Dear Parents, I trust everyone enjoyed the Chinese New Year break with family and friends. We are now back in full swing for the run through to Easter with a number of assemblies, performances, trips and sporting events to look forward to. Fingers crossed the weather is fine for next week’s rescheduled Sports Days. Enjoy the weekend.

John Brewster Principal

Year 3 – 6

SPORTS DAYS

We are very much looking forward to our rescheduled Year 3 – 6 Sports Days next week:

RE-ARRANGED SPORTS DAYS

Year 3 & 4 Sports Day Tuesday, 23 February 12:45pm - 2:45pm

Year 5 & 6 Sports Day Wednesday, 24 February 9:20am - 12:30pm

Fingers crossed for better weather this time! Parents are, of course, very welcome to join us.

Please note that this will be a normal school day and all children are expected to come to school at the usual time in the morning and remain in school for the afternoon session.

3-WAY CONFERENCES – 17 & 18 march

Please save the date for our 3-Way Conferences on Thursday, 17 & Friday, 18 March.

3-Way Conferences provide a forum for teachers, students and parents to acknowledge students’ progress and achievement.

Your child will lead the conference and will talk about their learning progress. As parents you will have an opportunity to see samples of your child's learning.

Thursday, 17 March: 3:45pm to 6:15pm

or

Friday, 18 March: 8:30am to 3:15pm

Specialist teachers will be organised on a ‘drop-in’ basis.

Music - Mrs GG / Ms Barrie PE - Mr Luck / please note that Mrs Khemlyani will not be available ICT - Mr Tibble IN - Mrs Tait / Mrs Bloomfield – will see parents on ‘by invitation only’ basis

Appointments with the Chinese teachers have been arranged over the course of the academic

year. Only Year 4 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers will take place on Friday, 18 March between 8:30am – 3:00pm and the children are welcome to come along.

There will be no regular school for the children on Friday, 18 March apart from when they come in for their appointment with you. PTA school buses will not run on this day.

There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES on both afternoons.

Online registration on the Gateway will open on Monday, 29 February at 12noon and will close on Friday, 11 March at 12noon.

The duration of each appointment with class teachers will be 45 minutes: 15 minutes with the class teacher (at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a 45 minutes slot) and 30 minutes looking at work in classes and engaging in learning activities with your child.

Your child will be responsible for leading the 3-Way Conference (we are getting ready for this in class and preparing the students).

Casual clothes may be worn by the children. The time in class is for constructive discussion and target setting. Any other issues will need to

be addressed at another time. The children and class teachers are very much looking forward to these 3-Way Conferences

and hope that they will be very positive and beneficial for all involved. For Year 4 Parent Consultations with the Chinese teachers, the duration of each appointment

will be 10 minutes.

How to book your appointment:

Starting from 12noon on Monday, 29 February, login to Gateway at https://ks.tg.esf.edu.hk using your existing parental login name and password.

Please use a desktop browser only (such Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer). Mobile devices are currently not compatible with the ‘Parent Consultation’ module.

Go to ‘Communication’ > ‘Parent Consultation’.

Select your child’s name.

Select the applicable 3-Way Conference.

Select the date and time range.

Available time slots will then be shown in white colour on the timetable.

Click on the time slot you wish to book. The box will turn to pink colour. This means that your

appointment is confirmed. (This will be a 45 minute session.)

You can cancel your booking by clicking again on the slot that you have booked.

We would ask that, where possible, those parents who are able to attend a daytime session make their booking then in order to leave the late afternoon sessions available to working parents. If you need any assistance regarding your Gateway login details, please email itsupport@kennedy.edu.hk. We look forward to seeing you all either on the 17 or 18 March!

YEAR 4 PARENT CONSULTATIONS

WITH CHINESE TEACHERS – 18 March

Please save the date for our Year 4 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers that will take place on Friday, 18 March at 08:30am – 3:30pm.

There will be 10 minute appointments available for Year 4 parents to speak to their child’s Chinese teacher. Year 4 children are welcome to come along to these consultations.

The registration will be done through the Gateway booking system from 12noon on Monday, 29 February. More details will be provided to Year 4 parents later on.

HOUSE ASSEMBLIES

This week, for the first time at Kennedy School, the whole school have taken part in House Assemblies led by our Year 6 House Captains. The House Captains launched our new Chinese House names and shared with the children the pronunciation and meaning of these names. Each house will continue to keep their animal name but the Chinese names will be added as follows:

仁 rén – Compassion （Unicorns）

智 zhì – Wisdom （Dragons）

禮 lǐ - Respect （Lions）

信 xìn – Honesty （Phoenix）

The House Captains also shared their plans for a fundraising activity that all the children can participate in. They will be holding an inter-house speedstacking competition during the week beginning February 29th. It will take place on the downstairs playground each day that week and it will cost HK$5 for three attempts. The House Captains and Sports Ambassadors will run the event and record each child's times. There are a range of options open for the children from jumbo stacks for the younger children to 'The Cycle' challenge for the older ones. It will be a great opportunity to generate

Upcoming Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers

Date Time Yearband Location

Fri, 18 March 08:30am – 3:30pm Year 4 Chinese Room & Library

Tue, 19 April 09:30am – 4:30pm Year 2 Hall

Tue, 24 May 09:30am – 4:30pm Year 1 Hall

some house spirit across the school as well as raising some money for charity. We are hoping that all children will have a go. A special thank you and well done to the House Captains who did a fantastic job planning and presenting their ideas to their Houses this week. Debbie Sheward Vice Principal

GREEN NEWS

Lai See Packet Recycling 'According to the estimates of the NGO Greeners Action, Hong Kongers use approximately 180 million lai see packets every year, meaning that roughly 9,000 trees are felled to provide the paper for a product that is often intended for one-time use.'

If you were lucky enough to receive some lai see packets over Lunar New Year, please send in your empty envelopes (gently used or unused) for recycling at Kennedy School. Our SEPAs have plans to reuse them. Drop off at the office or send to me in classroom 6D (room 145).

Masarang Trip to Borneo - Donations wanted for rescue animals

I will be embarking on a trip to Sintang in Borneo next month with Masarang HK and would love to take donations directly to the rescue centers. I will be representing ESF to investigate some of the issues local people and wildlife are facing and try to find ways we can help through education, donations and raising awareness. http://masarang.hk/ The following are some of the items needed:

Heavy duty rubber gloves Lorikeet mix

Dishwashing gloves Honey

Dog toys like Kongs, rubber toys, chew toys Cat food (dry or wet)

Bird food for parrots/cockatoos Peanut butter without any added sugar/no palm oil

Seeds, variety of different nuts Honey

Please send any items to Kennedy School office or to my classroom 6D (room 145) before 4 March 2016.

Hong Kong Shark Foundation Cocktails for Change (new date) http://hksharkfoundation.org/

Wednesday, 9 March 2016 from 19:00 to 22:00 PLAY

1st Floor On Hing Building, Central

World Water Day

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday

With at least 1 in 8 people in the world without access to clean water, we need to rethink our use of this finite resource. Make a pledge to reduce your use of potable water. Friends of the Earth Forum (In Cantonese and Mandarin only)

Lesley Davies ESD Coordinator

THE HONG KONG YOUNG WRITERS AWARDS 2016 Many congratulations to Gayathri Eyunni (6D) whose writing has been shortlisted for one of the main fiction prizes in this year’s Hong Kong Young Writers Awards competition. She will be invited to the awards ceremony at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in March.

Thank you, once again to all the Kennedy children who took part in this year’s competition. Information about HKYWA 2017 will be announced in September. Jeff Moore English Coordinator

FROM THE PE DEPARTMENT

DBIS Touch Rugby Tournament On Thursday 18th February the school took three teams to the DBIS Touch Rugby Tournament at King’s Park. This was a huge event with more than twenty international schools involved. Our students were fantastic throughout the day in terms of behaviour, effort and skill. The Boys B Team were the best placed as Runners Up in the Division 2 Cup Competition. The Boys A Team and Girls A Team also performed extremely well to reach the Semi Finals of their respective Cup Competitions. A huge thank you to Ms Maddie Adcock and Mr Cam Adams for helping me to run the teams on the day as well as helping me prepare the children beforehand at our training sessions. We would not be able to have so many children involved without their fantastic support.

Rearranged Sports Days

The timings of the two rearranged Sports Days are thus:

Year 3 & 4 Sports Day - Tuesday 23rd February - 12:45 to 2:45pm - Y3&4 Sports Day Programme Year 5 & 6 Sports Day - Wednesday 24th February - 9:20am to 12:30pm - Y5&6 Sports Day Programme If you would like to volunteer by helping with scoring as your child participates at their station during either Sports Day, please add your details to the document below so that we have an idea of numbers:

Sports Day Parent Volunteers

No After School Year 5 & 6 Netball on Wednesday 24th February

Due to the Year 5 & 6 Sports Day there will be no netball training on Wednesday 24th February.

Upcycling - Laos Rugby Federation As part of our ongoing support for grassroots rugby another batch of boots and rugby balls along with approximately 50 tag belts are about to wing their way to Laos. Before you throw out any old trainers or football boots please consider donating them to the Laos Rugby Federation courtesy of the school. Please place any unwanted trainers or boots into the blue bin inside the school office. For this project we have currently donated 230 pairs of shoes towards our target of 710. Please click HERE and HERE to discover about the long term impact your donations are having.

Kennedy School VLE Wall of Fame The Kennedy School Sports Wall of Fame on our VLE is where you can share your sporting achievements outside of school with the rest of the Kennedy Community.

Kennedy School Wall of Fame

Click on "add a new discussion topic" to start a new thread about your event/sport. Then enter details of your event or sporting achievement along with a photo of you in action, if you have one. Don't forget to celebrate the successes of other children at Kennedy by reading their threads and writing positive comments for them.

Correct Winter P.E. Uniform

As the weather has become cooler and children are beginning to wear tracksuit bottoms to school on PE or Games days, please ensure your child wears PE shorts UNDER their tracksuit bottoms. Cardigans, jumpers AND tracksuits must be removed for safety during PE and may need to be removed during Games when they are running around. Please also ensure that tights are not worn under shorts on PE days as these pose a slip hazard when shoes are removed in the gym. Thank you for your assistance.

Kennedy School Games Programme

Children in Year 1 to 3 follow a skills programme, while children in Year 4 to 6 follow a progressive sports programme which introduces them to rounders, cricket, athletics, netball, tag rugby and hockey, as shown below:

Please ensure your child is wearing their P.E. Kit for Games as well as for P.E. lessons.

Year 1 Games on Thursday: Large Ball Skills

& Games. Throwing, Catching & Aiming Games. Bat & Ball Skills. Developing Partnerwork. Dance

Year 2 Games on Tuesday: Throwing & Catching Inventing Individual

Games

Aiming, Hitting & Kicking Skills

Partner Games

Dribbling, Hitting

& Kicking

Group Games & Inventing Rules

Dance

Year 3 Games on Wednesday: Passing & Receiving Creative Games Making Net & Wall Games Striking & Fielding Dance

23-Feb-2016 Year 3 & 4 Re-arranged Sports Day

Year 4 Games on Thursday:

Date/House Dragons Lions Phoenix Unicorns

23-Feb-2016** Year 3 & 4 Re-arranged Sports Day 25-Feb-2016 Show Week No Games due to Show Rehearsals

3-Mar-2016 Hockey Rounders/Cricket Netball Rugby 10-Mar-2016 Hockey Rounders/Cricket Netball Rugby 17-Mar-2016 Hockey Rounders/Cricket Netball Rugby 24-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Rounders/Cricket Netball

Easter Holiday

Year 5 Games on Tuesday:

Date/House Dragons Lions Phoenix Unicorns

23-Feb-2016 Hockey Athletics Netball Rugby 24-Feb 2016 Year 5 & 6 Re-arranged Sports Day 1-Mar-2016 Hockey Athletics Netball Rugby 8-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball 15-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball 22-Mar-2015 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball

Easter Holiday

Year 6 Games on Wednesday:

Date/Class Dragons Lions Phoenix Unicorns

24-Feb-2016 Year 5 & 6 Re-arranged Sports Day 2-Mar-2016 Hockey Athletics Netball Rugby 9-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball

16-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball 23-Mar-2016 Rugby Hockey Athletics Netball

Easter Holiday

Please ensure your child is wearing their P.E. Kit for Games as well as for P.E. lessons. Additionally, for children in Year 4 to 6, please ensure your child has the correct kit for their Unit: Hockey - in accordance with the HKHA regulations all Y4-6 children participating in hockey MUST wear shin pads and a mouth guard. Long socks to hold shin pads are also recommended. All of these items are available from the PTA Office. Rugby - although there is no mandate from the HKRFU we strongly recommend the use of mouthguards when playing rugby.

Please ensure mouthguards are moulded in hot water to fit your child's mouth PRIOR to their games lesson. Follow us on the ESF Kennedy School Facebook page or Twitter @kennedyschoolpe for regular updates.

Tim Luck Head of PE and Swimming tluck@kennedy.edu.hk

ASSEMBLY SCHEDULE

Parents and guardians are invited to attend their child’s class assembly. This is an opportunity for a class to share the learning they have been doing in class. They may take the format of a science explanation, a reflection on a trip, a sharing of artwork, a multimedia display or even a simple story telling. For those parents who are unable to attend, all class assemblies are videoed and available for viewing on the VLE.

Class Date Time

March 2016

3W Tuesday, 1 March 8:30 – 9:00am

1M Wednesday, 2 March 8:30 – 9:00am

3R Tuesday, 8 March 8:30 – 9:00am

2A Wednesday, 9 March 8:30 – 9:00am

April 2016

Year 5 Chinese Assembly

Thursday, 14 April 9:30 – 10:30am

MESSAGE FROM THE MEDICAL ROOM

Vision Screening

Suzan Salnikow, an Optometrist, will be coming to Kennedy School on 1st & 2nd March to do vision screening for those children who sign up. If you want your child to have this service, please download this vision screening form and send it to the medical room with a cheque for HK$220 made payable to ‘Suzan Salnikow’. Please sign up by 24th February.

Sally Connell & Henriette Teuchler Kennedy School Health Professionals

Please come along and see South Island School's fabulous and funny production of

Guys and Dolls!

Monday 22nd Feb, Tuesday 23rd Feb and Wednesday 24th Feb at 7:30pm in the school hall at South Island School. Singing, dancing and a live band bring this classic musical comedy to life!

Tickets for sale in the school foyer and on the door, HK$150 for students, HK$180 for adults. See you there!!

https://docs.google.com/a/esfcentre.edu.hk/forms/d/1UTE8H_vAqI2NaUlZbXl5dUOtWlWN4UaqIwPvvPl6VV0/viewform?c=0&w=1

Disclaimer Notice: Kennedy School (KS) and English Schools Foundation (ESF) do not recommend or endorse any external service provider. There is no contractual arrangement between KS/ESF and the service provider, any contractual arrangement that exists is between the parent and the service provider.

ACTIVITIES BY EXTERNAL AGENCIES

Click on the following links to view advertisements for after school activities provided by external agencies and ESF Educational Services.

DAY ACTIVITY PROVIDER

Various Football, Basketball, Tennis, Gymnastics, Kung Fu, Netball, Science, Writing Class, Japanese Class, Dance

ESF Educational Services

Various Science Adventures, The Chess Academy, Stormy Chefs

Active Kids

Various Kip McGrath Tuition & CNY Workshops Kip McGrath

Monday Drama, Speech & Communication Classes

Starlit Voice

Monday Chess Lessons

Hoyinping Chess

Monday Fabric Art

Fabric Fun

Monday Robotics & Technology for kids - DIY workshop makers projects 1

Brainchhild Ltd.

Thursday Art Classes

Banana Art

Friday Writing and Publishing Workshop

Elephant Community Press

Disclaimer: Kennedy School and the English Schools Foundation do not recommend or endorse any external provider renting the school premises. There is no contractual arrangement between KS/ESF and the club providers, any contractual arrangement that exists is between the parent and the club provider.

UPCOMING EVENTS & DUE DATES

Disclaimer Notice: Kennedy School does not endorse or represent the accuracy, truthfulness or reliability of these advertisements placed by outside agencies.

23 February - Year 3 & 4 Sports Day, 12:45 – 2:45pm – rescheduled from 27 Jan

- 6D Trip to Ark Eden – rescheduled from 2 Feb

24 February - Year 5 & 6 Sports Day, 9:20am – 12:30pm – rescheduled from 28 Jan

- Year 1 Parent Consultations with Chinese teacher Ms Lois Ma, Chinese Room

25 February - 6P Trip to Ark Eden – rescheduled from 1 Feb

26 February

- Year 4 Show for parents, 9:00 – 10:00am, Hall

- Year 6 NGO day at Kowloon Junior School

- 7th Annual General Meeting of the Kennedy School PTA, 8:30am, Staff Room

1 March - 3W Class Assembly, 8:30am, Hall – 3W parents are invited to attend

- Optional Vision Screening at school – register via this form

2 March - 1M Class Assembly, 8:30am, Hall – 1M parents are invited to attend

- Optional Vision Screening at school – register via this form

3 March - 5K, 5S Trip to Central

5 March - PTA Nature Trail & Garage Sale, 10am – 1pm, Lower Playground

7 March

- 4D Trip to Ark Eden

- Year 2 Trip to History Museum - rescheduled from 22 Feb

- 5D, 5A Trip to Central

8 March - 4M Trip to Ark Eden

- 3R Class Assembly, 8:30am, Hall – 3R parents are invited to attend

9 March

- 3C, 3W Bake Sale

- 2A Class Assembly, 8:30am, Hall – 2A parents are invited to attend

- 5B Trip to Central

10 March - 4S Trip to WWF Mai Po Nature Reserve

- Year 3 Gallery Walk for parents, 2:15 – 3:00pm, Year 3 classrooms

11 March - Dress Casual Day

- 4M Trip to WWF Mai Po Nature Reserve

14 March - 4C Trip to WWF Mai Po Nature Reserve

15 March - 4J Trip to WWF Mai Po Nature Reserve

16 March - 3O, 3T, 3R Bake Sale

17 March

- NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

- 3-Way Conferences (Parents – Teacher – Child) , 3:45 – 6:15pm - Art Exhibition

18 March

- NO SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN – NO PTA BUSES

- NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

- 3-Way Conferences (Parents – Teacher – Child), 8:30am – 3:15pm

- Year 4 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers, 8:30am–3:00pm, Library & Chinese Room

- Art Exhibition

21 – 24 March - Green Week

21 March - 4S Trip to Ark Eden

- 4D Trip to WWF Mai Po Nature Reserve

22 March - 4C Trip to Ark Eden

23 March - 4J Trip to Ark Eden

24 March - Term 2 ends at 12noon

25 March – 8 April - Easter / Half Term Holiday

11 April - Term 3 starts

13 April - Year 6 DTap-IPV immunizations

14 April - Year 5 Chinese Assembly, 9:30 – 10:30am, Hall – Year 5 parents are invited to attend

19 April - Year 2 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers, 9:30am–4:30pm, Hall

2 May - Public Holiday - The day following the Labour Day

3 May - Kennedy School Disaggregated CPD Day – No school for children

24 May - Year 1 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers, 9:30am–4:30pm, Hall

9 June - Public Holiday - Tuen Ng Festival

10 June - Kennedy School CPD Day – No school for children

15 June - Year 6 Show & Exhibition for parents

16 June - Year 6 Show & Exhibition for parents

24 June - Term 3 ends at 12noon

Kennedy School Calendar 2016-2017 can be found here.