Full calendar and term dates here.
21 February | “Wear your Comfort Clothes’’ day and bring a cash donation for HK Save the Children charity |
1-3 March | Secondary Camp |
2 March | IEPs shared with parents |
6-7 March | Parent Teacher Therapist Conferences |
8-13 March | Art Exhibition |
9 March | Art Exhibition Opening Ceremony at 6 pm (HK Visual Arts Centre) |
14 March | Principal Meet Up on Zoom - date changed |
20 March | PTA meeting, 5.30 pm on Zoom |
28 March | Walkathon, Perth Street Sports Ground |
31 March | Last day of Term 2; students will finish lessons at 11.45 am with buses leaving school at 12 pm |
Dear all,
It has been a really positive couple of weeks in school and it is encouraging to see our students engaging in learning activities in and out of the school.
Last week I enjoyed my visit to Hong Kong East hotel to see our students doing their vocational job with lots of enthusiasm and diligence. I can assure you all that they provide 5-star customer service and HK East staff were also full of praise. Huge thanks need to go to our Job Coach, Teresa and Post-16 staff that support our students in all vocational placements. I am looking forward to my future visits and parents' open days.
Over the last few weeks students in Sapphire class have been very busy running their mini enterprise. From creating a business plan and taking orders to product production and sale, they developed and put into practice their critical thinking, creativity and communication skills. On Valentine’s Day, their business received lots of praise from happy clients that were impressed with their customer service skills and the quality of their products. Thank you for my Love Bug and a gift bag.
Coming soon, all parents will be able to join us for the Art Exhibition Opening Evening. Please read on to find out more about the new NPDL project ‘’Be My Best’’.
In our commitment to the school vision and mission - Everyone Learning - we delivered some very successful training and information sessions for parents and staff.
We had a great show of parents and providers at the information session on What’s Next after JCSRS. I hope all parents that attended left feeling more informed and better prepared for their children’s transition. I am sure you will all join me in thanking Belinda for organising this important event and our Student Council for presenting organisations with thank-you gifts.
The first Parent/Carer Educational Technology Meet-Up was also well received by those that attended.
All staff engaged in professional development to improve our skills in giving feedback to students on their learning. Verbal and written feedback is an essential element in enhancing a student’s understanding of their own learning. Staff shared examples of excellent practice that already takes place in our classrooms and put into action new skills in using written feedback.
Our school is joining efforts to support children and families that are impacted by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. On Tuesday, February 21, we will have a non-uniform “Wear your Comfort Clothes’’ day and students and staff can come to school dressed in soft and cosy clothing. It may be a favourite comfortable t-shirt or a go-to pair of tracksuit bottoms. Students and staff are encouraged to bring a cash donation that will go to Safe the Children HK - Children’s Emergency Fund. Save the Children uses donations to empower children and their families devastated by disasters – like the earthquake in Turkey and Syria – to stay safe and healthy and to rebuild their lives.
I want to finish by thanking all parents and staff who have completed the ESF Stakeholder Survey. I am pleased to share that we have achieved high participation rates with almost 50% of parents and over 90% of staff sharing their feedback. Our next step is to analyse the information in terms of our strengths and areas for improvement and then share the finding and follow-up actions.
I wish you all a relaxing weekend.
Kind regards,
Anna
A first aid course for parents and carers will be delivered by the Hong Kong Red Cross on Saturday, 22nd April 2023, from 9 am to 1 pm at the Hong Kong Red Cross Headquarters, West Kowloon. Details are provided in this link.
The cost will be approximately HK$260 for each participant. A minimum requirement of 16 participants is needed to offer the course. Sign-up details were shared via ESF App message earlier this week.
Please contact our school nurse Rachel Chan for general enquiries about the course at nurse@jcsrs.edu.hk.
This week we launched the start of our fifth NPDL project ‘Be My Best’.
The project is underpinned by the Global Competency of Character which addresses important skills that students need to be lifelong learners. Developing Character means learning how to:
overcome challenges
work hard
know where you are and where you need to go
understand yourself and how you best regulate and learn
This project will incorporate Well-being, PE and Visual Arts.
In PE, Mike has launched the 1% Better Challenge for cross-country running for the secondary students. Mike was inspired by the story of Chris Nikic; a young man with Down’s Syndrome who has competed in Iron Man challenges and an Olympic Triathlon by striving to be 1% better each day. Please find out more about Chris and his incredible journey here.
Elements of well-being and our Character competency will be incorporated into the JCSRS Art Exhibition as a culmination of student learning. We are incredibly lucky to hold the exhibition at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre on Kennedy Road where students, parents and the wider community will get to see the artwork displayed in a professional context.
All classes will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition and we hope to see you at the open evening detailed above.
Cupid made his appearance at JCSRS for Valentine's Day. He presented each staff member with a chocolate and a card to show appreciation for all our staff's love in supporting our students daily. He sure put a smile on our staff's faces.
Thank you, JCSRS staff, for putting your heart into teaching.
It was great to have families back in school last week to attend the ‘What Next after JCSRS?’ event. Presentations representing a range of government and private agencies provided families with program overviews and admission information. For any family who was unable to attend and would like to view the recording, please contact belinda.mclaughlin@jcsrs.edu.hk.
For all JCSRS families: we strongly encourage ALL families to connect with your district representatives in Family and Child Protective Services. This process will enable you to be assigned a social care worker to support you, with access to other services and support in future planning. See this link for contact details. If you have any questions, please contact belinda.mclaughlin@jcsrs.edu.hk.
Last week our second AAC meetup of the year took place. We welcomed families from school to talk about supporting our children to use AAC and communicate spontaneously. Watch this video for tips and tricks, including to:
Use the AAC yourself to be a role model.
Allow for lots of pause time.
Respond to all communication from your child.
Laugh and enjoy the interactions.
You can find the handouts here.
In supporting the well-being aspect of our fifth NPDL project, ‘Be My Best’, we are in consultation with Dr Rick Smith and his therapy dog Tucker who are planning on making a visit to our JCSRS community. An eNotice will be shared next week with further details. For students (and staff) who may find this too challenging, there will be an opportunity to opt out.
For more details, check out Dr Smith’s website.