Newsletter- 29/8/16
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
KLC UPDATE
ANNIE JR. MUSICAL – UPDATE
PTA NEWS
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
68TH HONG KONG SCHOOLS SPEECH FESTIVAL (2016)
JUNIOR CHESS STAR INVITATIONAL COMPETITION 2016
ESL SPANISH CLASS & WRITING CLASS
Important Dates
Message from the Head of School
Thank you to all parents who were able to attend the Year Ahead Meetings last week – I do hope you found the evening informative. Positive lines of communication between home and school are an essential element of your child’s education. Effective communication enables students to receive continuity of education, care and support within home and school settings. To this end every week you will receive this newsletter (Mondays) and a weekly update (Fridays) which outlines the learning from the previous week, key messages and home learning tasks. The information that we will have gathered from the Welcome Meetings today will help us throughout the year in pursuit of our mission ‘Success for Every Child’. I ask all parents to be mindful in their use of social media groups throughout the year. Groups such as WhatsApp can be extremely useful – and fun – to participate in but can sometimes perpetuate parental anxieties. Please remember, we have an open door policy at the school and it is always better to seek clarification from the source than fall foul of speculation!
At the Year Ahead Meeting we explained about the four hypotheses which provide the focus for school development this year:
Our practice is inclusive and responsive to student needs.
KJS is a school committed to inquiry based learning.
Collaboration strengthens our community of learners.
Our written curriculum is clearly articulated.
I will use this newsletter to update you on the work completed under these hypotheses over the course of the year.
Mr Riddell talked us through a quick and easy reminder to help us shape our healthy choices this year for all families:
These choices will be shared with the students in the first few weeks at school. Children are asked to only bring water into school. Our aim is for students to be as healthy as possible in order to promote well-being and maximise their learning potential.
As the new term has started we have seen a number of students throughout the school developing fevers. We kindly ask that you observe the following measures to help reduce the spread of infection and ensure children are fully rested and recovered before returning to school.
- Keep children who are unwell at home until they have been fever free for 48 hours, without the need for medication.
- Encourage children to cover their noses and mouths when they cough or sneeze.
- Emphasise the importance of good hand hygiene.
Wishing you a wonderful week.
Karen Thomas
Head of School
KLC Update
It has been lovely to meet so many of you at the various return to school evenings across the KLC. I feel we are beginning to build a strong collaborative community.
All senior leaders across the three schools are now working with colleagues on our designated priorities and I am delighted by what I am hearing about progress. The main focus is on curriculum continuity in Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Chinese and Computational Thinking.
I am finalising my report to the ESF Board for their consideration at their next meeting prior to their decision about whether the KLC should become a permanent arrangement. I hope we will be able to convince them of the benefits to student learning and we can build on the strong foundations we have laid.
Best wishes
Dr Ed Wickins
Executive Principal of the ESF Kowloon Learning Campus
(King George V School, Kowloon Junior School, Jockey Club Sarah Roe School)
Annie Junior – Musical Update
All students who auditioned have now been allocated roles in the musical. They were so good that they are ALL participating! Rehearsals are every Wednesday 3 – 5pm until the performances on November 17th and 18th. After a few rehearsals we will be able to let you know which night each cast will perform.
PTA NEWS
Our first PTA event of the year, our Lantern Festival, will be held in the school playground on Friday, September 9, 2016, from 5:30-7:30pm. This event is free for all. Please come with your picnic blankets and baskets with food to share, there will be a Licensed Bar and a stall selling various festival items. We look forward to seeing all those beautiful lanterns lighting up the KJS School! On this night, the PTA AGM will be held in the School Hall from 6:00pm-6:45pm. The AGM will give a financial update of the PTA and how proceeds of PTA events have been used in supporting KJS School projects. We will also elect the new PTA Committee for 2016-2017. All KJS parents and teachers are invited to attend, so please do come and hear the latest PTA news.
If you wish to take a more active role during the coming year then please tick the relevant box and note down which position you would like to be considered for. Should there be more than 1 candidate for an executive position, then a vote will be called during the AGM. A nomination form is attached here.
Please return any completed forms to the PTA office at this email address, or by hand into the PTA shop by the 31st August 2016.
The Family Quiz Night will be held in the School Hall on Friday, November 4, 2016, from 5pm – 7pm. It will be a challenging and fun night with parents, students and teachers forming teams to have their IQs stimulated. Don’t worry – the Quiz Night questions will be easy to answer and suitable for all ages! Make your own team which should consist of 8-10 participants (e.g., teachers, parents, siblings of KJS students). Each team should have a minimum of 4 KJS students. The entry fee will be $100 per participant. If you don’t want to join a team but would like to watch all the fun and participate as an audience member, the ticket fee will be $70 per person. The tickets for all team and audience participants include a light buffet and the opportunity to enter 10 standalone quizzes. A prize will be won for the first correct answer drawn from each standalone quiz box. All team members will also have the chance to win fantastic prizes. Please purchase your tickets and sign up for Teams at the PTA Office during office hours starting from 9 th September 2016. The PTA Office will also be open on the night of the Lantern Festival for purchase of tickets and sign up of teams. Come along and be quizzed by the KJS Quizmaster!
The success of KJS PTA events are hugely a result of volunteers from you the parents! We thank all parents who have helped out with past events and we look forward to working with parents again this year. If you can help with the Lantern Festival on September 9th or Quiz Night on November 4th for 30 minutes or more, please contact: PTA Office at Tel 3765 8709 or email at pta@kjs.edu.hk
Volunteer sign-up form
Cooler weather is just around the corner so the PTA Office will be sending home with your child an order form for the winter school uniform on September 1, 2016. Please complete these forms and return them to the Class Teacher or PTA Office by September 15, 2016. Payment must be made before collection. Items may be exchanged for same items only within 2 days of collection. If you have any queries about purchasing school uniforms, please feel free to contact the PTA Office at 3765 8709 from 0815-1100am and 230-330pm, Monday to Friday.
We would love to hear from you………. Should you have any ideas or suggestions for PTA events, please send them to pta@kjs.edu.hk. We would love to hear from you. The PTA Committee is a small group of parents and no event would be a success without the support of the entire parent community. Please note that the former email address for PTA events ideas and suggestions (ideasbox.kjspta@kjs.edu.hk) is NO LONGER valid. We look forward to seeing you at the Lantern Festival, AGM and Family Quiz Night!!
Student Achievement
You may remember that Mateo was growing his hair in order to donate it to Angel Hair for Kids, a Canadian organization for financially disadvantaged children who lose their hair to illness, medical conditions and medication, including chemotherapy and radiation cancer treatments. It took him 2 and a half years to grow his hair to 30 cm. He endured lots of tangles and some teasing but he did it! Mateo, your commitment to a very worthy cause has been an inspiration to us all.
Chien-Ya received an award in August for her success in the “Life Fantasy” (Asia Pacific) drawing competition organised by ICEHK. The competition aims to nurture and develop creativity, imagination, positive attitude and technique. The launch of the ICEHK 2017 Annual Drawing Competition will be in November 2016. The theme is “Be Myself”. Well done Chien-Ya!
Congratulations also go to Alva who participated in the “My Dream Home” Asia Kids Drawing Competition, held by the Asia Art Development Center. She competed in the Group B (Child Aged 5-7) and obtained a Silver Award.
KJS featured highly in the Kids Yoga Competition held by i-Ved International Limited on World Yoga Day in June!
Stavya and Urvi came 3rd and 2nd in the junior group respectively. Kashish and Pihu (now at KGV) came 1st and 3rd in the Senior Group respectively. Kashish also won Super Star Yogi of the season award!
Sewon has been taking swimming classes at the YMCA for two and half years. At the weekend he joined the Children and Youth Swimming Gala and got two silver medals in Backstroke 50m and Breaststroke 50m. Well done Sewon!
During the summer holidays, Archer and Lara spent their time enjoying the winter in Sydney.
Archer joined the Moore Park Tigers to play Footy, Australian Rules Football. One week he scored the winning goal against the Newtown Swans, and won the Best Player award for the week. Archer wants to play for the Sydney Swans one day, the no.1 team in the Australian Football League.
Lara worked on her trotting and cantering, riding horses in Moore Park and Centennial Park. It’s quite a sight to see Lara’s tiny 17kg frame in confident control of a 400kg horse. Her favourite horse is a gentle white horse called Minty. Lara wants to join the Equestrian Team in the Olympics one day.
68th HONG KONG SCHOOLS SPEECH FESTIVAL (2016)
Entry forms for the 68th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival (2016) are now available (as attached). Parents who wish their children to participate in the Festival must return the completed forms together with the entry fee in cash, to the school office by Monday, 12thSeptember. Late applications cannot be processed. Please also write your child’s name and class on the top right hand corner of the entry form. For further details on Rules & Regulations and Syllabus, please visit the official website http://www.hksmsa.org.hk
JUNIOR CHESS STAR INVITATIONAL COMPETITION 2016
We are pleased to announce that Quarry Bay School PTA LTD will be hosting the 5th Junior Chess Star Invitational Competition 2016, sponsored by Quarry Bay School, on Sunday, 25th September 2016. We invite all students studying in ESF & PIS primary schools, for the academic year 2016-17, to join the event. See here for more information. Please click here for online registration.
ESL SPANISH CLASS & WRITING CLASS
Please find attached details of the ESL Spanish class and Writing class.
Important Dates
Monday 29th August: Welcome Meetings – no classes for students
Thursday 1st September: Dentist visit for students in last year’s 4M and 4MC
Friday 2nd September: Dentist visit for students in last year’s 1W
Tuesday 6th September Parent Workshop – Y1 Learning to Read 1.30pm
Friday 9th September: PTA Lantern Festival/AGM for all the family
Wednesday 14th September: School closed – Staff training
Thursday 15th September: School closed – Staff training
Friday 16th September: School closed – Public Holiday
Tuesday 20th September Parent Workshop – An introduction to the Primary Years Programme 5pm – 6pm
Tuesday 4th October Parent Workshop – Y1 Learning to Write 1.30pm
10th – 15th October: School closed – Half term holiday
Monday 17th October: School closed – Staff training
18th – 21st October: School photographer in
Tuesday Oct 25th: Parent Workshop – Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds 8.45am
Friday 28th October: Diwali Assembly 9am
Friday 4th November: PTA Quiz Night for all the family
Tuesday 1st November: Parent Teacher conferences 3 – 6.30pm
including meetings with Mandarin, PE and Music for Y1 and Y5 parents
Thursday 10th November: Parent Teacher conferences 3 – 6.30pm including meetings with Mandarin,
PE and Music for Y1 and Y5 parent
Thursday 17th November: KJS Musical
Friday 18th November: KJS Musical
21st – 23rd November: Y4 Camp
22nd – 25th November: Y5 Camp
28th Nov – 2nd Dec: 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.
