Bel Ayr Elementary School
October 2021 Newsletter
Administration
We thank you for your contiinued support at home. As we begin the month of October we will be thinking about Treaty Education and how we can continue to learn more about this important topic. Many of our students are engaged in conversations about who the Mi'kmaq people were before colonization and who they are right now. By discussing these concepts we can uncover the factors that led to Residential Schools, reserves, cultural oppression, and the lack of education & human rights for Indigenous peoples.
We want to thank the members of our SAC for asking us to reach out to families to share the knowledge we are learning together in the school. We will continue to do this throughout the year in different ways and we welcome any questions or suggestions from home. We are all Treaty People!
Sincerely,
Mr. Marsh and Ms. Rossi
Calendar
October 1 - Treaty Day
October 5 - Grade 6 Provincial Literacy Assessment (Reading and Writing)
October 6 - Grade 6 Provincial Literacy Assessment (Reading and Writing)
October 7 - Picture Day (morning)
October 11 - Thanksgiving Day (No classes)
October 13 - Home and School Meeting - 6PM (virtual)
October 13 - Grade 6 Provincial Literacy Assessment (Math)
October 14 - Grade 6 Provincial Literacy Assessment (Math)
October 18 - Picture retakes (morning)
October 20 - SAC Meeting 6PM
October 22 - Provincial Conference Day PP-12 (No classes)
October 29 - Wear Orange and Black!
Important News, Events, and Reminders
Terry Fox - Thank you to Mr. Stiner who took our students on Terry Fox runs outside this week. You can still donate to the Terry Fox Foundation under our school name here. Thank you for your support!
Paper Newsletters - If you wish to receive paper copies of our newsletter please fill out this form or send in a note to your homeroom teacher.
Lunch Monitors - We need lunch monitors! If this interests you please phone the school or send an email to Mr. Marsh (smarsh@hrce.ca). Lunch monitors work 1-3 hours per day supervising students outside and in their classrooms. The wages are $13.41 per hour.
Water Bottles - Please make sure your child brings a refillable water bottle to school. Our water refill stations are open but the fountain faucets have been closed off to limit the spread of germs.
Milk Orders - Some families signed up for our milk program using the new online payment system in School Cash. We are going to send home notices on paper to families not currently signed up for the milk program just in case we missed you. These orders will be collected manually with cash being brought back to your homeroom teacher with the order form.
Breakfast Program - We recently reinstated our School Breakfast Program. Students have access to cereal bars, apples, and yogurt tubes in a "Grab-n-Go" style system. Breakfast items are open to all students.
P-2 Reading Focus
Reading development is also a focus in the upper elementary as our collaborative teams meet twice per week to respond to their classroom assessment data. When we know where students are we can problem solve together to help them meet higher benchmarks.
You can help us at home by scheduling nightly blocks of reading time, talking to your children about their books, and modeling a passion for reading at home.
School Advisory Counsel Vacancies (P-6 only)
Home and School Commitee (P-6 Only)
Fundrasing will be limited to COVID safe activities as we still work through our health protocols and consider safety for our students and staff.
Grade 6 Assessments
Drop-off Times
School Pictures
COVID Screening/Health Measures
Mandatory Vaccination (new)
All staff and outside service providers will be required ro show proof of vaccination by November 30, 2021.
Rapid Test Kits (new)
Within the next two weeks we will be distributing rapid test kits to all students in PP-6. You will also recieve insturctions on how to use these kits.
COVID Screening
We use the Daily COVID Checklist in the link below to screen students or staff who have symptoms at school.
https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/docs/Daily-COVID-checklist-en.pdf
** Students who have a cough or two or more of the other symptoms on the list will be sent home and office staff will ask families to book a COVID test for their child. A student can return to school after being symptom free and receiving a negative test.
Health Measures
We are following the 2021-22 Back to School Plan (https://backtoschool.ednet.ns.ca/). All students are required to wear masks on the bus and inside the building. Exceptions to mask wearing occur when students eat, drink, and engage in physical activity in the gymnasium. Students sanitize their hands after crossing thresholds, before and after using devices, and before having snacks or lunch. On September 29th, Public Health made a decision to continue mask wearing in schools for the foreseeable future.
Allergy Alert
School Cash
Our school will post items for purchase and assign school fees relevant to your child (eg. milk orders). You can make all purchases and payments from your phone, tablet or computer.
We would like families to register as soon as possible.
To get started, please register for SchoolCash Online. It’s free and takes less than two minutes. You will receive an email once items are posted for purchase.
Visit https://hrce.schoolcashonline.com/ and click Register to get started.
Need support? Connect with the SchoolCash Online help desk at schoolcashonline.com/Home/Support
We hope that SchoolCash Online makes paying school-related fees more convenient!
Electronic Devices
Please remind your children that electronic devices such as phones, ipods, ipads,
Nintendos, etc are not permitted at school unless a teacher sends home a note to bring them on a particular day for educational purposes. Students who have chrome books or laptops can bring these devices to school for educational purposes with the permission of a classroom teacher. The school will not be responsible for any theft or damages to devices brought from home.
Head Lice Prevention
Not only can colds and flu bugs be spread at school, so can head lice. Head lice are tiny insects that live on the head. They lay eggs (called nits) close to the scalp. Head lice spread through direct contact among children (head-to-head), or indirectly on items such as hats, combs, hair brushes, headbands, helmets or toques. Head lice do not jump, fly or hop but they crawl very quickly. We encourage you to remind your children not to share anything that could cause a transfer of head lice. Check your child’s head regularly for either live lice or nits (eggs); once a week as part of your routine and after every sleepover. Keep long hair tied back or braided. Head lice spread easily, so if one person in the household has lice, others may have it too. Check everyone in the household on the same day.
If your child has contracted head lice, we ask that you contact the school and treat your child with a medicated lice treatment such as Nix. Once your child has been treated, he/she may return to school as long as there are no live lice. It is important to carefully follow the directions on the treatment package so that re-infestation does not occur. All family members should be checked and treated as required. For more information, please click the link below to read the pamphlet “How to Prevent, Find & Treat Head Lice”. This pamphlet was written and reviewed by Public Health Services, Nova Scotia Health Authority
http://www.novascotia.ca/dhw/publications/public-health-education/07135-head-lice-pamphlet-en.pdf
Community News
Looking for something fun to keep you active this winter??! United DFC is so excited to announce that winter registration is NOW OPEN
You can register by going to https://www.udfc.ca or if you need more information contact Gloria via email gloriam@udfc.ca
Sunday, October 3 from 10am-2pm at Bel Ayr Elementary
Community Walk & Fundraiser for the CIBC Run for the Cure
Family friendly event with a silent auction, BBQ, face painting & games!
For more event details and our COVID-19 plan please visit
Bel Ayr Elementary School
Email: bla@hrce.ca
Website: bla.hrce.ca
Location: 4 Bell Street, Dartmouth, NS, Canada
Phone: 902-435-8353
Twitter: @belayrschool