I hope everyone has been well and that, despite the fact that the Thanksgiving weekend may look a bit different from years past, you are looking forward to some family time whether within your own bubble or remotely.

Most on your mind, no doubt, is how we are doing from a COVID safety perspective.   The answer is, so far so good!  There have been no cases within our school community.  Although many kids have had to be sent home with what might be COVID symptoms (sore throat / headache / upset stomach for e.g.) none of our staff or students has tested positive.   We greatly appreciate the understanding and cooperation of parents / guardians who come to get their sick kids, and then follow through with what direction is required.  Remember that the Ontario School Screening Tool is the best way to make decisions as to what to do should your child present with symptoms.

Here is that link again!

Let me tell you what happens if a child is ill during school.   These are procedures followed throughout our board.

1) The classroom teacher notifies the office.  The teacher, as circumspect as possible, but with no delay,  directs the affected student  to the hall / the porch of the portable while still monitoring them for wellness and safety.

2) Either Ms. Romanowski or myself, with PPE on, go to escort the child to the isolation room, in our case this is the Tuck Shop which had formally been the nurses room.  Ms. Kuhl or Ms. Krywko call parent / guardian to come to take the student home.  The student is given PPE (gown, medical mask and shield) to wear to help isolate any potential infection.

3) The classroom teacher takes that class outside / library / gym for alternate activities while that room is sanitized by our wonderful custodian.

4) When parent / guardian comes to get the students, they are given further direction from Ms. Brown or Ms. Romanowski as regards next steps.

This process has happened several times as you can imagine.  Remember that regular fall illness symptoms are still out there!  I am getting my regular flu shot tomorrow.

I can report that our Lions are, by and large, following the many rules in place to help deal with this pandemic.  There have been several students sent home around the cohort  mixing issue.  I greatly appreciate the support parents have expressed as we hold the line on this, and on other issues as well.   We fully understand what a pain it is to be called during a work day around a behaviour issue at school!   But I know you understand that we would not call if it wasn’t necessary and important.

With so many changes to what a ‘normal’ school start-up is, we wanted to get a sense of how our students were doing emotionally.  We know that lots of kids must have been feeling isolated or anxious through this COVID ordeal.   So we put together a survey that our Lions could complete on their own time in the hope that peer influence would not be a part of their answers.

As we review the results, we feel that our kids are coping quite well despite all the changes and challenges.  This speaks a lot to your parenting and the security and support they get at home.  We appreciate their voice in all of this.  Here is the link to the survey. 

Please note that the ‘free answer’ responses at the end were edited down in number but not necessarily ‘cherry picked’, although a few rude responses were not included here.  Kids!  lol    The survey results were compiled so that the email column was hidden, so these are confidential and anonymous.

Parents you are wonderful!  Thank you for the attendance communication, and updates on all manner of issues we need to know about.  Our late sign-in and early sign-out is working perfectly.   If you are dropping off something your child forgot, just buzz the office and leave it on the table with your child’s name on it.

Have  a lovely day!

Barb Brown

Principal