20 January

  • For this Week
  • Lion and Dragon Dance @ Bradbury
  • Early Years Connect - January issue
  • Zoom Downgrades
  • ESF Impact Walks [Action Required]
  • Workplace Period Care Survey [Action Required]
  • ESF All-Staff Conference (ASC) 2025
  • Staff Calendar

Morning all!

For this Week

Tuesday & Wednesday: School Photos

Tuesday: Staff Meeting (Ed Tech)

Thursday: Lion Dance @ Bradbury, Festive Dress Up

Friday: Dress Down Day


Lion and Dragon Dance @ Bradbury

We will be going to Bradbury School Hall to watch their lion and dragon dance on 23 January at these times:

AM: 11:00-11:20

PM: 1:30-1:50

Directions: Back staircase corridor leading to Bradbury's undercover area; take the stairs up, through their lobby and into the hall. All classes will be sitting on the levelled benches.

During the morning session, we will also have ESF Chinese Advisor Tina Tian do the "eye dotting" ceremony for the performance. Children will be invited to dress in LNY costumes or festive colours, and you are welcome to dress for the occasion too!


Early Years Connect - January issue

A lot of momentum and hands-on explorations this month including:

  • Reflections on ESF's first Early Years Phase Leaders meeting - mindset shifts and the role of the child
  • Is Conflict a Form of Connection?
  • Six Bricks - using Duplo to support children's memory, movement, and creativity 
  • A tidbit of wisdom from Dr Becky Kennedy

 Check out the January issue here.


Zoom Downgrades

As our ESF integrates systems with Google and Microsoft, we are encouraged to use Google Meet or Microsoft Team for online meetings. Therefore, our Zoom account will soon be downgraded to a free licence.

The good news is that we can still use Zoom for meetings up to 40 minutes, so this change won't affect our Parent-Teacher Conferences. We are currently negotiating for admin licences that will allow for longer meetings or webinars, and I will keep you updated on this progress.


ESF Impact Walks [Action Required - Volunteers!]

ESFC has introduced Impact Walks as part of the new School Enhancement framework, and we’ve been paired with Bradbury School. Volunteers are needed, PLEASE!

 

Purpose:

  • Provide the host school with an external lens and evidence to validate the implementation progress of a current enhancement initiative.

  • Provide evidence regarding focused observations and conversations in classrooms, staff rooms, hallways and playgrounds

  • Deepen understanding and appreciation across both host and visiting schools regarding the range and depth of our school enhancement initiatives.

  • Build trust and openness across schools through a structured, transparent, and collaborative learning process.


Organisation:

  • A member of the ESF Education Team facilitates the Impact Walk process with each Host school.

  • The Impact Walks would usually take a maximum of 3 hours to complete, which includes the introduction and orientation meeting, the learning walk, and the feedback/debrief.

  • The observing school would include four observers (two pairs), with at least one member being an SLT member (Principal/VP) and the other three consisting of any combination of educators (teams can include one EA). 


Workplace Period Care Survey [Action Required]

The LUUNA team would love your help with a short survey (<1 min) exploring how access to period care impacts employee wellbeing, absenteeism, and engagement. We kindly ask you to complete it and share it with your team by Friday, 24 January —the more responses, the better!


Survey Link: https://bit.ly/luuna-workplace-survey-1


ESF All-Staff Conference (ASC) 2025

Background

The ASC will take place on Monday, 3 February, 2025. This is the first time in our history that we have had all ESF staff in one place at the same time. We are expecting 2700 colleagues to attend for the full day. Official Page HERE


Shape of the Day

The day is intended to be celebratory and light in tone, while still maintaining a sense of seriousness when it comes to introducing the main elements of the strategic plan for 2030. While, by its nature, the focus will be on our core business - educating students - it will also very much be a celebration of all our people and the role that they play: teaching and non-teaching, support and site staff. It will be in four main sections:


Key Messages

  • This is not a CPD Day - it is an event designed to bring the organisation together, to celebrate who we are and what we do and to look ahead to what our future holds

  • The event is for everyone - all of our colleagues should be able to take something from the event. It won't just be about teaching practice, it will be about what we can all do to contribute


Plan Ahead

  • You will receive an ESF lanyard in advance, so don’t forget to bring it on the day. 

  • You might also want to plan ahead for lunch as all 2700 colleagues will be looking for somewhere to eat. We’re not allowed to eat at the venue, but if the weather is nice, people might want to sit outside by the waterfront.

  • Bring your own water bottle. There will be water stations.

Upcoming Dates
Please check our internal calendar below. We might forget to remind everyone of odd dates. We will continue to add events as soon as they're confirmed. Here's the full 2024/25 Calendar and DRAFT 2025/26 Calendar.

Thank you!