Principal's Message

Dear all,

We want to create for our students quality learning that sticks for the rest of their life. Six deep learning competencies define what it means to be a deep learner. They are used to design and assess students' learning.

This term we are focusing on the Global Competency of Collaboration. Students are developing skills to work in a team, contribute ideas, and manage team dynamics and challenges. Our newly elected student council has put their collaboration skills into practice during their first Student Council meeting. Carry on reading to find out more about the result of their collaboration.

However, students in classrooms cannot collaborate unless their teachers do. Professional collaboration improves student learning as teachers share their knowledge, develop skills and bring in innovation. Teachers and therapists are collaborating to plan and implement the whole school NPDL project ‘What does it mean to give and receive?’. You can see the evidence of their work in weekly updates that they share with you and in the product of students' work. Our teams are also meeting this week to assess and review current IEPs and plan new personal goals for all students. Next week we will share the updated IEPs with all parents and send invitations for the parent consultation meetings.

This week we have celebrated Diwali, which is a very important festival for many JCSRS families. We are very thankful to our parents that supported some of our classes this year in this important celebration. It is a wonderful example of collaboration with parents which we hope to be able to expand to a wider group of students as restrictions are eased.

The vast majority of our staff are focused primarily on teaching and learning in classrooms. But when we talk about collaboration we have to mention our amazing support staff that keep all the key aspects of school life going. The person that needs to be mentioned here is our superb school nurse Christine who is sadly moving to Canada. I only had the privilege of working with her for a short period of time but during this time she has been a great support to the whole school, students, staff and parents. Her knowledge, skills and dedication will be missed by us all. We wish her all the best in her new adventures.

Happy Diwali everyone!

Anna

Student Council

Introducing the JCSRS Student Council* for 2021-22

The newly elected JCSRS student council are actively working to assist in the planning of the forthcoming walkathon along with brainstorming ideas of how to spend the sponsorship funds.

This year we are also pleased to share that a group of year 13 students from KGV will be working with our student council to advise, coach and support the direction of the group. This week we welcomed Lewis and Disha who took time away from their study schedules to meet our council members and assist with the distribution of our new student council pins. We encourage our student council members to wear their pins to school each day to promote this leadership role in our community.

* In adherence to family data privacy requests the school council group photograph cannot be shared in the public domain.

Walkathon

A reminder that the JCSRS walkathon will be held next Wednesday November 10th. Please return sponsorship forms to the school.

KGV Challenge Week

This week we have welcomed four year 12 students from KGV who have worked alongside our students in classrooms as part of their Challenge Week.

At the beginning of the week the students experienced feelings of nervousness, excitement and curiosity. End of week reflections shared below.

Student Article - Jade's Shopping Trip

Our Deep Learning Journey: A Trip to Sham Shui Po Toy Market for Box of Hope
by Sze Yan

Jade class has decided to buy gifts for children as our NPDL project, to learn about the ‘to give and to receive’ concept. We went shopping at Sham Shui Po. We focused on our collaboration skills. We divided the money and we had a list of items to buy.

We split into different groups and bought different things with a shopping list, to help each other collect all the items that we need. I was in a group with Marcus and Myrla.

We worked together to buy beach balls, toy cars, pencils, action figures, and soft toys. We worked on our use of money skills. We learnt how to pay and collect change. We bought these toys for Box of Hope so the children could feel joyful and loved at Christmas. We were very cheerful working as a group.

After shopping, we worked as a group to calculate how much we spent.

We made sure we got all the items we needed for Box of Hope.

I had fun working with Asfand, Katy, Paolo, and Ed. I was calculating how much we spent. Ed was giving me the extra change.

Marcus worked with Asfand, Katy, and Adam to calculate how many items we got so we could prepare them for Box of Hope.

We will put all the items in the gift boxes to send to Box of Hope. I feel proud. I can help them. I like collaboration work. I can work together with my friends. We shared the work and shared ideas.

Total Communication at JCSRS - AAC Top Tips

PE - Running and Sailing Achievements

Standard Chartered Half Marathon and 10K Race

Congratulations to Katy (Jade class) and her mum Michelle for completing the 10K race. Katy ran the first 1 km and then ran/walked the final 9 km finishing in just under 1 hour 30 minutes.  As you can see by Katy's smile she very much enjoyed herself.

Also congratulations to Belinda, our Vice Principal, who finished the half in 1 hour 58 minutes. Well done Belinda.

After they ran they all went for a family lunch!

Hebe Haven 24hr Charity Dinghy Race

Congratulations to our five students Aadi, Boris, Leo, Nick and Sze Yan who competed in the Hebe Haven 24hr Charity Dinghy Race.

Students sailed over the 24-hour period with some sailing at night. Wind conditions were variable. This meant some students were able to complete 7 laps in their 2 hours of sailing time whilst others were only able to complete 1!

There were 45 boats in total in the race of which 14 were Sailability Hansa 303 boats. Our students were all sailing in the Hansa 303 Jelly Fish boat and came 3rd in their class of boat which was a great achievement.

Full results can be found here.

Diversity - Celebrating and Supporting

Each month we will be celebrating the diversity of our students and raising awareness about the needs of our students in JCSRS.

Spotlight: Rett Syndrome

As a rare disease, Rett syndrome affects 1 in 10,000 girls and even fewer boys. Many people haven’t heard of Rett syndrome, which is why October (Rett Syndrome awareness month) is crucial for awareness, advocacy, and education.

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic neurological disorder that occurs almost exclusively in girls and affects nearly every aspect of the child’s life: their ability to speak, walk, eat, and even breathe easily. The hallmark of Rett syndrome is near constant repetitive hand movements.

Rett syndrome is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2. Rett syndrome can present with a wide range of disabilities ranging from mild to severe and is determined by the location, type and severity of the mutation and X-inactivation.

Cognitive assessment in children with Rett syndrome is complicated, but we know that they understand far more than they can communicate to us, evidenced by their bright and attentive eyes, and their ability to express a wide spectrum of moods and emotions.

(Source: International Rett Syndrome Foundation)

JCSRS PTA Notice

Dear Parents,

We held our PTA AGM on Monday 25th October in the school hall. It was attended by parents and teachers in person and via live stream. We deeply appreciate the support of all the participants. A special thank you to those parents who made the effort to attend in person – given that we needed a quorum of parents physically present to make the AGM official, we could not have done this without you.

All parents are automatically part of the PTA and your input and support are essential. At the AGM the PTA Committee for 2021-2022 were nominated and appointed, as follows:

Officials:

• Co-Chair Megan McCoy
• Co-Chair Sandra Lee
• Treasurer Suki Chan
• Secretary Ronald Wong

 Parent Representatives:

• Margaret Chung
• Sheetel Dalal
• Kyoko Dobashi
• Claire Hudson
• Catherine Mak
• Viola Lam
• Michelle McEwan

 PTA School Council Representative:

• Marie-Claire Slama

 Teacher/Staff Representatives:

• Anna Smakowska
• Jackie Newman

To the parents and staff for volunteering to be part of our PTA Committee this year, we very much appreciate your willingness and commitment.

Also, at our AGM we agreed to the resolution to transition our PTA to an Association from a Limited Company. This process could take six to twelve months, so we are keen to commence as soon as possible. With our capacity to fundraise or organise events still limited due to social restrictions of Covid-19, this may be the right window of time to carry out this plan.

Some good news for families: the Annual PTA Fees will reduce to $200 this year from $600 per family in previous years. A letter will be sent shortly informing you of arrangements for collection of this compulsory fee. Thank you for your support.

We wish you and your family all the best this new school year.

Yours Sincerely,

Megan & Sandra Co-Chairs

JCSRS PTA

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