PMPS Weekly Update April 18th, 2024
Good Evening Mustang Families,
It’s been a busy week here at PMPS. Our junior and intermediate students played their final basketball games (thanks to Mr. Navarro for organizing this), some of our classes are busy growing seedlings, our new front hallway art display is almost completed (thanks to our artists and Ms. Ellis), small groups of grade 8s are heading over to the highschool for transition visits, and we are preparing for school wide Earth Day clean up on April 22nd that is completely organized by students in Mrs. Hickey’s grade 6 class (love when our students show this initiative!)
Cracker Food Drive: Two days left to bring in crackers to help fuel our cracker drive. Boxes of crackers will be counted tomorrow after the bell rings. The class with the most crackers wins a pizza party. Thank you for your continued support of our snack program.
Emergency Response Training & Spring Drills: The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority. Although I hope that an incident that requires a response from emergency personnel will never occur in our school, we must be prepared to respond quickly and effectively in case it does. Each year our school must conduct drills to ensure staff and students are prepared in the event of a real emergency. The following number of drills are required in the springtime:
- 3 fire drills ( 2 completed so far this week and 1 left to go)
- 1 lockdown drill (completed last week)
- 1 tornado drill (completed last week) and 1 evacuation drill (completed this week)
For each of these drills, there is an education component to explain why they are necessary. All drills are conducted in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of our students. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. The students and staff have done very well so far and I am proud of how seriously they take this practice.
Supervision: Please remember that students should not be arriving before 820am in the morning and need to be picked up/ or leave the school at the dismissal bell at 250pm. Morning supervision begins at 820am and end of the day supervision ends at 3pm.
Attendance/ Lates/ All Visitors: If your child is not going to be at school, please call our school office and report the absence on our attendance line. Please also do this if your child is going to be late. If a student is late, they must check in with the office and get a late slip. This allows the teacher to know that the student has checked in with the office, so attendance can be accurate.
Our school day is from 830am to 250pm every day and it is important that students arrive on time, as there are important routines and announcements that they will miss if they are late. Thank you for your help.
If your child has missed 10% or more of the school year, there will be an attendance letter arriving home by mail in the next couple of weeks. Do you know that on average we have almost 14 absences per child and on average 10 lates per student at PMPS? This is out of 136 school days so far. We are here and want to help. Please give me a call if we can help your child arrive at school on time and be here more often. Thank you.
If you are coming into the school, please check in with the office. All visitors must check in with the office.
Every Day Counts! Student Support Part 3: When it comes to student attendance at school, Every Day Counts! This week our tips for supporting your child’s attendance at school focuses on ways to involve the school. See below for some strategies you could try.
- Know that there are supports in your child’s school. Connect with them as soon as an issue starts. Connecting earlier is better than when your child has missed a lot of school.
- If your child wants to leave school, try to have them connect with a caring adult in the school first to see if things can be worked out before your child goes home.
- Reach out to your school Principal and/or Guidance department for help if your child is not coming to school. Let’s talk! There is no judgement!
- A welcoming school approach has proven to be quite effective. Ensure your child is familiar with their school Principal, Vice-Principal and other caring adults in the building.
- Talk to the school team about anything you are hearing might be difficult for your child at school. School staff are always ready to help problem solve.
- Have a mental health plan created with your child and school staff and ensure there is a safe place to go in the school when your child may need some quiet time.
- If going into the classroom is hard – remember coming into the school building and meeting with a caring adult in a safe space is an important step in getting back to school.
For more information, please visit the UGDSB website: https://www.ugdsb.ca/parents/student-attendance-at-school-tips-and-strategies-for-families/
Every Day Counts! Student Support Week 4: This week, let’s discuss some things to do if all the strategies you’ve tried so far to encourage regular attendance at school with your child haven’t worked.
- Be consistent! Don’t give up. And know that there are supports for parents if you need them. “Put on your own oxygen mask, before others.”
- There are resources available within schools and community supports if there are other barriers to attendance such as having enough food for lunches.
- Here’s a great resources with existing handouts and evidence based information: https://www.attendanceworks.org/
For more information, please visit the UGDSB website: https://www.ugdsb.ca/parents/student-attendance-at-school-tips-and-strategies-for-families/
Our Twitter account is full of updates, please check it out: @margaret_ps . I update our website regularly as well: www.ugdsb.ca/PrincessMargaret/ . Our school council also posts to Instrgram @princessmargaretps. Please take a moment to have a look.
OPP Presentation for Parents in Person at PMPS April 23rd at 6pm with Officer Amy-Lynn Pitton: I am pleased to share that our OPP community engagement officer will be coming to PMPS on April 23rd at 6pm to host a one-hour parent information evening about how to keep your child(ren) safe online from bullying and predators. The officer will also take questions. All parents/caregivers are welcome. Children are not welcome to attend at the request of the officer, because of the subject matter. Please RSVP by email to: [email protected] by April 19th at 3pm with the number of parents attending, so we can plan accordingly. The presentation is going ahead, so the more the merrier.
Important Upcoming Dates:
-April 19th: Little Caesars Pizza Fundraiser Distribution 3pm
-April 23rd: Parent Presentation from OPP Officer Amy Pitton 6pm Library: All Welcome
-April 24th: Office Coordinator Appreciation Day
-April 25th: UGDSB Director of Education & Superintendent Visit 1045-1145am
-April 26th: K-3 Author Visit in Library am
Upcoming Spirit Days for April & Early May:
April 26th: Comfy Clothes Day
May 3rd: Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you)- Star Wars, clothes representing space etc.
Reminders:
Dogs on School Property: Please remember that dogs are not allowed on school property. Some of our students have a fear of dogs. We had a significant incident last fall when an elderly person was injured. Please wait with your dog off school property for your child(ren). Thank you for your support.
Dufferin Parent Support Network: Please check out https://www.dpsn.ca/ for free parenting workshops. The Dufferin Parenting Support Network is a great organization of parents supporting parents.
DCAFS Behaviour Solutions: DCAFS offers a wide range of services designed to meet the unique needs of each child and family. They believe that every child deserves the chance to reach their full potential, and they are committed to helping them do just that. If you’re looking for support for your family within a safe and welcoming community, look no further than DCAFS! Please see the link for some different workshops and events: https://behavioursolutions.dcafs.on.ca/events/
Emergency Lunch and Recess Supervisors Needed Urgently: If you love working with wonderful children, who are enthusiastic, fun and engaging, Princess Margaret wants you as a Lunchroom/Yard Supervisor. We have an urgent need for supplies while our regular staff are away. We require individuals who are caring, energetic, and have the ability to ensure the safety and security of our students. The position requires a commitment of approximately 80 minutes per day (two 40 minute nutrition breaks: 20 minutes eating and 20 minutes outdoor recess time). This is a paid position, minimum wage per hour. Your responsibilities include: monitoring lunchrooms and outside recess. Our two nutrition breaks/ yard times are from 10:20- 11am and again from 12:30-1:10pm. Lunchroom supervisors are required to have a vulnerable sector criminal record background check. If you want to be part of a great school community with awesome students, please call me, Andrea Papavasiliou (Principal) at 519-941-3731 ext 223. Similarly, if you know someone who would be fantastic in this role, please pass this information along to them. Thank you.
Milk Sales: Our wonderful Student Council continues to sell milk. The milk costs $1.00 each. Milk sale profits support our Student Council.
We’ll see everyone tomorrow for another day of learning before heading into the weekend.
Andrea Papavasiliou, Principal
Categories: News