Principal's Message

Dear all,

With only 5 school days left of this current school year, there is a real emphasis on ending well and preparing to start the next academic year strongly – making every day better than the one before.

At this time of the year, more than ever, we need to put into practice our well-being strategy motto to Protect, Connect and Respect. I want to thank everyone who over the last few days and months was a role model to their students and children, friends and colleagues, staff and parents in the way they offered support, developed connections and demonstrated respect for one another.

The staff in our school show through daily interaction how they care about the students and how they support them to be successful in all areas of school life. I want to thank them for continuing to work hard and for so often going the extra mile for the students in their care. It is inspiring to see. It is also inspiring to see the students improve and grow into wonderful young adults, ready to take on the new challenges that they face.

Our parents play an important role in the students' ongoing journey and for that and for your continued support for the school, we are extremely grateful. I want to express my sincere thanks to our PTA for showing the appreciation of our staff through personalised messages and for going the extra mile to prepare homemade presents for our leavers. Thank you!

Last week we welcomed our new students and families to JCSRS. I would like to thank all staff and parents for supporting student transition and ensuring it is a positive experience. It was a real pleasure to welcome all new families and we hope that the New Parent Induction Session has provided them with information to support their children’s transition to JCSRS.

At this time of year, we also say a sad farewell to some of our staff and students. Amongst our staff leavers, we have three members with a very long history of working at JCSRS.

Carol Li - Started at JCSRS as an IT Technician and soon discovered her passion and talent for teaching. Carol worked across all classes at JCSRS but the longest with the secondary students. She brought her skills in ICT to the classroom through inclusive technology to support learning across the school. A committed lifelong learner who has shown she can adapt and thrive in ever-changing environments.

Kelly Thorp - Kelly moved to JCSRS from West Island School and has just loved working with students with SEN. She immediately made an impact. She started life as a secondary specialist but over the years found her true calling with the little ones in the Foundation Pathway. Kelly's passion and creativity have resulted in many exciting learning opportunities for her students.

Sandra Gee - A knowledgeable and experienced teacher who has a deep understanding of student needs. Sandra moved through the school from secondary to complex needs class.  She has always strived for student independence and agency. Described by her colleagues as a great teacher who is very helpful and supportive.

I would like to congratulate them all on their careers with ESF and thank them for the lasting contribution that they have made to the whole school community.

We wish all leavers, staff and students, all the very best in their new adventures and we hope that they will stay in touch.

With best wishes for a good weekend and a very safe summer holiday.

Warm regards

Anna

Dates for Your Diary

• Leavers assembly will be on the 24th of June on Zoom. 

• 24th of June is the last day of the school year and students will finish lessons at 11.45 am with buses leaving school at 12.00 pm.

• The new school year for all students starts on the 23rd of August.

• Our Meet the Teacher event will take place on the 6th of September. You will then have an opportunity to find out some key information about your child's class and curriculum. Most importantly, you will then have a chance to meet your child's teacher.

• JCSRS PTA Annual General Meeting will be held on the 10th of October in the school hall.

Curriculum: NPDL Project - Digital Cookbook

It is with great delight that we share our JCSRS digital cookbook - Come cook with us.

Please take some time to share it with your family and try out our range of dishes. 

There is something for everyone!

We’d love to hear from you. Please refer to the community section of our cookbook site to share your feedback.

ASDAN - Workright: Celebrating the Success in Jade Class

ASDAN provides accredited curriculum programmes and regulated qualifications to engage, elevate and empower young people aged 11 to 25 years old. One of their programmes includes Workright, which provides a framework for students to develop a range of basic transferable employability skills so that they are able to collaborate and complete tasks to the required employability standard. The four modules include:

• Health and Safety at Work: Health and safety rules; Emergencies; Keeping your workspace clean and tidy

• Responsibilities in the Workplace: Attendance; Timekeeping; Appearance

• Working with Others: Respecting others; Getting on with people at work; Working in a team

• You at Work: Doing jobs at work; The things you use at work; Getting help with problems at work

Throughout these two years, we have battled through Covid-19 restrictions. Despite such challenges, Jade Class was able to experience different onsite and offsite vocational training. Edward, Katy and Asfand had the opportunity to attend vocational training in the Swire East Hotel led by Robyn to work on their laundry skills. They always come back to school with a big smile and sense of accomplishment:

At school, Maurice, Leo, Rehaan, Marcus, Sze Yan and Paolo completed various training including office administrative work, like shredding, photocopying, filing, and sorting stationery. Some students were involved in creating a costume and musical instrument inventory, and to organise and sort them for the whole school. To mention a few achievements, Leo excelled with his skill in packaging gift cards for fundraising events, and Marcus devoted himself into keeping the library books organised for the whole school.

We celebrate the success of our three graduates, Maurice Lam, Leo Purdie and Rehaan Ismail in completing the ASDAN Workright programme this year. They await to receive their certificate from ASDAN and are ready to move on to their next adventure! Special thanks to Belinda, Robyn and Cheryl for their support in enabling the success of our workright completion. The feedback for the ASDAN moderation has been very positive:

"I have now completed your moderation and all were successful. It is great to see such detailed comments within the booklet and the learners completing so much work."

- Emma Perry, ASDAN Regional Relationship Manager

Last but not least, congratulations to students who have completed the ASDAN Workright One Year Programme: 

• Maurice Lam 
• Edward McCoy
• Katy Mcewan

And to students who have completed the ASDAN Workright Two Year Programme: 

• Asfand Sharif
• Paolo Medalla
• Marcus Chan
• Sze Yan Fong
• Rehaan Ismail
• Leo Purdie

 

Jade Class,

Claudia Chan & Jackie Newman

ESF Art Exhibition: Diversity

The online 2022 ESF Art Exhibition, themed around "Diversity", is now open here.

Please wander through the virtual galleries and enjoy the artwork of students from across the ESF, including ours at JCSRS.

The exhibition is open until the end of September.

Speech Therapy Team and AAC Summer Activities

As we come to the end of the school year the Speech Therapy team would like to thank all the JCSRS families for their support over this year and we look forward to what the new year may bring.

The Speech Therapy team for next year will be:

If you’re looking for different ways to use and support AAC use over the summer please see these articles below for a range of fun and interactive activities:

	Core Vocabulary at the Beach
	Summer Communication Calendars
	Common Activities and Core Words

Therapy Team: ESF Webinar

This week representatives from the JCSRS therapy team collaborated with ESF Centre to deliver a webinar for parents to provide ideas for summer activities. This webinar explored creative and fun ways to support your child’s holistic development throughout the summer holidays and beyond.

Following the webinar a toolkit was shared with parents to help put into practice some of the ideas shared. You can access the toolkit here:

Creative Ways to Support Your Child’s Development Throughout the Summer Holidays

RSE Workshop

This week we hosted an online puberty workshop for parents and students. A big thank you to our attendees and talented facilitating staff: Sandra, Robyn and Daena.

It was a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with families to support our students' understanding of their changing bodies. Even after a whole day at school the students were really engaged and able to lead the learning alongside their parents.

Here are a few action shots from our session.

Kelly Maddix

RSE Curriculum Coordinator