Dear Parents,
I am very happy to be teaching your child this year in Kindergarten!! I am looking forward to learning some things together as we work our way through the first year of full day Kindergarten. We have been singing, reading, drawing, sharing toys and meeting new classmates already. Our class has 15 students who have already shown themselves to be very enthusiastic and willing to take on all new tasks! Below you’ll find lots of information about our class and our classroom routines.
Home School Communication
I feel that close communication between home and school is essential to your child’s success at school. I have already had the chance to meet many of you, but if we haven’t met, I encourage you to drop by the classroom any time that is convenient for you. You can also give me a phone call with questions or concerns you may have or just to check with me about how your child is doing at school. The school phone number is 250-658-5315. The best way to get in touch with me is by email, which I check a few times a day. My email address is snorris@sd63.bc.ca
This is the only newsletter that I will send out to you on paper this year. From now on, I will post the monthly newsletters and any other messages I need to send out to you on the Kindergarten class blog. The address is http://cbayk.edublogs.org/. From time to time I may need to contact you directly and I find email is very effective. I will send out an email next week to ensure I have your correct your address. Could you also please notify me if your email address changes? I will send home a calendar on paper at the beginning of each month that will also outline special activities and Special Helper dates.
I encourage the children, rather than the adults, to be responsible for bringing backpacks, notices and library books to and from school. As the youngest and only child in each family, the Kindergarten children are responsible for bringing all the notices from school home. This is a big job and can be confusing for four and five year olds! For now, I will try to write names on the notices if I have time. I hope to soon get the children into the routine of putting their own names on their notices and folding them in their packs or snack bags to take home.
Arrival and Dismissal
Children come in to the school when the bell goes at 8:40 a.m. Most children prefer that their parents/ caregivers bring them right to the classroom at this time of the year. We are finding that the door closest to the classroom may not be the best place for the class to come in in the mornings as all the older students also use that entrance. Please feel free to bring your child in the door closer to the front of the school if you’d like to have a more gentle start to the day! As the year goes on and the children feel more comfortable at school they may wish to start coming in by themselves. I will bring the class to the outside door closest to our classroom for dismissal each day at 2:40. When the children leave I like them to say good-bye to me and show me that their adult is here to pick them up. Please let me know if someone other than you or the regular caregiver will be picking your child up so that I know they are safe. Please call the Safe Arrival answering machine (250-658- 4002) and leave a message if your child will be late or absent from school.
P.E.
We have P.E. (Physical Education) in the gym or we play outside, weather permitting, every day. Therefore children need to be dressed in clothes that they can be active in. If the shoes that the children wear to school each day are dry and clean and are safe for running in the gym (no heels, party shoes, sandals, etc.) I don’t have them change into their gym shoes. (If I had all the children change each day we would never make it to the gym!) So you needn’t send in ‘gym shoes’ until inclement weather is here. When the wet weather arrives and children are wearing boots or have muddy shoes, they will need runners at school. It works well if gym shoes are labeled and kept in a labeled drawstring bag on the hooks in the classroom.
French
Kindergarten children receive French as a Second Language (FSL) instruction on Mondays and Thursdays with our wonderful French teacher, Madame Schultz.
Library
Starting soon we will be going to the library once a week. Wednesday is our book exchange day. Mrs. Prevost, our amazing librarian, provides each child with one special plastic book bag that is just for school library books. Children borrow one book each week and need to return it on the following Wednesday. The Library program helps teach children to choose appropriate, good quality literature and to take responsibility for returning their book each week. You can help support this by ensuring that library books are always kept in the same place at home. One suggestion is to hang the library book bag on the back handle of a bedroom door so that it is not misplaced. If children forget their book on Wednesday, they still borrow a new one but I keep it in the classroom, rather than sending it home, until the old book is returned, hopefully the next day.
Big Buddies
Across our school older and younger classes are paired up as “buddy classes”. We read, sing, work on various classroom and seasonal activities, and go skating with our Big Buddy class. We line up next to them for earthquake and fire drills. This year our big buddies are Mrs. MacEwan’s Grade Five class.
Read Around the Room
I would like to start Read Around the Room every Friday morning starting October 7th. Parents are invited to stay and read with small groups of children in our classroom first thing on Friday mornings. Every child does not need an adult so please join us any time you can. You are invited to bring a book from your house or use the Kindergarten and library books available in our classroom. Preschoolers are welcome if they are able to sit with you and listen as you read.
Monday Walk
Every Monday morning, weather permitting, we are going to go for a Monday walk around the inside perimeter of our school yard with our Big Buddies in Mrs. MacEwan’s class. You are invited to join us for this too any time you can make it. If the weather is inclement we will give the walk a pass.
Washroom
Half way through the morning and afternoon and before we eat lunch I take all the children up to the washroom where I encourage all of them to go to the bathroom, whether they think they need to or not, then they wash their hands before we start eating. They can also go to the washroom with a classmate at any other time if they need to and if they ask me first so I know where they are. However, despite these precautions accidents sometimes still occur! It is a good idea to send a change of clothes (left at the bottom of their backpack) in case we need it at school. If you should have some extra clothes (Kindergarten sized pants, underwear, socks) to donate for spares for our classroom it would be most appreciated.
Special Helper
We have one child who is the “Special Helper” each day. Their jobs include finding the calendar number, counting the children, standing at the front of the line up and helping me with many tasks in the day. I will send home a class Special Helper list on the monthly calendars. I encourage children to colour in one square each day at home so they can see when their day is coming up. This is a great tool for counting and reading! If a child is absent or late on their Special Helper day, we move on to the next child on the list and go back to that child when they return. Could you please ensure that the special helper list is also kept in a safe place at home? The Special Helper for Monday, the 19th is Victoria.
Snacks
The children have approximately 20 minutes in the morning and afternoon for their snack time. A small nutritious snack, for example half an apple, some cheese and a drink that can be eaten in a short amount of time, is sufficient. I would appreciate every child bringing a container of water each day. This is not only a healthy drink but your child can also have a drink of water in the classroom when they need it rather than having to leave the room to go to the water fountain. If you are going to send a drink for your child, we encourage water or plastic re-useable juice boxes rather than disposable ones. However, we do have recycling for tetra pack juice boxes in the classroom if you need to send them in. It is our policy that students not share snacks unless someone has forgotten theirs.
Lunches
The children begin their lunch hour by playing outside on the lower field by the swings at 11:05. The bell rings at 11:40 for them to come inside and eat their lunch. Mrs. Fitz and I have been supervising our students and staying with them when they play outside and eat at lunch time until now. However, each class has been assigned another adult (and Educational Assistant) who will ensure all the children are lined up by the flag pole when the bell rings to come inside, walk with the children to the washrooms and then supervise them while they eat lunch in the classroom. We also have four Grade 5 monitors to help open containers, clean up spills and encourage the children to eat their lunches, if required. Although the bell to clean up lunch rings at noon, I will give the Kindergarten students a bit longer to finish eating if required. I have been most impressed with the healthy snacks and lunches that you have been providing! It may be helpful to your child if they know which food is intended for snack time rather than for lunch and have it packed separately to avoid lunch food being eaten at snack time.
Allergies
Please let me know if your child has a food allergy or if your child has any special dietary restrictions if you have not done so already. We occasionally have edible treats and snacks and the children will be doing some baking during the course of the year. To date, we have some children in our class with food allergies. It is our policy that children not share food they have brought for snacks or lunches.
Treats
If you would like to send a special snack to school to celebrate your child’s birthday or for a seasonal treat, that would be great. However, don’t feel that you need to! If your child’s birthday falls over a holiday you are welcome to choose an alternate day to celebrate. We would ask that you keep our goal of healthy schools in mind for treats as well as snacks when possible. If your child has birthday invitations for classmate please hand them to me and I will hand them out discreetly so as to avoid hurt feelings if someone feels excluded. Thank you!
Class Lists
I would like to send home a class list with phone numbers, addresses and parent’s names so that the children can contact each other for play dates etc. outside school. If you DO NOT wish to have any or all of this information included please let me know before Friday, September 30th. Thank you.
Scholastic Book Orders
Please find attached the Scholastic book order for September along with the calendar. I find this is a great way to get current, usually good quality books, at very fair prices. However, please don’t feel obligated to purchase these books. I stamp the due date for orders and payment on the back of each order form. Scholastic orders must be paid by check, not cash.
Parent Support
I like to get parents involved when I can and appreciate all the time you are willing to give to support your child in school. We often need parent drivers for field trips (see below). If you are able to help with any of the following tasks please let me know at your earliest convenience and I thank you in advance.
-1 or 2 people to organize and send in the Scholastic book orders (on line)
-2 lice patrol volunteers
-2 P.A.C. (Parents Advisory Council) class reps
-1 helper to make (cooked) playdough at your home a few times in the year (I will supply the recipe and $ for the ingredients)
-1 helper to refill and clean the paint cups, also a few times during the year
-1 person to help me book field trips
-2 parents to mend and or wash the dress up clothes
-1 helper to fix and maintain the playhouse furniture and classroom toys
I will also need many helpers with seasonal activities, special project days, gluing artwork into the scrapbooks, driving on field trips, etc. Thank you in advance for your support in these areas.
Field Trips
In order to expand our group experiences and to enrich our school curriculum we go on field trips outside of the school many times in the school year. I will notify you of upcoming field trips on the monthly calendar and newsletter/ blog as soon as the information becomes available. I try to use school buses when I can but do use parent drivers when our allotted bus money runs out. Parents who are driving on field trips must complete a ‘School Use of Private Vehicle’ form and a Criminal Record Check each year before driving on any field trips. These forms are available from Mrs. Connolly, our school secretary. You will then need to take the Criminal Record Check to the police station for them to process. If you will be driving on a school field trip I recommend that you complete these forms well in advance of a field trip. I am hoping our first field trip will be in mid October. Booster seats are mandatory for all field trips. Please send a booster seat to school with your child whenever we are going on a field trip requiring parent drivers. All children must have a field trip form signed by a parent or a guardian in order to go on each field trip.
The children must also wear a nametag that I will make for them to wear on each field trip. I would appreciate your help in returning those name tags to the school after every trip as that one nametag is supposed to last them throughout their time at Cordova Bay School. In order to reduce any anxiety about who is traveling with whom on field trips I arrange and notify drivers and passengers for each car in advance of the field trip.
Terry Fox Run
Like many schools we do a Terry Fox Run at our school each September. Ours is Friday, September 30. The students in Grades 1-5 do a warm up and then run to Lochside Park and back. The Kindergarten children will be participating in the warm up/ aerobics activities before the run and then we will run around cones placed on our school field. You are welcome to join us.
Friday, September 23rd is a Non- Instructional Day. Teachers are in session only.
I feel very fortunate to be working with Kindergarten children this year! I look forward to wonderful times of learning and lots of fun. Again, feel free to contact me about your child’s progress or any other concerns you may have about Kindergarten.
Kind regards,
(Miss) Sherisse Norris
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