Principal's Message

Dear all,

The last few days provided our students with fantastic new experiences and learning opportunities. It was a welcome change after a severely disrupted learning the week prior.

Our Primary Sports Day was a great success. We were delighted that parents and KJS students were able to join us for the event and to see students having such a great time trying new things and showing off their skills. Huge thanks to Mike for leading the organisation and delivery of this important sports event and to Katrina and all the helpers that supported our students.

This week, our students returned to off-site vocational training. It was a result of months of planning, collaboration and developing new partnerships. Thanks to our Post-16 team, Jackie, Max and Karen, and the therapy team, under Belinda’s leadership, Jade and Ruby's students are putting into practice skills and knowledge they have learnt in school and are developing new life skills.

Another bus crisis, which could have led to a cancellation of Sports Day for some primary students, has been skillfully avoided thanks to Karen Kan’s management skills.

I am very proud of our team, and on weeks like this, you can see the work of many people coming together to produce the best possible results.

Save the date:

• Parent Teacher/Therapist Consultations will be held on Monday, 14th and Tuesday, 15th of November.

• Secondary Sports Day on Wednesday, 16th of November.

• A consultation meeting with JCSRS parents and ESFC representatives on the future of the bus service will take place on Thursday, 24th of November at 4.30 pm in the school hall (sign up here).

• Meet the Principal is another opportunity for our parents to be engaged in a personalised, small group session with school leaders on various whole-school topics. Please sign up here for a meeting on Monday, 5th of December.

• Walkathon has been rescheduled to Tuesday, 28th of March.

The Education Bureau (EDB) has updated the “Health Protection Measures for Schools”  which you can find here.

I continue to highlight that our school community is also very blessed by the hugely positive body of parents who form an integral part of our ongoing success journey. We are all incredibly grateful for your support and encouragement. With that in mind, it is disappointing when I hear of parents (admittedly a very small minority) who behave in unacceptable ways, raise their voices when talking to our staff or are extremely rude.

Without a doubt, the last few years have been incredibly challenging, and we all need to continue to be kind and respectful to the staff at JCSRS, who are doing their very best for the children in their care. All members of the school community deserve to be treated with respect. We expect that parents will seek a peaceful and reasonable solution to arising problems and setting a good example with communication, conduct and behaviour.

We acknowledge and appreciate the respectful and positive manner demonstrated by the vast majority of parents. Please continue to show your appreciation for all that our staff do.

Warm regards,

Anna

Primary Sports Day

What a fabulous morning we had with our students on Wednesday at Primary Sports Day!

There was such a great ambience with parents able to attend once again. 

Students focused on doing their very best in their running, throwing and jumping events and it was fun and exciting for everyone.

Many thanks to all staff, parents and helpers who supported us during the day and congratulations to our student-athletes!

Please enjoy the photos.

Vocational Learning in Action

This week all Post-16 students engaged in Vocational Learning experiences matched to their interests and strengths.

We had some students developing their independence skills by riding the MTR to Central for work orientation and uniform fittings in Burberry and others discovering their expertise as Administrative Assistants with Manulife.

Our team of students at JCSRS were packing and distributing mail items for Attention Services Limited, and some students re-connected with our partners at East Hotel to refine their hospitality and housekeeping skills.

Students were energised and excited about their future work prospects after a very successful start, with no doubt many more great experiences to come.  Watch this space for more updates.

PT: Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy is back!

We are more than happy to announce hydrotherapy is back at JCSRS. The first session was smooth and with lots of laughter. Students are engaged and doing well with hydrotherapy.

Hydrotherapy aims to assist students with a variety of conditions (e.g. neurological, musculoskeletal, etc.) in upgrading their physical ability and functional level.

The warmth of the water allows muscles to relax, which helps students to move more easily and freely. With water buoyancy, students’ body weights are well supported to allow for a wider range of activities compared to level ground. The water can also be used to provide resistance to improve muscle strength. Pressure from the water helps to give our students sensory input to increase their body awareness.

With all these benefits, hydrotherapy is definitely a great exercise regime for our students in physiotherapy sessions.

Yannes Chan, Physiotherapist

Library Update

New books for the Library

We have added around 200 new books to the library since the start of the year. We added some non-fiction books to support the planned learning for this year. We also boosted specific collections based on our readers' interests.

Graphic Novels

These are a great choice for students who have outgrown our Picture Book collection and still enjoy visuals to support their understanding of the text. Their comic-book style is appropriate for all ages.

Interactive Board Books

This week Emerald students had a test drive of the new interactive board books. These have different textures, sounds and moving parts to engage and delight readers.

Student-selected Movie Books

Our biggest acquisition was selected by our students. In Library sessions last term, students were asked to help update our Movie Book collection. Movie Books are titles that relate directly to cartoons and cinema and are very popular with JCSRS readers. Every student at school was able to share the cartoons and movies that they most enjoyed and purchases were made directly from their feedback. These have been a huge hit already. Look out for them coming home this week.

Literacy Session in the Library

Every class has a Literacy lesson in the library once a week on Monday or Thursday. These sessions support the Literacy targets set out by the class teachers, enhance the Literacy curriculum and promote reading for pleasure.

Some students will have a teacher-selected levelled reader and all are given the opportunity to take a library book home for the week, if they wish. Please ensure you return all books on the specified weekday.

PE: Golf

Special Olympics Golf Afternoon

Well done to all ten students who took part in the event. This was an introduction to golf and everyone seemed to enjoy their experience.

We started with an hour of hitting on the golf range with coaching from Special Olympics Hong Kong coaches. After a small break, we moved into the putting green to practice our putting. We certainly saw an improvement in technique over the two hours.

All students were supported by a family member and all the adults were also able to join in and try golf for the first time.

Staying Connected

Friendly reminder that Splice the Mainbrace is scheduled for Thursday, 17th November from 6.30 pm at Cafe 8, Central Pier.

A great opportunity for community connection. Come and see our alums and students at work. All are welcome.