Hello Robina Families,
Monday, October 16th is Election Day -- don't forget to go out and vote!
RECESS TIME:
Mr. Coffin and I have been spending every recess outside with our students on top of our regular four supervisors and we are noticing lots of "hands on" playing. We have a "hands free" rule in our school with the exception of playing tag. Students need to ask for hugs if they want one or to hold another student's hand. We explain that not everyone is comfortable with touch - even a hug - and that it is respectful to ask. There are many boys (although there are a few girls too), who are playing tackle games, war games or play fighting where they are anything from ninja's to super-heroes, this inevitably ends up in someone going too far and someone getting hurt. We have repeated this message a number of times in the classrooms and throughout the assemblies, but the games continue and although we want to encourage free play and imagination, we are not ok with the number of students getting "accidentally" hurt. If you could chat with your children and help remind them of this rule, we would appreciate it as we are trying to make a playground area as safe as possible.
Communication with regards to playground conflicts, accidents or problem solving is based on the level of severity. All of our supervisors spend the majority of recess time intervening, problem solving or helping students who fall in a game, run into each other or get hurt some other way. Due to the young age of the majority of our population it is inevitable that students will run into someone or something, fall down or get into an argument because something isn't fair. This is the nature of 5-10 year olds. If your child is involved in something with a supervisor and it is able to be dealt with on the spot (called problem solving), apologies are made, lessons are learned and the students head off to play, then most likely this is not communicated outside of the playground supervisors. If a student ends up in the office or has to be attended to medically, then the classroom teacher is notified and if serious enough, parents are immediately notified. Our number one priority is to work with the students to get things resolved and sometimes it may take more than a few minutes (in rare cases - hours) to meet with all involved and so communication can get delayed. We really do try our best to keep on top of things, but sometimes the sheer volume of students to speak with doesn't allow us to be as expedient as we would like. Also, there are times when a child has a problem, but they don't let us know and then they go home and tell you as their parent. We can't deal with issues that we are not aware of. We try to teach our students to speak up right away as it is much easier to deal with things while fresh in their minds. Often by the next day, stories change, children forget and it makes it pretty tough to find out what really went on. If your child comes home with something that wasn't shared with us at school, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can help find a resolution as quickly as we can.
ASSEMBLY UPDATE:
You can check out our assembly agenda here: https://goo.gl/uSk1zg . As we finish on the theme of Respect, we talked about Stranger Danger and about how Respect, Responsibility and keeping Safe are all intertwined. The students did an excellent review and many really enjoyed today's songs.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! to OUR STUDENTS OF THE WEEK:
LONG SERVICE AWARDS:
BGRS School Trustee, Sandy Koroll, was in last week to present Black Gold long service awards to some of our staff members. Unfortunately, Mrs. deCrombrugghe (5 years of service at BGRS) is away for surgery at the moment and we will have to present hers at a later date, however, 3 of our staff members were celebrated in their learning spaces with Trustee Koroll presenting them with a long service pin. Congratulations to our staff members on reaching their respective milestones!
 |
| Mrs. Ostonal - 20 years |
 |
| Ms. Caudron - 5 years |
 |
| Mrs. Waters - 15 years |
PARENT MEETINGS COMING SOON - BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT ONLINE!
We will be holding our annual Parent Meetings on Wednesday, October 25 from 3:30 to 7 pm. Your child’s teacher may also be available for additional time throughout the week - Please touch base with them. Both kinder teachers will be in for more than one evening. Wednesday will be a common time for those families that have more than one child at our school.
To book your appointment - online signup
A Thousand Thank Yous!
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Terry Fox Walk. We raised $1057.85 for the
Terry Fox Foundation!
REMINDER: Still missing some of those verification forms. Please get them done!
FRED PENNER FIELD TRIP FOR GRADE 1-4 STUDENTS:
Extra information and permission form link for Fred Penner:
CLICK HERE!
SCREEN TIME:
I have found a couple of good resources for parents to have a look at. I often get the question about screen time and what is appropriate. Interesting article here: https://goo.gl/2aS16r
Conclusion and summary of the article:
Dr. Christakis was more willing to cut me that slack. "I often to say to parents, if you're using the device to give yourself a break … I think that's fine. I really do," he said. "But know that that's why you're doing it. I think if you're using it because you think it's educational or beneficial for your child, that's where you need to think again."
How to manage screentime:
The Canadian Paediatric Society’s new position on toddlers and tech is that children under the age of two should not have screen time of any kind.
The Canadian Paediatric Society's new position statement recommends families follow the four "M"s when it comes to screen time and young children.
Minimize screen time
Screen time for children under 2 is not recommended. For two- to five-year-old children, limit routine screen time to less than one hour a day. Maintain daily screen-free time, especially at meals and at least an hour before bedtime.
Mitigate the risks associated with screen time
Be present and engaged when screens are used and, whenever possible, co-view with children. Be aware of digital content, prioritizing educational, age-appropriate, interactive content.
Be mindful about the use of screen time
Conduct a self-assessment of screen habits and develop a family media plan for when, where and how screens may (and may not) be used and be reassured there is no evidence to support introducing technology at a young age.
Model healthy screen time
Adults should turn off their devices at home during family time, turn off screens when not in use and avoid background TV.
A second great article that includes a book suggestion that has some great information: https://goo.gl/49yNXB
Now that school is out and summer is in full swing, kids may be tempted to spend more time in front of screens, such as tablets, smartphones and laptops. But experts say kids already spend too much time staring at screens —
an average of seven hours a day, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Academy recently updated its recommendations about how much time kids should spend on their devices,
providing a full list broken down by age. They recommend screen time for children under 2 years old should be limited to video chatting and for those ages 2 through 5, limit screen time to only one hour a day. Kids 6 years and older can have more screen time but need an hour of exercise. No children should be in front of a screen an hour before bed.
Dr. Delaney Ruston of Stony Brook University Hospital, director of the film
"Screenagers," says that when a child is engrossed in an iPad, tablet or similar device, "it releases a hormone in the brain, dopamine, that is so rewarding, kids want this more and more. And therefore when they are not on these highly stimulating screens, they actually can get really agitated."
Are your kids interested in Lego? Here is an opportunity for them!
UPCOMING EVENTS: (Click here for a link to our RBES Calendar) - We have been made aware that our calendar on the RBES website is not always syncing with our Google calendar. If you use the link above or subscribe to the calendar using the link above you will not experience any problems. Thank you to the two parents that let us know that items were missing so that we can let BGRS know to fix the problem - much appreciated!!
Monday, Oct. 16: Kinder Safety City field trip for Mrs. Water's Kinder classes
Tuesday, Oct. 17: School Wide LockDown Drill
Thursday, Oct. 19: Fruit Orders Due!
Thursday, Oct. 19 - Fred Penner Field Trip - Grades 1 - 4
Friday, Oct. 20th: NO SCHOOL! PD Day!
FUTURE EVENTS:
Monday, Oct. 23 - Wednesday, Oct. 25: Book Fair
Thursday, Oct 26: Photo Retakes
Tuesday, Oct. 31: Halloween Parade - 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 1: NO SCHOOL - PD DAY!
Enjoy your week,
