30 Aug 2024

Newsletter- 30/08/24

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,

I hope this newsletter finds you well

This week marks the first full week our Year One students have been in school full-time. We are incredibly proud of their adjustment and enthusiasm. Their confidence and resilience is amazing to see, and we are excited to see them thrive.

Please remember our upcoming ‘You Tell Us’ meetings are being held on September 11th and 12th. We encourage you to sign up if you haven’t already. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and share any information you feel would be helpful for their learning experience.

A gentle reminder for all adults collecting students at the end of the day: please ensure you collect your children from the designated school pick-up point on the school site.For safety reasons, we kindly ask that you do not arrange to collect your child at the main gate or entrance. It is important that the member of staff from your child’s class hands them over at the end of the day.

To help with a smooth pick-up process, we will be staggering the pick-up times as follows:

2:45 PM: Year 1 and 2

2:50 PM: Year 3 and 4

2:55 PM: Years 5 and 6

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in waiting until these times before entering the school site.

Mr Gavin MacGregor

Principal

76th Speech Festival (2024)

(Enrolment Deadline: 12 September at 11pm)

Online entry forms for the 76th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival (2024) will be ready on next Monday, 2nd September. Parents who wish their children to participate in the Speech Festival, they must submit their application forms online on the HKSMSA website and pay the enrolment fee via ESF app on/before Thursday, 12th September at 11pm. For details, please refer to the eNotice called “76th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival (2024)” on Gateway.

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

Parent Talk

(Enrolment Deadline: 6 September at 4pm)

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)

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.

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.

Message from School Nurse

We need your help to maintain our school a safe and healthy environment! We would like to ask parents to check your child’s body temperature and any symptoms before coming to school.

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.

It would also be appreciated if you can provide the symptoms list and keep us updated with any other symptoms development when reporting the sick leave.

Thank you for helping us to build a healthier and safer environment in our school.

News from the PTA

Hello KJS Community,

Things are picking up speed here at school with many activities starting and plans being made.

The PTA held its first Committee meeting of the year on Wednesday 28 August and strong support was shown at the meeting.

Thank you to all those parents who took the time to fill in the Google Form to get involved, we will be contacting you in due course..

Class Representatives

We are still seeking parents to volunteer for this role in the following classes:

1SW, 2SQ, 4AG, 4BM, 5JC, 6MD and 6NG.

For those parents who would like to volunteer to become a Class Representative for their child’s class – please fill in this Google Form to indicate your interest. You can also contact the PTA Office directly as well to let us know :

PTA Office T: 3765-8709 ; PTA Email: pta@kjs.edu.hk ; PTA Whatsapp: 6211-4154

Without a designated class rep to facilitate communications between the school/PTA and parents in their Whatsapp groups, parents may get left out from important messages.

It is not a difficult role and only needs messages to be sent out sometimes. Please contact us if you are interested and need more information.

Events Planned

We have exciting ideas for events in the coming year and will be sharing more details once they are confirmed so that you can mark your calendars. And of course, we will be seeking support in many ways, from donation, to food to manpower, to connecting us with special people and companies.

Our biggest event of the year is always the main school Fair, always held in March. That may seem like a long time away, but believe it or not, the planning starts from now!!

We welcome parental involvement in the school, please reach out to us.

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

Extra Curricular Activities with KJS Registered Tutors

Interested parents please contact the organisers directly for sign-up.

Music Clubs

Baking Class

Chess Club

Clay Club

Drama Club

Writing Club

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.