25 Nov 2020

Newsletter- 25/11/20

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

 

Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 1 December                         Postpone to Term 3 – Literacy (Reading & Writing) Workshop

Friday 11 December                           Last day of term – Half day (finish at 12pm)

14 December – 1 January                   Term Break

Monday 4 January                              First day of Term 2

 

 

Dear Parents.

This newsletter comes to you with mixed feelings. On the one hand, we are delighted to have Year 4-6 in for full days and on the other hand, we are disappointed our Year 1-3 were not able to join in this positive step.

I want to acknowledge the KJS Year 1-3 team and our Year 6 classes working with distance learning for the rapid and effective transition back to distance learning. Due to their experience and hard work, we have been able to move quickly back into distance learning without compromising learning for our children. In June, we received comprehensive feedback from parents which was summarised here. From the feedback, we know that majority of parents wanted:

  1. Specialist teaching to be via live Zoom;
  2. Teaching time to be a mix of whole class, groups and independent learning;
  3. Teaching staff available to support children as needed when independent learning is occuring; and
  4. A continued balance of online and offline quality learning.

Accordingly, teams have been working very hard to re-establish distance learning routines. We have been getting some feedback from a small number of parents concerned about the amount of time children are now online. Please bear with us for the first week of distance learning as we settle children back into routines and manage the balance of online and offline learning. We are very confident we can manage the very tricky balance of what each child and home needs, but this will not be without challenges and your patience and support is appreciated. What I can assure you is staff are working tirelessly to support each child’s wellbeing and learning.

Please note:

  • If you have feedback, questions or concerns about your child’s learning, please reach out to your child’s class teacher so that they can work with you to meet your child’s needs;
  • Please do not expect the school to make immediate changes to the carefully planned and negotiated distance learning provision. Once again, we need to set the process in place and then seek collective voice for any potential enhancements. Next week, we will be providing parents with the opportunity for feedback through our KJS and ESF wide survey.

We know that for all of us, students, teachers and parents, that the ideal situation is for children to be in school learning face to face with teachers and support staff. Given this is not possible, we will do all we can to make distance learning a success for your child.

We are pleased to advise that cases of absences due to URTI continue to reduce in Years 4-6 with no class suspensions from these year groups. We will continue to monitor the trends on a daily basis and consult with the CHP.

Finally, it was wonderful to have over 60 parents attending the Reporting workshop last night. If you would like to see the presentation, it will be circulated on the KJS website shortly.

 

Kind regards

亲切的问候,

सधन्यवाद

Neill O’Reilly

Principal

 

 

Overnight Camps

A number of parents have enquired about the planned 2020/21 camps. We have been in communication with camp providers regarding planned camps. Tentatively, these camps are scheduled in Term Two and Term Three (Y4 on 22-23 March 2021; Y5 on 12-14 May 2021; Y6 on 11-14 May 2021).  We will continue monitoring the situation and receiving health & safety guidelines from the government with camps only proceeding if the situation is safe and there is no risk in relation to Covid.  Further updates will be provided as we come closer to the proposed dates.

The camp fee paid in 2019-2020 will be utilized to cover this year’s camps. Should there be any changes, it will either be refunded or carried forward to 2021-2022.

 

 

Survey on Parent Seminar and Workshop

Since August, KJS has held several parent workshops/seminars,  for whole school and specific year groups.  We are interested in parent feedback to determine the value of these workshops and also to plan future presentations. Please take the time to complete the form here, indicating whether you attended or not and adding your feedback.

We have more parent sessions scheduled for Term 2, and would like your help to determine future workshops you may be interested in attending as the year progresses. Many thanks in advance for helping us to help you.

If you did not attend any sessions, please complete the first 2 questions and the last 2 last questions. The survey will close on Sunday 29 November 2020.

 

 

Library News

The Library Team would like your help to search for our missing and overdue library books. Although we have stopped lending books out since February early this year due to Coronavirus, we still have about 200 books missing. We want to make sure when the library starts lending books out, that we have our full collection.

As such, we would appreciate your help. Library overdue notices will be emailed to you in the next week as a gentle reminder of books that were signed out in your child’s name. Please help us search your homes and return them to us at your earliest convenience.

We understand that Library books look very similar to your home books and here are 5 ways to tell if they are part of our collection:

  1. Books will be labeled. Look on the front cover or spine of the book.

 

 

2. Books are wrapped with a plastic cover. Open the first or last page and you will see the lined plastic film.

 

3. Books will have a “Kowloon Junior School Library” stamp on the title page.

 

4. On the last page of the book, you will find a white 3M sticker.

 

5. On the back cover of the book, you will find a “Kowloon Junior School” barcode sticker.

To check your child’s account, you can also access our Library Orbit page (first time users select Kowloon Junior School). A shortcut has also been placed on our KJS Virtual Library. Please login with your child’s splat username and password.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Ms. Lau at macy.lau@kjs.edu.hk.

 

 

Vote on the KJS Dragon’s name!

The KJS Dragon has been part of the KJS family for quite some time but he still hasn’t got a name! The Student Council is collecting votes from students on their choice of the Dragon’s name and we would like to invite parents to cast their votes too! You may click and fill in the online questionnaire here.

Student Council

 

 

Student Success

The celebration of student success will channel to our Facebook page. You can find the school’s Facebook here. Please keep the photos and stories coming of our children shooting the AAROW’s of Success!

 

Disclaimer:
  1. 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.
  2. If you do not wish to receive our newsletters by email, you may contact the school office at office@kjs.edu.hk to opt out. Our newsletters will still be accessible on our website https://kjs.edu.hk/kjs-news/.
  3. 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.