December 2020 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Guardians:

It is hard to believe that our calendars are open to the month of December already. As we begin to experience more inclement weather, please be reminded that I will be communicating directly to our school community through the REMIND notification service should we encounter any bus cancellation or school closures. We will also use the same method of communication should there be a decision from the minister of education to close our school due to COVID-19.

On behalf of the members of our amazing school staff, I would like to wish you and your family a safe and wonderful holiday season, a Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate these traditions.

STUDENT RECOGNITION ASSEMBLY

We held our Student Recognition Assembly on Dec. 1 for Cycles 2 and 3 and on Dec. 2 for Kindergarten and Cycle 1. The school value on which we focused in November was “Compassion”. Congratulations to all who received an award. We are very proud of our students’ efforts in following our school values. The value on which we will focus in December is “Collaboration”. We wish to thank the classes of Ms. Isabelle, Mme Melanie, Mrs. Brownlee and Mrs. Ensom for their presentations on how to be a more collaborative person.

ANGEL TREE

Our Angel Tree initiative supports families from within Lord Aylmer School. This year things had to be done a little differently. Lord Aylmer Home and School Committee is collecting donations using the link below until December 7. Home and School Elves will then shop and wrap special gifts for the children from the receiving families. Please consider donating to this worthy cause and help make the holidays a little brighter for some of our families. To access the link, please click here. The Home and School Facebook page will allow you to receive updates on the campaign by liking the page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/LordAylmerHS/

DRIVE-THROUGH FOR THE FOOD BANK

Lord Aylmer will be holding a drive-through food drive for the Aylmer Foodbank at the Senior Campus front parking lot on Saturday, December 12 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Please join us in this campaign by dropping off non-perishable food items.

CYBER-BULLYING

It used to be that washrooms, the school bus or a gym locker room were the key hot spots for bullying of children and teens. At last year’s information evening that we held for parents on Internet Safety with Paul Davis, he pointed to a major shift in society. Online gaming sites are now the “place” in which children are most bullied.

While the number of reported violent incidents and bullying at Lord Aylmer School has been greatly reduced this year, we have been receiving some requests to handle incidents involving cyber-bullying. We gladly do what we can in these situations to intervene after-the-fact. However, a proactive approach is always better than a reactive one.

One of the best ways to reduce or eliminate the potential for cyber-bullying for your child is to avoid online games in which your child can connect with others. Some of our students are reporting that they play video games with strangers without any supervision. In addition, the games they are playing are in many cases, not designed for anyone under the age of 13 and in some cases, 18. If you permit your child to use gaming or other online sites, try to familiarize yourself with the games or sites your child uses. If you are not certain about age restrictions, you can verify online or on the cover of most store-bought game packages. Another way to avoid cyber-bullying is to directly monitor what is being said to your child by being in the room to supervise computer usage. Finally, Mr. Davis advised parents to impose conditions for use, including full access to any of the child’s usernames or passwords for applications, sites and devices. As a parent, doing so is not a privacy matter as much as one of safety. Hopefully, this information is useful as we head into a two-week holiday.

POSITIVE CASES OF COVID-19 – COMMUNICATION PLAN

We understand that it can be stressful when parents and guardians receive a notification of a positive case at school. Very soon, we will be sending out a document to update the information to our parents about the extra steps for communication that we are taking at Lord Aylmer when we are advised by public health of a positive case. We hope that this document will help answer some of your questions and ease any concerns you may have.

MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING DURING DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP

This is a friendly reminder for parents and guardians who are walking children to school to please wear a mask or face covering when in close proximity to other families and to try as much as possible, to maintain a 2-metre distance between yourself and other families at the drop off and pick up points. These areas can sometimes get congested and we understand how difficult it can be to remember to follow the measures from public health. We had reminded parents about this in August and September but had not for awhile. Recently, we have received a few requests from parents/guardians to do so.

SCHOOL FEES

Please be advised that invoicing for school fees will be ready for parents in the new year. While some costs were reduced this year for paper and agendas, supervision fees had to be increased significantly due to the need to have two lunch recess periods. Please note that the admin team at the school, along with your parent committee will be discussing the matter with school board officials to look at the situation for all schools who have had to increase their supervision fees due to the pandemic.

REMIND NOTIFICATIONS

Please visit our website to find out how to sign up for REMIND, if you have not already done so. Important information is shared through this notification system. Some families have shared that they were no longer receiving notifications. We are not sure of the reason but have found that deleting your registration and then reregistering has fixed the error.

GOVERNING BOARD

The next Lord Aylmer Governing Board meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, December 16 at 6:30 p.m.

PD DAY AND DAYCARE

Our next PD day is December 7, registrations are now closed. Registration forms for the January 4 PD day will go out on Dec. 8.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

Please ensure children are dressed appropriately for the weather. Students will be outdoors as much as possible. An extra pair of dry socks and mittens or gloves are recommended. Please label all clothing items.

LOONIES FOR THE LEGION

You may recall that Lord Aylmer School held a “Loonies for the Legion” campaign during Veteran’s Week. There was a positive response from the school community. Staff and families from the school raised $1,000 for the Aylmer Legion with funds going to support area veterans.

Mr. Christian Corriveau accepted the donation on behalf of the Legion. He is a veteran who has been active in educational workshops leading up to Remembrance Day at the school over the past few years. His informative video was showcased during Lord Aylmer School’s virtual Remembrance Day ceremony last week. Staff approached the school principal about this fundraiser to help the Royal Canadian Legion in Aylmer in light of the difficulties with in-person collection of funds this year. Teachers planned activities leading up to Veterans Week to ensure students gained a better understanding of Canada’s involvement in past wars and conflicts.

GEARING UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

As we move into the last weeks before the holiday break, you can feel the excitement through the halls. Please join us in the following optional Christmas/Holiday plans for both the Senior and Junior Campus.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

HOME AND SCHOOL

Pizza Day: Dec 11

Subway Day: Dec 4 and Dec. 15

The next quarterly payment for pizza and subs is due on Thursday, December 17. Our Home & School Online Shop is open to accept payments for both pizza and sub lunches. Find our Online Shop at: www.lordaylmerhs.ca/shop

Make sure to check-out our Home & School Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LordAylmerHS for our upcoming fundraising events and monthly H&S meetings. Want to know more about our Home & School volunteer organization? Make sure to check-out our Website at: www.lordaylmerhs.ca

ONLINE HOLIDAY FUNDRAISERS

Purchasing gift cards for friends, family or teachers for the holiday season? Or would you like to send a simple eGift Card to a fellow reader? Make sure to visit our Lord Aylmer Home & School website at www.lordaylerhs.ca for our many online fundraisers with our various partners. By purchasing your regular items through our partner fundraising pages, you help raise money for our students and schools. Here’s what we’ve got:

Fundscrip (lordaylmerhs.ca/fundscrip): Pay face value for your regular purchases of gas, groceries, birthday gifts and more! Each purchase generates earnings for our H&S.

Indigo eGift Cards (lordaylmerhs.ca/indigo-egift-cards): You can buy a $25, $50 or $100 Indigo eGift Card to purchase books online for your family- or to gift to a friend, family member or even your child’s teacher via email. Our H&S earns 20% in Indigo store credit!

LORD AYLMER SCHOOL GEAR – HOME & SCHOOL ONLINE SHOP

Every Friday is Lord Aylmer School Spirit Day! Don’t forget to wear your LA T-Shirt or Hoodie!! Looking for Lord Aylmer gear? Check-out our Glam Shop for t-shirts and hoodies for the whole family at: . A new kinder or student to our school? Our Lord Aylmer School will be gifting your child their very own Lord Aylmer School T-Shirt- so please keep this in mind when purchasing glam for your family.