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