A reminder please that there will be NO SCHOOL on the following days:

Monday, 28 September - Public Holiday – The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Thursday, 1 October Friday, 2 October

- Public Holiday – National Day - ESF CPD Day

Dear Parents, The school has looked amazing this week with all of our Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns on display. This is an important festival and time of year for many of our families and I hope you all enjoy the long weekend ahead.

School Council Parent Rep Congratulations to Mrs Nicola Schorr who will be joining our school council as the new Kennedy School parent representative. Can I particularly thank Mrs Laurel Dillon for her service to the Kennedy School council and for the many hours of commitment to our school.

Mr Richardson’s Masters Survey Mr Richardson is writing a dissertation for a Masters in Education through Bath University. The study aims to investigate the sleep patterns of primary school aged children. It is a possibility that there may be a link between sleep patterns and how well children perform in class assessments. Please click here to complete a quick questionnaire about your child’s sleeping patterns. This should take no longer than 3 minutes. Please be assured that all of the information regarding you and your child would be kept in the strictest confidence and any published data would not include your name or any other identifying characteristics. If you require any further information please do not hesitate to email Mr Richardson at wrichardson@kennedy.edu.hk. Any help you are able to give will be much appreciated.

Student Leaders We have now elected all of our Year 6 Student Leaders. This week we are delighted to announce the following children who have been elected by their own classes for the roles of Environmental Ambassador and Student Council Representative:

Environmental Ambassadors:

6D - Ella Brown 6M - Ryan Lizares 6P - Ruby Davis 6R - Milan Hulac 6S - Alicia Tran Student Council Reps:

6D - Namir Pasha and Kamakshi Bhavnani 6M - Leyla Bauti and Joseph Suen 6P - Aemilia Altmeyer and Kris Childs 6R - Brendan Frain and Floris Smulders 6S - Jessica Wacker and Oscar Green Congratulations to these children and we are looking forward to working with you in your new roles. John Brewster Principal

LANTERN COMPETITION WINNERS

We've had a wonderful response to our recycled lantern competition with more than 300 entries. Our children and staff voted for their favourite lantern in each year group and the following children created winning designs:

Year 1 Winners Year 4 Winners

CHEUNG, Daniel LEUNG, Jodi POZZATO, Stella

1A 1S 1A

LEUNG, Chester HASHIMOTO, Mayuka CHAN, Nicole

4M 4S 4J

Year 2 Winners Year 5 Winners

HO, Hilary LING, Celine BENNETT-GOFF, Georgia

2C 2P 2A

CHEAH, Edwin CHAN, Sophie LEE, Nicole

5B 5D 5S

Year 3 Winners Year 6 Winners

HUANG, Jonathan LI, Cheuk Lam TYRRELL, Rosie EYUNNI, Advaith

3R 3R 3T 3W

EYUNNI, Gayathri CHEUNG, Matthew LEE, Kerstin

6D 6D 6P

Visit our Facebook page for more photos.

Have a relaxing long weekend and enjoy celebrating the harvest moon festival with family and friends on Sunday.

Denggao Zeng & Lesley Davies Head of Chinese ESD Coordinator dzeng@kennedy.edu.hk ldavies@kennedy.edu.hk

6P CLASS ASSEMBLY

Congratulations to 6P who presented the first class assembly of the school year on Thursday.

It was lovely to see so many parents and we all thoroughly enjoyed an informative, musical and entertaining assembly about Mid-Autumn festival.

Thank you 6P - you have really launched the class assemblies in style!

The assembly video is now available on the VLE.

Debbie Sheward Vice Principal

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS

12 – 16 October

Professional photographs of all classes and individual head-shots of all children will be taken at the school the week of 12 – 16 October.

Please ensure that your child is present and wears his/her full school uniform on the day of their photo. All hair accessories must also be either white or purple.

Look out for the full schedule in next week’s newsletter.

There will also be an opportunity for siblings who are at Kennedy School to be photographed together. This service is entirely optional. Please complete this

form – Siblings Photos Sign-up Sheet - only if you wish for your children to have a sibling photo taken.

These photos will be taken during break times and it will be the responsibility of the older sibling to collect their brother/s and/or sister/s from their classroom and go to the Hall to have the photo taken. The children will be reminded about this.

If you wish your children to be photographed in the Kennedy School uniform (rather than the PE kit), please choose a convenient day when you sign up. You may also send the school shirt with your children to school so that they can change for the photo. Please submit your responses by Wednesday, 7 October at 10am at the latest.

Order forms will be sent home with your children in the next few weeks.

APPLICATION FOR ENTRY TO YEAR 1

The central application period for children born in 2011 (for entry to Year 1 in August 2016) will be from 1 to 30 September 2015. Applications can be made via the ESF website at www.esf.edu.hk. Please note that siblings of students already attending an ESF school will also need to make their applications during the central application period.

Supporting Beginning Readers and Writers at Home: A Practical Workshop for Parents and Helpers

Tue, 6 October; 9:30am & 6:30pm

Nurturing and supporting your child to become confident, creative and passionate readers and writers is ultimately what we are aiming to achieve in the classroom. The fact is though that in order to have real success we need to work together - school and home - to help your child develop the strategies, skills and confidence they need to develop a life-long love of reading and writing.

We are hosting a parent and helper workshop for Beginning Readers and Writers on Tuesday, 6 October: a morning session from 9:30 - 10:30am and an evening session from 6:30 - 7:30pm. Our target audience are parents and helpers with children in Years 1 and 2. If you are a parent in Year 2, it is very likely you attended this session at the start of Year 1 last year. Click here to register. Josh Blue Vice Principal

GREEN NEWS

Well done to all of our children who put themselves forward as Environmental Ambassadors. It is a role taken up by many of our Kennedy children on a regular basis, but we have to narrow our core group down to one per class from Year 3 - 6.

Our Year 6 Ambassadors are:

6D - Ella Brown

6M - Ryan Lizares

6P - Ruby Davis

6R - Milan Hulac

6S - Alicia Tran

They are closely supported by our class Eco-Warriors:

3C - Thomas Gregory 4C - Nikaash Daswaney 5A - Prosper Tsang

3O - Isaac Melia 4D - Ava Gross 5B - Olivia McCafferty

3R - Samantha Ng 4J - Nicole Chan 5D - Lindsey Mulligan

3T - Tallis Shum 4M - Dhruv Deva 5K - Tia Stearn

3W - Noah Weeks 4S - Jiwon Lee 5S - Jeonghyeon Lee

Hong Kong Cleanup

Get a group together and join in the HK Cleanup. Your group could be family, friends or work colleagues. You can register now for clean ups from 19 September – 1 November. Click here for more details.

Lesley Davies ESD Coordinator

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

October 2015

2C Wednesday,

7 October 8:30 – 9:00am

5A Thursday, 8 October

8:30 – 9:00am

Year 4 Chinese Assembly

Friday, 16 October

2:15 – 3:00pm

4S Tuesday,

27 October 8:30 – 9:00am

FROM THE PE DEPARTMENT

Swimming schedule for next week

Volunteers wanted for Year 6 Swim Gala On Friday 16 October from 8:45am - 12:15pm, we will be holding our second Kennedy Year 6 Swim Gala. The Year 6 children are currently making their event choices but we really need some Year 6 parent help! If you think you would be able to help as a timekeeper for the morning (timekeepers have the best view of the races!) please click the link below to sign up. Year 6 Swim Gala Parent Volunteer Sign Up We look forward to an exciting morning of swimming competition.

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. It is great to see so many children contributing to this forum. To visit the Wall of Fame please click here: 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.

Upcycling - Laos Rugby Federation

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 and we will ensure they are upcycled to children who will make good use of them. Thus far we have upcycled an incredible 666 pairs of shoes. Please CLICK HERE to discover about the long term impact your donations are having. 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

Birthday Book Programme If your child has a birthday in October or November and you would like them to receive a book on their special day, please send HK$100 in an envelope marked with your child's name and class, how old they will be on their next birthday and who the book will be from. You can leave the envelope at reception or give it to the class teacher. The book will be gift wrapped and hand delivered to your child in their classroom and will have a label inside with a birthday message from the family. Once your child has finished reading the book at home, we would appreciate them donating it back to the library for other children to read and enjoy. The label will remain in the book for everyone to see. By participating you'll be helping us to continue adding new books to our collection. Susan Mifsud and Nina Sehgal Library Assistants

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, Multi Sports, Drama

ESF Educational Services

Various Novelist, Orator and Filmmaker Courses Foundation Academy

Various Phonics at home – workshops for parents

Rachel Todd Consultancy

Various Science Adventures, The Chess Academy, Stormy Chefs

Active Kids

Monday Drama and Communication Classes

Starlit Voice

Monday Chess Lessons

Hoyinping Chess

Monday Fabric Art

Fabric Fun

Monday Robotics and Technology

Brainchhild Ltd.

Tuesday Japanese Class ESF Educational Services

Wednesday Educational LEGO® Model Building & Robotics Engineering Programs

Bricks 4 Kidz

Wednesday Mandarin Classes

Mandarin Fun

Thursday Art Class

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

Please visit our website to view a more detailed calendar.

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

28 September - Public Holiday – The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

29 September

- Year 5 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers, 9:30am

4:30pm, Hall

- 1A and 1M Walk to West Island School

30 September - 1F and 1S Walk to West Island School

1 October - Public Holiday – National Day

2 October - ESF CPD Day – No school for children

5 October - 1R Walk to West Island School

6 – 9 October - Year 6 APA Camp (Tsai Wan Peninsula)

6 October - Supporting Beginning Readers and Writers at Home: A Practical

Workshop for Year 1 and Year 2 Parents and Helpers, 9:30am & 6:30pm (Sign up here.)

7 October - 5B, 5D, 5K Bake Sale

- 2C Class Assembly, 8:30 – 9:00am, Hall (2C parents are invited.)

8 October - 5A Class Assembly, 8:30 – 9:00am, Hall (5A parents are invited.)

9 October - Year 2 Trip to Kadoorie Farm

- PTA Quiz Night; 7:00 – 11:00pm, Hall

12 – 16 October - School Photographs

14 October - 5A, 5S Bake Sale

- Year 1 theatre trip: What the ladybug heard

16 October - Year 6 Swim Gala

- Year 4 Chinese Assembly, 2:15 - 3:00pm, Hall (Yr 4 parents are invited.)

19 – 23 October - Half Term Holiday

27 October - Parent Teacher Consultations, 3:30–6:30pm

- 4S Class Assembly, 8:30 – 9:00am, Hall (4S parents are invited.)

29 October - Parent Teacher Consultations, 3:30–6:30pm

30 October - PTA Family BBQ

3 November - Year 1 Immunisation

4 November - 4C, 4J, 4M Bake Sale

5 November - Year 2 Trip to Wetland Park

- Year 5 Trip to Zero Carbon Building

6 November - Kennedy School CPD Day – No school for children

9 November - Year 5 Trip to Zero Carbon Building

11 November - 4S, 4D Bake Sale

12 November - Year 5 Trip to Zero Carbon Building

20 November - Dress Casual Day

23 November - Year 5 Trip to Zero Carbon Building

26 November - Year 5 Trip to Zero Carbon Building

27 November - Year 6 Trip to APA to watch ‘Blood Brothers

30 November - Year 6 Parent Consultations with Chinese Teachers, 9:30am–

4:30pm, Hall

1 – 4 December - Year 5 Camp (Lady Maclehose Holiday Village, Sai Kung)

2 – 4 December - Year 4 Camp (Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre)

4 December - Year 6 Immunisation

15 December - Christmas Choir and Orchestra Concert, 6:30–7:30pm, Playground

18 December - Term 1 ends at 12noon

4 January - Term 2 starts

14 January - Year 2 Theatre Trip to watch ‘Gruffalo