Brechin …. A great place to learn! BRECHIN BULLETIN Brechin Elementary School A word from the office … changes to come April is upon us! I keep looking at the weather in Eastern Canada and then marvel at the wonders of Spring on our beautiful west coast. While our winter never really did materialize, spring is promising to be amazing! With Spring comes changes. After eight years of working and learning with all of you at Brechin as Principal I have accepted a transfer to Cinnabar Valley Elementary, effective August 1, 2015. I have so loved the work here at Brechin! I have learned so much from the wonderful community, and from the amazing students and staff that I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. Moving schools is exciting and scary at the same time. I am looking forward to celebrating the joy I find each and everyday working with your children as the year draws to a close. Ms. Darlene Crane will be assuming the role of Principal for the next year. Ms. Crane is currently the Vice-Principal of Rock City Elementary and has extensive experience working at the district level with learning initiatives. Ms. Crane is thrilled to be coming to Brechin! 510 Millstone Ave Nanaimo BC V9S 5A9 250-754-7523 Volume 6, Issue 7 April 2 2015 Calendar Updates April 3—Good Friday—Schools Closed April 6—Easter Monday—Schools Closed April 8—DARE begins grade 5’s April 9—PAC meeting 6:30 PM April 10—Terry Fox Run April 14—Art program begins With upmost respect and appreciation to this most amazing Brechin Community, April 16—Div 4 to perform for NLSF Ms. Diane Goodman April 22—Community Clean up Day Principal April 17—Sports Program Begins April 20—PLC early dismissal May 1st—Class and all school photos May 4—Professional Day— Schools Closed CELEBRATING TERRY FOX May 5– REGULAR DAY May 7—Kindergarten Photos Due to the late start to the year we did not really have an opportunity to focus on the legacy of Terry Fox, a true Canadian hero. April 12th 2015 is the 35th anniversary of Terry beginning the Marathon of Hope, when he dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean. On Friday April 10th we are going to take on Terry’s challenge by dipping our feet into the “Atlantic Ocean” (a replica of course … a small pool of water) and then running and walking for 30 minutes. We are also having a coin drive in support of the Cancer Foundation in honour of this milestone anniversary. Please consider sending any coins you have available to our collection bin in the office. All donations will be sent directly to the Terry Fox Foundation. If you would like to join us on April 10th for our run please do so. We will be dipping our feet right after short recess (1:30) and will be heading out to enjoy our beautiful neighbourhood. For the most current information please check our school website: May 11—PLC day May 14—School Track and Field Meet @ Rotary Bowl May 18 Victoria Day—Schools Closed May 25 Last PLC day May 27—Volunteer Appreciation Tea http://schoolsweb.sd8.bc.ca/brechin Brechin …. A great place to learn! PLC SESSIONS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR There are only three more early dismissal days for PLC time for the 2014-2015 School Year. The dates are April 20, May 11, May 25. All other Mondays in session for the rest of the year will have the regular 2:25 dismissal time. Jump Rope for Heart! Special thanks to Ms. Dickie and her Div. 3 students in their extraordinary work with Jump Rope for Heart this year. The leadership by both teacher and students was outstanding. Our preliminary total in donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation is $2800.00. Way to go Brechin! Speak out, Reach Out Students in Divisions 1-3 were treated to a wonderful presentation by the Crisis Society on Tuesday March 31st. The focus of the presentation was on teaching students the value in speaking out and reaching out whenever they have worries. It also helped to normalize the fact that all people have worries—it is just recognizing when our worries get too big or our thoughts become more than we can handle that we can reach out to others to help. Students were given a number of tools to help them, including information on the Crisis Line and the Crisis Society. Part of the presentation included Brechin parent Matt Dunae, also known as rap artist Sirreal, as one of the presenters. It was an honour to have Matt work with our students and to have his son, Benny, be part of the audience! Pacific Sport After School Arts and Sports Programs We are once again able to offer two after school programs for students in grades 2-5 through our community partners at Pacific Sport. The first program is Fun with Drawing and Painting. These Art based sessions will be held on Tuesdays beginning April 14. The second program is called Fun with Sports, Games and Leadership, running on Fridays beginning April 17th. There is a $10.00 fee for each program. However, due to the partnership agreement, students will not be turned away for financial reasons! We hope to have these sessions full with enthusiastic students! Please return the registration forms to the office by Tuesday April 7. Page 2 For the most current information please check our school website: http://schoolsweb.sd8.bc.ca/brechin Brechin …. A great place to learn! At its meeting on March 18, 2015, the Board of Education directed staff to begin a 30-day consultation on the five recommendations created by the Nanaimo Ladysmith School Calendar Committee. To extend the three-year local school calendar to the 2017-18 school year To implement elementary school local schedule guidelines To implement secondary school local schedule guidelines To increase Spring Break to two weeks To remove a non-instructional day (the District Implementation Day), and replace with an instructional day This is notice that the consultation period will run from 3 p.m., Friday, March 20 until midnight, Sunday, April 19. Your feedback should be provided directly to the Communications Department in writing, via email [email protected], or by completing the online survey by Sunday, April 19 at 12 midnight. The online survey will also be available on our website at www.sd68.bc.ca The Board of Education will receive a report from staff and make its decision at the Special Business Committee As part of the work to maintain Safe Schools parents and students are reminded of the Erase Bullying website which is filled with information on how to deal with bullying type issues, an avenue for reporting such complaints, and ways to determine if the issues are in fact bullying or some other type of misbehaviour. Not all issues of conflict at schools or in the community are bullying. Bullying includes acts that are persistent over time, include a misbalance of power and have an intent to harm. Sometimes kids, and adults for that matter, are just being mean! Regardless, it is imperative that issues are reported to schools so that they can be dealt with in a timely manner. All students need to feel heard! And, they need to feel safe. The Erase Bullying website is http://www.erasebullying.ca/ Satisfaction Surveys Parents of students in grades 4 and 7 will be receiving an on-line code to be able to participate in the Ministry of Education Satisfaction Survey. The codes will be sent home on Tuesday April 7 and the website is available until Thursday April 30. Students will also be completing surveys during the month of April. If you have any questions please connect with Ms. Goodman in the office. The Garden! Andy from Nanaimo Food Share will be working with our students every second Tuesday out in the garden. Make sure you look at the wonderful garden beds—students will be taking quite an active role in maintaining these this year! I hear that there will be an abundance of KALE planted! For the most current information please check our school website: http://schoolsweb.sd8.bc.ca/brechin Brechin …. A great place to learn! BRECHIN IS A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN! Learning outside! A visit from the tooth fairy! Thanks PAC for funding special performances! Fun in the gym—what talented kids we have! For the most current information please check our school website: http://schoolsweb.sd8.bc.ca/brechin
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