Welborne Word
September 19, 2022, Issue #4
It's Open House Week!
Dear Families,
Welcome to week #3!
Welborne students are really starting to get into the groove of the school year!
Our soccer teams have been hard at work preparing for their tournaments that will take place this week. A huge thank you to our coaches and families for supporting our young athletes!
In accordance with public health guidelines, all students and staff are to stay home if they are ill, until their symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. Upon the return to school, students and staff are to wear a mask for 10 day following the onset of symptoms. We appreciate your help to keep everyone healthy.
Today at Welborne Avenue PS, and all schools in the Limestone District School Board, students and staff had a moment of silence at 1:00 to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. We recognize that staff, students and families have different reactions to the death of the Queen and we respect these differences.
Highlights for the week ahead:
Tuesday through Friday of this week we will be having a Safety Blitz at Welborne. We will be practicing Fire Drills and Lockdown procedures. We will be having age-appropriate conversations about these drills with students before we practice. This is a requirement of all schools.
Our first School Council meeting will take place this evening at 6:15 pm online. More details can be found below.
This year's Terry Fox Walk will be held in the afternoon on Wednesday, September 28! This year's theme is "Try like Terry". More information regarding fundraising and how we will be meeting with Fred Fox, Terry's brother, can be found below.
Open House - We will be hosting the Welborne Open House this Thursday, September 22, from 5:30-6:30 pm. We are looking forward to once again inviting families into the building! This year, our Open House hour will be divided into three, 20-minute sessions. During the 20 minutes, educators will be in their classrooms sharing important information about their classrooms/instructional day or will make themselves available for short meet and greets. This format will allow families with multiple children to hear from all educators. Don't forget to find your child's Core French teacher!
The items from the time capsule that was unearthed over the summer will be on display in the front hall. Also, be sure to check out the newly renovated courtyards. There is still more work to be done in the court yard by the main office, but the one by the intermediate classrooms is newly planted and looks great!
If you have any questions, please email us at welba@limestone.on.ca.
Warm regards,
Ms. Fraser, Mrs. Wellwood, and Mrs. Hart
School Council Meeting - Tonight at 6:15 (Virtual Meeting)
All are welcome to attend the virtual meeting starting at 6:15. On Monday Sept. 19th people can volunteer for particular roles if they wish and we can vote on any if needed. We will take nominations/volunteers “from the floor” at the meeting. If you have questions about any of the roles and what they entail, please reach out to parent Sherry McAuley or Ms. Fraser at the school. Some of these roles include: Chair or Co-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Indigenous Family Member Representative, Fundraising Coordinator, Grade/Division Representative, Neighbourhood Representative, Community Representative (a member of the community who does not have children attending Welborne).
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85688045602?pwd=OWtXdlE3VXJTeE1MTC9NUGJjeTJJQT09
Crossing Guard
The City of Kingston, who employs the crossing guards in the city, is re-evaluating the need for the crossing guard to be in front of Welborne Avenue Public School during our recess breaks. Current data suggests that the crossing guard may no longer be needed during recess times. Families are asked to reach out to Ms. Fraser, or the City of Kingston, if they have any concerns.
The crossing guard will continue to be present before and after school to assist students in crossing the street safely.
Popcorn Sales are Back!
Individual bags of flavoured popcorn from Kernels will be available for purchase starting on Tuesday, September 20th. The intermediate students will have a travelling cart and take classrooms during snack times. Each bag of popcorn costs $3.00. Proceeds from the sale of the popcorn will support Grade 8 graduation. Popcorn sales will continue daily until product is sold out.
Rapid Tests are Available at Welborne
Thank you.
Appropriate Use of the Internet and Electronic Devices
Help Us Raise Funds for New Books!
School Organization Update
Every fall, the school board examines the number of students in each school, along with the number of staff the school was given, based on the number of students that were projected to be at the school. This year, we do not need to do a full-school reorganization of the classes however we do not have as many kindergarten students are originally projected. Other schools in the district have more kindergarten students than anticipated. As a result, we have been told to reorganize our kindergarten classes to make two slightly larger classes, both of which will have a teacher and an ECE, and one smaller class that will have a teacher only.
Unfortunately, what this means for Welborne is that we must say good-bye to Ms. Thurlby. Ms. Thurlby will be assigned to another school in the district where the number of kindergarten students has increased. We are very sorry to see Ms. Thurlby leave Welborne, but we know that she will make a positive impact on students at her next school.
Ms. Veri and Ms. Struthers will continue to work together, as will Ms. McRae and Ms. Martin. There will be no change to the classroom placement of the students currently in these two classrooms. Each of these classrooms will welcome a few students from Ms. Fournier’s class. Ms. Fournier will continue to teach kindergarten but will have fewer students than she does now.
The families of the kindergarten students impacted by the change have already been notified.
BINGO Volunteers Needed!!
Volunteering to “work” a BINGO is an easy an impactful way that you can support the fundraising efforts of School Council. Volunteers are required to complete a short, on-line training and will work their first shift with an experienced volunteer. Each shift at the BINGO hall (on Bath Road) is two hours in length, usually on a Sunday from 6:15-8:15. Two volunteers are needed for each shift and approximately $750 is donated back to the school for each shift. This is an incredible return on the time given by the volunteers. While at the BINGO volunteers greet the guests, call back winning card numbers and clear tables as needed. If you can volunteer for a couple of shifts a year, it would make all the difference. Please contact parent coordinator Chelsea Pilgrim at 613-331-0232 for more information or to volunteer.
Intermediate Students Helped to Move in the New Soil
The Grade 5/6 and 6 Classes helped with planting.
Student Learning is already underway in this great space.
Monday September 26 - PA Day- no school for students
Upcoming Events and Days of Significance
September 18 - International Week of the Deaf begins
September 19 - School Council Virtual Meeting, 6:15
September 22 - Open House at Welborne, 5:30-6:30
September 25 - Rosh Hashanah begins
September 25 - Police and Peace Officers' National Memorial Day
September 26 - PA Day (no school for students)
September 28 - Welborne Terry Fox Walk
September 30 - National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day
Mandatory Daily Self-Screener
Staff, students, and visitors should continue to self-screen for illness each school day, and stay home (or keep your student home) if sick. If anyone has symptoms of COVID-19, even mild ones, they should stay home. This will help prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as other infectious illnesses. Follow instructions provided on the school screening tool, and any additional guidance available at Ontario.ca/exposed regarding isolation and masking requirements. Download the COVID-19 school and child care screening to use offline and in other languages.
All families are required to screen their child(ren) for COVID-19 symptoms before each day.
The Ministry of Education Screening Tool and can be found by clicking:
Electronic COVID-19 Screening Tool
Navigate to a hard copy of the Screening Tool by clicking:
PDF Version COVID-19 Screening Tool
If your child is exhibiting any symptoms on the daily screener or other symptoms of illness, do not send your child on the school bus or to school.
Optional Student Accident Insurance
Each year a Student Accident Insurance Plan is made available for all students on a voluntary basis. The plan provides protection for DENTAL DAMAGE DUE TO ACCIDENTS, FRACTURE BENEFITS AND OTHER IMPORTANT COVERAGES, which are NOT covered under the Provincial Health Plan. Some parents/guardians may have Dental Plan coverage through their work but many of these plans may be limited. You should compare, to make sure you have the coverage you need or desire.
In making this plan available, the Board wishes to make its position clear in the matter of insurance. UNDER THE EDUCATION ACT THE BOARD IS NOT PERMITTED TO PROVIDE INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR ACCIDENTS TO PUPILS. THEREFORE, the Board recommends consideration of this plan to any parent/guardian, who wishes to obtain this kind of insurance. Although the policy has all the advantages of a group plan, it is essentially a direct
contract between the parent/guardian and the insurance company.
A hard copy will be sent home with every student later this week but we wanted to make this information available to families as soon as possible.
Please click on the brochure below for more information:
LDSB 2022-2023 School Year Calendar
Contact us!
Email: welba@limestone.on.ca
Website: welborne.limestone.on.ca
Location: 190 Welborne Avenue, Kingston, ON, Canada
Phone: 613-389-0188
Twitter: @Welborne_LDSB