22 October 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
School Improvement Update
Halloween Dress Up Day
Walkathon
Wellbeing – Yoga
Total Communication at JCSRS
PE – Sailing
Diversity – Celebrating and Supporting
Health Monitoring
Dear all,
Our mission is to develop awareness of diversity by working in partnership with the wider ESF community to positively influence and inspire others.
We believe that by developing partnerships with our ESF colleagues we will expand and strengthen the education learning journey for all students. Strong partnerships allow the school to optimise outcomes for students by:
- Supporting transitions
- Developing pedagogical approaches and the school provision
- Ensuring consistent and improved communication and community engagement
We have invited all ESF colleagues to visit our school and during our first Open Day we have hosted teachers, EPs and ESFC staff, to name just a few. Due to a high demand for school visits we will be hosting the next Open Day next week, with other events planned in the near future.
I would like to thank all students and staff for their involvement and support for this first successful JCSRS Open Day. All of us were working together to showcase the very best of what we do each and every day with the young people in our care. We know we have a great school and, judging by the significant interest to visit our school this year, our ESF colleagues want to get to know us better and learn from us.
So many ESF staff who visited our school spoke so highly of the new curriculum but most importantly of positive culture and atmosphere across the school and the very positive interactions they had with all students and staff; a huge thank you goes to all staff for doing what they do day in and out – providing the best education for our students.
Open Days are also a good way to strengthen our partnerships with colleagues to create future ACCESS opportunities. Kelly Thorp, our ACCESS leader, had been working hard over the last few weeks to reestablish the links with our mainstream partners to enhance the learning for these students that need it most.
Staff update
We would like to welcome our new Central Procurement Coordinator Karen Kan, who will take over the day to day bus management.
If your child is using the bus service to make their way to school, please use the new email address schoolbus@jcsrs.edu.hk to contact the school about any bus related matters.
Sadly on 5th of November we will be saying goodbye to our school nurse Christine Cheung, who is relocating with her family to Canada. For the last nine years Christine has played an integral role in keeping our students safe and healthy and she will be greatly missed by us all. I would like to wish Christine the best of success in her new endeavours.
For a few weeks we will have a supply nurse at school while we are waiting for our new school nurse, Tilly Brewin, to take the post on 22nd of November.
Save the date
- Parents and staff are invited to attend the PTA Annual General Meeting on Monday 25th of October at 5.15pm. If you want to attend in person please remember to fill in the Google form sent to all via the ESF App.
- We are in the process of planning the whole school Walkathon on 10th of November and Sports Day on 17th of November. Both events will look different this year as we are not able to invite parents to take part but we are committed to creating these important community events to enhance the learning of our students.
- Our next parent consultations will take place on 23rd and 24th of November.
Please continue reading to find out more about our new curriculum project, Walkathon and other exciting things happening in our community.
Warm regards,
Anna
Priority Area: Curriculum – NPDL Project
New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL)
At JCSRS we use a framework called New Pedagogies for Deep Learning or ‘NPDL’ to help us design learning experiences with real impact on learners and to develop six Global Competencies. For the remainder of this term all students will be participating in a whole school NPDL project to deepen student understanding around ‘What does it mean to give and receive?’
Curriculum focus areas will include: Literacy, Expressive Art and ‘The World around Us’. Students will be engaging in learning tasks at an individual, community or global level best suited to their learning needs.
Classes have been grouped into 3 project clusters. These class groups will explore giving and receiving in multiple ways across many subject areas. Some students will be exploring the cultural aspects of gift giving and celebrations while others will think about how we can give and receive in the school and wider community. We are delighted to have the expert dance instructors from Move For Life back to support our unit on dance linked to the NPDL project.
The culmination of this project will be a showcase of our learning in December through a whole-school Christmas performance. By building the Christmas Show from our learning, the students will deepen their understanding of the ideas that we are exploring this term and develop the global competency of Collaboration.
Your child’s class teacher will keep you updated in the coming weeks of the planned learning engagements.
Students are invited to dress up in costume on Friday 29th October to celebrate Halloween. Dressing up is a fun way to celebrate this event and is optional.
Some of the younger students will participate in ‘Trick or Treating’ with non-food items in school as part of our NPDL project looking at the ways that people give and receive during celebrations.
In strengthening student learning around ‘giving and receiving’ we are pleased to announce that the JCSRS walkathon is back in our school calendar for 10th November.
The walkathon is a sponsored fundraising event during which students will walk around the Perth Street Sports Ground as many times as they can within a 45-minute time limit. A sponsorship form will be sent home with your child. Our JCSRS Student Council will be leading the direction of the raised donations.
Students should wear their PE uniform on the day. They will also need to bring a bottle of water, sunscreen and a hat.
Please note this event is for students only. Due to health and safety requirements parents/carers are not able to attend. You can support by talking to your child at home about what it means to give and receive and how their actions (sponsored walking) will contribute to a common goal.
Walkathon memory from 2019.
As part of Citizenship, throughout the year we are focusing on Wellbeing and integrating copying and calming strategies to support mindfulness and co-regulation. In partnership with the Yama Foundation we are able to offer weekly yoga sessions to three classes (Pearl, Emerald and Diamond).
The Yama Foundation is a registered charity and their mission is to provide equitable access to yoga, arts and meditation services to Hong Kong’s most vulnerable communities, so that they can develop the self-acceptance and self-reliance to improve their quality of life, and positively contribute to the world. You can find out more about them and their upcoming events by clicking on this link.
Let’s review how we advocate for our AAC learners at JCSRS.
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We adopt a Total Communication approach at JCSRS. This means that students can communicate in any way they can using a number of modes of communication such as signed, oral, auditory, written and visual aids, depending on their particular needs and abilities.
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One of the key areas in supporting student communication is using AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication). Students with existing verbal abilities and students with no verbal abilities can both benefit from becoming AAC learners.
AAC provides opportunities for students to reach their highest language potential for comprehension and expression. It assists in developing cognitive, social and academic abilities through using effective communication and reduces behaviour problems that may arise from frustrations at not being able to communicate successfully. Using AAC increases their quality of life through being able to express messages to people around them and participate in daily activities and in the community.
We use AAC to provide each student with a voice.
Hebe Haven 24-Hour Sailing Event
Good luck to all our sailors taking part in the Hebe Haven 24hr dinghy race.
Here is a run down of who will be on the water when:
Saturday 30th October
- Aadi 2pm
- Boris and Romalyn 4-6pm
- Leo and Joel Sat 8-10pm
Sunday 31st October
- Nick and IMei 6-8am
- Sze Yan 10am
Feel free to pop down and show your support. You can access further information about the event at this link.
Mike Watson
PE Teacher
JCSRS is committed to raising awareness of inclusion. We aim to create an environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and are accepted for who they are.
We would like to introduce a brother of one of our students who has been working on an organisation and website to showcase the talents of people with autism.
“Hi, I’m Alex Lee, founder of Andy Autism Individuality (AAI). AAI was inspired by my little brother Andrew (nicknamed Andy) who is severely autistic and attends ESF Jockey Club Sarah Roe School in Hong Kong. My main goal in starting AAI is to raise awareness of autism and mental disabilities, and to fight ignorance and discrimination against anyone with special needs.
As a platform to showcase the talents of people with autism, I want to show that autistic people have many hidden talents that may not be immediately obvious when you meet them. For example, Andrew can create and sing original tunes even though he has limited language skills.
So if you or a loved one with special needs have hobbies like sports, music, art or really anything you/they enjoy doing, please reach out to me and I will do my very best to feature all of your talents on the website. Please include a short description of the talent, and a picture with your submissions– that will help the readers understand that these talents are real people.
All talents are welcome. In fact, we have a talent who specialises in filming elevators. So don’t think you are limited to so called ‘normal’ hobbies. Also, I would appreciate any comments and suggestions to help spread the message and improve the organisation as I build the community. Thanks! Please send me an email to alexsuffolk2015@gmail.com if you would like to feature ”
We would like to remind everyone that we have to maintain vigilance against respiratory tract infection at school.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has recently received increased reports of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) outbreaks in schools.
Please remember that students should only attend school if they are feeling well.
Students with a fever of >37.5˚C forehead skin temperature, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezes, sore throat, coughs, headaches, muscle aches, or generalised malaise should rest at home and not be sent to school. If a student develops any of these symptoms while at school, the parent/guardian will be asked to pick the student up from school and it is recommended by CHP that the student seek medical advice immediately.
The CHP has adopted the most stringent precautionary measures under which a school will be required to suspend all classes or relevant levels immediately for five days if an outbreak of URTI or other respiratory infections in the school is established. The school concerned will also be included in a compulsory testing notice, under which staff and students of the school will be required to undergo a COVID-19 testing.
Please continue to let us know if your child is ill by emailing our Nurse Christine (christine.cheung(at)jcsrs.edu.hk) with a description of symptoms. Also, if your child has seen a doctor and been confirmed with an illness, please send a copy of the doctor’s note.
Thank you for your support on this matter.
