Information for this week Nov 16-20

The Readiness for Distance Learning Survey was first launched on Friday, November 6 and the deadline has been extended to Friday, November 20, 2020 at 11:59 PM.

• Please visit FORMS in the Parent Portal and look for the Readiness for Distance Learning Survey. Please complete one per child in your household.
• In the event you do not have access to the Parent Portal, you should contact your school’s Office Administrator.
• A digital copy of the survey, available in a fillable pdf, can be found by clicking here. This version would require a printer to deliver a hard copy with your child to the school, or saved and attached to an email sent to the school office at [email protected]

Please complete all the forms available to you on the parent portal as soon as possible.  You can update contact information by completing the student verification form as well. If you need support, just call the school office at 905-628-8212 for assistance.

This is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week!

Please ask your child about what they are doing in class to learn more about this issue.  Every year during the third week of November, schools and communities recognize Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. An important part of this week is working together to understand what Bullying is. When we have a better idea of what the problem is, we can all work together to prevent it, or address it when we see it happening.

As a review and good starting point for all of us, we need to remember that: Bullying is aggressive behaviour that is typically repeated over time. It is meant to cause harm, fear, and distress or create a negative environment for another person. Bullying can happen when there is a real or perceived power imbalance. An “imbalance” could mean one student is older or in a higher-grade level than another student or of different social status.  There are various components to this issue and we will work this week to explore them more.

Secure Schools Protocols:

Like every year, all schools are required to review and practice “Secure School Responses” that include Lockdown, Hold and Secure and Shelter in Place.
An important thing to remember this year throughout the review and drills of all of these procedures is
that while every effort should be made to follow the guidance of Public Health as it relates to COVID-19,
in the event of any real emergency or crisis that requires us to respond, this advice may not be possible,
based on the response required.
Wednesday November 18th, we will be practicing our first Lockdown drill of the year at 1:30PM. The term “Lockdown” is used when there is an incident or threat of serious violence or injury within the school. During a Lockdown students will hear an announcement as follows: “This is a Lockdown”. During this time, students are to remain in class and away from the door until further notice. If they find themselves outside of a classroom, they are to go to the nearest accessible room, including a washroom, and close the door. While in lockdown students should remain quiet. As always, they are also expected to follow the directions of their teacher. Standard procedures such as huddling in a corner or pulling students who are in the hallway into the nearest classroom are only going to be DISCUSSED AND EXPLAINED by teachers in order to comply with physical distancing, face mask protocol and the promotion of proper hand hygiene guidelines.
Please remember that in any real emergency or crisis event, priority is on the imminent threat, not enhanced
public health measures.
Once again, in an effort to avoid creating any panic or anxiety, we will be having a lockdown drill on Wednesday November 18th at 1:30PM. If you have any concerns please feel free to share them with a teacher or myself.