Newsletter #5 – January 2023

As we approach the halfway mark in the school year, I want to thank you for your ongoing collaboration with school events, fundraisers and in your support of your child’s learning activities. Students always benefit when the school and the home enjoy a team approach and your support in this regard is very much appreciated.

Compared to other months, the next three have historically seen more incidents involving conflict, violence and bullying in schools. At Lord Aylmer, we have many preventative interventions in place to prevent incidents from escalating but there are still times these will occur. Conflict situations will arise and if not handled properly by some of our students, violence and/or bullying can sometimes result. When incidents happen, we investigate thoroughly and respond seriously to each.

The greatest barrier to preventing this behaviour is fear. Students on the receiving end of these behaviours and sometimes, their parents/guardians, may fear things will get worse for victims if it is found out they were the ones who had come forward to report the behaviour. In our experience, the opposite is true. Those of us who are handling the situations have ways of doing so that protect confidentiality of those who come forward. We also have a good track record of ending violence and bullying when we are made aware of a situation. We therefore urge parents/guardians to encourage their child to come forward if they or someone they know is the victim of bullying or violence.

If your child is uncomfortable to step forward, you are encouraged to report the matter. You can email the teacher with details and copy the behaviour technician (Wendy Larin at wlarin@wqsb.qc.ca at the junior campus or Alicia Duperron aduperron@wqsb.qc.ca at the senior campus). You can also call the school or leave a phone message when calling at night or on the weekend and we will address the situation the next school day. We want everyone to have a positive, peaceful experience at the school and want all of our students to feel safe at Lord Aylmer so please discuss this at home and reassure your child that things will get better if they report to a staff member if they are experiencing violence or bullying.

Please see below, a list of events and information items for this month.

STUDENT RECOGNITION ASSEMBLY

On Monday, January 16th , we will recognize students who have demonstrated Collaboration throughout the month of December. We will also introduce our Lord Aylmer Values of focus for January: PERSEVERANCE. We want to congratulate our award winners in advance.

ANGEL TREE AND FOOD BASKETS

Our school community generously supported the Angel Tree initiative for 14 Lord Aylmer families this year. This allowed for several children to open presents on Christmas morning. The families also received a generous food basket thanks to the donations of food from two of our local grocers (Maxi and Metro) as well as cash donations from some of our Lord Aylmer families and staff members.

NEW WATER FOUNTAINS

In the last week before the holidays, work was completed on the installation of new drinking fountains. The new ones have special spouts for the filling of water bottles. We are still avoiding the use of regular (old-style) fountains for health reasons and will encourage you to send your child to school with a filled water bottle. This will avoid long lineups at the fountains in the mornings. The use of water jugs in classrooms will no longer be needed.

GOVERNING BOARD MEETING

The next governing board meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 18 at 6:30 in the senior campus staff room.

PYJAMA DAY

Thanks to our parents/guardians for supporting our special pyjama day on the first day back to school. It was a big hit with students and staff. There were many suggestions to keep this as a tradition in future years after the return from the Christmas holidays.

DISEASE PREVENTION MEASURES

As mentioned in the letter home at the end of the holidays, no new directives have been issued by Public Heath about COVID restrictions so our health measures will remain as they were before the holidays. We have, however, continued to review our established preventative health measures with students. This should help reduce the risk of spreading not only COVID but also influenza and other diseases which are prevalent at this time of the year. Should there be any changes in measures, we will inform you.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION – K5 (5-YEAR OLD KINDERGARTEN)

To register your child for Kindergarten (K5) he or she must be 5 years of age by September 30, 2023. Registration for the 2023-2024 school year will be held on February 8 and 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the WQSB, 15 Katimavik Street, Gatineau. After Feb. 9 registration will be ongoing by appointment only:

Contact Karen Comfort at 819-684-4888 or kcomfort@wqsb.qc.ca

The following documents are required:

➢ Certificate of Eligibility of the child, parent or sibling declared eligible (if available)

➢ Child’s original long form birth certificate (bearing parents’ name)

➢ Canadian Citizenship of parent who will render the child eligible

➢ Quebec driver’s license of the parent/guardian responsible for the child, or Lease/House Deed and a utility bill

➢ Child’s last report card (if applicable)

Please visit our school’s website to access step by step instructions on how to register and links to the required documents.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION – K4 (4-YEAR OLD KINDERGARTEN)

To register your child for Kindergarten (K4) he or she must be 4 years of age by September 30, 2023. Registration for the 2023-2024 school year will be held from April 17 – 21. Please visit our school’s website to access step by step instructions on how to register and links to the required documents. For questions regarding kindergarten registration please contact Karen Comfort at 819-684-4888 or kcomfort@wqsb.qc.ca.

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.

INCLEMENT WEATHER-DRESSING APPROPRIATELY

Please ensure children are dressed appropriately for the weather. Students will be outdoors as much as possible (up to -25 C). An extra pair of dry socks and mittens or gloves are recommended.

DEROGATION PARENT INFORMATION EVENING

An information session on the derogation process (early admission to school) for parents of 4-year-old children who may be eligible for the 2023 Fall Kindergarten Program will be held on January 23rd at 7:00 p.m. via Teams. The following questions will be addressed:

• What is derogation?
• Who is eligible to apply for derogation?
• What are the requirements for qualifying for derogation?
• What constitutes “school readiness” for Kindergarten?
• Why does my child need a psychological assessment to complete the derogation application?
• How do I apply?
• What to do if my school has a K4 program?

A brief question and answer period will follow. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend the Parent Information Evening before deciding to apply for early admission to school. Please note: this session does not address the Special Education Derogation Process.

To register for this session, please contact Helen Carriere at hcarriere@wqsb.qc.ca or 819-684-1313 x 560006

PD DAY AND DAYCARE

Our next PD Day is on Jan. 23rd and our daycare will be closed.

There will be two PD days in February (6 &7). The link for the registration form will be sent through Remind on January 24th and it will close on February 1st at 12 p.m. At that time, parents will no longer be able to sign up for the 2 days.

LOST AND FOUND

We continue to have several items in our Lost and Found sections. Please remember to label all winter clothing, including sweatshirts and sweaters. All labelled items will be returned.

WORKSHOPS FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS

There are workshops tailored to parents/guardians that may be of interest to you. See our website for details on the following:

How to Make Children More Resilient by not Over-protecting Them

Michael Ungar, PH. D – World-Renowned Resilience Expert, Author, Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University

January 19th, 7:00-8:30 PM

Speech and Language Development Milestones and Red Flags

Alexina Fortin, M.Sc.S., Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)

January 19th, 7:00-8:30 PM

Making Sense of Sensitive Kids

Dr. Deborah MacNamara, Clinical Counsellor and Developmentalist, Author, Faculty at Neufeld Institute

January 25th, 7:00-8:30 PM

INCLEMENT WEATHER AND BUS CANCELLATIONS

This is a reminder that should weather cause busses to be postponed or cancelled (or schools, daycare services to be cancelled), parents will receive a notification from us via REMIND. Those who wish to receive the notification a little earlier can do so by downloading the WQSB App or refer to the school board website for upto-date information. Starting in February, bus notifications for delays and closures will only be shared through the WQSB App. Urgent notices pertaining to our school only (busses cancelled, school closure, evacuation will continue to be sent via REMIND.

CONTACTING THE SCHOOL AFTER HOURS FOR EMERGENCIES

After 3:30 PM, calls are diverted to our voice mail. For emergency situations (eg. child not arriving home at expected time), please contact the Lord Aylmer daycare service at (819) 684-1494. For non-emergency calls, daycare staff will refer you to the school’s main voicemail service.

HOME AND SCHOOL NEWS

We are so excited to announce that the H&S fundraised over $3800 at the Christmas Bazaar for Lord Aylmer School & students! Thank you once again to all our donors, vendors, volunteers and community that helped to support this important & fun event!

Our wonderful community also helped to raise $2800 in Scholastic credits at our December Book Fair. These funds will be used to purchase books and educational material for the school. Many thanks to everyone that came out to buy books!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER