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www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Good Shepherd’s
Good News
Good
Shepherd’s
Good
News
S e p te m b e r 20 13
Prayer for a New School Year
Good Shepherd Elementary School
28 Red River Drive
Brampton ON, L6R 2H9
Phone: 905.791.1039
Fax: 905.791.9856
Principal
A. Brunette
Vice Principal
M. Daddabbo
Dear Lord, as we begin this new school year, we gather once
again as your community of believers.
We thank you for the energy and the spirit that you renewed in
us through the summer months.
We thank you for the time to enjoy our family and friends and to
reflect on what is important in our lives.
Let this year be marked by enthusiasm and love so that, with the
inspiration of your Spirit, we may continue to grow in our faith.
Help us to fulfill Your hope for us with honest intentions and works of faith.
Let us be gentle with ourselves and bring laughter, joy and love to others.
We ask this in your name. Amen.
Office Staff
N. Jacques
D. Canal
Superintendent of Schools
L. Storey
(905) 890-0708 ext. 24240
Trustee
S. Mclauchlan
Parish
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(905) 792-7497
Pastor
Father R. Tolentino
School Hours
8:45
Classes begin
10:25 Morning recess
11:30 Lunch
12:30 Afternoon Classes begin
2:10
Afternoon recess
3:15
Dismissal
** Supervision in yard begins at 8:30 every morning
Safe Arrival Program
For safety reasons, it is very important to notify the school
if your child is going to be absent or late. Please call 905791-1039 if your child is going to be absent or late. This
communication is vital to ensure the safety of your child.
If we do not hear from you, you will receive a call to verify
your child’s absence from the office.
September Virtue of the Month - FAITH
To begin the new school year, we’ll focus our
attention on the first of our virtues – faith.
Faith is the great virtue of believing in God
and trusting that God is with us.
A faithful person believes that we are created,
guided by and destined to be reunited with
God. A faithful person believes that God’s plan
for us includes the right to be safe, especially
at school.
A Faithful Person…
 Prays regularly and reverently
 Learns from Scripture stories
 Honours people’s God-given names
 Assumes that there is good in everyone
 Accepts the God-given worth of themselves
and others
IMPORTANT DATES
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Sept. 13
PD Day
Sept. 18
Picture Day
Sept. 24
Open House BBQ – please note
date has been changed from Sept. 19th
Sept. 26
Terry Fox Walk
Oct. 3
School Council
Oct. 4
Opening School Mass 1:00
School Entrance
All students are expected to enter the school with
their class at entry times. If you are coming to the
school during the school day please use the front door,
and proceed to the office. All visitors must report to
the office. Students who enter the front door in the
morning will be recorded as late. We will have a new
entry monitoring system in place this year. Once it is
installed, we will send home a letter explaining the
access procedures.
Parents who are dropping off their children are asked
to remain outside the black fence or on the park
pathway. No parents should be on the school yard in
the interest of the safety of all children.
We
appreciate your cooperation.
Emergency Evacuations
Teachers and students regularly practice emergency
evacuation procedures. These include: safe exit from
the building in the event of a fire and safety actions in
the event of an intruder. If an evacuation of the
school site occurs, our alternate location is Father
Clair Tipping.
Class Reorganization
Each year, schools are staffed according to projected
enrolment figures provided to us from the Planning
Department. Therefore, all classroom and teacher
placements are tentative when classes start up in
September. Numbers are being reviewed, and if necessary,
reorganization of classes will occur by the scheduled
Professional Activity Day on September 13th. If any such
reorganization takes place, and it involves your child, we
will notify you of the changes by letter. We appreciate
your cooperation, patience and trust if any changes occur
that impact your child.
Bullying Prevention
Everyone Has the Right to be Safe at School
The key message for September is “everyone has the right
to be safe at school”. In the process of creating a Catholic,
Caring Community we focus on the three R’s;
Respect for self
Respect for Others
Responsibility for one’s own actions
The Good Shepherd Bullying Prevention Policy and the
Catholic Code of Conduct are found in the front sections of
the student agenda. Throughout the year we will build on
the work of our Empowerment group as well as develop new
initiatives to support the creation of a safe and inclusive
environment for all of our students at Good Shepherd.
Tips for Parents:
- talk with your children about the Catholic Code of Conduct
and the Good Shepherd bullying Prevention Policy
- discuss classroom and school expectations for both
academics and behaviours
- discuss behavioural expectations within your own family
and the values or beliefs upon which these are based.
Traffic Safety
We remind you to follow the kiss and ride, directional and fire
route/bussing route signs on our property.
Also, we ask you to follow the same rules and guidelines for
walking children to school as we expect the children to
follow. Remember that children watch what we do more
than they listen to what we say.
Parking Enforcement frequently visits schools throughout
Peel Region and issues tickets to vehicles that are in parking
violations including on our premises. They are paying
particular attention to cars parked in the fire route/bus dropoff zone at the front of the school and cars are being ticketed
even when someone is sitting in the vehicle. Please do not
park your car in the Kiss ‘n Ride zone.
Please remember the importance of abiding by the posted
traffic signs at the school. The safety of our children is worth
our utmost attention to this matter.
Student Verification Forms
We appreciate your co-operation in keeping us up-to-date
regarding pertinent information for your child e.g. change
in address, telephone numbers, etc. Accurate information
is vital should we need to contact you in an emergency
situation. Please ensure that you complete and return the
Student Verification Forms (even those whose information
is correct) that have been sent home with your child.
Custody of Children
On rare occasions, we are faced with difficult situations in
which non-custodial parents arrive at school asking to visit
their child or to take their child home after school. We are
best able to serve and protect students when we are made
aware of legal custody arrangements, visitations rights and
other special instructions. If legal custody matters affect
your family, please ensure that our office and classroom
teachers are aware of any custodial arrangements that
may affect your child during school hours.
School Council
Elections/Meeting
Wednesday, October 3rd
@
7:00 p.m.
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Volunteers Needed
Annual Terry Fox Run
If you have extra time during the school day and
wish to help out at Good Shepherd please speak to
your child’s teacher or the office staff. Volunteers
are used to support our reading programs,
supporting staff and school activities, attend field
trips and other various functions. This is a great
way to get involved in your child’s school
community. All volunteers in the school must have
a yearly police check available at the local police
division office dated within the last 6 months.
When you receive your letter please bring it to the
main office so that we can add you to our list of
volunteers.
On Thursday, September 26th Good Shepherd will be
participating in the national “Terry Fox Walk”. Students
are asked to wear appropriate outdoor clothing and shoes
as they participate in a neighborhood walk honouring
Terry Fox. Students are invited to donate a “toonie” or
more which will go towards Terry’s dream of Cancer
Research. More information and a walking excursion form
will be sent home soon.
Crossing Guard
Sunny Meadow & Peter Robertson
Sunny Meadow & Larkspur/Red River
Please use the cross walk and crossing guards to
cross the road. They are there for the safety and
well being of our students.
Delivering Lunches
When delivering your child’s lunch to school please
advise your child in advance you will be doing so,
and write his/her name and teacher’s name on the
bag. Your child can come down at 11:30 to pick it
up from the lunch table with minimal disruption to
the class. The lunch table is located in the lobby,
outside the office. We would greatly appreciate
your co-operation in this matter.
Valuables
There is no place in the school to store valuable
belongings. Please do not allow your children to
bring any valuables (jewelry, money, hand held
games or other electronic devices such as MP3
players or current popular trading cards or toys), to
school as we cannot be responsible for their
safekeeping. Telephones, cameras, skateboards,
roller blades and other expensive items should not
be brought to school. If students are seen using cell
phones while at school, the cell phone will be
confiscated and parents will be contacted to come
and retrieve the device and depending on the
circumstances, students may be suspended. The
school is not responsible for lost or stolen items. If
a ball goes over the fence or onto the school roof,
students are to tell the teacher on duty.
Allergy Aware School
Transportation Information
We are in the process of confirming our student
population and the students that qualify for
transportation. If your child qualifies for transportation
they would have received a red or orange bus tag. The
red tags are for students in JK, SK or Grade 1 and should
be attached to the outside of his/her knapsack. The
orange bus tags are for older students and these should
be kept inside their knapsack.
This is a reminder that applications to ride the bus on a
courtesy seat are due to the office by Friday September
27th and seats will not be assigned until after Wednesday
October 2nd.
For more information please visit www.stopr.ca
Medication at School
If medication must be administered at school, signed
request/authorization forms from the parents and the
supervising physician must be completed. These forms
are available in the office. The required forms and the
medication are given to the office where it will be
housed in a safe location. The medication must be in the
original packaging with the correct labeling. Please do
not send any medication in Ziploc bags or other
containers. Medication must not be kept with the child
(i.e. pocket, back pack etc.) or in the classroom with the
exception of epi-pens and inhalers. Students should
administer the medication in the office with the
supervision of an adult. If you have any questions or if
this applies to your child please speak to someone in the
office.
Celebrating Special Occasions
As a result of being an allergy
aware school, no food or food based
treats can be brought in to share
with your child’s classmates. If you
should choose to bring in treats for
Halloween, Valentines, birthdays,
etc., please make sure they are not
edible e.g. pencils, erasers etc.
Good Shepherd is an Allergy Aware Environment and as such we respect the needs and rights of the students in our school
with life threatening allergies. To create a safe environment we are asking that no nuts or products made from nuts are
sent to school. Even if your child is not in a class with other students there is a possibility of cross contamination of our
common areas like the library or computer lab. There are also other students with specific allergies to other foods such
as strawberries or shellfish. If your child’s teacher has sent home a note regarding specific food allergies please provide
other options for your child for lunch.
If your child has a life threatening allergy please provide the school with the most up to date information. We are also
asking for at least one Epi-pen to be provided to the school in the case of an emergency.
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
Extra-Curricular Activities
Good Shepherd provides many extracurricular
activities for the students to become involved with
outside of the classroom. Sports such as volleyball,
softball and cross country running begin in early
September. Students should listen carefully to the
morning announcements for opportunities to try out
for sports teams or participate in intramurals or other
clubs and activities.
Masses
We will continue our tradition of celebrating school
mass at St. Marguerite d’Youville parish with Father
Romeo. A walking excursion form will be sent home
shortly for permission to walk to the church on these
occasions. Our masses this year are as follows:
Friday, October 4th @ 1:00
Monday, December 16th @ 1:00
Tuesday, April 8th @ 9:30
Tuesday, June 10th @ 1:00
We may require parent volunteers to walk with
classes. Please make sure you have submitted your
Criminal Reference Check to the office should you
wish to help out.
Sacramental Preparation
Students in grade 2 and 8 will have the opportunity
to receive the sacrament of reconciliation and first
communion, and confirmation respectively. Please
make sure you look for further information coming
from the parish. All students will be required to
attend preparation classes and a retreat, organized
through the church, in advance of receiving the
sacrament.
Open House BBQ
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE!!
Parents and Guardians are invited to meet their
children’s teachers and enjoy a BBQ on
Tuesday, September 24th from 5:30-7:30 pm.
More information and order forms will be coming
shortly.
Picture Day
Wednesday, October 18th is picture day for all
students at Good Shepherd School.
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Student Accident insurance
Important notice to parents, guardians
regarding insurance for students who
participate in out-of-school excursions and
extra-curricular sports activities.
Effective September 2012 the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board requires that parents, guardians
and adult students provide written acknowledgment
that they have received information regarding
Student Accident Insurance especially for those
students participating in out-of-school excursions
and/or extra-curricular sports activities.
Although the Board takes every precaution to provide
a safe learning environment for students, accidents
can and do happen. Some accidental injuries result
in medical, dental and/or other expenses that are
not covered by the provincial health care or
employer group plans. As the parent, guardian or
adult student you become responsible for these
expenses.
Some families have private accident
insurance which is able to respond to costs arising
from injuries however many families do not.
Under the Education Act, an Ontario school board
may “provide, by contract with an insurer under the
Insurance Act, accident and life insurance for pupils,
the cost of which is to be paid on a voluntary basis by
the parents or guardians. R.S.O. 1990, c.E.2, s.176,
par.4.”
As required under the Education Act, the DufferinPeel Catholic District School Board arranges for the
distribution of student accident insurance brochures
(i.e., ‘insuremykids’). However, please be advised
that the Board assumes no responsibility for the cost
of the plan, applications, premium payments or
claims; nor does the Board receive any remuneration
from the Reliable Life Insurance Company.
Furthermore, the Board does not and cannot insure
students.
When signing the permission form for trips or
participation in athletics, you will notice an area of
the form that requires you to check off your
acknowledgement of the life insurance brochure.
Please check off both boxes.
Head Injury Policy
School Planners/Agendas
Premier school agendas have been ordered again
this year for students in grades 1 - 8.
Organizational skills, time management and
homework completion are essential components
of the learning skills, supported by the use of
this agenda. Thank you to the 2012-2013 School
Council for covering the cost of our agendas!
When a student receives an injury to the head, it is
Board Policy that we inform parents. We will attempt
to reach you even when it is a very minor injury.
Please try not to be too alarmed should you receive a
call. Please remind your child to let a staff member
know immediately, if they are hurt at school.
To Be Returned to the School:
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Lunch Hour Update Form
Walking Excursion Form
Student Verification Form
Curricular Physical Education Elements of
Risk & Medical Information Form
Electronic Newsletter Form
Medical Forms and Medication/Epi-Pens –
if applicable