Year 2 Newsletter

The Year 2s have been busy exploring ways we can be healthy by making changes to our lifestyle.

We have spent a lot of time understanding what it means to be balanced and linking this to our own health and well-being. This week, we have been exploring more about foods and our diet, including looking at the different food groups, how much of each group we need in a day and the benefits of having these in our diets.

The children are now starting to reflect on the choices they are making in their everyday life and seeing the impact this can have on their health. We have been quite surprised by the amount of hidden sugars we find in different foods and are starting to understand the consequences this can have later on in life.

In the coming weeks, we will explore health, hygiene, exercise and well-being and how these factors can impact our lifestyle.

The end goal for the children is to understand that the choices they make can positively or negatively affect their lifestyle.

We are continuing to see an increased number of children who are not returning their books to school on their designated days. Please may we ask for your assistance in ensuring that the home readers and library books are packed into your child's bag ready to be returned to school in order for your child to change their books regularly.

A reminder of library days:

Tuesday - 2S

Wednesday - 2R 2B

Thursday - 2E

Friday - 2N

A reminder of days when home readers are changed:

2B, 2N & 2R - Mondays and Thursdays

2E & 2S - Tuesdays and Fridays

Next week will be swim safety week. All students will take part in this session whether they are swimming in the pool or not. For our students that are not swimming they will be taught aspects of swim safety separately and will not remove their face mask or get into the water.

For swim safety week, students need to bring in a big T-shirt to wear on swimming that day IN ADDITION to their usual swim kit. Only white or light coloured clothing will be permitted in the pool as dark colours react with the chlorine.

This is a big safety component to our swimming programme which happens in the Summer Term, where we introduce the students to what it feels like to be fully clothed when swimming. The children will also experience basic life saving techniques should they fall into a body of water.

Please note that at all times the children will be under strict supervision. The Aquakidz team are experienced and fully qualified teachers.

Additionally, if you opt for your child not to partake in swimming lessons, please can you email your child's teacher at the start of every week. This way, we can pass the information on to the swimming instructors so that they are aware of how many children will be swimming that day.

Forms inviting parents to sign up for the MMRV/MMR Immunisation were sent home on 13 September 2022. Please return ALL forms - consent AND refusal to your class teacher by Tuesday 20 September 2022.

The immunisation is scheduled to take place at school on 13 October 2022.

Water bottles

Due to the ongoing restrictions, we are unable to use the water fountains. We ask that the children bring in 2 water bottles to help ensure that they have enough water for the day.

Hats

As the weather continues to be hot and sunny (most days!) we ask that you ensure that your child has their Kennedy hat at school to use during their play times. This is a part of the school uniforms and will be checked on a regular basis.

Masks

Please ensure that you send one or two extra masks to school for your child. We are seeing a few children with broken masks and no replacements.

Reading Cards

Reading cards have now been sent home. Please remind your child to fill this in by writing the name of the book, the colour of the book, their reaction to it and a rating for how they feel they read.

As this unit is heavily focused around healthy eating, we are trying to encourage children to be more pro-active in deciding what they should have for their snack. We are now regularly getting the children to look at their snack and identify how many of the food groups they can spot and if they have enough of each to be considered a healthy and balanced meal. The Year 2 team would greatly appreciate if you could spend time at home discussing this with them and being mindful of the amount of sugary and fatty foods that the children are having in their snack boxes.

After school activities have begun for many children. Please remember to keep the Gateway updated and class teacher and PTA informed about the latest after school arrangements for your child/children. This will enable the school buses to depart promptly.

Here is a reminder of school procedures in the event of hoisting of weather warnings by the HK Observatory which is also available on the school website. https://www.kennedy.edu.hk/inclement-weather-procedures/