Newsletter- 30/09/20
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
Dates for Your Diary
Thursday 1 October National Day – No school
Friday 2 October Mid-Autumn Festival – No school
Monday 5 October ESF CPD cancelled – NORMAL learning day
Tuesday 13 October Parent Seminar – Triple Ps
Friday 16 October Day before Mid-Term Break – NORMAL learning day
19 – 23 October Mid-Term Break
Monday 26 October Chung Yeung Festival – No school
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,
How wonderful to have all 900 children back in school together! Our team is delighted to have the children back in school where they can support and challenge them with their learning and we can focus on the AAROW’s of Success face to face.
Thank you for your patience as we adjust to this new normal as we transition back to school. We all need to follow the 3M’s to Success and to be principled in planning for the school day, travel to and from school and actions in school. Here is some information to help with being principled:
- Traffic is busy in the mornings. Please allow sufficient time if you are bringing your child in via private transport so they are in school before 8:10am. Have your child help with the planning for this.
- We are being principled in our end of the day routines. Please support us by waiting at the gate until your year group is called and then as much as possible social distance once in the grounds.
- Please make sure that your child has a suitable space in their bag if they are transporting a device to and from school each day. Devices are not to be used on the bus.
- Many children are arriving with multi-coloured shoes. There are two options only: fully black for uniform and fully white for PE uniform. Please ensure your child is principled in wearing their uniform.
We have been asked when we will move to full days. We are certainly keen on full days. However, this is not an option for primary schools at this time. We will update you as soon as we have any progress in this area.
Parent Survey Feedback
Thank you to the incredible and record breaking 82% of you who responded. Once again, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. The graph below shows the trends since our 2019/20 June 4th Survey and not surprisingly, indicate a slight dip in “agree” and “strongly agree” feedback. However, 90% of you are still very much in support of the work the school has done with Distance Learning.
Feedback shows:
Comments regarding aspects of the feedback:
The overall “agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ has dropped from 95% to 90%. Still, the vast majority of parents are expressing their approval of school plans and systems. However, comments would indicate that most parents simply wanted their children back at school and starting the year via distance was far from ideal. We agree!
My Child is making progress with their learning (95%): A small reduction since June. If we return to DL please reach out if you have concerns.
Learning is appropriately challenging (90%): We reiterate that if the learning is not appropriately challenging teachers need to hear from parents so that they can increase the challenge for children. This is a personal need rather than something that can be done for a whole class.
Learning is engaging (90%): Comments indicate many children are distracted by technology and while live Zooms are preferred they also make it more challenging for teachers to compete with the other options children have on their screen.
Zoom time with the class teacher is just right (94%): It is interesting to note the 4% who disagree are evenly split between “We want more” and “We want less.” This is a very positive and affirming result.
Chinese Zoom time meets my child’s needs (77%): Most of the comments indicated that parents would appreciate an increase in zoom provision for Chinese. We will consider this if a return to distance learning takes place.
My child can manage the independent learning (79%): Starting the new year with increased expectations has had an impact on students and families with more children needing more support. If we return to DL, the teachers will have a far better picture of student needs and the child’s ability to cope with independent learning experiences.
It was really affirming to see the continued strong positive responses from parents regarding support for child’s wellbeing and also teacher feedback. I know the team worked extremely hard on this to start the new year.
To give you a clear picture of what we plan to do going forward if we end up in distance learning again:
- Class Zoom times unchanged. However, we will look at the overall flow and demands of the week for students;
- Chinese zoom times will be investigated to determine if additional zooms will help to deliver the curriculum and support learning more effectively;
- Teachers will ‘know’ you child better so will have a cleaner picture of what they can manage with independent learning.
A few parents commented that immediate actions should have been taken during distance learning whenever small groups or individuals requested change. This survey and the feedback provided by parents affirms our approach of waiting until planned distance learning is implemented, giving the plan time to embed, seeking feedback from all parents, and considering the collective voice. Also considering student voice, staff voice and additional data and then making planned enhancements for the next phase.
Once again, thank you for partnering with us. Your voice matters and together we will ensure success for every child at KJS.
Kind regards
亲切的问候,
सधन्यवाद
Neill O’Reilly
Principal
Reminder: Y1 Central Application for Sibling
The deadline for Year 1 Central Application for children born in 2016 is today 30 September 2020. If you have a child who is a sibling of a current KJS student and wishes to apply, please do so through the ESF online application system during the Central Application period.
For further details, please refer to information available on the ESF website at https://www.esf.edu.hk/application-form/.
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:
- 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.
- 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/.
- 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.
