Thursday 30 April 2015

April 30, 2015

STRANGER DANGER
The Delta School District recently sent out a notice regarding  a convicted sex offender now residing in Delta.  This information was based on a press release from the Delta Police department.  Our staff and students were made aware of this news.  We have reviewed our "stranger danger" behaviours (canadasafetycouncil)  and reassured students that the police are doing all that they can to supervise this situation.  We ask that you please follow up at home with your children if you have not already done so.  Thank you.

CLASSROOM PLACEMENTS:  2015-2016
In the coming weeks, our teaching staff will be meeting to create tentative class lists for next year.  The classes will be determined by considering the following factors:

- Learning styles and strengths
- What the child can do in relation to the program
- Degree of independence in work habits
- Social and personal needs
- Age and physical maturity
- Previous year's placement
- Previous teachers input
- Parent input / requests
- Establishing a balanced group academically
- Male/Female balance
- Friendship groupings
- Equalizing class size
- Siblings/Twins
- Special needs
- Medical needs

If you have some information that you would like to include in this process,  please forward a note to Mr. Carruthers at the office or correspond via email at mcarruthers@deltasd.bc.ca.  We would only ask that you please refrain from making a "teacher" request and focus on what you believe to be the best learning environment for your child.  Thank you in advance for your attention to this.

PEDALHEADS BIKE SAFETY CLINIC
Families are invited to paricipate in the Pedalheads Bike Safety Clinic that is being held free of charge on Wednesday, May 6th from 3:15p-4:30pm.  Students must have a bike, helmet and an accompanying adult.  There will be a number of stations set up for the students to learn various skills and safety techniques.  Special thanks to our parent volunteer, Mrs. Brookes, for coordinating this event.  If you should have any questions feel free to contact her at wilddaisy24@gmail.com.

LICE CHECKS
Head lice is a persistent problem in the Ladner community and it requires diligence to eradicate.  This year we have sent home a number of letters with students who had a case of lice discovered in their classroom.  We are asking that all parents at Hawthorne commit to conducting regular lice checks and follow up with the appropriate procedures if necessary. For more information,  you can click on the following link: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile06.stm

In an effort to address this problem, we are asking for parent volunteers to conduct "lice-checks" and follow ups with students or classes. These volunteers would be trained by Hawthorne's Public Health Nurse.  Please contact Mr. Carruthers (mcarruthers@deltasd.bc.ca)  if you are able to volunteer in support of this effort. 

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Hawthorne will be hosting a school-wide emergency drill on Thursday, May 7th at approximately 2:20pm.  This exercise will involve the following:  duck and cover in the classroom, evacuation to marshalling area, building assessment, search and rescue.  We should be completed our drill within 20 minutes and it will provide our staff with a good opportunity to review emergency procedures and what students can do to keep themselves safe.  With this in mind,  you may want to follow up with your child after checking out these emergency preparedness tips.

EMERGENCY RELEASES
May 4-8, 2015 is emergency preparedness week in Canada. In the Delta School District we take emergency preparedness very seriously. All of our schools conduct emergency drills throughout the school year. Some of these drills may be full emergency release drills, meaning that parents are involved in the drill because we are practicing how students will be safely released to their parents in the event of a disaster. It is important that if a school has a full release drill, that parents take part. Our students, staff and parents need to be ready in case disaster strikes.

*** It is important that all parents understand that all students, whether in kindergarten or grade 12, will only be dismissed from school in emergency situations to their parents or designated emergency release adult. Students cannot be released to an older sibling who is still under the age of 19. Students will not be allowed to leave school property until a pre-designated adult retrieves them. In order to maintain the safety of your children, there can be no exceptions.

This means that parents need to regularly plan for who will be able to pick-up their child in an emergency situation and that the information needs to be reviewed and updated annually. If both parents do not work close to the school, then they should designate another trusted adult who will, most likely, be in the area if disaster strikes during school hours. Again, this person cannot be an older sibling who is under the age of 19. Parents need to inform the school of who their Emergency Release designated adult is and they need to review this information annually and update it if necessary. They should do so via Parent Connect (instructions are listed below). This needs to be done for each child you have in the Delta School District and you need to inform each child of who his/her Emergency Release adult is.

Parent Connect Instructions:
1.     Sign on to Parent Connect
2.   Click on the BASIC tab on the main toolbar
3.   Click on the blue "Emergency/Out of Prov/Other Contacts" button
4.     Click on the Edit button to the left side of a blank line to add a new record, or on an existing line to change the information. Use the drop down option box to choose the appropriate option for this record; choose ER-Emergency Release. Fill in all of the fields.
5.     Click the Save button to update the changes. If you close the screen or go to another screen before saving, the changes will be lost.
Note: This needs to be completed separately for each child.
For more information about emergency preparedness in the Delta School District visit the DeltaPrepared website: facilities.deltasd.bc.ca/deltaprepared

PLAYGROUND NOISE
Please note that we have received a noise complaint from some of our neighbouring homes as they have noticed an increase in noise outside of school hours.  Of particular concern is the "squealing" that can happen with our younger students on the new playground near the kindergarten classes.  This playground is in very close proximity to  the fence line.  We will be addressing this issue with our students and ask that families are mindful of our neighbours when playing on the grounds.  Thank you.

YOGA IN THE PARK
Families are invited to enjoy some YOGA in the PARK on Sunday, May 10 from 1-3pm at Memorial Park.  These classes will be free of charge and located close to the playground with small "kid-friendly" refreshments available.  For more information you can contact jridley@pcrs.ca.

IMPORTANT DATES


Friday, May 1
Monthly Assembly
9:30am

Tuesday, May 5
Regional Track Meet
Delta Secondary

Monday, May 4
Class Photos

Thursday, May 14
District Track Meet
South Delta Secondary

Friday, May 15
Professional Day
School Closed

Monday, May 18
Victoria Day
School Closed

Tuesday, May 26
Parent Appreciation Tea
2pm Library

Friday, June 5
Sports Day
(9:30am-2:15pm approx.)