Victory Newsletter for September, 2022

Posted August 30, 2022

 

Message From Principal

Bienvenue and welcome everyone to Victory Public School! I hope that you have had a wonderful summer and have had some relaxing time with family and/or friends.  For those of you whom I have not yet met, my name is Carla Anderson and I am the principal of Victory Public School. I am honored to have been selected to be the Principal for the past three years and am proud to be part of  your school community which is known for its dedication to excellence, but more importantly, to children.

It has been a busy (and hot) summer for many who have been preparing our building for this school year. We had a wonderful, hardworking, team of custodians lead by Mr. Rocha who worked diligently through the summer heat cleaning all aspects of the school and setting up desks. Mrs. Wynne has put in many hours getting all the paperwork ready for school opening and our teachers have done a wonderful job creating warm, welcoming spaces in their classrooms.

As we head into a new school year at Victory we want you to know that we value parent and community involvement.  With this in mind, we look forward to having you join us for our Open House from 6:30-7:30 on Thursday, September 29th.

I extend a special welcome to families who are joining us for the first time.  We invite you to join us on our School Council.

Carla Anderson

Principal

[email protected]

 

First Day Procedures

Please arrive at the school between 8:35 and 8:50.  We ask that parents walk their children to the gates (kindergarten at the parking lot entrance ).  Teachers will direct your child to the appropriate grade level signs.  If it is raining, students are advised to dress for the weather and bring an umbrella.

Please drop off any plans of care and or medication at the gate on Exhibition Street with our Office Co-ordinator, Kelly Wynne.  If you require a plan of care please access this link:

https://www.ugdsb.ca/board/policy/policy-518-students-with-life-threatening-medical-conditions/

 

Important Forms and Notices

There are a number of forms and notices that will be coming home on the first day of school.  Several of these forms need parents’ signature, updated information and they need to be returned to school.  Please sign and update forms and return to the school by Monday, September 12, 2022.

 

Front Door   

Just a reminder that the original front doors that face Exhibition Street will once again be used as the main entrance to our school. Please ring the doorbell upon entry and sign in at the Office.

Front Doors

Staff Changes

This year we welcome new staff members to Victory Public School.  We are pleased to welcome Mdle. Brodie who will be our Teacher -Librian and a French Immersion Planning Time Teacher, Mme. Poste who will be one of our FDK teachers (twice in a cycle) as well as French Immersion Planning Teacher, Ms. Clark will be an addition to our Educational Assistant team and Darcia Romaniuk will be joining us as our Child and Youth Counsellor.

 We would also like to welcome back Mr. Elrick who will be teaching the F1/2 class, Mme Kukovica who will be teaching French Immersion FDK and Ms. Batenchuk who will be an ECE.  We would also like to welcome back Mme Vaughan who will be teaching in the French Immersion Grade 4 class and Ms Hutchinson who will be covering Primary Planning.

Staff

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION SEPTEMBER 2022

NAME POSITION EXT.
Anderson, Carla Principal 223
Barroso, Noemia Grade 3/4 English 407
Batenchuk, Lacey ECE 419
Brodie, Megan Teacher Librian/FI Planning 436
Cadieux, Monique Grade 4/5 English 402
Cauley, Anne-Marie Grade 2/3 French 415
Clark, Lesley EA 409
de Rijcke, Lauren Grade 2/3 French 439
Doyle, Erika Resource French 416
Elrick, Pierre Grade 1/2 French 411
Ferris, Emily Resource, Planning 414
Gillard, Michelle ECE 412
Goodis, Nishanti EA 423
Grenier, Nicole Grade 1 French 408
Hutchinson, Samantha English Planning 422
Kelly, Andrea Grade 5/6 English 405
Kukovika, Andrea Kindergarten French 442
McCoy, Jason Grade 2/3 English 417
Mifsud, Leslie Kindergarten, English 404
Osborne, Katie EA 427
Pagnan, Kelly Grade 1/2 English 421
Poste, Andrea Kindergarten French/Planning 413
Rocha, Steve Custodian 230
Romaniuk, Darcia CYC 438
Sproule, Kristy Kindergarten French 410
Stephens, Diana French Planning 440
Vaughan, Olivia Grade 4 French 406
Wallace, Laura ECE 418
Wilks, Jennifer Kindergarten English 420
Wynne, Kelly Office Coordinator 221

Students Who Are Late or Picked Up Early

Students who arrive late are asked to ring the doorbell upon entry and check in at the Office before going to class.  We would ask that if your child(ren) are to be picked up early that you send a note or leave a message on the answering machine, x 100, letting us know the time you will be picking up your child.  Your help in ensuring that students arrive at school on time would be greatly appreciated.

Cell Phone

Welcome Student Teachers

We welcome a Teacher Candidate from Laurier University.  They will be working alongside several teachers throughout the year.

Student Teacher

September Class Placements

As in recent years, classroom organizations and student placements during the first two weeks of school will be tentative until enrollment numbers are confirmed. Please note the following message from the UGDSB’s Human Resourced Department:

Message from the Human Resources Department

Re: School Organizations

Schools have built class lists based on their tentative organizations. Changes may be necessary at your child(ren)’s school in order that our Board remain compliant with Ministry parameters (see below). Any changes would be implemented by Monday, September 19th. Principals do not have the option of changing the school organization that is set by the District Staffing Committee of the Board. If changes affect your child(ren), you will be informed by the school.

Ministry of Education Parameters

*Full Day Kindergarten Class Size Average for the Board is 26 students

*90% of the Board’s primary classes with 20 or fewer students

*10% of the Board’s primary classes up to a maximum of 23 students

*Grade 3/4 classes have a cap of 23 students

*Junior/Intermediate Class Size Average for the Board is 24.5 students to 1 teacher

90% of Full Day Kindergarten classes with 29 or fewer students

10% of Full Day Kindergarten classes up to a maximum of 32 students

under certain cirumstances

Re Organization

Medication at School and Students with Life-Threatening Medical Conditions

UGDSB Policy 518: Students with Life-Threatening Medical Conditions, outlines the roles and responsibilities for all in the educational community to support students with possible life-threatening medical conditions.  The prevalent medical conditions covered under this policy are Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Diabetes and Epilepsy/Seizure Disorders.  If your child has one of these, or any other life-threatening medical condition, please visit: www.ugdsb.ca/board/policy (and look for Policy 518) or contact the school as soon as possible.  We will work with you to develop a Plan of Care to support your child.

Life-Threatening Allergies

We have children in our school with potential life-threatening allergies (called anaphylaxis) to various foods and other materials.  Anaphylaxis is a medical condition that can cause death within minutes.  In recent years, anaphylaxis has increased dramatically among students. Although this may not affect your child’s class directly, we are letting you know so that you are aware that we aim to create an allergy safe environment at our school. If your child is in a classroom with an anaphylactic child, or your child has anaphylaxis, you will be informed by the classroom teacher. Our school has procedures in place for the prevention and management of anaphylactic reactions. If your child has health concerns of any kind, please tell your child’s teacher or the office and we will take the necessary health protection steps. Thank you for your understanding in ensuring an allergy-safe environment for all of our students.

Accessibility and Equity

There may be times throughout the year when we will be asking for parents to send in money to cover the cost of field trips, pizza, special events etc.  We understand that for some families these funds may cause financial hardship.  We don’t ever want a child to miss out due to financial hardship.  If ever you are in this situation please just contact Ms. Anderson and she will make arrangements to have the school cover the cost.

Victory Kids Club Students 

Just a reminder if you pick your child(ren) up from school, it is the parents’ responsibility to let VKC know that they will not be there. This prevents the staff from VKC and the staff from Victory P. S. having to look for your child at the end of the day. Thank you for your help in this matter.

Visiting the School

When visiting the school enter through the front door facing Exhibition Street.  Ring the doorbell and sign-in at the Office.  Only visitors with a Visitors Badge are permitted to leave the main foyer area.  This is to ensure the safety of all students.

Open House

Our first special event of the year.  Our Open House will be an opportunity for families to visit the school and meet with the teacher.  This is a wonderful chance for you to request a meeting should you wish to discuss your child(ren)’s strengths and areas for growth.  Our Open House will be taking place on Thursday, September 29th at 6:30-7:30 pm.

Parking

When you visit the school or pick up children, please park across the road at Exhibition Park. During school hours, vehicles should never drive onto the playground area.

Parking

Dress for the Weather

September weather can be unpredictable. We plan to go outside for every recess break and some physical education classes, unless there is heavy rain or the threat of a severe storm. Children should have a sweater or light jacket in their backpacks to wear outside if necessary.

All children need to have two sets of footwear, one for indoor use and the other for outside. The best choice is running shoes, which can double as gym shoes. For safety reasons, flip flops and other shoes without backs are not suitable for school.

School Council Fundraising

Watch for upcoming information on School Council’s fundraising.

Terry Fox Run and Flag 

The 42nd anniversary of this event will be taking place on Friday, September 23rd, 2022.

PA Days 

Please note that this year we have the following full Professional Activity Days:   on Monday, October 24th, Friday, November 25th,  Friday, January 27th, Friday, Friday, March 3rd, Friday, June 2nd and Friday, June 30th.

Field Trips

When Victory students take short trips as part of the regular program of study, you will be fully informed of these events prior to their occurrence.

School Hours

Our daily timetable follows the balanced day model with the following schedule. We appreciate your efforts to have children arrive at school before the entry bell.

Entry Time: 8:50 a.m.

First Instructional Block: 8:50 – 10:30 a.m.

Break: 10:30 – 11:10 a.m. (20 minutes inside eating time and 20 minutes outside play)

Second Instructional Block: 11:10 – 12:50 p.m.

Break: 12:50 – 1:30 p.m. (20 minutes inside eating time and 20 minutes outside play)

Instructional Block: 1:30 – 3:10 p.m.

Dismissal Time: 3:10 p.m.

School Photographs

This special day has been booked for September 22, 2022.  Remind your child(ren) to wear their smile(s)!

Student Supervision

Teachers and parent supervisors monitor our children in the classroom and on the playground throughout the day.

Outside:

Before School: 8:35 – 8:50 a.m.

Morning: 10:30 – 11:10 a.m.

Afternoon Recess: 12:50  – 1:30 p.m.

After School: 3:10 – 3:25 p.m.

Inside (Snack and Lunch Times): 

Morning Recess: 10:30 – 11:10 a.m

Afternoon Recess: 12:50 – 1:30 p.m. 

School Supplies

All regular school supplies are provided to students by the school and it is not necessary to purchase anything. That being said, some children prefer to have their own materials. In this case, we suggest that you keep it simple with materials such as a pencil case, crayons, coloured pencils, glue stick, markers, scissors, etc.

The only items children need to bring from home are extra shoes for indoor use, a backpack, and a lunch box.

School Supplies

Smoke–Free Environment

The Upper Grand DSB provides a smoke-free environment for its students, staff and others while on school Board property, in accordance with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.  This policy refers to all forms of tobacco, and any processed form of tobacco that may be smoked, inhaled or chewed, including e-cigarettes.

Smudging is the tradition of using sacred smoke from sacred medicines (e.g., tobacco and sage) that forms part of the indigenous culture and spirituality. Smudging is allowed in schools under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Parents will be informed using the school’s usual forms of communication when smudging is going to occur in our school.  Participation by staff and students is optional in a smudging ceremony.

Smoke Free

Student Accident Insurance: Accidents happen – be prepared with Student Accident Insurance

Reminder for parents/guardians: Accidents happen – be prepared with Student Accident Insurance

Parents/guardians are responsible for expenses related to student injuries on school premises during school activities.  Accidents can and do happen and the costs involved might not be fully covered by Provincial Health Care or employer group insurance plans.

The Upper Grand District School Board is empowered under The Education Act to offer Accident and Life Insurance for students.

Information was sent home with respect to Student Accident Insurance offered by Old Republic Insurance Company of Canada and AON Insurance.

Please note that payment is made directly to the Provider.  Paper applications are no longer available through your child’s school.  Please visit the Provider’s website whcih will be sent with the information coming home on the first day.

For today’s active children, especially those who participate in field trips, co-curricular and other school activities outside the school day, Student Accident Insurance is valuable.

Video Surveillance

Victory Public School is monitored by 24 hour video surveillance. Security cameras are in operation for the safety of the students, staff and the school community and for the protection of the Upper Grand District School Board property. For additional information please contact the Principal (519-822-6931) of the school or contact the F.O.I. Co-ordinator at the Upper Grand District School Board office at 519-822-4420.

Victory School Council   

Every publicly-funded school in Ontario has a School Council, whose mandate is to act in an advisory capacity to make recommendations to the Principal and, as appropriate, to the Board. The overall goal of the Council is to support the school in improving student achievement.

Victory School Council will hold its first meeting of this school year on Wednesday, September 14th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m.  School Council elections will take place at this meeting. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend. Please consider joining School Council and become more involved with our vibrant French and English student community. It does not need to be a lot of time nor a long term commitment.  There is something for everyone who wants to participate.  Please join us in the work we do for our students!

To find out more about our School Council, please contact Mark Hallman ([email protected]).  Join us for the first meeting of the school year and find out how you can make a difference in education at the Board level!

School Council

UG2Go

Our board has a wonderful resource for all of our students that can be accessed 24/7 from school or from home. It’s called UG2GO and includes Learn 360 (educational video streaming), Student Link (a site children use at school that gives them access to web sites that are kid friendly and relate directly to their current units of study), Tumblebooks (a site that has hundreds of books children can click on and have read to them), Overdrive (eBooks and audiobooks), and much more.

Ug2go

When students are at home they can go to this URL:

https://www.ugdsb.on.ca/ug2go

They will be prompted to enter the same Windows username and password that they use at school to get onto the school network. Once they enter their Windows username/password they will enter the site and they can then click on any of the resources and be taken directly to the individual resource without the need for any additional passwords.

Please take a few minutes to explore the site with your child. It is an important tool that will aid them in their education, and may make your life easier when it comes to homework and projects. We are excited that students will be able to access information from anywhere and at anytime in this information age!

Exhibition Park Neighbourhood Group

Hey Victory families!  As another summer draws to a close, it’s a perfect time to look forward to some exciting, upcoming EPNG events!

For more information about our group, check out our website at www.epng.ca or email us at [email protected].  We are also on Twitter and Facebook!

Report Bullying 

We take all incidents of bullying seriously. If your child is the victim of bullying or sees bullying behavior at school, please encourage him/her to speak with someone at school or use our board’s online reporting tool. Report Bullying gives students and parents 24/7 access for reporting bullying. You don’t have to identify yourself – just your school – and your message gets sent directly to the school principal for follow-up. You’ll find the Report Bullying button on our school’s website to assist parents in distinguishing between conflict and bullying.

Is conflict the same as bullying? People may sometimes confuse conflict with bullying, but they are different. Conflict occurs between two or more people have a disagreement, a difference of opinion or different views. Conflict between students does not always mean it’s bullying. Children learn at a young age to understand that others can have a different perspective than their own, but developing the ability to gain perspective takes time and the process continues into early adulthood. In conflict, each person feels comfortable expressing his or her views, and there is no power imbalance. Each person feels able to state his or her view point. How people deal with conflict can make it positive or negative. Conflict becomes negative when an individual behaves aggressively by saying or doing hurtful things. Then the conflict is an aggressive interaction.

Conflict only becomes bullying when it is repeated over and over again and there is a power imbalance. Over time, a pattern of behaviour may emerge where the person who behaves aggressively in the conflict may continue or even make it worse. The person who is the recipient of the aggressive conflict may feel less and less able to express his or her point of view and feel more and more powerless. That is when negative conflict may turn into bullying. A school will respond to bullying and conflict differently. For example, in the case of a conflict, a school staff member may try to have the students come together to tell their side of the story and help them resolve the situation together. In the case of bullying, a principal will consider progressive discipline, which may include suspension or expulsion.

Bullying

Newsletter online

The Newsletter will be available online on the last Thursday of every month.

Categories: News