Parents

This has been a significant year for ESF.

A few months ago we launched our new strategy, our Vision for 2030. This document is so much more than the words on its pages. It is a way of working that, by identifying our key priority areas of Belonging, Engagement and Personalisation, will equip us to face an uncertain future with confidence. It will allow us to lead the change in education that this current technological revolution demands. Above all, it will ensure that we are ready to deliver on our promise to help your children be the best that they can be, regardless of what the future holds.

We also moved into our new permanent home in North Point. This is one of the most important developments in our near 60 year history. We now own our own headquarters - and what a strong signal that sends to the people of our city. From that world-class facility, we will be able to grow and develop and continue to support our schools as we deliver the very best for generations to come.

We are proud of the strong partnership that we have built with our parents. You know your children better than anyone and your unique insights can help us build that exciting future together.

That is why I am asking you to take part in our upcoming Stakeholder Survey, which will launch the week commencing 23 February.

In the survey, we will be asking you to tell us about your current experience as an ESF parent - and also asking you to tell us what we might do differently or better. This feedback is hugely important to us.

The survey will be emailed to you and is relatively short, it will take around ten minutes to complete. We will also be sending similar questionnaires to our staff and our students. Your responses will be anonymous - unless you choose to identify yourself. Once the survey period closes, we will collate and analyse the data and, of course, feed back to you what we have found.

ESF is a wonderful organisation that I am proud to lead. Thanks to the excellence of our staff, the passion and dedication of our students and, of course, the incredible support we receive from you, our parents, I believe that we are well placed to meet any challenge that may come our way.

As always, thank you for the faith and trust that you place in us.

Belinda Greer

Chief Executive 
English Schools Foundation 

Dear Parents, 

Tomorrow and Friday will be our school photograph day - K1 will be taken on Thursday and K2 on Friday. All children will have their individual and class photos taken by our school photographer, Peter. Please send your child to school as normal in their uniform. You will later be given the option to order the photos if you wish. 

Please get in touch if you have any further clarifying questions. 

Kind regards, 

Suzannah

Dear Families, 

Happy 2026 to you all! It is a pleasure to have our children back in school for the new term, reconnecting with their teachers and their classmates after the break. We are already looking forward to our celebrations for the Year of the Horse in February and are excited to join together as a community to celebrate. 

Your child's latest Unit report for Living Things is now available on the VLE/ESF App. I recommended that you airdrop or save a copy for your own records.

We have a busy Term 2 ahead of us. I'm including some key dates below for your reference, and more specific details for each will follow.

K2 School Photo Day Friday 6th February
Panda and Caterpillar Family Days 9th February
Giraffe and Ladybird Family Days 10th February
Elephants and Butterflies Family Days 11th Feb
Tigers and Bumblebee Family Days 12th Feb

Last day of school before CNY Friday 13th February
First Day back after CNY Monday 23rd February

K2 Parent Teacher Zoom Meetings from 9th-20th March (Sign Up Forms will be shared later this week)

In March, we will be inviting parents to sign up to volunteer as class storytellers. Alli will share the sign-ups for those next month. We will also be engaging in curriculum enrichment activities this term for K2, and we look forward to sharing the details with you. 

 Additionally, this term, we will be welcoming teams from other ESF schools to TYK as part of our commitment to building collaboration across the foundation and to begin the transition journey to ESF Primary Schools.

Best wishes, 
Suzannah

Dear Families, 

Happy 2026 to you all! It is a pleasure to have our children back in school for the new term, reconnecting with their teachers and their classmates after the break. We are already looking forward to our celebrations for the Year of the Horse in February and are excited to join together as a community to celebrate. 

Your child's latest Unit report for Transport is now available on the VLE/ESF App. I recommended that you airdrop or save a copy for your own records.

We have a busy Term 2 ahead of us. I'm including some key dates below for your reference, and more specific details for each will follow.

K1 School Photo Day Thursday 5th February
Pandas and Caterpillars Family Days 9th February
Giraffes and Ladybirds Family Days 10th February
Elephants and Butterflies Family Days 11th Feb
Tigers and Bumblebees Family Days 12th Feb

Last day of school before CNY Friday 13th February
First Day back after CNY Monday 23rd February

K1 Parent Teacher Zoom Meetings from 2nd-20th March (Sign Up Forms will be shared later this week)

In March, we will be inviting parents to sign up to volunteer as class storytellers. Alli will share the sign-ups for those next month. We will also be engaging in curriculum enrichment activities this term for both K1, and we look forward to sharing the details with you. 

 Additionally, this term, we will be welcoming teams from other ESF schools to TYK as part of our commitment to building collaboration across the foundation.

Best Wishes, 
Suzannah

Dear Parents,

Keeping your child safe is our top priority at ESF.

I would like to share our Safeguarding and Child Protection Brochure with you. This document explains how we work to protect your children from harm.

You may be aware that Hong Kong has introduced a new law regarding child protection. As of 20 January 2026, our teachers and staff are legally required to report serious safety concerns to the authorities. We view this as a positive step to ensure children's safety, and all our staff have been trained on this new law.

We want to work closely with you to keep your child safe.

If you ever have a worry or concern, no matter how small, please come and speak to us. It doesn't have to be about a major incident; it could simply be a feeling you have or something you are unsure about.

You can speak with your school's Principal, or contact your school's Child Protection Officers directly. Please visit your school's website and go to the "What we stand for" section. You can find their contact details there.

Our doors are always open to you.

Sincerely,

Mark Blackshaw

Director of Education
English Schools Foundation 
 

Dear Parents,

Following the distressing news of the fire in Tai Po, we are writing to share how we are supporting children and to offer advice for the days ahead. Whenever a tragedy like this occurs, young children can feel confused or frightened. They will naturally look to adults for information and guidance on how to react.

How the School is Responding

Our priority is to help children by establishing a sense of safety and security. We understand that for many children, they will be aware of the event but will not be impacted by it. However, recognising the significance of the event, we want to inform you about the steps we are taking as a school community.

• Safety and Routine: We are maintaining a structured and stable environment within the school. Staying in a normal routine with friends and teachers helps children regain a sense of normality.

• Emotional Support: Our school staff will be available to speak with any students who need additional support or ask questions.

How You Can Help at Home

• Model Calm: Children take their emotional cues from the significant adults in their lives. Try to avoid appearing anxious or frightened, but it is okay to let your children know you are sad. You will be better able to support your child if you express your own emotions in a productive and calm manner.

• Remain Factual: Tell children the truth about the fire, but keep explanations developmentally appropriate. Do not embellish or speculate on what might happen next.

• Limit News Exposure: Restrict television and social media viewing of the event. Watching the same images repeatedly can be harmful. The news has been showing live streaming videos, which can contain disturbing images.

• Maintain Routines: Stick to your family's normal routine for dinner and bedtime as much as possible.

• Offer Comfort: Stay close to your children; they may want different ways to express their feelings, such as physical contact, creative activities, or longer bedtime routines.

• Validate Feelings: Acknowledge that it is okay to feel scared, worried, or sad, and think about ways you can help yourself feel better.

• Monitor Wellbeing: Watch for changes in behaviour, appetite, and sleep patterns, which can indicate anxiety. This can also mean your child is more withdrawn than usual.

If you have been directly affected by the fire, or if you notice your child showing anxiety or fear, please contact the school so we can support you and your family.

Kind regards,
Suzannah

Dear Parents, 

In line with the earlier message from our CEO, Belinda Greer, we will be making a change to the calendar. Monday, 23rd February, was originally scheduled as a professional learning day for staff, but will now be a school day. Children will be able to come to school as normal.  If you have already scheduled travel on that day, please let us know.

If you have any questions or comments about this change, please don't hesitate to contact me directly. 

Kind regards, 
Suzannah

Parents

I hope that you all had a great mid-term break and enjoyed the many wonderful activities that take place around Mid-Autumn Festival. It is such a magical time of year. As someone who has adopted Hong Kong as their home for more than a decade, it is a time of year that I look forward to immensely.

I wrote to you last after Super Typhon Ragasa had finally dissipated and moved on from us. It was an incredible few days, amongst a few months that have reminded us of the power and influence of Mother Nature.

I wanted to provide you with an update on what we have been doing since then. 

You will recall that I said that, in the face of what appears to be weather that is changing with each passing year, we were going to review areas such as how we deliver on-line learning. That work is progressing well and I hope to be in a position to let you know about the outcome in the coming weeks.

We have also taken this opportunity to broaden this work out. 

Our young people, your children, spend 500 weeks at school. This may sound like a lot but, as you know all too well, that time passes by at an incredibly fast pace. 

The key thing about those 500 weeks is, of course, that time only moves in one direction. We do not get the chance to go back and do things again. Every student has that set period of time in school - and it is our responsibility as teachers and leaders to make sure that we squeeze every bit of value out of every moment for every student.

While we have developed strong protocols for online learning - and these will be further strengthened by the work of our review - we all know that the optimal situation, for a whole host of reasons, is to have the students in school with their teachers and classmates.

So, we have decided that we need to look at ways in which we can both maximise the time our students have in school - and provide a consistent approach to areas that directly impact you, our families. So, we are going to be carrying out a review into the way in which we carry out activities such as the K2-Y1 transition and parent/teacher and three way conferences. 

Where we can streamline processes to get more time for our students to be in school, then that is what we will do.

We have also made a decision about the ESF-wide CPD day that is scheduled to take place towards the end of February. As you know, we place an incredible amount of importance in making sure that our staff have every opportunity to develop and enhance their skills. This is something that makes ESF stand out not just here in Hong Kong, but globally as well.

However, we recognise that this year has been truly exceptional in terms of the disruption we have faced due to the weather. In the past few months alone, there have been a total of eight days where our ability to conduct face-to-face learning has been disrupted for all or some of our schools. This is double what we saw last year.

So, in order to counter this exceptional situation, we are taking exceptional measures. The CPD day in February will revert back to being a teaching day - and our schools will be open to students. Your Principal will be in touch with you shortly to talk about the specifics of how that is going to happen. 

As always, I want to thank you for all of the support that you give to your school and to ESF. We are an exceptional organisation - and all of us know just how important the role that you play in helping us to do what we do: helping every student be the best that they can be.

Belinda Greer

Chief Executive Officer
English Schools Foundation