Newsletter #2 – October 2022

With our first month of school behind us, I would like to thank parents/guardians and staff for their support. This was the smoothest return to school in memory and that is due to our collective efforts.

All schools have acts of violence and incidents involving bullying. Lord Aylmer is no exception. We currently have 680 students enrolled at Lord Aylmer and unfortunately, conflicts may arise that will sometimes lead to escalations, despite everyone’s best efforts. At our school, we believe that prevention is important. We invest a great deal of time and money into values education and on training for all staff on clear supervision procedures. In addition, we work to ensure students, staff and parents have a clear understanding of expected student behaviour. Even with these in place, violence and bullying do occur at school, on the bus and online. If they do, and we are aware, we deal with the situations thoroughly and seriously. This is where you can help. If your child or someone they know is the victim of a violent act or has been bullied, please reach out to our special education-behaviour technicians (Wendy Larin at Junior Campus and Alicia Duperron at the Senior) to Vice-principal Horner or to me. You may leave a voice message at any time or contact us via email at the following addresses: wlarin@wqsb.qc.ca aduperron@wqsb.qc.ca jhorner@wqsb.qc.ca ekeon@wqsb.qc.ca. Again, please be assured that we deal with all reports very seriously. We also do so in a discreet manner to protect witnesses as well as the victims of violence and bullying.

I want to take a moment to encourage all parents who would like to make a difference at our school – or to those who just want to meet and connect with other parents – to consider joining the Lord Aylmer Home and School committee. In addition to providing a sounding board for our parents, our Home and School helps us create enriching educational activities and events for our children. It has also been instrumental in the purchase of important resources like class sets of Chromebooks, thousands of dollars in books and in the purchase of special education materials. This dynamic team is growing every day with the return to normal school activities this year and the members would love to welcome you into their ranks.

Please take the time to read through the information below regarding the events and announcements for October. Have a great month!

-Eldon Keon

STUDENT RECOGNITION ASSEMBLY

We will hold our Student Recognition Assembly on Oct. 7. The school value on which we focused in September was “Respect”. Congratulations to all our award winners. The value on which we will focus in October is “Inclusion”. We are very proud of our students and appreciate their efforts in following our school values throughout the year.

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION WEEK

Lord Aylmer School held its second Truth and Reconciliation week from September 26 to September 30. Throughout the week, students learned about the Residential School system, welcomed Indigenous speakers and elders into classrooms, learned about the many contributions of Canada’s Indigenous People, were exposed to popular artists, stories, authors, and singers as well as some key phrases in different First Nations languages.

The week culminated with Orange Shirt Day on September 30 which included a school-wide assembly and group photo.

Though there was a schoolwide focus on Truth and Reconciliation for this week, individual classes learn about the above-mentioned subjects throughout the year at Lord Aylmer.

TERRY FOX RUN

Our Terry Fox School Run event, held September 23, was a great success with all students participating in a walk with their class or a 5km run. We were an impressive group of approximately 800 members of our school community (students, staff and parents). Parents of two of our Jr. Campus students dealing with leukemia shared their experiences of persevering through cancer treatments and spoke about how much this event matters.

Our fundraising efforts have surpassed our $5000.00 goal with online donations totalling $5300.00 and cash donations still coming in. Funds raised will go to the Terry Fox Foundation to further the search for cancer treatments. Thank you for helping Lord Aylmer make such a significant contribution each year! Although our school campaign is now officially over, you can continue to support cancer research by visiting our school’s donation page: Lord Aylmer – Gatineau, Qc | Terry Fox School Run.

INTERSCHOLASTIC TOURNAMENTS

Interscholastic tournaments are back! Lord Aylmer will be participating in the WQSB soccer tournament held in Quyon October 12 with two mixed teams and will then be hosting the touch-football tournament on November 3. Good luck to all our athletes!

LE POTAGER EARDLEY

Our Kindergarten classes will enjoy a trip to Le Potager Eardley on October 17. At the farm children will view the animals and participate in a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.

PICTURE DAY

Picture Day will be held on October 21 at the Junior Campus and October 26 at the Senior Campus. For best results, here are the Photomania clothing recommendations: Neutral colors such as blue, brown, beige, black and denim (jeans) are excellent choices.

HALLOWEEN

There will be Inclusive Seasonal/Halloween activities near the end of October. A choice of activities will be planned for students who do not celebrate or would prefer an alternate activity. Please remember that Lord Aylmer has a strict No Food Sharing Policy for safety reasons. Students will not be permitted to hand out treats to their classmates. More information will follow.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Progress reports will be available for viewing on October 7 through Mozaik Parent Portal. If you are not yet registered to Mozaik, please contact our administrative technician, Corinna Abraham, at cabraham@wqsb.qc.ca.

REMIND NOTIFICATIONS

Please remember to sign up for the Remind Notification System. Remind is used to communicate information to you and notify you of upcoming events. It is also used to notify you of time-sensitive events, such as late buses, etc. The step-by-step Remind sign-up instructions are available on our website.

SCHOOL FEES

School fees will be invoiced later in October. Parents will be advised by Remind when statements of account are available on the Parent Mozaik Portal.

SENIOR CAMPUS PARKING LOT

This is a friendly reminder to parents and guardians who are dropping off/picking up children at the senior campus. Please use the Elizabeth Street entrance to the bus lanes rather than the parking area in front. If you have different people dropping off or picking up for you and it is their first time, please inform them of the times and location. This procedure has been organized to improve safety for the children and we thank everyone for their cooperation.

GOVERNING BOARD

Thank you to those who attended our AGA on September 21. The following people will represent parents on the Governing Board this year.

• Justin Ford, Chair
• Attila Clemann, Parent Committee Rep
• Alex Butler
• Christina Villeneuve
• Carissa Piercey
• Alex Gonsalves

Our next meeting is on October 19.

COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES FOR GOVERNING BOARD

The governing board met September 28 and would like to reach out to parents and guardians for suggestions on members from the community (eg. business, organizations, government) to be considered for the selection of our two community representatives. If you have any suggestions, please forward them via email to our Governing Board’s chairperson, Justin Ford, at justinjamesford@gmail.com with the subject line “GB Community Rep”.

PD DAY AND DAYCARE

October 13 and 14 are PD days and the daycare will be open. We will send a link through Remind to register for Oct. 13 and 14. The closing date to register is October 10 at noon. Please note that after this date, you will not have access to the form. The theme is Fall. PD days are available to students already registered in daycare. Thank you.

CISSSO INFORMATION SESSION ON VAPING

The Direction de santé publique of the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health invite you to the following information session on vaping: « Let’s Talk About Vaping with Parents ».

Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)

Date: October 12, 2022

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

There will be a question period at the end of the session. We ask that you register for this event via the following link: https://teams.microsoft.com/registration/vpOr39PKESBiDcbCUbvxw,1LtzBzZE1kqTa7wnSrjzQQ,lcEaEztSGUSZsJLgEZQj-w,qFsAfYtC0eKeL586ljZGg,2dHfTTXb_Uy-bDnD_0Rn0g,IpXtkqUcvkKIwA5G39- HWw?mode=read&tenantId=dfab93be-fed3-4428-8188-371b0946efc7

Following your registration, you will receive a Teams’ link to join the session. We look forward to seeing you.

LABELLING YOUR CHILD’S BELONGINGS

Please label all clothing items as well as water bottles, etc. We have already had many items in the Lost and Found. If they are labelled, they are returned. Unclaimed items are donated monthly to local agencies.

STUDENT ABSENCES

Please don’t forget to call the school if your child will be absent or late. When leaving a message please include the date and the reason for your child’s absence. If you wish to make any changes to your child’s after-school routines, you must contact the office and the daycare before 2:00 pm. Messages left after 2:00 may not be heard until after dismissal.

Jr. Campus: 819.684.4888

Sr. Campus: 819.684.6801

Daycare: 819.684.1494

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

LA HOME & SCHOOL NEWS

Halloween Dance: Join us for a Fright-Tastic Halloween Dance on Friday October 28 from 7-9pm at the LA Sr Campus. Entry is $2 per person. There will be prizes for best costume & dancing, treats & drinks for sale. More details to come! Check out our Facebook page LordAylmerHS. We need VOLUNTEERS for this event! Contact lordaylmerhs@gmail.com if you are available to help.

Pizza & Subway Days: They’re almost here! YAHOO!! Check out the dates below:

• Pizza Days: October 7, 21 & 31
• Subway Days: October 12 & 28

Members & Volunteers: WE NEED YOU! It’s never too late to join the Home & School as a member or volunteer! For more information or to sign up visit our website www.lordaylmerhs.ca or email lordaylmerhs.@gmail.ca.

LA School Glam: Buy LA branded t-shirts, pull-over or zip hoodies and ball caps for the whole family! Spread the LA School love. Shop now at www.lordaylmerhs.ca/shop.

Personalized Labels: Make sure your kids belongings make it home! Stick a label on it! Shop Mabel’s Labels and Oliver’s Labels on our website www.lordaylmerhs.ca. All labels purchased through the H&S website will support our kids and school.