NOVEMBER - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AWARENESS MONTH

ALL WEEK: BULLYING AWARENESS AND PREVENTION WEEK

Monday, November 22nd - Day 4

Tuesday, November 23rd - Day 5

• Subway Hot Lunch Day

Wednesday, November 24th - Day 1

• 10am: YouTube Live Assembly with Mrs. Sampson (see below)

Thursday, November 25th - Day 2

• Boston Pizza Hot Lunch Day

Friday, November 26th - Day 0

• PA Day - no school for students
• last day for the UNDER ONE SUN fundraiser

Upcoming days:

• November 29th - December 6th: Scholastic Book Fair
• December 6th and 8th - Jimmy Chapman Breakdancing (see below)

Our first attempt at a school based YouTube Live assembly seemed to go well enough that many staff have asked for more! So since it's Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, Mrs. Sampson thought she'd be brave and try again.

On Wednesday morning at 10am, any class that would like to join her can log on for the chance to come and listen to "Say Something!" by Peter H. Reynolds. It's a great book that focuses on how our voices can make a difference and that it's up to us to "say something".

Classes will also be given the opportunity to do some follow up activities after the assembly is over. Keep an eye out on Twitter and Instagram for pictures of our learning!

Between now and mid-December, teachers will be reaching out to book an interview with the family of every child in the school. It is already that time of the year when we look forward to touching base!

Interviews in November are not based on a grade or evaluation - rather they are a "check in" to let you know what successes your child has had and some next steps between now and February when you get the first report card.

We look forward to meeting with you by phone or WebEx over the next few weeks!

Just a reminder that Initial Communications of Learning (Kindergarten) and Progress Reports are now available for viewing on Edsby. Just log on and click on the "Report Card" tab. Please note you cannot view these documents on any mobile devices.

Time for our students to get their breakdancing shoes on!

School Council has kindly agreed to fund 3 different "movement" events for us this year...Jimmy Chapman's Breakdancing, Rocks and Rings Curling and National Lacrosse. They will also be funding an arts day - more details once the committee has figured that one out!

So.....Each class will have one 50 minute period with Jimmy on either December 6th or December 8th. He will then be coming back in February to give each class a second go at it.

We look forward to getting our moves on in the upcoming weeks :)

I'm sorry if we are sounding like a bit of a broken record, but we really need your help!

Due to ongoing protocols, we continue to request that each student only bring their lunch, water bottle and extra masks to school each day.

This means all other personal items, especially Pokemon cards, sports equipment, fidget toys and stuffies, be left at home. It makes it very challenging to reinforce when students are bringing so many person items, which also detract from learning and playing kindly at recess.

Thank you for your support and understanding!

We have been fortunate to have the donation of one child's size large hockey helmet to our school. If your family would benefit from having this helmet, please send Mrs. Sampson an email or Edsby message.

All requests will be entered into a draw and the winner selected on Wednesday. Please let us know if you could use an extra helmet at home!

As winter comes upon us, it won't be long until we have the first "questionable" day as far as whether busses are running.

On winter mornings, inclement weather and poor road conditions may lead to the delay or cancellation of school transportation services. The decision to cancel bus service due to inclement weather is made based on the daily weather forecast and in consultation with area bus companies between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. All cancellation notifications are posted on STSCO’s website www.stsco.ca by 6:15 a.m. Radio stations and STSCO’s social media accounts are also updated at the same time. If you have provided an email address to STSCO, you will be in receipt of the cancellation or delay notification for your child(ren)’s route(s).

The school will also post any information on our Twitter and Instagram feeds.

Just a reminder that this year if busses are cancelled, school will still be open for students, if they can get to us safely.

From the Peterborough Health Unit:

Interruptions to school and health services during the pandemic have resulted in many students with missed routine immunizations.

The Immunization Update letter listed below from Peterborough Public Health outlines key immunization information and updates by age/grade.

Please read through carefully so you have this important information including who to contact if you have questions.

Parents/Guardians - do you have a daughter in Grade 6 at Kawartha Heights? Well we have a special opportunity for our Grade 6 girls to participate in an exciting coding online event.

Hackergal is an organization that promotes female involvement in STEM activities. This year the event is called HACKERGAL DAY: Making BIG Change Through Community!

The virtual event is happening December 10th beginning at 12:00 pm and running with webinars scheduled throughout the day. The school is looking to provide space for the two afternoon sessions. There are then a series of events that the girls can logon to from home in the afternoon and evening of the same day.

The link to register for this unique event will be provided to each family by your child's teacher. If you decide to register your daughter, please forward the email confirmation to your classroom teacher by Friday November 26th. This will assist us in organizing the school portion of the day.

If you have any questions or barriers to accessing the event, please contact your classroom teacher.

Sincerely,

Your Grade 6 Teachers

Ms. Baker, Mrs. Gunning, Ms. Landry

Our annual Book Fair is coming!

Once again, we'll be having everything online. The Fair will run from November 29th - December 6th, so save the dates! And if you have any little ones to shop for this upcoming holiday......start planning now :)

Here is a link that shows videos for books that are available at the fair. Scholastic gives permission to share this link, so please consider promoting this with your families (I'll put it in the Peek at the Week as well!)

http://scholastic.ca/bookfairs/resources/parents

A big thank you to Ms. Landry and her class who are taking the lead on our Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive. We are excited to begin on Monday and the drive will last until December 10th.

Our goal this year is to collect 500 food items and 50 toys. Each class will be keeping a weekly tally and submitting it to Ms. Landry's class so we can update you on the progress towards meeting our goals. You can send in your donations any time now.

We can do this! Please help support this great cause!

Under One Sun is an organization based in Peterborough that helps support families in Haiti by selling artisan ornaments that they have created and sending a portion of the profit back to the families. Each ornament is hand hammered out of recycled tin. The painted varieties are done by hand, so each is unique and individual.

Kawartha Heights is excited to partner with Under One Sun again this year to sell ornaments to raise money for our school (40% of each ornament sold!), while also supporting families in Haiti.

This year we even have our very own custom Kawartha Heights ornament available (see below)!

All orders must be placed and paid for online using the following link:

https://u1sornaments.ca/products/kawartha-heights-public-school

Get your orders in by November 26th!

To All KPR Families,

Thank you for your support as we continue working with local health partners to keep schools safe. We appreciate your ongoing understanding as we navigate these unprecedented times.

We are encouraged by today’s announcement that Health Canada has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. We continue to work with our public health units to plan school- and community-based vaccine clinics. Watch for details soon.

Yesterday, the provincial government announced further COVID measures in schools, including:

• all students will receive a kit of five rapid antigen tests to take home for Winter Break
• in consultation with local health units, take-home polymerase chain reaction (PCR) self-collection kits also may be available for students and staff
• only virtual school-wide assemblies will be allowed for elementary students when they return in January
• reminding everyone of the federal rules for international travellers returning to Canada (details are in KPR NEWS below).

We will share details on testing kit distribution when finalized by the Ministry of Education.

Secondary Programming
The province also announced a return to the normal semester system in high schools, with students once again taking four courses a day starting in February. We appreciate this will be welcome news to students and staff, and we ask for your patience as schools begin the significant task of timetabling for next semester.

Finally, this week in Ontario is dedicated to a critical issue that can affect any of us at any time: bullying. In recognizing Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, we draw attention to a problem that arises all too often in communities and schools.

We want all students to feel they belong and are safe at school. Bullying is a serious issue with far-reaching consequences for students, their families, peers and the community.

All too often, both in-person and online bullying occur when a responsible adult is not there to see it. Our most important message to students and families experiencing bullying is this: Please tell us.

Please report bullying right away to the school, whether in person or online through our Report Bullying web link. Our staff care about students’ well-being and success.

Excellent resources on what to do if your child is bullied, witnesses bullying, or is bullying others, also include https://www.prevnet.ca/bullying/parents and kidshelpphone.ca

We truly want to do our best for your children and teens. We know you have entrusted us with the most precious people in your lives, and we want to work with you to make school as positive an experience as possible.

As I wrap up this week’s note, I also want to celebrate education assistants (EAs) and child and youth workers (CYWs), who play a critical role in students’ success. EAs and CYWs form close relationships with students and families, and make a vital difference to student well-being, belonging and learning. I thank them for their caring contributions, and wish everyone a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Rita Russo
Director of Education

KPR NEWS

Inclement Weather
On inclement weather days when buses are cancelled due to poor weather and roads, KPR schools will remain open for students and staff. As always, families have final say on whether they wish their children to attend school on those days.

International Travel
Families planning to travel during Winter Break have asked when their children will be able to return to school. We adhere to the following public health rules:

• unvaccinated children who travel outside of Canada must not attend school or day care for 14 days after arriving home; they also must follow public health requirements for testing

• children fully vaccinated against COVID-19 who travel outside Canada can return to school immediately if they are symptom-free and pass the school screening questionnaire.

For details, please see the federal requirements here. No restrictions were noted for children who travel within Canada, as long as they are symptom-free and pass the school screening questionnaire.

Provincial Survey
The Ontario Public School Boards Association wants to hear from families about learning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Please complete the survey by November 30.