11 May
- For this Week
- Primary School K2- Y1 Transition Visits
- Planning for the New Academic Year
- LET Role & ELSA Training
- (Weather Days) Online Learning Protocol Reminder
- New ESF Policy on Vape
- ESF School Enhancement Review (SER)
- Staff Calendar
Morning all, thank you in advance for your support and flexibility in accommodating all the visitors, even one of the children said to a primary colleague, "You're visiting again??" (Although, it was a different teacher from a different school 😂)
Tuesday:
- Fire Drill (fingers crossed for good weather)
Wednesday:
- Staff Lunch Meeting
- Tuesday: BS
- Wednesday: BS
- Friday: CWBS (PM) + QBS Kindergarten (K1 transfers, all day)
Thank you for continuing to support these important transition experiences for our children.
As you know, we are currently recruiting for EAs, which has prompted us to begin thinking ahead to next year’s class teams.
At this stage, we are leaning towards keeping year group teams largely the same. As many teams were newly formed this year and faced some changes due to leave, there is still value in allowing more time to strengthen ways of working together.
We are also mindful of colleagues returning from maternity leave and new staff joining.
A degree of consistency across the school will help support a smoother transition. That said, we anticipate some movement and are very open to your thoughts—please feel free to come and chat with us.
Our aim is to balance strengths across the school.
An ELSA works with individual or small groups of children in a proactive way to raise self-awareness and increase positive coping strategies. Specific areas to be targeted may include recognising and labelling emotions, self-esteem, managing anger, social skills and friendships.
Each session is planned in advance by the ELSA and includes a variety of engaging activities. The initial six-day training is delivered by our highly experienced ESF Educational Psychologists. After completion, we expect you to run ELSA sessions within our school, with additional support through ELSA Plus for ongoing professional development and termly group supervision with the EP team (all ELSAs are encouraged to attend).
Please watch a fun video from the “Meet Our Amazing ELSAs” series (from a few years ago).
We would like to identify staff who are interested in attending the ELSA training next year. Please reach out to Laura if you are interested. We also welcome you to speak with Laura or any of our current trained ELSAs if you have questions about the program.
LET Role
With recent staff changes and ongoing recruitment needs, we would like to plan ahead for our Learning Enhancement Team (LET) role. We truly value the additional, personalised adjustments made to support all children in your classes to be successful, and we are proud of the universal supports offered in every class that help our children thrive.
While we do not have an official learning support department, we have a dedicated and wonderful LET team who provide push-in support, run ELSA sessions, and create visuals and social stories - among many other forms of support. Although the LET role is officially a floater/cover position, we have been working creatively on how best to support the range of needs across all classes and personalise learning support for students who require it.
If you are interested in the LET role, please email us your expression of interest. We would then invite you to respond to a simple question as part of the selection process to help determine who is best suited for the position.
As we enter rainstorm and typhoon season, a quick reminder regarding online learning.
- Our approach is to keep things simple, flexible, and aligned with ESF expectations around continuity of learning during closures.
- There may be occasions where individual teachers need to prioritise the safety of their own families or homes, and sessions may be paused
Thank you for your understanding and flexibility during these situations.
Key elements include:
- SLT communication: Weather alert and holding message sent early
- Live (synchronous) Zoom touchpoints led by class teams (e.g. circle time, story)
- Home learning shared by class teachers via a slide deck (Weather Day Online Learning Template)
- Chinese sessions led by Chinese teachers on non-contact days
- Up to three sessions/recordings to support engagement
Suggestion:
It may be helpful to pre-record your stories/circle times as backup, in case live Zooms are not possible on the day. Please reach out to SLT if you prefer to pre-record and cover times.
Please also refer to:
- ESF Inclement Weather Policy
- ESF Expectations for Online Learning
- Previous DL Framework (HSK Tiered Arrangements)
You may have seen that the Hong Kong Government has recently significantly tightened the regulations regarding Alternative Smoking Products, more commonly known as vapes. These new rules came into force with immediate effect, so we need to make some changes at our school.
Our current ESF policy, which is now being amended, allowed staff to bring vapes onto the school site provided they were kept out of sight at all times. It also allowed staff to leave the school premises to use their vape during school hours. Both of these practices are now illegal under Hong Kong Law.
In order to keep everyone safe and within the law, we are making the following operational changes from today:
No Devices On-Site: Staff can no longer bring any ASP devices, e-liquids, or related paraphernalia onto ESF school grounds or into ESF offices. They may no longer keep these devices in their personal bags, pockets, or desks. The mere presence of these items on our premises is now a legal liability.
No Off-Site Vaping: Staff can no longer step off-site into public spaces outside the school gates to vape. Possessing or using an ASP in any public space is now a criminal offence.
To be clear, the use and possession of vapes is now illegal, and anyone breaching the law faces significant fines or even a custodial sentence. The new regulations state that minor possession (5 units of capsules/5mL of e-liquid or less) incurs an immediate $3000 fixed penalty, while major possession results in criminal prosecution (up to $50,000 fine and six months’ imprisonment).
This would also, potentially, be a disciplinary matter for any of our staff who are found to have broken Hong Kong law.
Reviewer Training Opportunity
Following this year’s successful SER visits, ESF is now planning for 2026/27 reviews.
- 28 places available across review teams
- Open to Principals, VPs, Middle Leaders, and experienced teachers
- Training date: Monday, 8 June (in person)
Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested — spaces will be limited.
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 2025/26 Calendar.
Thank you!
