BRANT AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL
64 Brant Avenue, Guelph, Ontario N1E 1G2
519-824-2671
Fax: 519-824-6159
Mair Ann Gault, Principal
Raffella Alton, Office Co-ordinator
NOVEMBER 2015
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Friday, November 6th was Random Act of
Kindness Day in Guelph. Our students
experienced a wonderful act of kindness
from the staff at the Meridian Bank. The
bank staff arrived at our school very early
Friday morning and made approximately
230 pancakes for the students in our
school. They then distributed the
pancakes to each classroom along with
Mrs. Fonte our Child and Youth
Counsellor and Ms. Alarie and Ms.
Hammond-Breese, parent volunteers.
The faces of the children lit up with
delight at this wonderful surprise. A BIG
thank you to the staff at Meridian Bank
for making this Friday extra sweet and for
demonstrating to our students a living
example of our school motto to “Treat
others the way we would like to be
treated.”
,
Mair Ann Gault 
From the Stage- Remembrance Day
Please join us this November 11th at
10:00 am as we pay respect to those who
served and continue to serve in our
Armed Forces. This will be a special
event at our school as we will be paying
tribute to the 100th anniversary of the
writing of In Flanders Field by John
McCrae. This will be a student run
assembly as we will be having the
school’s Readers Theatre, Drama Club
and Choir all performing.
Mr. Graham.
P.A. DAY
There will be a Professional Activity Day
on Friday, November 27th which means
no school for the students.
SCHOOL DRILLS
In the interest of student safety, the
Upper Grand District School Board has
directed all schools to conduct at least six
fire drills, two lockdown drills and one
tornado drill each school year.
A lockdown is used when it is suspected
that an intruder has entered the school
and poses a threat to the safety of our
students and staff. Detailed procedures
have been developed in conjunction with
our local police services and provided to
all schools as part of our emergency
procedures manual.
In a lockdown, students and staff are
directed to secure areas where doors
can be locked and the children are kept
out of sight (such as classrooms and
portables). No one may leave their
secure area until they receive an “all
clear” from the authorities.
Students and staff will be instructed on
what they are to do when a drill is held.
Lockdown drills are becoming familiar to
students just like fire and tornado drills
which we are also required to do every
year.
The first lockdown drill was held in early
November. A second lockdown drill will
be held in the spring. At this one,
members of Guelph Police Services will
be present to offer advice to staff and
students.
If you have any questions or concerns
about Lockdown drills, we would be
happy to discuss them with you.
LOST AND FOUND
Did you label, with a permanent marker,
items your child brings to school that
could go missing? Our lost and found
bins are filling up fast and it is more likely
an item can be returned if you have
labelled sweatshirts, coats, lunch bags,
backpacks, shoes, etc. All items not
claimed in a timely manner will be
donated to a charitable organization.
COLD DAYS – WET WEATHER –
OUTDOOR RECESS
It is getting chilly out and the snow may
fly soon. Please remember to assist
your child in wearing the proper clothing
to school. This includes a warm jacket,
hat, mitts, and waterproof footwear.
Thanks for sending extra socks in your
child’s backpack just in case. All
students are expected to participate in
outdoor recess, as this important active
break aids concentration and success in
the classroom. Indoor shoes are
essential to help keep our classrooms
clean and dry.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
It is the parent’s responsibility to
determine whether or not it is safe for his
or her child to leave for school in
inclement or severe weather. A parent
must be aware of the following:
•
•
When a bus does not travel a
route in the morning due to fog,
ice, snow conditions, it will NOT
travel that route in the afternoon.
While we have an excellent
transportation system, buses may
be delayed in the morning due to
traffic, poor road conditions,
mechanical breakdowns etc.
This will ensure your child is not
stranded at his/her pick up point,
please make sure they know what
to do and where to go if their bus
is more than 15 minutes late
•
Remember to listen to CJOY 1460
AM or Magic 106.1 FM in the
event of inclement weather.
They will broadcast bus
cancellations or school closures.
Procedures are also in place to ensure
the safety of students during their
outdoor breaks at nutritional breaks
during periods of extreme cold.
In the event of inclement weather, the
Director of Education will make the
decision to close schools.
Announcements are made by local radio
stations and this information is also
posted on the Wellington-Dufferin
Student Transportation System website.
Website: www.stwdsts.ca
SIGN IN/SIGN OUT PROCEDURES
We take the safety of your child(ren) very
seriously!
Adults entering the building are asked to
come to the office to sign in. If you are
staying to volunteer or as a visitor for an
event, please pick up and wear the
appropriate badge from the office.
Adults in our building who are not
wearing a visitor’s badge will be asked to
return to the office and sign in. Please
remember that the safety of our students
is extremely important.
If parents are dropping off a kindergarten
child, please do not walk through the
school but exit the doors that you came
in. If you are dropping your child(ren) at
the office, please allow them to proceed
to class on their own.
To keep disruptions in the classroom to a
minimum, parents picking up students
during the school day are asked to come
to the office and wait for their children
there. Please remember to sign your
child(ren) out at the office. If children
are reminded in the morning when to
come to the office to meet a parent and
the teacher has been aware of the
absence, this will go a long way to keep
disruptions in the classroom down.
Lunches, clothing, homework etc. must
be dropped off at the office. We will
make sure that your child(ren) receive
the items before breaks.
Finally, parents needing to speak to a
teacher are asked to phone ahead or
write a note and request an interview
time, rather than dropping in when the
teacher is busy with other
responsibilities. The home/school
connection is so important for your child’s
success. You are more than welcome
to call your child’s teacher to discuss any
issue.
CHILD CUSTODY
Unless otherwise directed by a court of
law, both natural parents have full
access to their child and their records. If
for some reason these rights are
restricted, it is important to notify the
Principal with a photocopy of any legal
documents that outline a parent’s access
rights (e.g. Custody Order). Should the
situation change, please ensure that the
Principal is notified.
HEAD LICE
Here is our friendly head lice reminder;
as you are aware, having head lice is not
an indicator of poor hygiene – lice like
clean hair best! They can happen to
anyone. If there was a report of head
lice in your child’s class, we will send
home a head lice notice. Please check
your son/daughter’s hair regularly, and
contact the school if you discover your
child has lice or nits. If your child has
head lice, please treat them with a
remedy from the pharmacy that kills the
live lice and then using a special comb or
other technique; and remove nits from
the hair. Since no product can
effectively kill all nits, you will then need
to check for nits and remove them from
the hair every day for 7-10 days at which
time treatment is redone with a pharmacy
product. Please be advised that once or
twice in the year a group of volunteers
may do head checks at the school. If you
have questions or concerns about this
process, please contact the office
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Kindergarten Registration for the
2016/2017 school year will take place in
the New Year. More information will
follow.
SCHOOL SAFETY PATROLS
Our safety patrols have been doing an
excellent job in safeguarding our
students and parents as they walk to and
from school. We would like to remind
parents of the following:
*Please come to a full stop at stop signs.
*Please do not stop to let your children off at
the crosswalk or wave for students to cross.
*Please do not obstruct the sidewalk by
parking in neighbours driveways.
*Please take care in attending to our
patrols and be patient.
*Please do not park/stop in no parking/no
stopping areas. This choice of parking
spots blocks the line of sight for our
patrols.
RECESS GAMES
A group of dedicated Grade 5 and 6
students have been leading outdoor
recess games for primary students. The
games take place a few recesses a
week. The Recess Games Leaders will
be developing their leadership skills as
they teach and lead games such as “TV
Tag” and “Octopus Tag”. At the same
time, they also remind the younger
students about using Kelso’s Choices (a
Kelso Choice chart can be downloaded
from our School Handbook on our
website for you to consult at home) to
resolve any conflicts. We hope the
primary students have fun playing these
active games at recess.
Mrs. Pye-Clifford
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE
LIBRARY …
Did you know that our board has
wonderful resources that our students
can access at home? It is called
UG2GO and it includes educational
videos, access to kid friendly sites,
Tumble books (hundreds of books kids
can click on and have read to them) and
much, much more! On your home
computer go to the main
address: http://www.ugdsb.on.ca/ug2g
o
Students will be prompted to type in the
user name and password they use at
school. If your child cannot remember
their username and password they can
come by the library and pick up a card
with their information on it to take home.
Parent Council Meeting
•
Join us at the next Parent
Council Meeting taking place
on Tuesday, December 8th
from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
•
All are welcome.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR
KINDERGARTEN CLASSES
•
Mrs. Garvey and Mrs. Bond are asking
if our community has any gently used
mitts, boots, and snow pants sizes 4-6 for
girls and boys. These donations will be
used for students who are in need of an
extra change of outdoor clothes when
they get muddy and wet from recess. Any
items that are not used (due to size etc)
will be donated for other students to use
in our school. Thank you.
•
RAISING COMPASSIONATE
CHILDREN
Here are just a few ways you can help to
raise a child who is compassionate,
caring and an engaged global citizen:
•
•
Connecting leads to caring. Set
your alarm 20 minutes early each
day so that you aren’t rushed in
the morning with your children.
Checking in and connecting is a
vital part of their day. Help start
the day on a positive note.
Let you children know that their
efforts are important to running
your household. Helpers in the
home are helpers in the
neighbourhood. Responsibilities
are good for all of us.
Make the back seat of your car a
technology free zone. Take the
lead and share with them some
details of you day. You might be
surprised how much they share
after some practice.
Make gratitude a habit. Have your
children share something
wonderful about their day at the
dinner table or just before going to
bed. Focusing on the positive can
help our children be resilient.
Model random acts of kindness.
Open doors for others, bake some
muffins for your grandparents or
offer to babysit for a friend. The
possibilities are endless and they
don’t have to involve money.
Step back so a child can step up.
Remember to provide children
with a chance to do the right thing
or solve a problem with a friend on
their own first, and then be there
to help them talk through their
choices afterwards. When they
suggest a way to help someone
else, honour that thought and do
what you can to support them in
taking action.
For more information check
out www.freethechildrren.com or go to
your local library and borrow a copy of
“The World Needs Your Kid.”
-
Connie Bender UGDSB
Updates of Support for Students Who
are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
“I Feel Good!” A Guide to Support the
Mental Health and Well-Being of
Children and Youth Who Are deaf and
Hard of Hearing
Although advances in hearing
technology and early intervention
programs have made it possible for
greater numbers of children with hearing
loss to access sound in order to develop
spoken language, some parents
continue to express concern that their
children are experiencing challenges in
their social relationships. To assist
families and professionals in supporting
the mental health and developing the
social skills of children and youth with
hearing loss, VOICE for Hearing
Impaired Children has produced “I Feel
Good!” A Guide to Support the Mental
Health and Well-Being of Children and
Youth Who Are deaf and Hard of Hearing
in Ontario's schools. This publication was
developed in collaboration with the
Canadian Hearing Society and with input
from researchers at Universities of
Toronto and Western Ontario as well as
clinical psychologists. This resource
highlights typical social developmental
milestones, the impact hearing loss may
have on social interactions and provides
suggestions to support developing social
skills. The goal of the guide and these
proactive strategies is to assist children
and youth with hearing loss to develop
the skills they need to successfully
integrate with peers at school and in the
community at large. Be sure to access
both the French & English versions on
our
website (www.voicefordeafkids.com).
"Sounds for Success" e-learning
course
VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children
has also launched a new series of videos
and resources that support the unique
needs of deaf and hard of hearing
students. Our new resources were
created to assist educators in
Kindergarten to grade 2 in providing an
inclusive environment for their students
with hearing loss. Visit the VOICE
website to view courses and resources,
in both English and French, on a variety
of topics including Laying the Foundation
for Literacy, Developing Social Skills and
Effective use of Classroom Amplification
Systems. We encourage parents to
share this information with their child’s
school and classroom teachers and
invite them to take advantage of these
free and informative resources, as they
plan for a successful year for students
with hearing loss. See the Resources for
Professionals section on the new VOICE
website (www.voicefordeafkids.com).
Talking About Mental Health!
Last year UGDSB launched a new
website design that is more engaging
and user friendly. The most exciting part
(at least from my perspective) is that
there are now mental health and
addictions resources available on the
website. To find the resources, go to:
ugdsb.on.ca
Click on the Parent tab, then click on the
Mental Health Tab.
There is also a Student tab with a Mental
Health tab, which you can share with
your children and youth.
Once you are on site, you will find
information about local mental health
and addiction resources.
Children and Youth in Guelph
Wellington: HERE 247 (1 844 437 3247).
Adults in Guelph Wellington Dufferin
HERE 247 (1 844 437 3247). The page
also has links to useful websites with
information for parents about about
mental health and addictions.
There is an Access to Mental Health
Resources document that provides more
details about counselling and supports in
Guelph Wellington Dufferin.
The UGDSB Mental Health and
Addiction Strategy Summary, as well as
the full strategy are also provided as
links. Hope these resources are helpful
for you and your families