Dear Parents,

It is the end of another busy week at Abacus. We hope the new schedule is working well for you. Please let us know any feedback you have around this.

Our parent conferences will run via Zoom from 22nd January until 29th January. The purpose of these conferences is to hear about your child's progress and ask any questions you may have about how to support learning.

The booking system will be opened on 16/01/2021 at 12pm. You can book an appointment with your class teacher via the ESF app. To book an appointment please follow these steps:

• Click on Moodle VLE within the app
• Scroll down to Make/check teacher appointments
• Click on 22/01/2021 K1/K2 Parent Conferences and then select your preferred date and time.

Please let us know if you have any issues booking as this is a new system for us.

Kind Regards,

Frances Hurley

Dear Parents

ESF is currently planning next year's school calendar and considering making possible changes, due to the impact on travel caused by COVID-19. None of us know what the future direction of travel will be. However we understand the impact that restricted travel has had on the wellbeing of our students, staff and families. That is why we want to consider what can be done to make it better for everyone.

As key stakeholders, please tell us what adjustments to the school holidays might make 2021-2022 better for your family plans. Our intention is to design a school calendar that takes stakeholder views into consideration, however we acknowledge that accommodating all preferences will be difficult. All feedback will be considered when planning ESF's next calendar for the school year August 2021 to June 2022.

The survey will take less than five minutes to complete and is confidential. A sample of the typical, DRAFT ESF calendar for 2021/2022 can be found at the top of the survey for reference. Thank you in advance for your participation in this process.

Please click below to complete the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/esf_calendar


Yours sincerely

English Schools Foundation

Dear Parents

I want to wish you all a happy New Year and send you my very best wishes for 2021.

This afternoon, the Hong Kong Government held a press conference about the current COVID-19 status and the impact of this on schools.

It was reported that although locally transmitted cases are slowing down, there is still a risk of rebound with clusters emerging. The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely for the next two weeks to see whether the holiday gatherings will result in a spike in the number of positive cases. Social distancing measures will remain in place until 20 January 2021.

Unfortunately, it was announced that all schools will remain closed for full-day face-to-face lessons until Chinese New Year.

However, as of 11 January 2021, schools (excluding kindergartens) will be able to have two half-day sessions of classes each day, for up to one-sixth of the school’s total capacity at any one time. However, students will not be able to attend face-to-face classes for the whole day. There will not be any face-to-face classes for children in kindergarten until further notice.

I appreciate this is not the news that any of us had hoped for. To start the year off with these restrictions is frustrating and I know you will be feeling this too. I want to thank you for your understanding and support and reassure you that we will do everything possible to ensure learning continues.

Schools are now working through the plans to maximise face-to-face learning inline with these new regulations. Online learning will continue and your child's school will be in touch with you in the next few days with specific information.

Belinda Greer
Chief Executive Officer