We feel very fortunate that the nice fall weather is hanging in. Students have a good opportunity every day at lunch to get outside, run around and take a break from wearing their masks. We hope this continues and that the added physical activity is helping them feel well.
On Monday, GP Vanier staff joined with the all other CBE employees for a day dedicated to Indigenous Education. We participated in keynote presentations by Dr. Pamela Rose Toulouse who is a proud Anishinaabe-Kwe from Sagamok First Nation. She is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Education at York University. She spoke passionately about the importance of embracing truth and reconciliation, acknowledging the land we share, and embracing traditional ways of teaching, learning and knowing. We also heard from Tomas Jirousek who is a proud member of Kainai First Nation. He attended school in Lethbridge and graduated from McGill University with an honours degree in political science, where he was a member of the university's varsity rowing team, and was the first First Nations valedictorian after leading a successful campaign to change the name of McGill's men's sport teams. Tomas is currently studying law at the University of Toronto, where he continues to provide leadership for Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ rights. Both keynote addresses were informative and inspiring; the GP Vanier staff has committed to including aspects of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation report into our work with our students. We had some excellent conversations about how we are approaching this work and how we can support the indigenous learners at our school, while sharing knowledge with all the students who attend Vanier.
Please note that we will be packaging up our collection of lost and found next week to give to a clothing donation charity; we've put the items on display and have told the students to 'look but not touch' due to Covid protocols. We hope that they will recover any lost personal items. If you can remind them to have a look it would be appreciated.
Any grade 6 parents who still have AHS vaccination forms – please have your child return it to the school office. Our public health team is planning to be at the school December 16th to catch up all missed grade 6 & 7 regular vaccinations.
Next week there are a few events to note:
Tuesday October 26th – School Council AGM – an invite will be sent on Monday
Thursday October 28th – Picture re-take day
Friday October 29th – Hallowe'en Spirit Day
Please note that November 11th and 12th are non-instructional days.
Parents of grade 9 students should note that High schools are beginning to roll out information about programs and registration, including some online information sessions. We will forward all the information we receive, but it's a good idea to check the web page of your child's future high school to make sure you're informed. The most recent and detailed High School information guide can be found at: https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/high-school/Documents/Detailed-High-School-Course-Guide.pdf The shorter High school guide is at https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/high-school/Documents/Get-Ready-Get-Set-Go-For-It-Short.pdf In January, most High Schools will have information sessions and Vanier School staff will be helping students with their course selections and registrations. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Cheng – mscheng@cbe.ab.ca
Thanks as always for your partnership,
Rob Keith
