate competitors from all over the territory, in the Hong Kong Karatedo Youth Games 2016 . She won 1st runner in the Girls Junior Kata – very well done Yue Jie!
Action
A huge thank you to all those families who donated cans to support the Feeding Hong Kong food drive this month. We collected more than a thousand cans which have now been distributed to those in need across Hong Kong.
Performance Opportunities
We have had an audition call from Radio Television Hong Kong. They are looking for talented children to appear on ETV English programmes. Their requirements are as follows:
– English native speaking boys, aged 6-8 of any nationality
– Interested in TV production
– Willing to take on a challenge, patient enough to take orders and a good team player
Interested parties may send personal details including name, date of birth, height, contact no., e-mail address, performing experiences (if any), etc. and attach with a recent photo to yipht@rthk.hk with an e-mail subject: ETV talents
Only suitable candidates will be invited to have an audition.
On Saturday 26th November there will be auditions for the World Championships of Performing Arts. Open to performing artists from 6 – 60 who are hoping to represent Hong Kong, it looks like a wonderful opportunity for some of our talented students.
Please contact Belinda for more details belindadevenish@gmail.com. Belinda’s daughter Meghan, a former KGV student, represented Hong Kong at the Championships and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Kowloon Junior School Facebook Page
To get news as it happens please ‘like’ our Facebook page – it only takes a minute and will open the doors to a selection of some of the wonderful things that happen at KJS.
Important Dates
Thursday 17th November Netball tournament – all after school sports clubs cancelled.
Thursday 17th November KJS Musical
Friday 18th November KJS Musical
21st – 23rd November Y4 Camp
22nd – 25th November Y5 Camp
28th – 2nd December Y6 Camp
Friday 9th December School Disco for all the family
Tuesday 13th December Term ends at midday
Parents will be informed of any date changes in the school newsletter.
