23 April 2021
Jockey Club Sarah Roe School’s latest newsletter is available to read now. Find out the latest news around the school and upcoming events.
Principal’s Message
Curriculum Update – Term 3
Invitation to Info Session at Dignity Kitchen HK
Total Communication at JCSRS
Dear all,
It is really good to see all students and staff coming back to school looking very refreshed after the break. Thank you to all that shared their holiday photos as it was really nice to see that people are making the most of their time with family and friends.
The first two weeks back at school were very productive with lots of new learning taking place. Students continued exploring the topic ‘’We are the World’’ in preparation for the World Around Us Art Exhibition.
Teachers and therapists were busy designing and planning our new curriculum. We want our curriculum to provide our students with adaptive and adjustable pathways to success which will prepare them for their next stage in education or life. Our new curriculum is still at the development stage but we are very excited to share some of that work with you. You can read more about it below.
The ESF draft calendar has been set for next academic year, and is available on the ESF website, linked here. Please note that this still needs to go through Hong Kong government gazetting for 2022, to confirm public holidays, which is typically completed in May. In addition, two CPD Days for JCSRS staff have yet to be added in. When this is completed, the final JCSRS calendar for 2021-22 will be shared with parents.
I also want to let you know that unfortunately our school hall will be closed until the end of this term. This is due to the floorboards in different sections of the hall buckling, and lifting and breaking. The damage is so extensive that now the whole floor will need to be replaced and it will take place over the summer holiday. I want to say thank you to our colleagues in KGV and KJS for offering their PE spaces and to Mike Watson, our PE teacher, for being very innovative in the use of the available space to make sure all students can still have weekly PE lessons.
Warm regards,
Anna
Curriculum Review
We are coming to the end of the 3-year cycle for our current curriculum units. The last few months have been devoted to exploring new ways of working and structuring the learning opportunities for students. You may recall that during the first parent-teacher meetings earlier this year, teachers asked about your aspirations for your son or daughter. This was part of our journey to reassess what we truly value for our students as a community. Since then, we have started plotting out the learning that will help our students reach those aspirations.
We have identified 5 strands that are a part of everything we do and our students are learning across these areas. Therapy will be integrated within all five strands. Within these strands the curriculum is split into different subjects.
The above strands are important to all learners at JCSRS but the content, subjects and balance between them depends on the age and stage of development. We are developing specific curricular pathways for our diverse learners around these 5 strands to ensure personalised learning. We will be introducing some new subjects to ensure students have a broad and comprehensive learning experience.
Teaching and Learning in Term 3
The theme for this term is ‘Express Yourself’ and students will be learning about this through multiple modes including written and verbal expressions, emotions and creative arts. This term, we are introducing ‘Travel Training’ which is a new element to support Independence (a new subject in I live strand). At school we will be looking at travelling independently or with support around the school. Some classes will explore road safety around the campus and in some of the surrounding suburban area of Homantin. Please look out for follow-up practice that you can do at home to support this work.
We are continuing to plan our new curriculum framework for next year. We will share the complete details of this at the beginning of the next school year.
Karen Carmody
Lead Teacher – Curriculum
In our commitment to build partnerships with Hong Kong agencies who provide vocational or workplace opportunities for our students following graduation from JCSRS, we would like to invite interested parents to attend an information session at Dignity Kitchen – a social enterprise hawker style restaurant in Mong Kok employing young people with disabilities.
Please refer to this article for further information about the restaurant.
Date: Friday May 7th, 2021
Time: 2.30pm – 3.30pm
Venue: Dignity Kitchen 2/F, 618 Shanghai St, Mong Kok
The target audience is parents/carers of students aged 16 and above.
Due to CHP restrictions, numbers are limited so please indicate your expression of interest via this signup.
For any questions please contact Belinda McLaughlin.
High Expectations for AAC Users:
