Welcome back! It has been a pleasure to hear about all the wonderful activities your kids got up to over Spring break. Such an active community!

Please ensure you read the Principals’ recent Beaconsfield Family Newsletter about most recent updates to VSB Covid protocols.

Now that we are into the last term of the school year we might notice that Time is Speeding Up! We will be taking advantage of the sunnier days to use our outdoor classroom, to spend more time in our garden, taking our lunches outside for impromptu picnics and exploring our community on foot. Please send along a sun hat and sunscreen for your kids to have at school. Consider sending along a beach towel or small blanket to sit upon when we go outside to read under a tree or picnic on the grass.

We have dyed our wool many bright colours and will soon begin a spinning and weaving project. We will be experimenting with colourful dyes and spun wool in several other challenges as well. Please send along 1 or 2 hard boiled if you would like your child to experiment with ‘wax resist’ art on eggs.  Please send along 1 RAW Egg if you would like you child to attempt an “Wool Wrapped Egg Drop” challenge. Intermediate students will do these challenges on April 7&8. Primary students will l do these activities on April 11 &12.

Please consider sending along an apron or oversized T Shirt to use as an “Art Smock” to keep cloths clear during our messier science and art adventures over the remaining weeks.

As part of our Social Responsibility efforts, we are thinking about ways we could contribute to helping our Planet Earth, and how we might contribute to improving life for people who are less fortunate than ourselves. We have observed that helping others can help our own selves when  The quality of conversation and the depth of insight your children express is quite astonishing at times! I feel privileged to work with such open-hearted citizens.

In other news:

Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland has reached out to share that registration for our Go Girls! Spring Term is open. This is an  Arts Exploration program!. Description, schedule, and registration links for the program can be found be below. Arts Exploration gathers every week to connect, develop friendships, and participate in creative activities. This program is about exploring and expressing oneself through art, so any participant with an interest in being creative is welcome – you don’t need to be an artist to join!

• Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; Apr 25 – May 30 2022 (No session Mon May 23 due to Victoria Day). 5 sessions total.
• Wednesdays 4:00-5:15pm; Apr 27 – May 25 2022. 5 sessions total.

This program is FREE and Online via Zoom. Eligible participants must be Grades 4-7, self-identify as girls, non-binary, or transgender youth, and be committed to attending all the sessions of the program. Space is limited so we encourage participants to sign up promptly!

If your children are not interested in art, they also have our Go Girls! Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds program which focuses on friendships, self-esteem, confidence, active living, and balanced eating. Our fully trained volunteer mentors lead games, discussions, and activities with a group of participants. This program runs Tuesdays 4:00-5:00pm; Apr 26 – Jun 14 2022 (8 sessions total).

Thank you for the magnificent portfolio presentations of the past few weeks. The breadth and quality of your children’s learning explorations is very inspiring!

The bulbs and perennials have begun to Sprout. So next time you have a few minutes to spare at the end of the day, ask your children to show you our garden plot.

As the school year progresses, we have begun to push ourselves a bit further. One way we do this is to practice ‘metacognition’ to develop our critical thinking skills. One way we are doing this through an exploration of various building blocks to thinking and tools for independent learning. These include Selective Attention, Approach to Task, Making Comparisons, Problem Identification and others. The older students have pushed these concepts a bit further with logic puzzles and our own home-grown version of Wordle.

Vancouver Coastal Health has asked the school to distribute forms to have regular childhood immunizations done at school. The forms were sent home on Monday or will go home with older students tomorrow (Thursday March 10) These are generally for Kindergarten and Grade 6 students, but some students who were missed in past years will have received the form as well. They are time sensitive. If you wish your child to be immunized at school, please complete and return the form by mid-day Friday March 11. The immunization clinic will take place at 9:00am on Thursday April 14^th. Any students from the Monday/Tuesday group who submit completed forms may attend the clinic with our class, and then go home once vaccinated. Our group is scheduled to go first, so I expect we will be done by approx. 9:30.

There is also a HEARING Clinic for Kindergarten students happening here on Tuesday April 5^th. Parents of Kindergarten students will have received that notice on Monday.

COVID Rapid Testing kits for use at home have arrived. One per student. They must be given to an adult.  I will distribute them at 3:00pm this week and Tuesday March 29. If these times do not work for you, please email me to arrange an alternate time.

Reminder: Spring Break starts Monday March 14 and goes until Friday March 25^th.  Happy Holidays!

Well. it seems that our Blog is back in business! Although our Calendar is not yet accessible, most of our other info and links are accessible once more. For now, if you have questions about the calendar, please feel free to email me directly at lbaker@vsb.bc.ca.

Second Portfolio meetings start next week. Please remember that there are no ‘in person classes’ from February 24 until March 4.

Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to since the last post on February 2^nd.

We have been making our own compostable seed filled card paper, and creating ‘flower bombs’ of soil and seeds with which to perform random acts of beauty! We have been observing our heritage tulip and daffodil bulbs poke through the soil, and we have prepared the soil and planted perennial wildflowers to attract and feed pollinators. Soon we will be learning how to identify common plants found in the Vancouver area and how to safely forage for edible leaves and shoots. We have been creating interesting vessels from papier mache. I have been delighted with the creative exploration and impressed with the cooperative end of day clean up! If you haven’t already done so, please send along an ”Art Smock” (an apron or oversized shirt) to help keeps clothes clean during messy mucky projects.

Thank you to everyone who shared treats and sent contributions to the Friendship Fruit Salad we enjoyed together this week as well.

As the weather warms up we expect to spend even more time out of doors.

Our waitlist for next year is now open! Please spread the word.

Happy Groundhog Day! Happy Groundhog Day! Happy Gro…. Hopefully our groundhog enjoyed this cloudy snowy day as much as we appreciate the signs of an early Spring!

Report cards were sent  home with the Primary group on Tuesday, and will be sent home with the Intermediate group on Thursday. Report cards for those who do not attend in person this week will be placed into the envelopes in the Blue Tote on the front steps of the school. Please sign and return the Report card envelope so it can be reused for the next report.

Reminder: Due to the upcoming second term Portfolio Meetings, there are no in person classes from Feb 23 until March 4. The Portfolio Meeting Schedule is filling up. Please email me as soon as possible with your first and second preference from the remaining time slots.

Friendship Fruit Salad: To celebrate Valentine’s Day and Family Day, each student is invited to contribute to a Friendship Fruit Salad. We will enjoy the fruit salad together on February 11^th or 14^th. Please wash and chop the fruit ahead of time. The chopped fruit will be combined into one big bowl of tastiness! The fruit salad will be served by the teacher. Feel free to send other individually packaged Valentine goodies if you wish.  It is common for younger students bring and distribute cards for classmates. However, this is NOT an expectation. If your child does want to give Valentines, please ensure they bring a card for each child in their group. (Primary class has 15 members. Please Email before 3pm on Feb 8^th if you would like a list of their first names.)

As part of our Social Emotional Learning activities we’ve talked a lot about ways to lift spirits and bring smiles to other people. Together we have made over 30 Valentines or Happy Springtime cards for senior citizens living in care. Well done!

February is Black History Month. As one of our activities we will be learning about Canadian musician and activist, Oscar Peterson. We will also learning to sing his composition “Hymn To Freedom.” There are many wonderful versions of this song available online. I hope you will take time to find one, listen to it with your children, and talk about the message in this elegantly simple, powerful song.

Reminder: Friday February 18^th is a Professional day.

Time is speeding up! Report cards will be sent home next week. The schedule for the second round of Portfolio meetings is now available for booking. Please email me with your first two preferred times in the next week or so.

Over the past two weeks both groups have been discussing  the impact of the residential school system on Indigenous People in Canada. We watched “Spirit Bear”; a video for children produced by the TRC. We used a Know Wonder Learn (KWL) strategy to organize our discussions, thinking, and written responses. The Intermediate students also attended in an online conference on “Black Excellence” celebrating the roles and accomplishments of Black Canadian artists, scientists, athletes, politicians, celebrities and younger peer role models. As part of our Social Responsibility content we read “Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?” and talked about what simple kind acts we can do to make another person feel noticed and appreciated. We are creating Spring cards or Valentines to give to senior citizens living in care facilities as a way to lift their spirits.  In the coming days we will be reading “Mr. Peabody’s Apples” and discussing how hurtful words and rumors are hard to undo, and how we can respond.

Some upcoming events:  “Body Science Boot Camp for Parents”  The  PAC at Beaconsfield  is sponsoring a parent workshop with Saleema Noon Sexual Health Educators. Interested parents are invited you to a scheduled Zoom meeting with Julie Prodor on Monday February 14 6:30 -8:00 pm.                                Join Zoom Meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85423386312?pwd=Q1B3RjdSdndIeU83WGNGN25qMmdmdz09                                                                                    Meeting ID: 85423386312   Passcode: 724413                                                                                              Student sessions will take place during the school day on Tuesday February 15^th so unfortunately, this means that only our Monday/Tuesday group will be able to receive the student workshop. If you wish your child to OPT OUT of the student body Science workshop, please email the teacher no later than 9:00 Tuesday February 15^th.     For more information go to www.saleemanoon.com

Please note:  The rules around self-isolation have changed and continue to be updated regularly. Currently this is the information we are following for fully vaccinated adults and children under 18: If you tested positive and are managing your illness at home you can end isolation when all three of these conditions are met: At least 5 days have passed since your symptoms started, or from test date if you did not have symptoms. Fever has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medication, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Symptoms have improved. You should avoid non-essential visits to higher risk settings such as long-term care facilities and gatherings, for another 5 days after ending isolation.    All current information can be found on this website: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/if-you-have-covid-19

For the Grade 4&5 skier/snowboarders among us: The SnowPass program is available on line. Information about the program is available at https://goskiinggosnowboarding.ca/  and parents can apply on behalf of their child in grade 4 or 5 at www.snowpass.ca.

It is hard to believe but we are almost halfway through the school year! Please remember that there is a ProD on Monday Jan 17^th.

Recently you will have received a letter from the school outlining procedures for Functional Closures. Home Learners is considered a “Choice Program” and will close in the event of a Functional Closure at Beaconsfield. In the event of a closure Functional Closure I will post on the Blog and email  a variety of open ended learning activities to support learning from home. Please keep an eye on your Spam folder because I will use the BCC option on the emails during a Functional Closure as well as posting on TEAMS.

Seemingly minor COVID symptoms can be hard to detect.  To help prevent the need for a Functional Closure it is vital that parents conduct the multi-question Daily Health Check. Many of our younger students are arriving uncertain if the Daily Health Check was done at home. Please make the check explicit to your child.

Please keep an eye out for an email from me with an attached Social Responsibility Self-Assessment form to complete and return (email OK) by Jan 18^th.  Those students who attend on 13^th, 14^th, and 18^th will do the form in class.

Wool dye experiments were sent home as an extra activity for over the holidays. It has been a lot of fun to share your results! Please send any remaining experiments to school as soon as possible. We will be using the wool to make bookmarks and bracelets soon.

Show and Tell: Every Primary child in attendance on Mondays will have an opportunity to do Show And Tell if they wish. In case we don’t get to everyone on Mondays it would be best to only bring Show and Tell Items you don’t mind leaving in the cloakroom overnight.

Allotment updates: Your list of items must be recorded on the Template available on the Blog or on a hard copy of the form from the Tote.  Our office staff simply do not have time to transcribe the lists of requests onto the template. Please note Scholastic now charges shipping!!!

Some students are dabbling with Coding. Here is a link to some resources you might enjoy exploring:www.codewizardshq.com

Stay warm, stay dry, stay safe, and…wash your hands!

I hope your Winter Break was replenishing and safe. Thank you for all the wonderful cards and goodies you shared with me, and for our class parties, before the Winter Break. Although the January restart has been delayed, VSB staff have been busy preparing for the reopening. Here are a few reminders and things to note for when school does reopen: We will be re-emphasizing routines such as hand washing, how we move through the hallways and social distancing in line ups. We will continue eating our snacks and lunch in the classroom. Students’ desks and tables have been rearranged to allow as much distance between students as possible.  Students will remain in their desks for most activities rather than gathering in closer proximity on the carpet. Please provide your child with secure fitting 3-ply masks if at all possible.
Please ensure that you are conducting the Daily Health Check every day before attending. In addition to earlier criteria, a runny nose and or sore throat are COVID symptoms to be aware of.                              With the lingering snowy winter weather this is also a good time to remind families to send along a change of clothes and indoor shoes. Once schools do reopen, if it snows overnight, check the VSB website and listen to the radio news stations to find out about possible school closures. Please do not call the school. While we sincerely hope it is not necessary to do so, if schools remain closed, we may need to ‘pivot’ to online learning using the VSB’s TEAMS platform. I have created a Team for all the Home Learners as well as one for just the Monday/Tuesday students and one for the Thursday/Friday group. Please ensure that your child knows their VSB password and is able to log onto TEAMS as this is where online resources and materials will be shared, and possible online classes will occur. (If you can’t remember their password, it is obtainable through the office) As a backup, please email me the best parent email I could use to connect with your child on Zoom if necessary. I look forward to seeing your all soon. Stay warm!

As we prepare for our Winter Break, we have been reflecting on how fortunate we are to live in a city safe from flooding. Thank you to all who have contributed to the Beaconsfield Coin Drive which raised funds for Flood Victims up in the interior. Many students realized that it feels good to help others. Meanwhile, we have enjoyed making Story Mats, doing crafts, and decorating our space in a “West Coast Winter” theme. Some of us did an “Elfie photo” and the Primary group enjoyed a Camp Read Winter Party complete with goodies and PJs on Tuesday. The Intermediate group get their turn on Friday.

Early in January the Primary Group will begin having “Show and Tell” times. For those children that wish to participate, this is a chance to practice oral language and build confidence with ‘public speaking.’ Each child will be offered several turns throughout the term. On these occasions, please help your child make an appropriate choice   Please help them think about what they would like to say about the item while they are ‘the center of attention’ (for under a minute please). After they finish their “Tell” they may invite a few classmates to ask questions. The item will be kept safe in the classroom at Recess and Lunchtime. But accidents can happen. Please do not send breakable irreplaceable heirlooms as the school does not take responsibility for breakage or loss.

Rough Play has started to become an issue for some students over the last week. Together as a class we have reminded each other about what to do if you don’t like the way someone is playing outside at Recess or Lunch (or anytime for that matter). We discussed that one should use their words to clearly say “Please stop that”, or “I don’t Like that”. And that one should seek help from an adult if the behavior does not stop. We also discussed that accidents could still happen, and to apologies if you accidentally hurt someone while playing. But we also stressed, that if someone tells you they don’t like the way you are behaving, it is your responsibility to stop change what you are doing. Please find a time to reinforce this Social Responsibility concept at home.

Wooly Winter Challenge: Each student has received/will receive a small amount of washed but unspun raw wool. They are invited (challenged!) to experiment with it over the Winter Break. The goal is to discover household item(s) that will dye the wool. (Beets? Coffee? Turmeric? Onion skins?) A small amount of material makes a light colour. A larger amount of material will make a darker colour. The process is simple. First place the wool and the dye material in a plastic or glass bowl and cover with enough very hot water to just cover the wool and dye material. Soak it overnight. Next, add about a quarter cup of vinegar to the wool and dye (to helps ‘set’ the colour so it won’t wash out.) and let it soak for a few more hours. Then, lift the wool out of the dye and place onto something to drain. Finally, gently squeeze out any excess liquid and leave the wool to dry. Try not to handle the wool too much during this process to avoid shrinking it into felt. Bring it to school so we can spin it and weave with it later in January. Have Fun!

Last week’s Portfolio Meetings were a wonderful celebration of learning! Thank you for all the experiences you are providing your children. If you have not yet sent back the SEL Page given to parents at Portfolio meeting, please do so now. Also, if you ordered Purdy’s Chocolate through the fundraiser, your orders have arrived. Please contact the school office.

Now that the meetings are over it has been tremendous fun to have the room full of creative kid energy again! We have been using Story Mats to develop our understanding of Setting, Character, and Plot. We are also getting back to working with wool as well.

Next week Beaconsfield will be enjoying many seasonal activities and ‘event days,’ our class will be decorated, and we will be having a Pajama Party on Tuesday 14^th and Friday 17^th too!. Please send along some individually wrapped treats/drinks to share. Home Made is OK if portions are individually wrapped. There are 14 students in the Mon/Tues group and 11 in the Thur/Fri group.  We will not be doing a “Secret Santa exchange this year, but instead, students are invited to contribute to a “Coin Drive” which is being done to collect a financial gift for an indigenous community near Merritt BC. If you are able, please send you child with a few coins that they might experience the opportunity to contribute to helping children in another part of the province.

The whole school is also celebrating the season in some fun ways: There is a door decorating contest,  Monday Dec 13 is Seasonal Hat Day, Tuesday is the Primary Pajama party day, Thursday is Candy Cane day (wear red and white if possible) and Friday is a school wide Pajama Day and Camp Read. Come in PJs with a stuffy and a good book!

Don’t forget there is a 2:00pm Dismissal on Thursday Nov 18^th. If this will create a hardship for your family, please let me know through the school office at 604-713-4605.

Portfolio meetings start on November 23! This is a wonderful time to celebrate our learning journey at school and at home! Please phone to school office from outside the building when you arrive with your child and I will come down to meet you at the front doors. I wont be able to sanitize classroom materials between meetings, so please bring something quiet to engage siblings while they wait their turn.

Portfolio Week Projects: Because students will be missing several days of in person learning from November 23 through December 2, I am offering up an Interdisciplinary project for those who would like to supplement these extra days at home and to get a head start on work we will do in future weeks. It is on the theme of Snails. I do have a few more snails for students who attend on Thursday/Friday this week. Please read the blog from last week for details. The children in attendance on Tuesday Nov 16 received a copy, and I will provide it to those in attendance on Thursday Nov 18^th.   I will place additional copies in the “Extra Copies for Parents” Envelope as well.

Over the past week we have been discussing helpful ways to organize our thinking, how to plan our work and how to keep track of work and important dates etc. (This is part of Career Education area in SLPs) Generally VSB students from Grade 2 and up start learning how to use a Day Planner as part of daily routines. I have suggested that one strategy might be for students (especially Intermediates) to ask parents for a simple Academic Day Planner (these go through the school year from August to July rather than 12 month January to December style) to help them become more independent in this area. (They are very cheap at this time of the year. I’ve recently seen them at “dollar stores” or they could be homemade.)

Experiential Learning is the mainstay of Home Learners programs. Experiential Learning is Learning through experience AND reflection on the doing. With that in mind, we have been working to deepen our abilities to Reflect after our Hands On/ Experiential activities. Rather than simply ‘launch in and see where it goes” with our writing, we have been thinking about making connections and creating logical sequences. Currently we are using Fiber Art and Science as the topic for this writing. Procedural Writing and writing about science trains the writer to bring clarity to complexity. For the older students we push this further to notice how this sort of writing about science helps us embrace nuance and come to appreciate that that everything “new” is built upon past relationships. Ask you children about “First, Next, Then, Finally” templates that were sent home with the Primary students this week.

We have also been learning about Reflecting on our work and how to do “Self-Evaluations. Our regular “Shape of the Day” routine involves reflecting on our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) state. Recently we have been extending that reflecting on our academic work as well. We have been exploring various ways of measuring our effort and using a variety of “4 point scales”. I am continually impressed with the depth and quality of thinking that your children share with each other!

Although the days have become chilly, your kids are showing heartwarming insights as we talk about the importance of  learning to solve problems in peaceful ways. And in this context we made some music, and did some art connected to Remembrance Day. We explored the topic of ‘service’ and people who serve our country. We also explored how animals such as elephants, and horses, dogs and birds that can do many tasks to help people. Science this week involved learning about the main parts of flowers that grow from bulbs, and we got our hands dirty planting tulips and daffodils. We have discussed the sort of habitat a small creature such as a snail needs to be safe and find food. Some of us have started learning how to make felt fabric out of wool, or how to sew a simple fabric flower. Both groups will go further with the science of fiber over the coming weeks and months as well. For this project I am hoping to offset allotment spending by seeking for donations of old flat cotton bedsheets and old clean cotton towels….and a couple rolling pins. Any donations welcome. Another upcoming interdisciplinary project involves using acorns…if you live near an oak tree, please consider collecting 25-50 clean acorns; preferably acorns that still have their little ‘cap’ on top. I will also appreciate the ‘caps’ themselves, as well as small twigs.

For Science/Social Studies/Art will be studying our class pet snails quite closely over the coming months. If you would like to have a few of these snails at home to enable closer examination, please send your child to school over the next few days with a clean glass jar with a lid, and 1 or 2 layers of clean rocks in the jar. These small aquatic snails eat algae and are very low maintenance. They are large enough to see their body parts without being so large that they need a lot of space. They actually move about quite a bit and are quite fascinating! They do not need a filter or a heater. They DO need a space near a window to get sunlight to help the algae grow; but not so much light as to raise the temperature above room temperature. They will eat algae from the rocks in the jar, as well as tiny amounts of mushy lettuce/spinach from the edge of your kitchen compost! The rocks should be larger than peas, but smaller than olives. Please rinse the rocks to ensure no mud, but double rinse to ensure there is no soap in the jar. I will provide the snails, and aquarium water, water plants, and a few rocks from our tank to inoculate the algae growing process.

If you have not already done so, please go to the calendar on the blog to choose a time for a Portfolio meeting. Incidentally, I have permission to share some (anonymous) examples that may help clarify the expectations for Interim submissions for our Intermediate students going forward.

Please spread the word: The waitlist for new registrations is now open. People can find the application for on the Blog site or email me at lbaker@vsb.bc.ca.

Such a full and busy week! Thank you to all who send along goodies for our Hallowe’en parties last week. We also did some silly Science with Solutions and Mixtures. Ask your kids about this!  On Tuesday the Primary group had an assembly about Traffic Safety with VPD Constable Hooper. Ask you children about why we need to Stop! Look! And listen. To help reinforce this important safety information consider asking what they remember from this talk; and if they know how to tell their Left hand from their right. Also…do they know your address and phone number for use in an emergency?

This week and next we will focus on Remembrance Day. We do not ‘celebrate’ the day. Rather we spend time reflecting on how to solve problems in Peaceful Ways. And how to appreciate Canadian rights and responsibilities preserved through the service of others. We continue to plant over 120 tulip and daffodil bulbs which were a 75^th Anniversary gift from the Dutch Government to approx. 400 BC classrooms.

The festival of Diwali is happening this week with Thursday November 4 being a special day for many in our community. Here are some links your family might enjoy exploring.  For general information:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/more-than-1-billion-people-celebrate-on-diwali-what-does-it-mean-to-them/2019/10/18/0c9ed27a-f1cb-11e9-89eb-ec56cd414732_story.html

Video for students to explain the holiday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_nuCHUhUcE

Portfolio time is fast approaching: If you have not yet done so, please check the calendar on the Blog and send me your preference for Portfolio time. Allotment requests are also open now. There are extra copies of the Approved Vendors in the tote. Please don’t forget to include the cost of shipping, and to leave room in your spending for possible field trips in the Spring. It is helpful to make clear the connection to your child’s SLP as this will speed up the approval process significantly.

The waitlist for next year is now open. If you know folks who are interested in registering for next year, please encourage them to visit the Blog where they can learn more and find the application form as well. We do have a couple of spaces available for this year as well.

Along with the falling leaves flying past our windows TIME itself is flying by too. It’s hard to believe, but we are already 20% of the way through the school year!

The schedule to sign up for portfolio meetings will soon be posted on the Blog Calendar. Please send me your first and second preferences, and I will do my best. If you have more than one child in the program you will need to book one time spot PER CHILD. Please plan to bring something quiet for siblings to do while they await their turn. If you are curious about how your child is progressing in relationship to widely held expectations for their age range: Quick Scales and rubrics for assessing all subject areas at all grade levels are available on the Min of Ed website.

Given how slow the “global supply chain” seems to be moving these days, I recommend spending your child’s allotment funds sooner rather than later. Our office staff do not have time to track packages. Items that do not arrive during the school year will be returned to the supplier. Unfortunately, unspent funds, or funds for items on back order, cannot be retained for the following school year, or if your child leaves the program.

Parents of INTERMEDIATE students (grade 4 to grade 7) will remember that they are expected to submit work more often that the Primary students (See Parent Hand book page 4) These interim submissions can be in the form of a photo copy of a log book page, a scanned or printed photo of a finished product exemplar, a Google Doc, a Pic Collage or similar. Please put your child’s name in the Subject heading of any work submitted digitally.

Thank you to those Grade 4-7 students who met the first submission due date of October 22. If your child has not submitted, it is now time to do so, or email the teacher. The second interim submission date is November 12. Portfolios will take the place of the third submission date. The fourth submission date will be December 16. These interim submissions and the portfolio meetings will form the basis of the first report cards in January.

Parents of students in Grade 7: If you intend to enroll your child in a Choice Program for Grade 8, please keep a watch on the VSB website for Choice Program application dates.

Art and Science collide:

Here is a link to a free art lesson from the Sierra Club: how to draw a little brown bat

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4650875444964369&id=100001258775469&sfnsn=mo

The VSB invites families to consider that a Culture is not a Costume:

The autumn season is upon us, and soon it will be Halloween. This time of year brings with it decisions on costume choice. While dressing up is meant to be fun and exciting, it also runs the risk of offending others with costumes that are offensive to other cultures. Halloween offers the opportunity to discuss costume choices with both colleagues and students. It is important not to inadvertently mimic culture by culturally appropriating racial or ethnic groups. Here is a link to a helpful article about how some teachers approach this:

Teacher turns costume shopping trip into teachable moment about cultural stereotypes | CBC News

Falling leaves adrift…crunching underfoot as we…collect to make art. We have been getting curious about many things to do with changing seasons, and collaborating on projects. We were gifted 100 tulip bulbs as part of Agriculture BC’s “Plant a Promise” program. So soon we will be planting bulbs for Spring flowers…a long-range investment!

Thank you to those of you who have been asking about Allotment spending. The request form is on the blog and there are a few copies in the tote. The VSB Approved Venders are the same as last year. Rather than post a list in this public space, I will send a list home with your children. Meanwhile, if you find another Vendor that you feel may be appropriate, please ask them if they are willing to comply with our Invoice system. If they agree, forward me your suggestions so I can follow up.

Hallowe’en is just around the corner. The whole school is having fun with some seasonal games and activities, and we are getting in on the action by decorating our classroom door, and hallway. In the days ahead we are doing some spooky math, science, writing, and art activities. For those students who do not celebrate Hallowe’en, I offer Autumn themed math, science, writing and art activities as well.

The Primary students will have a Hallowe’en party on Tuesday Oct 26^th. The Intermediates will have a Hallowe’en party on Friday Oct 29. Students are invited to wear costumes on their cohort party day, and you are invited to contribute some goodies to share for our party. Unfortunately, due to COVID, we cannot share communal blows/plates of treats this year. You are welcome to send individually wrapped or bagged goodies. Whatever treats are donated will be serve by me onto disposable plates, and I will use tongs and wear gloves.

Also new this year: In keeping with the BC SEL (social emotional learning) curriculum, we are starting to do the EASE (everyday anxiety strategies for educators) program to our Primary group. Together with our YFW we will learn how to recognize our own and others’ feelings; how to calm our bodies so we can relax and focus; how to notice helpful and unhelpful self-talk; and how to take small steps to face challenges. The lessons are fun and engaging and many strategies will be incorporated into our daily classroom routines. If you are interested to know more about the EASE, I would be happy to discuss it with you.

For those of you that are enjoying nature explorations as part of your sciences: you may enjoy a free online game about habits and habitats of various endangered species called findthebirds.com. And, if you enjoy this game, I have heard that another version called  “find the bats” will launch soon.

Autumn is here in all its splendor, and with it comes Soggy Socks Season!

Please send your Primary aged children with a pair of “Inside shoes” (slip-on) that they change into when they arrive at the classroom (so we can leave the mud outside rather than our classroom carpet) and with a change of socks and pants for the inevitable encounter with playground puddles. These shoes, socks, and pants can stay at school until the end of the year. Speaking of which there are some pants and socks etc. that were left behind last June. Some have been sent home. The rest was not recognized by any of the children. If you are missing some items please discuss with your child and email me about it. Items still unclaimed by Oct 22 will be donated to charity.

Since the last update our Primary students spent the past week learning about and comparing various two types of snails and what they need to survive and thrive. Ask them about the Nature Bracelets we made! Both the Primary and Intermediate groups have been learning ‘pre-writing strategies’ with which we can strengthen and deepen how we  express of our thinking and ideas. This is also useful baseline information for me to use as I plan future lessons.

WEEKLY Library and Gym times:                                                                                                                       Mon/Tue students have Gym on Monday and Library on Tuesday Please send all school library books back on Tuesdays. (Books may also be renewed at that time)                                                                                               Thur/Fri students  have Library on Thursday and Gym on Friday. Please send all school Library books back on Thursdays. (Books may also be renewed at that time)

The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre has a Blog and a YouTube Channel with videos about new discoveries about space science that may be of interest to some families: spacecentre.ca/online-resources.

Safety First! On Tuesday Oct 12 the school held our first Fire Drill of the year. We had already discussed what to expect and procedures for an earthquake and a fire. When the alarm sounded they all knew just what to do. We safely exited the building together and gathered at our designated spot for “emergency meet ups” and waited for the “All Clear” from the principal to go back inside. You will be proud to know that all our kids deserve to be complimented on their excellent safe behaviour! There will be an earthquake drill in the near future on a day when the Intermediate cohort is present.

Further to the topic of safety, Parents may be interested to know that research has brought to light that some social media platforms may be harmful to societal and individual mental health, particularly for younger people. I’ve attached links to an agency that is offering a program called “The Social Dilemma” currently available on Youtube that explores this topic further. It may be of interest to some parents. The second link is a resource for holding a deeper conversation with children about impacts of social media on their lives.

The Social Dilemma is on Youtube through Oct. 31st.     new classroom debate resource

Its been delightful to get to know your children over the past weeks. As we have been thinking about Thanksgiving and Terry Fox, your children have been sharing some deep thinking.  You are raising such curious and kind people!

Daily Health Check: Many students in both groups have told me that they are not sure if they have completed their Daily Health Check. Please tell your child when you are doing the Daily Health Check so that they can verify that it was done that morning when attendance is taken at school.

Allotment Requests are now open.  You will find the form on the Blog site, and there are a few hard copies in the tote. Please send completed requests directly to me via your child, or place in the tote in the envelope marked Ms. Baker. Please remember, ALL requests must connect to your child’s Student Learning Plan and may take several weeks to be processed.

Verification Forms and Media Consent forms. Please complete the forms sent home last week. You can return them directly to me via your child, or place them in the Envelope marked “Ms. Baker” in the tote.

INTERMEDIATE students will remember that they are expected to submit work more often that the Primary students (See Parent Hand book page 4) Please submit evidence of work on all areas listed on or before October 22. This can be in the form of a photo copy of a log book page, a scanned or printed photo of a finished product exemplar, a Google Doc, a Pic Collage or similar. Please put your child’s name in the Subject heading of any work submitted digitally.

The Terry Fox Run for Beaconsfield school was postponed due to rain to this Friday. The Primary group did our own Terry Fox Run on Tuesday. The Intermediate group will join in with the school on Fri Oct 8.

The link below is to a short video of our Primary kids’ Terry Fox Run. No faces are shown as not all Media Consent forms have been received yet.    https://photos.app.goo.gl/zaoPBCQNopYHXezD8

Good Morning,

In addition to my message posted last night, I thought some parents might be interested to receive this weekly newsletter from the VSB. It is full of great info about the district as a whole, and contains links for parents to access resources on various themes and topics relevant to students and families in VSB.

Education Newsletter – September 28, 2021

In The KNOW and Here We GO!

Classes start this Friday for the Intermediate group! After our photos are done, we will head for our classroom for a fun day of activities to help us get to know our new and returning classmates.

Activation Assignments are due now due. They must be marked ‘received’ due by 3:00pm Wednesday September 29^th. Thank you, to all the families who have already returned their child(ren)’s assignment. As of the writing of this blog post, several Activation Assignments have not yet been returned. The Activation is a Min of Ed requirement for ALL Home Learners in BC.  Late or missing Activation Assignments may result in reduced funding for your child.

MASKS now required for ALL Students. The VSB has updated mask requirements. Initially masks were only mandatory for staff and students Grade 4-12. Earlier this week the policy was changed, and they are now required for everyone, including children from Kindergarten to Grade3.

Photo Day is this Friday. It is for ALL students in both groups. Our group goes first, so it is important to meet at the front of the school at 9:00am. Those students who are unable to come on Friday may have their photo taken on the school’s “Photo Retake Day” TUESDAY October 26^th instead.

Terry Fox Run is on Tuesday Oct 5 next week. The Primary group will participate. The school office will have emailed out an online donation form. Please send your children in suitable cloths and running shoes.

Important Immunization Information for Grade 6 and 7 parents.  This school year, we will be running our usual immunization clinics for our Grade 6’s at the school but will also be including the Grade 7’s who missed the opportunity to be immunized for target grade immunizations (HPV and any other outstanding vaccines) last year.

There will be two clinics this year:

• First clinic on Friday, October 8^th 2021
• Second tentative clinic on Tuesday, April 14^th 2022

Due to time constraints this fall term, there will be no follow up phone calls if consents are not returned by 3:00pm on October 1^st.

Students will only be immunized with parental consent. If your child in Grade 6 or 7 does not receive a consent form, it is because they are already in progress getting vaccines elsewhere or are already complete for their age.

Please read the pink form and the immunization consent form very carefully. Return consents to school as soon as possible.

1. If you are consenting to vaccines, please ensure you have ticked the box for the vaccines you want given, signed and dated the form and indicated that you are the parent or guardian.
2. If you are dissenting to vaccines, please ensure you have ticked the box for the vaccines you do not want given, signed and dated the form and indicated that you are the parent or guardian.

Covid 19 vaccine will also be offered to any students who turn 12 by the end of this year, but again, only with parental consent.  Please ensure that your child wears a short sleeved shirt and has breakfast on the day of the clinic.

It was lovely to meet so many of you over the last little while. The past weeks have been a delightful time of introductions and connecting. Student Learning Plan meetings wrap up next week. In person classes begin for the Intermediate group on Friday October 1. As this day is also school photo day, students from both groups are welcome top come to the photo session at 9:00am. We will meet near the front doors of the school right at 9:00. Intermediate students will stay for the whole day. Primary students will leave as soon as their photo is finished. (We will meet the Primary students at 9:00am at the front of the school the following Monday for their first day of attendance.) Exciting times!

It has been brought to my attention that some families are not getting an email to tell them about a new blog posting. As the Administration of the Blog has changed hands, perhaps try subscribing again? A quick reminder that the best way to reach me is through me email (rather than replying to the blog) …. lbaker@vsb.bc.ca

In your envelops you will find some items direct from the school district. This includes an extremely important VERIFICATION SHEET and a Student Reunification Sheet. This information is collected in case of emergency, and it is essential to return it as soon as possible. In addition, you will find information about School Fees. These are collected from every student throughout VSB. Home Learners are not required to pay the Supplementary fees.

The package also includes a school calendar, a media consent form, a consent form that allows us to go on walks to local parks and other locations for educational purposes that are within walking distance of the school, permission for your child to receive free fruits and vegetables provided through BC Agriculture in the Classroom program.  A Parent email is also collected in the package. If you leave the package stapled together this will make things very easy to track; just detach the orange School Calendar page at the back of the package and we should be good to go!

Please complete and return the package before October 15^th by placing it in your child’s envelop before that date. Speaking of the envelops…. I am enjoying the wonderful decorations many students have done on the envelop! Decorating is voluntary but will make it easier for you to identify yours in the tote. To clarify one thing about the envelops: after your next pick-up/drop-off trip the envelop Stays in the tote at School. This way, there will always be a place for me to give items to individuals and families, and for parents families to give items back to me.

One last reminder: Activation Assignments are due before 3:00pm Wednesday Sept 29^th.