Newsletter- 23/08/24
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
Dates for Your Diary
11-12 September You Tell Us Parent/Teacher Meetings
18 September Public Holiday
1 October Public Holiday
7-11 October Mid Term Break
29 November CPD Day
13 December Last Day of Term (school ends at 12:00)
6 January First Day of Term 2
Principal’s Message
Dear KJS families,
We hope this message finds you well and you are enjoying the start of a new academic year.
We are thrilled to inform you of and welcome some new teaching staff:
Kayleigh Adams – Year 1 Lead Learner
Lindsay Fisher – Year 5 Lead Learner
Marie Doherty – Year 6 Teacher
Erin Torres – Learning Enhancement Team (LET) Teacher
Additionally, we have welcomed new Educational Assistants (EAs):
Joy Qiao – Chinese Team
Athena Lee – Year 1
Malea Do Cao – Year 1
Rakhi Lalwani – Year 3
Mandy Hui – Year 5
Our new staff members bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to KJS. We are excited for the fresh perspectives they will bring and the positive impact they will have on our school community.
In other news information regarding our ECAs will be sent out today, with booking opening early next week. Please keep an eye out for this information. You should have also received details regarding our upcoming three-way conferences, which will take place online. These conferences are a wonderful opportunity to share important information about your child with their teacher.
We are excited to celebrate the first full school week of the academic year! It has been brilliant to see how well the students have settled into their new classes. Today marks a special milestone as our Year 1 students enjoy their first full day at school. We are incredibly proud of how well they have transitioned into KJS and taken this significant step up from kindergarten.
Our new approach to bus drop-offs over the last two days has been successful, and we will continue with this next week while making small adjustments.
As the temperature is expected to rise over the coming week, please ensure your children are dressed appropriately for the heat. It is important that they have water and sun hats to stay cool and hydrated.
Have a great weekend
Warm regards,
Mr Gavin MacGregor
Principal
Y1 Central Application & K2 to Y1 Transition
Y1 Central Application for 2025/26 will open on 1 September 2024. If you wish to submit an application for your child who was born in 2021 and is not attending an ESF kindergarten, please do so through the ESF online application system by 30th September 2024.
For children who are currently with an ESF kindergarten, a Year 1 transfer application form will be sent to the parents via email next week and the application is to be completed via the ESF Online Admissions System (OAS) on or before 16 September 2024. For further information, please kindly check with your child’s respective ESF kindergarten.
Y6 to Y7 Transition to Secondary School
Year 6 parents will shortly receive an email inviting them to complete a Year 6 – Year 7 transfer form through the ESF Online Admissions System (OAS). All Year 6 parents who wish their children to transfer to an ESF Secondary school will need to complete this form.
Please note that Kowloon Junior School’s allocated associated secondary school is King George V School.
Year 6 parents should look out for the email in the first week of September and the deadline for submissions will be 16th September 2024. Each Y6 student must have a form submitted to express their interest in securing a Y7 place for the next academic year.
Message from Student Counsellor
Welcome to the 2024-25 Academic Year at KJS!
Dear KJS Parents,
We are thrilled to welcome you to the start of another exciting academic year at KJS! As we
step into the 2024-25 school year, we are eager to embark on this educational journey
together with you and your children.
This year, we are kicking things off with a special workshop designed to equip you with
effective strategies to prepare your children for a successful school experience. Our focus
will be on helping your children establish and maintain healthy routines and schedules,
which are essential for their growth and development.
Key Areas of Focus:
Social Skills for Young Learners: We will explore the importance of teaching key social skills to young children, which is crucial as they begin formal education. For our Year One
students, this is particularly vital as they start forming new friendships and relationships
with peers and teachers.
Managing Transitions: Understanding that transitions can be challenging, we will discuss
how our dedicated team of teachers, educational assistants (EAs), and support staff work
collaboratively to ensure a smooth transition for all students. Whether they are new or
returning, we aim to help them navigate their new learning environments confidently.
Classroom Dynamics: For our returning students, we'll cover how to adapt to new
classrooms and teachers, focusing on understanding class expectations, fostering respect
and kindness among classmates.
Workshop Goals:
Support and Assurance: We aim to provide support and reassurance to all KJS families. We will reinforce positive messages and share simple, actionable strategies that you can
implement at home.
Understanding Norms and Expectations: The workshop will delve into the significance of
developing clear norms, expectations, and routines at home and school. We will also clarify
the distinction between rules and norms to further enhance our children’s life skills.
Alignment with KJS Values: Lastly, I will illustrate how this workshop aligns with KJS’s
AAROWs of success and this year’s emphasis on bravery.
We look forward to an engaging and productive session with you. Your active participation
will be key in setting up our students for a year of growth, learning, and success.
Warm regards,
Ian Ong
Student Counsellor
Kowloon Junior School
Date: Monday, September 9, 2024
Location: Kowloon Junior School’s Library 1st floor
Time: 3-3:45pm
Attendees: KJS parents
*Registration through the gateway will open at 4pm on Monday 26th August and close
on Friday 6th September at 4pm (Under “Activity” on Gateway)
ECAs
We are excited to offer a diverse range of activities for our students, and we would like to provide you with important information regarding the structure and sign-up process for these activities.
ECA Categories
Our ECAs are divided into three main categories:
- KJS Non-Sport ECAs
- KJS Sport ECAs
- External Provider ECAs
- KJS Non-Sport ECAs
- These activities are run free of charge by KJS staff
- They will be divided across the year into four 9-week blocks.
- Sign-up for the first two blocks will be released next week.
- Please note that the number of students who can participate in each activity is capped due to safety considerations and staff-to-student ratios.
- KJS Sport ECAs
Please see more detailed information here
Please note every child who wishes to participate in a sports club will have the opportunity to do so, although they may be offered a place in a different cohort later in the year.
- Sport ECAs operate slightly differently from non-sport activities.
- These activities are run free of charge by KJS staff
- These may run for longer than 9 weeks.
- External Provider-run ECAs
- Information about external ECA providers will be advertised through our newsletter.
- These activities are organized by the providers themselves.
- External providers normally charge a fee for their activities.
Important Dates and Information
- All KJS-run ECAs will begin on the week of September 2nd and will be available for sign-up on the Gateway platform early next week. A message will be sent confirming when booking is open
- Sign-up for the first two blocks of KJS-run ECAs will be released next week.
- All KJS-run ECAs for the first two blocks are for Years 3-6 only.
- Some External Provider-run ECAs are open to all year groups.
- After Christmas, KJS-run ECAs for Years 1 and 2 will be introduced. This delay is to allow our younger children to settle into the new school year.
- Parents and caregivers are required to arrange pickups after all ECAs. If needed, please liaise with the bus companies directly.
Please note that on occasion more ECAs will be released as and when space and staffing is available.
If you have any questions or require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.
You Tell Us Parent/Teacher Meetings
To ensure these meetings run as smoothly as possible, please take time to read through all of the details in this document.
Overall logistics:
- Date – Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th September (*1EM see note below)
- Time – 15:00 – 18:00
- Venue – ZOOM (** see note below)
- Duration – 10 minutes per meeting
- The Chinese team will also be meeting Year 2 on these dates
- Sign up via gateway (*** see notes below)
* 1EM (Elizabeth Montoya) will be doing her meetings on Tuesday the 10th and Wednesday the 11th. Sign-up dates and times remain the same.
** You will receive a Zoom link from your child’s classroom teacher. Please ensure you join the Zoom meeting with your child’s name, not your name.
*** This information will help you sign up via Gateway
- Sibling priority and Year 2 (Classroom and Chinese) will be available from 27 August at 4 pm
- Y1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – will be available from 28 August at 4 pm
Our You Tell Us Meetings are designed to provide parents with an opportunity early in the academic year to share relevant information with the teacher about their child. Academic progress will be discussed later this term at the three-way learning conference and will not be a feature of this meeting.
What will this meeting be about?
Student well-being is crucial for engagement, motivation, and effective learning. Research consistently shows that a child’s diet, exercise, sleep, and technology habits significantly impact their academic success and overall health.
This year, we are seeking information about your child’s current habits in these areas at home. Understanding these routines helps us identify and address behaviors in school that may be linked to challenges in these aspects of their life.
Please take time to consider the following questions prior to the meeting:
- How do you feel your child is settling into the new school year?
- Describe your child’s current sleep routine, including how much sleep they get each night.
- Tell us about your child’s diet
- Tell us roughly, how much daily exercise does your child get and what activities they like to do outside of school
- Describe your child’s habits and your expectations linked with technology use.
- What are their strengths and interests in and out of school?
- Is there any other information you would like us to know about your child that will help him/her experience the greatest success this academic year?
If you have any questions please get in touch with one of the SLT directly.
School Bus Arrangements
If your child is taking the school bus, please make sure they know their bus number.
In case of any changes to the pick-up arrangement on any particular day, please kindly inform the school office either via the ESF App or email at office@kjs.edu.hk before 12:30pm if possible. It is important to allow sufficient time for the message to be delivered to your child and the class teacher.
If your child is taking the school bus but has fixed days as a walker, please inform the class teacher and the school office so that appropriate measures can be taken to ensure your child is sent to the walker’s area on the specified days.
Personal & Medical Information Update
For health and safety reasons, please kindly review and update your child’s personal and medical information as well as your family/emergency contact details on Gateway, to make sure we have the most up-to-date information of your child.
Absences
In case of absences, please remember to email the school office at office@kjs.edu.hk and the class teacher as soon as possible explaining why your child is away from school. Please be precise and list out the symptoms rather than saying he or she is ‘unwell’ or ‘has a cold’. Information will be forwarded to our School Nurse for her reference and follow up if necessary.
Student Grant Application 2024 – 2025
2024/25 student grant will open for application sometime in September 2024. Parents are expected to submit online applications using the e-submission platform. Further details will be announced soon.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Please register for “iAM Smart+” with digital signing function
- Please DO NOT download or submit any paper form from the EDB website at this point as the form/information is dated (from 2023/24)
Other Useful Information for Parents
Message from School Nurse
Student Health Service/School Dental Care Service
The details of the combined application form for Student Health Service and the School Dental Care Service will be sent home with your child today. Parents are encouraged to join both schemes.
How to Join The Services
Parents wishing to enroll their children in one or both of these services are required to complete the application form(s) fully and return it to KJS as soon as possible. If your children are joining the School Dental Care, please submit the application form together with a copy of the selected identity document. It is necessary to re-enroll each year. The last date for acceptance of the forms is Monday 2nd September 2024. Please understand that any applications received after the deadline cannot be processed and you will have to wait until the next academic year to enroll.
Fee & Payment
While the Student Health Service is free, parents are required to pay an annual fee of HK$36 per student for the School Dental Care Service. Parents are required to arrange their own transportation outside school hours for both services. Invoices will be issued through our Payment System and emailed to parents, who return completed application forms, in September after the submission deadline. NO CASH OR CHEQUE will be accepted.
Further Enquiries
For Health Service enquiries, please telephone 3163 4600 or visit website: http://www.studenthealth.gov.hk.
For Dental Care Service please telephone 2892 2157 or visit http://www.schooldental.gov.hk.
We need your help to maintain our school a safe and healthy environment! Here is a friendly reminder for the new school year:
No Nut and No Food Sharing: Due to the large number of children with food allergies we do not allow food sharing in school. Parents are asked to be mindful of this and not to send in any sort of food for sharing with others. KJS operates a no nut policy – please remember that peanut butter and Nutella both contain nuts.
Unwell: Please keep children home from school for the following symptoms and remain out until the symptoms have stopped for 48 hours (without the use of medicine):
■ Temperature of 37.8 °C or higher
■ Diarrhoea or Vomiting
■ Suspicious undiagnosed rash and/or itch
■ Frequent, congested cough
■ Yellow or green drainage from nose and/or eyes
It may indicate your child may be carrying something contagious.
Medication in School: If your child needs to have emergency or regular medication in school, please contact us (Email: nurse@kjs.edu.hk) for the arrangement. To comply with ESF standards and policy, all medication that is required to be given at school, either regularly or only in an emergency, must be prescribed by a doctor and authorised by the parents/guardians. (Medication Authorisation Form.pdf)
Communication: We will contact parents via phone for emergencies and pick up arrangements for sick students. Please save our school office phone number 37658700 in your phone contact for better communication.
Feel free to contact us (Email: nurse@kjs.edu.hk) if you have any questions.
News from the PTA
Dear Families,
On behalf of the PTA, the school will be sending an invoice to each family to collect the annual PTA fee, i.e. HK$200 per family, in late September or early October.
PTA deeply appreciates your contribution and in return we will organise a variety of activities in school and outside school hours to enhance your life & learning experience with KJS for the whole KJS community.
Welcome to the new school year 2024-2025 in KJS!
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at: pta@kjs.edu.hk
More on our PTA Website
Please also follow our private school Community Facebook page for all updates & KJS life.
Thank you!
Sincerely yours,
Anna Rayton
The Chair
Lance King Seminar for Parents
Dear Parents,
The English Schools Foundation is excited to announce an upcoming workshop with Lance King, an expert in ATL (Approaches to Learning) Skills.
He has generously offered to conduct a hybrid in-person/online presentation and Q&A session for ESF parents on Tuesday, 27th August, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm (details in the attached poster).
Parents are encouraged to sign up for the workshop. Please note that no attendance, whether online or in-person, will be permitted without prior sign-up. Kindly use the email address given at the time of signup.
Those attending in person will have the opportunity to engage with Lance and take advantage of a significantly discounted copy of his book.
Please note that we will not be able to respond to any inquiries prior to the event. If interested, please plan to attend in person or log in online.
This complimentary event will also be recorded and shared later with PTAs. We encourage all parents to take advantage of this valuable opportunity.
Year 1 Parents welcomed to KJS
We were delighted to welcome our new Year 1 Families to KJS as they start their exciting learning journey with us. The SLT hosted two morning sessions on August 14 and 15 with Dr Melissa Giglio giving positive and very helpful guidelines and tips to parents on the importance of healthy habits to enhance their children’s learning.
On August 19, all new students with a caregiver were invited to experience different areas of the school and participate in a session with Dr Giglio in the Library, culminating with a picnic in the gym.
The PTA were happy to support and collaborate with the school in these events.
Uniform upcycling at KJS
We are the first ESF school to start this ongoing, year round service to allow parents to freely donate unwanted uniforms and allow other parents to freely acquire them.
It’s all done via an online platform where the donating parent posts the items and any interested receiving parent contacts them to arrange their pick up. The PTA serves as a “Post Office” between the parties
As part of KJS’ sustainability ethos, we are delighted to offer this service to our community members.
We want to emphasise that there are no fees involved in this process. However, we kindly request a nominal donation from the receiving family to support this initiative. These donations will go towards the PTA, a non-profit organisation, and will be used collectively for the benefit of the school and the children.
By participating in this programme, you not only contribute to the well-being of our community but also instil important values in our children. Let’s work together to reduce waste, promote sustainability, and create a more environmentally conscious future. We can see the effects of climate change in Hong Kong already!
We appreciate your support and look forward to making this initiative a success for everyone involved.
Just follow the simple steps below:
- Donors list their available items via a simple Google Form: https://tinyurl.com/KJS-Upcycling-Donations
- Parents looking to get uniforms (incl. library bags) may view all available items in one list: https://tinyurl.com/KJS-Upcycling-Inventory
- Interested parents contact the donating family directly to arrange drop off & pick up via the PTA office. More details are included in the above links.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to Rekha Mahbubani in the PTA office for assistance.
We hope you all have a great weekend!
Best wishes,
The KJS PTA Team.
PTA Office T: 3765-8709
PTA Email: pta@kjs.edu.hk
PTA Whatsapp: 6211-4154
Website: www.ptakjs.com
We are looking forward very much to the coming months and many wonderful events that we can do with more engagement from all members of our community!
Best wishes,
The KJS PTA Team
Extra Curricular Activities with KJS Registered Tutors
Interested parents please contact the organisers directly for sign-up.
Baking Class
ESF Explore
Kick-start Your New Academic Year with Exciting Activities – Term 1
As the new academic year commences, why not explore a range of active and creative activities to enrich your life? Whether you’re looking to pick up a new skill or take your existing talents to the next level, we’ve got the perfect programmes for you. Discover our diverse offerings in: Sports, Languages, Playgroups, STEM and Arts.
Check out our class schedule in the Kowloon district HERE and Programme Catalogue HERE to find the perfect fit for your interests and goals. (Class held at ESF Campuses)
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.
