Message from the Principal
Dear Parents
As you may be aware, there is a ‘#FridaysForFuture’ climate change rally organised at Chater Garden in Central Hong Kong on Friday 15th March. This is a global action originated in Sweden and encourages students around the world not to attend school and participate in the campaign. I have also emailed all parents this message, as I want to make our KGV School position clear on this planned climate change rally.
We appreciate that climate change is an important issue now, and for the future, and we accept that some of our KGV School students may attend this rally on Friday. We know that many of our students are passionate about the environment and often plan and engage in activities aimed to impact positively on community both locally and globally. In principle, we support our students becoming involved in issues that they deem important to them.
Although some students will be attending this rally, many students will be attending school as normal. Our School has an obligation to provide education and class time for our students, and all our staff will be at school delivering lessons as normal on this Friday.
We also have no knowledge of how this event will be organised and what safety measures will be in place on the day. No ESF or KGV School staff will be present at the rally or assist in providing transport to and from this event. Students planning on attending should consider appropriate footwear, clothing, water and food provisions for this event.
We encourage parents and guardians to discuss the planned student-led action and decide on their course of action prior to the event. A reminder that the KGV School arrangements for this day are:
- All classes will run as normal on Friday 15 March
- Students who are not planning to attend the rally should turn up for school as normal. There is no need to complete the permission form below
School arrangements for students planning to attend the rally:
- For students not planning to attend school at all on this day, parents are requested to complete the attached form to indicate parent acknowledgement of absence on this day
- For students planning to attend for only Period 1 on Friday, parents will need to complete the form authorising the school to release their son or daughter at approximately 9.30am.
- The parent permission form will need to be completed by 3.30pm on Thursday 14 March to enable the school to ascertain numbers attending to plan student exit arrangements.
It is important to note that no student will be permitted to leave school at any time during the school day to attend the rally, unless the attached google form is completed by the deadline. For logistical reasons, this means that no notes, phone calls or emails will be processed on the Friday to give permission for a student to leave school.
As a learning community, KGV School always strives to work in partnership with our parents, students and community. We think all our students are ‘remarkable’ and respect the rights of parents and students to make the decision whether or not to attend this student-led action. We thank you in advance for your cooperation regarding this planned climate change event.
Kind regards
Mark Blackshaw
Principal
King George V
