St. Bernadette Elementary School Newsletter September 23rd, 2020 |
HIGHLIGHTS • Webinar – Update from the Principal – 6pm Thursday Sept. 24th • Meet the Teacher Night – 6:30pm and 7pm Thursday Sept. 24th • Walkathon – Important donation update • NEW BCCDC Self-Assessment Daily Health Check • Morning and After School Supervisors • Remind App • Mass Registration • Masks • Parking Lot Routines CALENDAR • Thursday Sept. 24th – Meet the Teacher Night via Zoom • Monday Sept. 29th – Orange Shirt Day (non-uniform) • Tuesday Sept. 30th – Picture Day |
PRINCIPAL MEETING
At 6pm on Thursday September 24th, Mr. van der Pauw will spend roughly 20mins explaining how the first 2 weeks have gone and what we can expect over the next 2 weeks. You must register in advance for this webinar: https://ca01web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pCjdyyexTu25Bvg8_3UApg
Immediately following the webinar, parents are to login to their child’s presentation for Meet the Teacher Night.
MEET THE TEACHER NIGHT
On Thursday September 24th, teachers will be making a short presentation to parents about their classes and what to expect for the 2020-2021 school year. The presentation is limited to 25mins and there are 2 sessions to accommodate parents with 2 or more children in the school.
Session 1 – 6:30pm – 6:55pm
Session 2 – 7pm – 7:25pm
WALKATHON UPDATE FOR DONATIONS
We are so excited to be afforded the opportunity to bring some normalcy back for our students by offering this fun and important event. The walkathon is one of the biggest fundraisers for the school and it is also a very enjoyable experience for the children. It allows them to have fun while making a difference for their School.
In our original planning we were under the impression that we had to use a school based program for the collection of funds (in this case Munch-a-Lunch). However, since sending out the form, we were notified that the parish has a program designed for fundraising that will allow parents to receive tax receipts, is easy to use and does not have any service fees. We are switching to the parish based site starting today. We believe this will resolve several issues that have presented itself over the past few days.
I would like to thank parents for their understanding that we cannot have parent supervisors for this event. I also want to thank parents for their contributions to this important fundraiser. We don’t know what the future brings and we hope we can still do the Lights of Hope and Purdy’s chocolate fundraiser, but for now, this is the only fundraiser for this school year.
Please go to https://www.stbernadette.ca/donate to make a donation and select the designation “P93 Walkathon”. In the comment area please put your child’s name and grade. Anyone can use this site to make a donation, so please pass this website onto your family and friends.
NEW BCCDC SELF-ASSESSMENT DAILY HEALTH CHECK
The BCCDC (B.C. Center for Disease Control) has issued a new symptoms list for daily heath checks. The BCCDC has removed runny nose, sore throat and headache from the COVID-19 symptoms list. These changes have been updated on our own daily health check form (please download the new form below). Although they have been removed from the COVID-19 list of symptoms, if a child is feeling unwell they must stay at home regardless if their symptoms are COVID related or not.
MORNING AND AFTER SCHOOL SUPERVISORS
Thank you to all the parents who have signed up to help with morning and after school supervision. Prior to the start of your shift, please see Jed at the window to the front office to check in. This is a reminder that parents are not allowed inside the school.
REMIND APP
The school will now be exclusively using the Remind App to communicate urgent messages with parents. The app is to be downloaded on your phone and you are to enter in the code provided by your classroom teacher. You can go to https://www.remind.com to download the app or to access it on the web.
Unfortunately parent participation is going to look and feel very different this year and we are unable to move forward with classroom representatives. However, we believe that this app will allow for urgent messages like school closures (snow days, etc.), classroom reminders and other information to reach you in an appropriate and timely fashion.
If you have not already received a document from your teacher about the app, you should receive one by the end of the week.
READY TO COME BACK TO MASS
All attendees at weekend Masses are required to be registered. This includes the Saturday 5pm Mass, and the Sunday 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am Masses. At this time it is still recommended that *children and those 65 years and older do not participate in a group setting such as Mass. It is also recommended that attendees wear a mask during Mass due to the spoken responses we engage in. However, singing is discouraged at this time. To register please contact us as early in the week as possible at 604-596-0566 (press 7 to leave a message) or by email RegisterForMass@stbernadette.ca. Once you are on our list, you will be included in the automatic rotation (perhaps every three weeks, maybe longer). Our lists are finalized by Thursdays and we are not able to accommodate last minute requests. You will know by end of day Wednesdays if you are registered for Mass that weekend. Father Paul has arranged to have an additional live Mass (not a broadcast Mass) at both 8:30am and 11:30am on Sundays in the Parish Hall. This allows us to register more families to attend Mass (to a maximum of 50 people in each building). *While we have not received any clear age or definition with reference to children, we have assumed it to refer to children who are unable to sit still for Mass, or who cannot keep from touching multiple surfaces. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the parish office or visit our website www.stbernadette.ca for additional details.
PARENT PARTICIPATION
The Stage 2 restart plan for schools has made it very difficult to incorporate the physical presence of parents into the school. We have always believed that parent involvement, an inalienable piece to education, is crucial for a child’s development. However, we also must adhere to the parameters that will keep children safe and healthy. This means that we had to cancel the vast majority of our parent participation program. There are three areas that still require parent participation: Parish Education Committee (PEC), Supervision and Maintenance.
A call went out from the PEC at our webinar in August asking for volunteers to fill positions for parking lot supervision. Although we had a couple of responses, it is not enough to keep your children safe and to keep the flow of traffic as good as it is now. The PEC has graciously stepped into the role of supervisors, but this cannot continue to the rest of the year.
Therefore, it has been decided that every family will need to complete 2 parking lot supervision shifts from now to Dec. 18th, 2 shifts between Jan. 4th and March 31st, and 2 shifts between April 1st and June 23rd. Although these shifts will amount to a few hours of participation, they will replace the required 40hrs of parent participation. The $800 non-participation fee is still in effect and will be cashed if a family does not fulfill its supervision duties. Those families who have opted out of the parent participation program and wish to opt back in should contact Camille at participation@stbernadette.ca.
The health and safety of your child is very important to us. Soon you will receive notification from Camille with further information on how to select your preferred time and other pertinent information.
MASKS
Masks have finally arrived 🙂 Every student will receive 2 masks. These masks are provided through a government program to ensure every child had a minimum of 2 masks. In addition, the school has purchased an additional mask for children. This mask will be picked up on Sept. 23rd and distributed to children on the 24th.
STINGERS CLUB PHONE NUMBER AND DROP OFF/PICK UP ROUTINES
This is a reminder that if you are late for pick up, your child will be brought down to Stingers Club. To pick your child up, please call 236-518-6402. This will put you in direct contact with the coordinator so you can pick up your child.
If you arrive to school and it is dark out or pouring rain, you may drive up to the doors by the gym to pick up your child. Please drive the same as if you were at the end of a cul-de-sac.
PARKING LOT ROUTINES
I would like to thank everyone for their continued support and cooperation with pick-up and drop-off. We are continuously evaluating and assessing our parking lot safety. There are 2 areas we are focusing on right now:
1. Parental physical distancing and mask wearing – We are noticing that on occasion parents are gathering in the parking lot. This is not permissible. If you forget your mask and need to get out of your vehicle, we can provide you with a disposable mask.
2. Grade 4 and Primary drop off and pick up – We are noticing that drop off and pick up times are going smoothly. We are considering moving grades 2 and 3 to enter and exit from the courtyard area. Parents will still be required to drop off and pick up the usual way and will not be allowed to accompany their child to the door like Kindergarten and grade 1 parents do. This will allow Grade 4 to enter at 8:55pm and exit at 3pm. This is still under review and we will inform parents prior to any changes.