9 Mar 2018

9 March 2018

Jockey Club Sarah Roe School’s latest newsletter is available to read now. Find out the latest news around the school and upcoming events.

ESF 50th Anniversary Carnival // 17.March.2018

General arrangements & time for We All 7

Principal’s Message

Even though our Chinese New Year celebrations were a little later than expected we enjoyed it just as much. Thanks to the therapy team for providing fun, challenging and colourful activities that helped us welcome the Year of the Dog. Thanks also to Steph Wong and her patient and friendly dog Mush for joining in. Here are a few photos but please go to the photo gallery on our website for many, many more.

On Monday we will thank our Occupational Therapist Laurena Chen for the many years of service at JCSRS. Laurena will leave us at the end of this term knowing she has made a real difference to the lives of many students, their families and to our school. We wish Laurena all the very best for her future career and know she will stay in touch with the JCSRS ‘family’.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter teachers and therapists have been working together to assess student learning and write mid-year reports. All parents have access to the reports, the updated IEPs and the portfolios of work on the VLE. We have sent emails to notify you that the information is available and how to access the VLE. We note that only a small number of parents have viewed the information. We understand that this is a new way to communicate this information to you and we are keen to ensure you have easy access. Please don’t hesitate to contact us (Carol Li is our Head of Learning Technologies) if you need help. Mid-year parent meetings are optional. Thank you to the parents who organised meetings and shared feedback with us.

Next week is camp for secondary students. This year we will go to Outward Bound for the first time and I know that Mike (with Jenny’s support) has worked tirelessly to ensure this will be a wonderful learning opportunity for all. The staff at Outward Bound have visited us on several occasions and are committed to a successful camp. I am very much looking forward to joining the kayaking group on Wednesday. Thank you families for supporting this excellent event. Plenty of photos in the next newsletter.

At our regular Friday assemblies we celebrate student learning around specific behaviours related to our curriculum and Essential Elements. Last assembly we focused on students who demonstrated being ‘Courageous’ (trying new things and accepting changes and challenges. Taking risks in their learning and striving for independence). Today we focused on ‘Being Caring’. We display our award winners in the corridor. Congratulations to our award winners.

This is our second year to hold the ‘Siblings Day’ event at JCSRS. Following the excellent feedback from last year we have expanded the day to include siblings from a number of ESF schools. It’s a very special day that reminds us of the importance of sibling bonds and the joy that is shared on many levels. Again we had some delightful (and quite moving) feedback from the students involved. This was also an excellent opportunity for our School Council members (with their KGV mentors) to demonstrate their leadership on this day. Thank you Kelly, Karen and Jenny for leading the organisation of the day. Remember there are plenty more photos in the photo gallery.

This weekend a number of families will go to Disneyland with tickets acquired by the PTA. This is a special treat and I know it is greatly appreciated. We look forward to sharing photos in the next newsletter and a big thanks to David Dickhudt and the PTA.

Today was our last hike of the term and what a splendid day it was to be on the Dragon’s Back trail. Super clear views and perfect temperature. Another group enjoyed walking (and wheeling) near Repulse Bay. Thanks Carol for coordinating these outings.

In preparation for our next unit of work in term 3 that has a sustainability focus we are collecting plastic bottle caps to create a new mural for out corridors. You can help us by doing this at home and sending the tops in with your son/daughter when you can. This is an exciting project and I look forward to sharing the results with you later in the year.

Today at assembly we were very proud to pass on a cheque ($9,250) to Adrienne from Masarang. This was the money we raised at our Walkathon earlier in the school year. Click on the link to see an article about us on the Masarang website. They do a wonderful job helping local communities with sustainable projects. The other half of the money went to ‘Feeding Hong Kong’.

JCSRS Article on Masarang HK Website

You will all have received an email from ESF about the survey. We greatly appreciate your feedback, particularly this year as we will be busy drafting our 2018-2021 Strategic Plan on Friday 23rd March. This is a good time to remind you that there is no school for students on this day. The survey is open until Monday 12th March.

Karin

Dates for your Diary

ESF survey closes Monday 12th March

Secondary Camp – 13-15 March

CPD day for staff (no school for students) – Friday 23 March

Last day of term two -Thursday 29 March

Showcase – Pearl

Since the start of term two, Pearl Class has been exposing to a series of educational and fun experience. In the unit “Signs, symbols and signals”, we have been exploring a variety of symbols and signs in our school environment and other communities. The educational visit to the Festival Walk shopping mall is one of the highlights. Students have participated in symbol hunt and enjoyed taking photos of different signs and symbols at Festival Walk. They have had great fun riding on the train from Mong Kok East to Festival Walk too.

The Chinese New year celebration is another highlight of the term. Students have produced some beautiful Chinese New Year decorations for the staff and their families. Creativity and enthusiasm are evidenced in their lovely works. On the Chinese New Year celebration day, they looked gorgeous in their Chinese New Year costumes. They have participated actively in a variety of Chinese New year activities in the hall. They all showed a big smile when getting the red packets from Karin.

Pearl Class is now working very hard on the artwork for the Art Exhibition 2018. Looking forward to sharing with you our masterpieces soon.

Heidi

Pearl Class Teacher

Siblings Day

What a wonderful day we had at Siblings Day yesterday. It was fantastic to have siblings from a range of ESF secondary schools come to spend the morning or afternoon at JCSRS. The day began with a tour of the school which was led by the JCSRS student council and support by our KGV student reps, the tours were designed by JCSRS students and they were full of enthusiasm taking the groups around. Students had an opportunity to spend time in class eating lunch with their siblings and meeting class teachers and friends, they also had a chance to spend playtime with their brother/sister. We had a range of activities organised throughout the day including a session in the art room for sensory and messy play, a session in the multi sensory room and a session in the sensory integration room – it was a lot of fun.

Finally JCSRS students returned to class and their siblings had an opportunity to have a light snack and chat with their new friends, we held a very valuable feedback session where students talked about their siblings greatest strengths, things that surprised them during the day, the best part of the day and an opportunity to ask questions. A number of students were keen to be involved in volunteering or supporting events e.g. sports day, many were surprised that the school was so small but had some amazing facilities, there were some wonderful comments about staff and students and all were excited and happy to be spending the day with their siblings.