How do we tell the story of resilience?
September 20th, 2020
Good morning and happy Sunday to the Ian Bazalgette families.
I need to start this week with a respectful reminder about how we are trying to keep everyone safe at Ian Bazalgette. The self-screening form is linked below for those families that are unfamiliar. We are asking families to use extra caution when deciding to send their child to school or to keep them home. If a student is feeling unwell at school we have quite an extensive protocol to follow and if a student exhibits any symptoms on the self – screening we will be contacting home and asking parents to come and pick up their child accordingly. We understand the challenges this protocol may present families in the mornings, but we are following guidelines provided to us. If your child is not feeling well please keep them home accordingly. Everyone's attention to this protocol will help us attend to aspects at the school that need the resources and support and to help keep the learning moving forward.
Daily Screening
§ Parents and caregivers must assess their children daily for symptoms of common cold, influenza, COVID-19, or other infectious respiratory disease before sending them to school. Anyone showing symptoms listed on the self-screening form must remain home.
§ All adults entering a school must assess themselves daily . They must not enter if they answer yes to any of the questions on the self-screening form .
Stay Home If Sick
§ If students or staff are ill with any common cold, influenza or COVID-19-like symptoms they must stay home and either isolate for 10 calendar days following onset of symptoms, or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer. They need to contact 8-1-1 for guidance or complete the AHS Self-Assessment to determine if testing is required.
§ Students and employees must stay home until they have been assessed by a health care provider to exclude COVID-19 or other infectious diseases AND their symptoms have resolved.
§ If you have been tested for COVID-19, visit the AHS page Advice for People Tested for COVID-19 for instructions on when you can return to school.
§ In the case of self-isolation: If a child is self-isolating and is well-enough to engage in school work, the classroom teacher will continue to provide work and support.
If a child is not well enough to continue learning at home with teacher support, accommodations for the child's learning will take place upon the child's return to classes. The teacher will assess the expectations for learning for the child and provide the appropriate accommodations.
Illness at School
§ Students exhibiting signs of illness will be moved to a supervised, designated infirmary room or area in the school.
§ The area/room will have an “Infirmary, Do Not Enter" sign that will be posted when the room is in use.
§ The room should have the ability to house more than one student at a time while maintaining physical distancing.
§ After the room is used, a sign will be posted indicating the room must be cleaned. Custodial staff will then provide enhanced cleaning. If a confirmed case of COVID-19 results, then the AHS Zone Medical Officer will provide instructions for further cleaning and disinfecting.
§ Parents/caregivers will be notified and advised to pick up their child immediately, within one hour.
§ Parents/guardians must designate an emergency contact for student pick up if they are unable to pick up their child. All families must adhere to this.
§ All items the student touched/used that day will be cleaned and disinfected after the student has been picked up. Items that cannot be cleaned and disinfected (e.g. paper, books, cardboard puzzles) will be removed from the classroom and stored in a sealed container for a minimum of 10 days.
The curriculum letters are being finalized and I expect to be able to send them out to you tomorrow. These letters will indicate the most important learning students will take up for the next few months. I am excited by the depth of time and commitment teachers are making in setting the stage for learning for our students. We are investigating the learning through an inquiry lens which comes in the form of a provocation and a question students' will use to frame the learning. This is done to answer the question often asked by students; “why do I need to know this?" I am excited to see where the learning goes for our students these first few months.
I will also have some “Meet the Teacher" information emailed out tomorrow to the community. Thursday is a Friday schedule for the students and we will have our “Meet the Teacher" afternoon / evening. Parents will be able to schedule a phone call with their homeroom teacher. We will be scheduling calls and the purpose of the calls will be to once again welcome and do a quick check-in to see how the start of the year is going. We will also use that as an opportunity to establish the communication lines between the home and the school. This opportunity is not an opportunity to discuss assessment or how your child is doing academically as teachers are just getting to know your child in that manner. Students that are on IPP's will have a longer call as teachers inquire and get parent voice as part of the IPP process and begin to write the first phase of IPP's for the year.
On Friday students were sent home demographic forms. Please complete the forms and send them back as soon as you can as we are required to go through this process prior to the end of the year. This is an opportunity to update any demographic information and help us ensure we have that correct in the system.
We have a new face in the front office as we welcome Ms. Veraga Gonzalez will be joining Ms. McLachlan in the front office to help support the Ian Bazalgette community. Just a reminder the office hours daily will be 7:45am – 3:45pm from Monday to Thursday for phone calls and 7:45 – 2:00pm on Fridays for phone calls. Again a reminder we are asking parents that want to come in to please call ahead and book an appointment.
Also, a reminder that we will have Picture Day this coming Wednesday. Our service providers have procedures and routines in place to support doing this in a safe manner.
Have a great Sunday out there to the Ian Bazalgette community.
Stay well.
Terry and Jamie-Dee
Important Dates
Thursday September 24th – Early Dismissal (Friday Schedule)
Thursday September 24th – Meet the Teacher
Friday September 25th – No school for students (Organizational Day Teachers)
Friday October 9th – No school for students (Professional Development Day)
Monday October 12th – Thanksgiving (No school)
Thursday October 29th – Early Dismissal (Friday Schedule)
Thursday October 29th – Parent / Teacher / Student Conferences
Friday October 30th - Parent / Teacher / Student Conferences (No school for students)
Wednesday November 11th – Remembrance Day (No School)
Friday November 20th – No School for students (Professional Development Day)
Friday December 4th – No School for students (Professional Development Day)
Friday December 18th – Last Day of classes prior to Winter Break
Monday January 4th – No School for students (Organizational Day)
Tuesday January 5th – First Day back for students
