Dear Parents/Guardians
I hope this letter finds you and your family well. We look forward to welcoming students back for the 2020-2021 school year. We would like to start by thanking you for the support shown to us from the re-opening of school last May to the beginning of this school year. We feel very fortunate to have such an active, inviting and supportive parent community. Please know every gesture, from the grand drive-byes to the shortest emails or passing comments have been very appreciated by all Lord Aylmer staff.
Staff have already started working hard to prepare and ensure safety standards and protocols are met when students return to school. Many of the procedures in place when school reopened back in May will still be in place, but some have been adjusted to meet new directives announced by Minister Roberge on August 10th. Rest assured, Lord Aylmer staff is committed to making back to school safe, supportive and fun, while maintaining high standards of excellence for teaching and learning.
Lord Aylmer’s team gained a great deal of knowledge while running the emergency daycare for children of essential workers during the school closure in March and April. We learned what works well and what does not from the many source documents from regional health and the provincial ministry of health. Despite this experience, when schools reopened in May, we did not have the knowledge we now have with respect to implementing the health procedures with larger groups of students. We were worried about whether the children would be able to follow the measures we had put in place. We also worried about how the measures would affect the children. However, within a day, we realized that the students had already adapted to the new reality and were following all the processes in place. Our parents had equipped them with a great deal of knowledge and a healthy respect for the safety measures. Our staff members had developed tricks to help students remember all the necessary steps and made it fun to learn them. Our motto at Lord Aylmer is, “Our best, always! Toujours de notre mieux!” Everyone took it to heart last year and it brought about success.
This time around, we have the benefit of last years’ experience and the confidence in knowing that our students, with your help and our guidance at the school, will again rise to the occasion. We are very excited to welcome your child back to Lord Aylmer and look forward to seeing all our students learn, play and grow together this Fall.
Before leaving for holidays, members of staff received training for the return to school and started working on approaches to help students catch up on learning that was missed last year due to the school closure. We also ran several professional development sessions to prepare teachers for the possibility of online teaching, should the need arise.
Due to the training and experiences of last year, all our members of staff have a solid understanding of social distancing protocols as well as disease prevention measures. Implementing these, while nurturing and effectively teaching our students is our top priority.
I trust this document will provide information you will need in the first week, especially, to ensure a smooth transition back to school. This is meant as a Lord Aylmer school-specific support to accompany the Ministry and WQSB documents that are of a more general nature. While this document does not contain every detail regarding the experiences your child will have during the school day, we have tried to include key information for you.
Please read this package carefully prior to your child returning to school. Included are some of the things to expect on the first days and weeks back.
Many aspects of the school day will look, for the most part, similar to what students have experienced in a regular school year (all courses taught, access to specialist teachers, lunch delivery, etc.). New procedures will be explained to your child on the first day and reinforced regularly, when at school, to help train everyone with the new habits we must all adopt.
Before School
Before your child arrives at school, staff members will self-screen for any symptoms of illness and overall health. If any symptom is present, they will not report to work. When they arrive at school, they will enter through designated entrances and sanitize their hands using the sanitization stations located at every entrance.
You will also be asked to self-screen for your child and family’s overall health, prior to sending your child to school. It is very important to take this process seriously in order to protect everyone in the building. Even if your child has one symptom of illness, please keep him/her home from school until symptom-free, without the use of symptom-reducing medication, for 24hrs or 48hrs in cases of fever. Please see Appendix 1 and 2 for a list of symptoms and a Decision Fact Sheet to help you know when not to send your child to school. If your child has any symptom of any illness, he/she should not be at school. If your child has a pre-existing condition (eg. allergies), please ensure the school is aware prior to symptoms arising. A medical note may be required.
Staggered Start
In order to ensure students have a clear understanding of safety protocols, Lord Aylmer will have a staggered start to the 2020-2021 school year. This will enable staff to introduce procedures and provide an opportunity for everyone to practice them with smaller numbers. Kindergarten students will have a 15-minute meeting with the classroom teacher on Aug. 28th . They will then be split into 3 groups (A, B and C) and attend school only on designated days for the next 3 days. On the 5th day, all Kindergarten groups will be at school at the same time.
For students in grades 1-6, they will only be attending school every second day for the first 4 days. Grades 1, 3 and 5 will attend on Aug. 28th and Sept. 1st. Grades 2, 4 and 6 will attend on Aug. 31st and Sept. 2nd. On the 5th day (Sept. 3rd), all students will attend school.
Below is a schedule outlining the days your child is attending school during the first week.
Aug. 28th: Kindergarten 15-minute meetings, Cycle 1.1 (Grade 1) Students, Cycle 2.1 (Grade 3) Students, Cycle 3.1 (Grade 5) Students
Aug. 31st: Kindergarten Group A, Cycle 1.2 (Grade 2) Students, Cycle 2.2 (Grade 4) Students, Cycle 3.2 (Grade 6) Students
Sept. 1st: Kindergarten Group B, Cycle 1.1 (Grade 1) Students, Cycle 2.1 (Grade 3) Students, Cycle 3.1 (Grade 5) Students
Sept. 2nd: Kindergarten Group C, Cycle 1.2 (Grade 2) Students, Cycle 2.2 (Grade 4) Students, Cycle 3.2 (Grade 6) Students
Sept. 3rd: All Kindergarten Students, All Students Grades 1-6
Bussing
Children will not socially distance on the bus. While it is mandatory for students in Cycle 3 (grades 5 and 6) to wear a mask, we highly recommend every child wear a reusable mask when taking the bus and while waiting at the bus stop. Instructions on embarking the bus will be provided to your child by the driver. There will be a maximum of 2 students per seat and children from the same household will be required to sit together, whenever possible. Students will be assigned a permanent seat. Failure to respect protocols or already established behaviour expectations will result in a suspension of bus services. After all students have disembarked, the high contact points will be disinfected on all buses prior to starting a new route.
Disembarking from the Bus in the Morning
Children will disembark starting with the student who is closest to the front, followed by the next student and so on. Students will be encouraged to avoid touching other seats on the way off the bus.
A staff member will greet students and for the first few days, students will be directed to their teacher, who will be waiting in a designated area just beyond the buses. After these initial days, students will proceed to their assigned play area in the school yard, which will be the same for recess. The teachers will welcome students into their appropriate line, while maintaining social distance. From there, students will be given instructions for entering the school, including social distancing and hand sanitization protocols, and follow their teacher into the school.
Drop- off (7:50 am at the Jr. and 7:55 am at the Sr.)
Parents will drop students off and pick students up using the bus lanes ONLY (and not the regular parking lots). The bus lane is located on Barsac for the Junior campus and between the Senior campus and the WQCC at the Senior campus. Please note that the Senior Campus bus lane is only accessible from Elizabeth street, behind the school. At the Junior Campus, you will not actually go into the bus lane, but rather using the median at the bus lane to unload. Staff will be there to direct you. Parents are to remain in their vehicles unless instructed by staff to assist with unloading. Please ensure your child leaves the car through the passenger side of the vehicle. Please make sure your child’s bag and belongings are with him/her in the car and not in a separate location in the vehicle, to help with a smooth, fluid drop-off. Several cars will be loaded and unloaded at a time and all vehicles will leave when the signal is given by staff. Please expect some delays in this process, similar to what you have come to expect at grocery stores. You may want to give yourself a bit of extra time, especially for the first couple of weeks. There will be staff to assist the children upon arrival as parents are not permitted in the school yard. Students who walk to school must follow the same procedures and arrive at the bus lane location. Priority must be given to the buses and therefore, Junior campus will begin unloading parent vehicles at 7:50am and Senior campus will begin unloading at 7:55am. If you arrive prior to the buses and park in the bus lane, you will be asked to move your vehicle and therefore, forfeit your place in line. Though they may inconvenience or delay your morning routines (especially for the first 2 weeks), we appreciate your understanding of these additional safety measures. Student safety is our number one priority. Please note, children cannot be dropped off outside of the above times as there will be no supervision available, unless you are being charged for daycare services.
Late Arrivals
It is very important that your child be on-time. If you are late, please use the parent parking area located beside the large field at the Junior Campus or front entrance at the Senior Campus. It is important that you walk your child to the front door of the building and ring the bell. Please do not allow your child to walk on his/her own regardless of age, as parents are responsible for maintaining social distance while dropping students off (2m from other adults and 1m from other children). We will arrange for a staff member to meet you and ensure proper entry procedures are followed (sanitization of hands, masks, social distancing in the hall, etc.). Please note, you may encounter wait times while staff are processing the late arrivals with all of the social distancing procedures in place.
Pick Up
Student pick-up will take place in the same area as drop off: the bus lane. Please wait along the street and a staff member will tell you when to move forward into the bus lane area, once the buses depart. Buses MUST be given priority in the bus lanes to facilitate a smoother departure. You will be asked to move if you are parked in front of the bus and therefore, forfeit your place in line. No students will be loaded into vehicles before the buses depart.
Children will remain in line and parents will follow the same procedures as morning drop off to pick up students. A staff member will welcome arriving parents at the bus lane and relay the student’s name to the supervisor who will send the child.
Daycare Morning Drop Off and Pick Up
Daycare morning drop-off and pick-up will take place as it always has. Parents will park in the parent parking area located beside the large field at the Junior Campus and the front entrance at the Senior Campus. Please come to the front door and ring the bell. A member of the Daycare team will greet you and your child at drop off or radio for your child to meet you at pick-up.
Daycare Information
It is extremely important that students be registered for daycare prior to Sept, 30th. After this date, parents can place their child’s name on a waitlist but a place in daycare cannot be guaranteed as government funding and staffing are only distributed to schools based on Sept. 30th enrollment. Please be prepared to make external child care arrangements if you are not planning to send your child to daycare before Sept. 30th.
Although daycare groups will be comprised of students from multiple classrooms, children within the same daycare group but from different classrooms during the day, will maintain a 1m distance from one another. Children from the same classroom will be grouped together during daycare time. Students in grade 5 and 6 will be required to wear masks when travelling through common spaces. Students from different classroom groups during the day will not share materials or equipment during daycare.
Teacher/Class Groupings
Your child’s homeroom teacher will contact you prior to the first day of school to introduce himself/herself. Teachers will inform you of where they will be on the first day of school and what symbol will be used to identify their class. This is intended to ease concerns since parents will not be allowed in the school yard. Please let your child know who that teacher is and where they will be in the yard. Each teacher will have a sign identifying himself/herself with a name and symbol. There will be extra staff in the yard to assist arriving students. Students have been assigned one classroom in which they will remain for the entire day, except for recess, physical education and outdoor activities. As much as possible, we will try to maintain a 1 m distance between children while inside the classroom. Having class outdoors will be encouraged when appropriate.
Recess
There will be two recess times for students in order to reduce the number of students in the yard at one time. For recess, students will sanitize their hands before leaving the classroom and will be accompanied through the halls by their teacher and to their designated exit for that class. The staff member will then hold open the exit door and students will exit the building. Upon re-entry, teachers will meet their class and ensure students sanitize their hands prior to entering the building. The door will be held open so that students don’t need to touch the handles. Reducing common contact points is something we have looked at carefully.
Your child will continue to have the same number and length of recess periods during the day, including the lunch recess. During these times, your child’s class group will be assigned an area to play and must remain in their class groupings. Students will be permitted to socialize and play together within their class groupings, without social distance restrictions, while outdoors. In order to reduce high contact areas, we will not be using the play structures in the yard. Our structures are marked off with yellow caution tape. Please see the appendices for recess times.
Social Distancing
Students will keep a 1m distance from students in other class groupings and a 2m distance between staff and students will be maintained, at all times. While it is not required by the ministry of education, we will try, as much as possible, to have students maintain a 1m distance from peers while in the classroom at Lord Aylmer. We will help students understand what 1 meter looks like and provide spacers and markers throughout the school and outside to help students maintain distance between people. We have also removed unnecessary furniture to enable buffers for all students and staff members in a classroom.
Masks
While it is not required by the ministry of education for all students to wear masks at school, it is highly recommended. It is a requirement for students in Cycle 3 (grades 5 and 6) to wear masks while on the bus and while in common areas (hallways, washrooms, entrance ways, etc.) within the school. Students in grade 5 and 6 will not be required to wear a mask within their classroom. Students will not be required to wear masks in their daycare groups.
All teachers must wear masks while in common areas. It has not been mandated for all teachers to wear a mask within the classroom but it has been recommended, where appropriate. All Kindergarten teachers must wear a mask during class time. For situations in which teachers are unable to maintain a 2m distance from students a mask must be worn.
As announced by the government, parents are responsible for providing their child with a mask. For parents of students in cycle 3 (or those of you who want your child in a lower grade to wear a mask), you may wish to have several masks in your child’s school bag in case one is forgotten. Please send your child to school with a bag or container to safely store the mask while not in use, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
For more information on who has to wear a mask and when, please see the government document in Appendix 4 at the end of this document. For further information, please visit http://lordaylmer.wqsb.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Return-to-School-ProtocolSummary-English-Version.pdf
Common Areas
Teacher Specialists (Drama, Music, French, Art, PE) will move from class to class to reduce the potential for the spread of the corona virus, rather than children changing classrooms. Children in cycle 2 and 3 in our French Immersion program who usually rotate classrooms on alternating days, will remain in a single classroom this year. It will be the teacher who will switch classrooms. Physical Education (PE) classes will be held outside for the first part of the year and the gymnasium will not be used for PE until further notice. Although materials from common areas (instrument, art supplies, athletic equipment) may be used and disinfected, students will be limited to one room throughout the day for learning and eating.
Teaching your Child about Social Distancing and the Prevention of Contagion
It will be very important for you as parents/guardians to start teaching your child now about the importance of various preventative measures such as social distancing, proper hand washing, coughing or sneezing into one’s elbow and not sharing items with others, etc. Please see the parent resources in the appendices section to assist you in this training. Please prepare your child for the fact that adults will practice social distancing of 2m, whenever possible.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Adults may be wearing safety goggles, masks, gowns and gloves so children should be made aware of this prior to arriving. Members of staff who wear the protective equipment have undergone safety training sessions before being permitted to use it at school.
Items That Can Be Brought to School
In order to limit the potential for contagion, there are restrictions on items that can be brought to school. A school bag is permitted as are school supplies (eg. Items on the supply list). These items will remain at the school and will not be shared. Please ensure your child also has a filled reusable water bottle and a packed lunch. Your child will need a large Ziploc bag with a change of clothing to be kept at school. Indoor shoes should be brought on the first day and will also remain at school. Please ensure a raincoat is packed into the school bag for afternoon pickup in case of inclement weather (students may be waiting outside in the rain). Students will not be permitted to bring toys, cards or devices from home but will be allowed to bring a book or other reading material.
Lunch and Lunch Recess
There will be food delivery services from Mazzola for this school year. Home and School will also be offering Subway and Pizza lunches on Fridays. As usual, food sharing is not allowed outside of the above mentioned services. We strongly encourage students to bring a refillable water bottle to school as there will be no use of the water fountains. Please send your child with a filled water bottle, a lunch and enough snacks for the day, in containers he/she can independently open.
Two lunches have been scheduled to allow for the staggering of groups outside. In addition, different play areas have been designated in the yard.
Subjects That Will Be Taught
All subjects will be taught and normal subject-time allocation will be followed. Lessons will consist of review and the teaching of new material. As always, our dedicated staff will work to fill any gaps in learning that may have occurred due to the school closure. Assessment and evaluation procedures will continue as they have prior to COVID-19 restrictions. End-of-year examinations will take place as usual.
Behaviour Expectations
At Lord Aylmer, we have very high expectations for behaviour, especially where safety is concerned. As social distancing and various safety measures are in place to ensure greater levels of safety for staff and students, they need to be followed by everyone in the building. Students choosing not to comply with social distancing rules or existing behavior expectations from the Code of Conduct, will be subject to the consequences outlined in that document, which may include being sent home. There will be no tolerance for behaviour that endangers the safety of others. The administration team, teachers and all staff will be very clear about the expectations as well as the consequences for not adhering to the rules in place. Please note, forgetting to keep appropriate distance or going out the wrong exit by accident, is not what is being described here. We are asking that parents/guardians also help to clarify the seriousness of the procedures and expectations we have outlined as well as the consequences if students do not abide by them. Ensuring everyone remains safe and healthy is the responsibility of the entire school community. Safety must be our priority.
Response to a Positive Case of COVID-19
You will be notified, without delay, if anyone is diagnosed with COVID-19 at Lord Aylmer. Please refer to the following link posted on our website for more information on how Lord Aylmer will respond. http://lordaylmer.wqsb.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Steps-toTake-in-the-Event-a-Student-Shows-Symptoms-of-Covid-19-English-Version.pdf
Child Exhibiting Symptoms of Illness
A child exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, will immediately be accompanied from the class to the isolation room. There, the student and a staff member will put on a mask. The staff member will put on additional PPE as outlined in the public health instructions. The parent will be called immediately to pick up the child. The staff member will follow the public health and WQSB directives until a parent/emergency contact arrives. Siblings of children experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 will also be sent home. Parents and the School will be required to call public health to advise of the situation without delay. Please see the link in the section above for more details on how Lord Aylmer will respond.
Please see the attached Decision Fact Sheet in the appendices. It has very clearly outlined symptoms to watch for and explains what to do if your child has any ONE of the symptoms mentioned. Children exhibiting these symptoms can only return to school following public health recommendations AND are symptom-free, without symptom-reducing medication, for 24hrs or 48hrs in the case of fever. Please note, if anyone within your household is experiencing symptoms of illness, your child should not come to school.
To ensure the safety of other students and the staff, please ensure you can pick up your child without delay after receiving a call from the school. If it is not possible for you to pick up your child, please plan for an emergency contact to do so. We understand making unexpected changes to your day may be difficult but any delay increases the chances of infecting others. Please ensure your child can be picked up, if needed, within 30-40 minutes.
Finally, do not send your child to school if he/she is unwell or showing signs of physical discomfort, or if anyone within your household is showing any of the COVID-19 symptoms listed. By working together, parents and staff can help to mitigate risk and keep Lord Aylmer safe.
Cleaning
Lord Aylmer School usually has a full-time caretaker during the day who serves both campuses. At night, we have a caretaker for each campus. The WQSB has provided additional cleaning support due to the COVID-19 situation and we are happy to share that each campus will have its own caretaker during the day and at night. A focus of the cleaning will be on high contact points such as doorknobs, desks, chairs, handles, toilet handles, phone receivers, faucets and counter tops. A rigorous cleaning schedule has been developed by the WQSB in accordance with provincial guidelines for disinfecting, specifically for COVID-19. In addition to this, members of staff will also clean and disinfect high contact areas such as doorknobs, tables, desks and chairs in the class throughout the day.
The WQSB has made arrangements to ensure all ventilation filters at Lord Aylmer meet the new national, provincial, American and WHO ventilation standards for COVID-19.
General Information
- If you need to speak with someone in the office/school, please call. There will be limited face-to-face communication.
- Bus transportation information will be provided by the WQSB. Due to the limited bus space, transportation is not guaranteed.
While this document does not include every procedure we have put in place for the 2020- 2021 school year, we hope it demonstrates the seriousness with which we have prepared to reduce the risk of infection for our students and staff. Some of our procedures throughout the year. Major changes will be communicated to you through REMIND. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Respectfully,
Eldon Keon
Principal