Principal’s Message – January 17, 2021
Two weeks of remote learning are in the books. As I pop in and out of virtual classrooms I am impressed by the participation of our students and the creative ways staff have recreated aspects of their classroom to support kiddos in the virtual world. We know the amount of support that you are giving to make this happen and we are all grateful for your help. The premier did say that he would let us know by Wednesday if the closure is continuing. I know we will all be tuning in.
I have enjoyed spending some time in the virtual classrooms focusing on our equity work. I have been talking to students about the importance of a person’s name. We are using the picture book, Your Name is A Song, by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, to have discussions about the beauty and history of names and how we are respecting an important part of a person’s identity when we use their name and say it correctly. I look forward to continuing these discussions this week.
As you are aware our school and school board has been focused on Mental Health throughout this school year. The Umbrella Project is a program that focuses on an aspect of mental health each month and provides teachers with lesson plans to support rich discussions in their classrooms. January’s theme is “Self-Compassion.” This is defined as: “The care we offer ourselves when we make mistakes, embarrass ourselves, or come short of a goal we were hoping to achieve. It’s about being kind to yourself even when things don’t go as planned.” Covid-19 has caused all of us to adjust to new things and continually changes to things we plan. I have let the students know that my favourite word is kindness. I hope that they continue to find ways to be kind to themselves in these trying times.
Finally, just a note that, as a staff, we are following the stay at home orders as best as we can. As a result, the only staff that are in the building are those who are unable to work from home due to spotty internet. Although I am in and out of the building to support work that must be completed on site, we encourage you to contact staff directly by email, as the office phone will not be answered during the day. A listing of staff emails can be found on our school website, under the heading “Staff”.
For parents who need to pick up paper packages to support their child, these can be picked up from the blue bin that will be outside the main door in a labelled envelope on Monday or Tuesday of this week, between 9am and 3pm. If you have completed items to return, there is also a bin for that. Please make sure your child’s teacher’s name is on the envelope and the documents inside are labelled with your child’s name. We will scan the work to the teacher for you.
Have a terrific week!
Categories: News