Newsletter- 31/05/24
Kowloon Junior School’s latest newsletter is available to read now.
Dates for Your Diary
7 June Drake the Dragon Day
10 June Tuen Ng Festival
13th June ESF Evening of Dance
28 June Last Day of Term 3 (school ends at 12:00)
Team Events
Please see below for the following team events that some of our students will be taking part in this term. As always those involved will be notified nearer the time.
1 June HKPSSA Aquathlon Festival
3 June HKPSSA Cricket Festival
Principal’s Message
Dear KJS Families,
This week, I had the privilege of visiting the ESF Art Exhibition at the Hong Kong Town Hall in Central.. It was truly inspiring to witness the immense artistic talent displayed by students from all schools in ESF. I am thrilled to share that our very own KJS students had their artwork showcased as well. Congratulations to:
Karina Tong – Year 1
Saira Shah, Arielle Arrogante – Year 2
Mishka Shah, Elsa Fan – Year 5
Aashna Mantri, Akshath Karthikeyan – Year 6
Celebrations from the Week:
We welcomed our new intake of Year One students on their transition day today.. It was heartwarming to meet the new students along with their families. They participated in various activities including Art, Drama, Music, Mandarin, and sessions with their class teacher. Additionally, Year 6 students had their transition day, preparing them for their move to KGV. I am sure they had a fantastic time during this important milestone.
I want to remind you about the upcoming Q&A sessions next week to discuss our proposed timetable. As always, I am more than happy to meet with parents individually. It has been wonderful engaging in productive conversations with many parents regarding this matter. The sessions will take place on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 8:30 am, both on Zoom and face to face.
Wishing all families a safe and hopefully dry weekend.
Warm regards,
Mr Gavin MacGregor
Principal
Message from School Nurse
We would like to take a moment to remind you about the importance of informing the school office and school nurse about your child’s sick leave. By utilizing our school App or email system, you can play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy and safe environment for our students.
When your child is unwell and unable to attend school, notifying the school office on a daily basis allows us to keep track of absences. In addition to informing us about sick leave, it is equally important to provide us with an updated list of symptoms and diagnosis. This helps us monitor and take further action for any potential outbreaks of communicable diseases, e.g. hand, foot, mouth disease, scarlet fever, URTI, etc. This information helps us take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of illnesses and protect other students and staff members.
In cases where your child visits a healthcare professional for their illness, providing a medical certificate would give us more information about the nature of the illness and help us to monitor and manage any outbreaks effectively.
By working together and staying proactive, we can maintain a healthy and safe environment and ensure your child’s well-being at KJS.
Library News
Dear KJS Families,
We hope you managed to stay safe and dry this week.
Please note that next week will be the last week for students to borrow books and the due date for all library books will be June 14th. We expect that some Families may wish to know what books may be outstanding.
Please log on to Orbit to find more information about books outstanding. Here is a slide to see step-by-step instructions.
If books cannot be located, please contact our library team at library@kjs.edu.hk. For Year 6 families, accounts should be cleared before leaving.
Kind regards,
KJS Library Team
Student Council
Drake the Dragon Day
Both the KJS PTA and the Student Council are pleased to let you know about our upcoming launch day for our beloved school mascot, Drake the Dragon! This exciting event will take place on the 7th of June (Friday). We hope that your child will enjoy this special day filled with joy and fun for our whole community!
To ensure that the launch day (Friday, 7th June) is a memorable experience, we kindly request that your child dresses casually in vibrant and warm colours such as red, yellow, orange, and gold to represent the colours of Drake the Dragon. As always, this is optional for all students.
During the Drake the Dragon launch, the students will have access to the Library for stories read aloud by Drake authors from the Student Council and different authors will visit classrooms to read their very own stories throughout the day.
We will also host some Drake the Dragon inspired art and craft activities to hook the children’s attention, and there will be a special guest waiting for you at the school gate. Hopefully, your child will have a great day that will last in their memories for years to come!
KJS Student Council Applications are Open!
Dear KJS Community,
The time has come again for us to start the process of recruiting for our 2024-2025 KJS Student Council!
If your child is entering Years 4, 5 or 6 for the 2024-2025 academic year and is interested in this student leadership opportunity, they can read the attached slideshow for more information about how to apply. The closing date for applications will be Friday, 7th June at 3pm.
Please contact me directly at leah.bailey@kjs.edu.hk if you have any questions about the process.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Bailey
Refund of Year 6 Camp Fee Balance (Year 6 Students only)
Near the end of the school year, we will refund any unspent camp fee to Year 6 students before they leave KJS.
After deducting all the expenses, the balance is stored in each student’s eWallet under the Payment System. Parents are required to submit an online request through the system on or before Sunday 9 June 2024 in order to receive a refund cheque.
● Refunds will be made by crossed cheques in HK dollars and distributed in June 2024. Parents will be notified in due course.
● In addition to a refund request, parents can also choose to transfer the balance to another child in the same family providing that he/she will still be attending KJS in August 2024.
● Parents can also choose to donate the balance to the school for the purchase of teaching and learning supplies.
● For those who fail to submit a request, no refund cheque will be prepared and the balance will be donated to the school automatically in August 2024. No further notification will be sent out to these parents.
To learn more about accessing the Payment System, please refer to this website www.kjs.edu.hk/payment. To submit an online refund request, please refer to the section “eWallet, Refund & Account Closure” on the same website. Should you still have further questions, please contact our Finance Team at finance@kjs.edu.hk.
Sale of 2023-2024 Yearbook (Year 1 to Year 5 Students only)
We are pleased to announce that the production of this year’s yearbook is underway. The details are as follows:
- The yearbooks are available on a first come, first served basis while stocks last.
- Year 1 to Year 5 parents can only order one copy per student – HK$125 per copy, including a payment processing fee.
- To place an order, please log in to Gateway, sign the eNotice “2023-2024 Yearbook” and pay by PPS, PayPal or credit card on or before Sunday 16 June 2024. Other forms of payment, including cheques and cash, will NOT be accepted. To learn more about how to pay via eNotice on Gateway, please refer to this webpage kjs.edu.hk/payment.
- Distribution is scheduled in late June 2024 and parents will be notified accordingly.
- Delivery by mail or courier will NOT be an option.
Same as previous years, each Year 6 student will receive a free copy as a farewell gift. This will be arranged in late June.
For any questions, please contact our Finance Team at finance@kjs.edu.hk.
KJS Times
The KJS Times is Recruiting!
BREAKING NEWS! The KJS Times is recruiting for the 2024-2025 News Team!
If your child is entering Years 4, 5 or 6 for the 2024-2025 academic year and is interested in the opportunity to be part of our school newspaper, they can read the attached slideshow for more information.
The closing date for applications will be Friday, 7th June at 3pm.
Please contact us directly at kjstimes@kjs.hk if you have any questions.
Share Your Child’s Hobbies with Us
Does your child have a unique hobby? Have they been exploring new activities during the weekends? Well, we’re highlighting students at KJS who have been doing just that.
This is an opportunity for your child to be featured in the KJS Times Hobbies Padlet! Simply click on this link, upload a photo of your child participating in their chosen hobby and add a caption that gives some more details.
Kindly be aware that all readers of the KJS Times will have access to your child’s post. Please assist your children in uploading their photos to the Padlet if they need help.
We look forward to inspiring our whole school community to try new experiences!
ESF Art Exhibition
Well done to all the students who submitted their artwork for the ESF Art Exhibition. Shortlisted pieces are now being displayed in the exhibition. Families are welcome to visit it.
For other participants, please come to the school G/F office to collect your artwork.
News from the PTA
Hello KJS Community,
It’s been an exciting week at KJS. We have had such special visitors here in the past few days.
Lonnie Bedwell made an amazing impact on our school community when he spoke to our Year 3-6 students and staff on Wednesday 29 May. His talk was positive, inspirational and so relevant to everyone who heard him.
He spoke to the children about their own unique gifts, his own journey after losing his sight (but not his vision) and how anything can be achieved with teamwork and the importance of helping each other.
And it was a pleasure to have some students and faculty of our neighbouring school, Jockey Club Sarah Roe School, also joining us in the event.
Thank you also to all those parents who sent in donations with their children on Wednesday.
For more information on Lonnie, you may visit his website, Lonnie Bedwell .
A photo with our event partners, SENsational Foundation along with key Community members.
Mr. MacGregor and members of the PTA Committee presented Lonnie with the first Drake the Dragon in the PTA office as a memento of his visit to KJS.
And speaking of Drake…
June 7 2024 will be Drake the Dragon Day at KJS!!
Drake the Dragon is arriving here next week!
Students are invited to come to school in casual clothes in Drake colours (red, yellow and gold) to celebrate our Mascot.
There will be special activities going on all day and some highlights will be:
The Student Council authors will be visiting various classes throughout the school and the Library and giving readings.
There will be a “Where is Drake” game all over the campus where students will be looking out to see where Drake may be hiding…
And there will be a special Dragon visitor around campus that day too, so look out for that.
For those wishing to purchase Drake, please do so here via our secure payment system. (No additional handling charges will be applied.)
Each Drake the Dragon comes with a QR code that will take you to the digital Library of original content written by our very own Student Council members. Snuggle up with your child at bedtime and read these lovely stories together.
Important: For those who purchase Drake, the Dragons will be delivered to your child’s classroom on June 7th by our parent volunteers. There will be no need to pick them up from the PTA Office.
Transition Day for new Year 1 Families
We welcomed new Year 1 students and their families (who will start with us in August) to the school this morning.
The children had a wonderful “taster “ day of different classes and met their new classmates. The PTA were there to help welcome the families and settle in and answer any questions.
They also got a chance to purchase some newly launched PTA items as well as Drake the Dragon.
We welcome all new families to KJS and would love to connect. Please feel free to drop by the PTA Office (right next to the Year 1 classrooms) anytime you are on campus.
As always, we appreciate parental involvement in our projects, you may contact us at any time:
PTA Office T: 3765-8709
PTA Email: pta@kjs.edu.hk
PTA Whatsapp: 6211-4154
PTA Website: https://www.kjspta.com
Have a good weekend ahead!
The KJS PTA Team.
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.
