Kowloon Junior School - ESF
https://www.kjs.edu.hk/newsletter-19-08-20/
Export date: Tue Jan 14 23:40:14 2025 / +0000 GMT

Newsletter- 19/08/20




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


 

Dates for Your Diary


24 & 25 August                                   You Tell Us Meetings - Sign up on Gateway

Thursday 1 October                            National Day - No school

Friday 2 October                                 Mid-Autumn Festival - No school

Monday 5 October                              ESF CPD - No school

Friday 16 October                               Day before Mid-Term Break - FULL Day Classes

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,

What a start to the year! We thank you so much for your support and patience as we have reestablished our Distance Learning for 2020/21. You will have noticed quite a few changes, especially with the focus on increased zoom lessons and live teaching time. The Senior leadership Team have been dropping into classes and we have noticed:

  • very excited and motivated children, many choosing to wear their school uniform (totally optional), to give more of a ‘school day' feeling and attitude;

  • quality learning experiences with clear learning intentions and success criteria;

  • the establishment of positive routines and shared expectations;

  • a focus on relationships and wellbeing supporting positive culture in the virtual rooms;

  • how delighted children are to be connecting with their class teachers, specialist teachers, EA's and friends; and

  • the speed with which children are settling into using their links and accessing their independent learning.


To support learning and wellbeing, teachers are not only available on the live zoom connect, they are also making sure children are able to reach out if they need assistance with their independent learning.

All of this is making a very full day for children and we suspect for some it may even be overwhelming. Please support your child to persevere and within a short time frame, they will be into routines. In order to ensure “Success for Every Child”, we are holding our “You tell us” meetings next week. We intentionally planned for these to be in the third week so that you can give teachers feedback about how your child is progressing.

‘You Tell Us' meetings

The details of how to book into ‘You tell us' meetings are below. Importantly, here are some questions we would like you to consider in preparation to maximise the time with teachers:

  • What interests does your child have both in and outside of school?

  • What hopes do you have for your child this year at school?

  • What do you notice are strengths that your child has? What do you notice your child might need some support with?

  • Is there anything happening in your child's home environment that we should be aware of?

  • Is there anything else you would like us to know about that will be helpful in getting to know your child?


Please note these zooms are just for the teacher and parent and will be limited to 10 minutes.

Please note:

  • One zoom link will be sent by the class teacher to all parents in the class;

  • Waiting room will be enabled and teachers will welcome parents in at the agreed time;

  • Before parents are admitted, teachers will need to see the parent name (as per Gateway) or the child name on your zoom; and

  • Gateway will open for bookings today and will closed on 23 August at 1pm.




Please prioritize these meetings as it really is essential that teachers hear from parents. Please come ready to answer the questions above.

Teachers are looking forward to seeing you!

 

ESF App transition

Once again, we encourage you to download the ESF App. As you may have noticed some schools are further along with the use of the app than others and this is due to the rollout timing for schools. We are coming up to speed with our app and at this stage our main purpose is:

  • To communicate messages in the quickest possible time frame to class groups, year groups and the whole school;

  • To provide easy links to newsletters so that you are up to date with school events; and

  • To link you to the school website for any additional information you need.


Progressively we will add links to enhance the use of the app. At this time, we cannot add the class timetable with the live links to the app. We will continue to investigate this option. The best way to communicate 1:1 with your child's teacher remains a normal email.

 

Settling your child for success with Distance Learning

Unfortunately, at this time, we have no clear indication regarding how long we will be in distance learning. We can't wait to have the children back. However, in the meantime, we attach two links that might help you ensure success for your child via Distance Learning. The author is Leith Stewart, an occupational therapist, who has worked with children at KJS for many years.

Setting a suitable home space for learning

The importance of play via distance

I would like to acknowledge Saloni Melwani, our PTA Chair and her team of Class Reps, for their support as we have transitioned back to school. I would also like to acknowledge each and every staff member at KJS for the immense amount of work they have undertaken in the last ten days to support our children to shave a successful transition back to or into school. We know it has not been without challenges! Finally, thank you our parents for your support, feedback and patience. We really look forward to speaking with you 1:1 next week.

The saying “it takes a village” to raise a child could never be more pertinent!

 

Kind regards

亲切的问候,

सधन्यवाद

Neill O'Reilly

Principal

 

 

Election of Parent Member of the School Council




KJS is seeking candidates for election to a Parent Member position on the School Council. Candidates must be an existing parent of KJS and must not be an employee of ESF. The term of office of School Council members is three years.

Please refer to a letter from the principal HERE .

 

 

Library News




Dear Parents,

I hope you had a wonderful week exploring all the different online resources available at the Library. We have loved hearing from students and parents on what books they have read over the summer.

For digital books that were accessed on our digital libraries, EPIC and Wheelers, we have compiled book recommendations onto a fun “Bitmoji Virtual Library”. Students can find this on the main page of our KJS Virtual Library. Have some fun and discover the secret videos we placed on items in the library. You'll also see our Library Team as a Bitmoji character.



If students click on the books with their Year Level on the main page, it will take them to a bookshelf of books recommended by KJS students.



Students can try clicking on a book cover and it will take them to a link directly to EPIC or Wheelers.

Remember, if you need assistance on accessing EPIC or Wheelers, please visit our KJS Virtual Library Online Resource Guide.

Please also encourage your child to send our team emails or videos of what books they've read over the summer to Ms.Lau at macy.lau@kjs.edu.hk. Happy reading!

 

ESF and Other Notices




 

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.


 
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