Jan 9, 2026

January 9, 2026

Dear Parents

Welcome back to school and a Happy New Year!

The new year is always a time when people look back at what happened last year and make resolutions to do better, get healthier or get fitter than before. Often though, our resolutions fail as we often set ourselves unrealistic goals or try to be someone we are not.

At school, we are always setting goals – or as we call them “Learning objectives”. These are the targets we expect each child to reach, whether it is being able to use scissors to cut on a line, being able to make a pattern, to be able to retell a story or to be able to write letters with the correct formation, but these are goals all children can reach at a developmentally appropriate time. All our learning activities have expectations and teachers observe your child and how your child learns and plays in school. It is the process of learning a child goes through to complete a task that is important, the outcome or what a piece of artwork looks like is less important. Therefore, we encourage your child to learn how to listen to and follow instructions, think for themselves, and think about what they are doing. They are learning how to learn, how to focus and how to relate to others.

We are always encouraging parents, grandparents and domestic helpers to allow your child to do things for themselves as far as possible. Being independent in their life skills such as putting on and off their own shoes and jacket, feeding themselves and tidying up their own toys after playing helps your child to be more independent in their learning.

As we move into semester 2, we are also encouraging your child to develop their language skills. Our teachers are already noticing that the R1s are more talkative than before Christmas. We hope to further develop their English vocabulary and fluency. We encourage you to speak English and read English stories at home too on a regular basis. Talking about what you see in the world around you whether you are at home, going out somewhere or travelling is a great way to develop language. Ask your child open questions “What can you see?” “What are they doing?” and “Why do you think...?” allows your child to share their own thoughts and ideas and will help your child develop their language skills. Children need to hear English to be able to learn new vocabulary and grammar structures. Only speaking English at school in a three-hour school program is not sufficient to develop sufficient language skills for learning in English.

Blessings,

Gillian Wu

Kindergarten Assistant Principal

Important Dates for Jan & Feb 2026

Jan 9 (Fri) - Deadline of Re-Enrollment
Jan 30 (Fri) & Feb 2 (Mon) - Professional Development days (No School)
Feb 16 to 20 (Mon - Fri) - Chinese New Year Break (No School)
Feb 21 (Sat) - Classes Resume

If a different adult is coming to pick up your child from school, please notify the Kindergarten Office giving us their full name, Hong Kong Identity card number and their telephone number.

All people coming to pick up your child must:

Be on the authorized list on PowerSchool i.e. a parent has given us permission to release their child to that person.
Bring the purple pick-up card (original card, photographs will not be accepted).
In absence of the pick-up card, for persons we do not recognize we will either - check their Hong Kong Identity Card or call the phone number you have given us.
If we are unsure of the identity of the person picking up your child, we will check their identity.
If the person is not listed on PowerSchool, and you have not informed us, we will call parents to confirm.
If your child usually takes the bus home and changes to being picked up from school, please notify us. Please ensure that the person coming to school is on our authorized list. If in doubt, please give us their name

If you change or employ a new Domestic Helper, please remove your previous helper or add a new helper to the pick-up contacts on PowerSchool.

Parents, be empowered and equipped with the knowledge and resources you need to support your child's growth and success. This page provides resources, and we hope to help parents navigate the challenges of parenting and support your child's overall well-being. Make sure to check out our parent page HERE!

If your child is sick, please keep your child at home to rest and recover and notify the school by completing the relevant e-collect form on PowerSchool of:

Your child’s absence / number of days your child is likely to be off school
Your child’s body temperature (please state actual temperature, not just “has a fever”)
Once recovering from a fever (38C or above), please let us know the day and time your child’s fever subsided without medication. If you do not specify a time, we will use the time from your email. We can then specify how soon your child may return to school (48 hours after fever subsided).
Your child’s symptoms (not just “unwell”).

If your child has Chickenpox, Hand Foot and Mouth or other notifiable disease - please send in a doctor’s note confirming diagnosis. We also require a doctor’s note stating that your child is fit to return to school.

Red Eyes—conjunctivitis can be very infectious. If your child has red eyes, please give us a doctor’s note stating that your child is not infectious before they can come to school.

Department of Health requirements state that if a child has a fever (38C or above), or repeated diarrhea they need to stay home for at least 48 hours after the symptoms have subsided (without medication).

Even though your child’s fever may have gone, a child may still have a runny nose or bad cough and are not fit to return to school. Please keep them at home to rest.

Please do not send your child to school if they are still taking medication following an illness. The medicine may make your child sleepy and they still need time to recover and rest at home.

If your child has recovered but still has a mild cough (not chesty or coughing up phlegm), they may return to school but should wear a face mask.

International Christian School – Kindergarten

852-3156-1234 | kindergarten@ics.edu.hk | G/F, Kam Ho House (Block H), Kam Fung Court, Ma On Shan, N.T., Hong Kong

Page updated

Report abuse