Dear Grade 1 Families,
Welcome to division 7. For those who have not met me, my name is Karen Hoskins.
This is my twelfth year teaching in Delta and my tenth year teaching at Port
Guichon. Prior to teaching in Delta, I taught in Vancouver for more than ten
years where I taught kindergarten, as well as every primary aged class. Prior
to that, I taught for three and a half years in Great Britain in an
intermediate class as well as in a unit for students with exceptional needs. I
am a resident of Ladner and I enjoy working and living in our community.
Firstly, I’d like to thank you for your patience with our delayed start and the
gradual entry. This organization was very beneficial for adjustment to the new
routines and expectations and enabled the staff to work out some of the
logistics.
Here are some additional tips to make the rest of September go as
smoothly as possible:
Absences
• Report absences to our administrative assistant, Mrs. Ward, at 604 946 0321.
If you leave a message, please record your child’s name, division/grade and
teacher’s name with a reason for absence. Anticipated absences can be reported
to the office by note ahead of time.
Illness
• Keep your child home if he/she has any of the symptoms on the COVID 19
checklist.
Lateness
• If your child is late, he/she needs to check in at the office and then walk
to class. This helps our secretary effectively carry out our safe arrival
system. An unexplained absence will generate a call home.
Entry
• Meet me at the outside entrance to pod B.
• Arrive on time for school 8.40 a.m. (first bell) and line up at the entrance
to pod B.
• Remember that the playground is unsupervised before 8:30 a.m. and it is
advisable for parents/families to stay with their children until the second
bell.
Dismissal
• Meet your child at the outside entrance to pod B.
• Arrive slightly before dismissal time
• Dismissal time is at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and
on Wednesdays at 1:45 p.m. for the whole school. (We recommend that you walk if
you live close to school to reduce congestion in the parking lot).
• Let your child know who is meeting him/her after school. Let me know if it is
a new person meeting your child.
• Meet your child at the main entrance should you be more than five minutes late
for pick up.
Bicycles
• Walk bicycles on the school grounds, and lock them at the bike rack if they
are being left at school. (The cloak room area cannot accommodate bikes or
scooters).
Our School Day
8:30 School office opens
8:40 Warning buzzer. Outside door will be opened
8:45 Class time begins
10:30 Recess
10:45 Class time resumes
12:10 Lunch time
12:57 Line up buzzer
1:02 Afternoon class time begins
1:45 Wednesday dismissal time
3:00 Dismissal time (Mon, Tues, Thurs. Fri)
Additional Supplies
Please label all school supplies with
your child’s name or initials. Duotangs and books need not be labelled. It would be
helpful to have all supplies by Monday.
Please send in runners for indoor shoes. Your child needs to be able to put
these shoes on independently, so please do not send in shoes with laces if your
child is still learning to do this task. These runners will be permanently kept
at school and will be worn inside the class and for gym. Each child has been
provided with a basket in our cloak room area in which to keep them.
Snack and lunch
Provide a non-spill drink container with water and a healthy snack and lunch in
a reusable container. (No yogurt tubes please). Send in food that your child
can eat independently. Please ensure that your child is able to open food
containers independently. (During September, unfinished food will, if
practical, be sent home so that you can see how much your child has eaten). Our
goal is to bring a litter-less snack and lunch. Please, do not send in any
nuts, or products containing nuts. Please
ensure you pack any necessary cutlery!
Some snack and lunch ideas
Pack a variety of things that your children have tried before and like. Involve
them in planning their choices for the week ahead whenever possible:
Snack suggestions
Fruit - slice up apples, oranges, plums, nectarines, peaches, watermelon,
cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, honey dew melon, pineapple, mango, (Toss fruit in ½
tsp. of bottled lemon juice to prevent the fruit going brown (apples, plums,
nectarines, peaches)
Whole fruits: blueberries, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, cherry
tomatoes, bananas, strawberries
Slice 3-4 different fruits and mix them into a fruit salad
Buy canned fruit for those busy mornings
Mix some dried fruit: raisins, chopped apple, dates, sultanas, papaya, mango,
apricot
Veggies and dip - baby carrots, chopped cucumber, peppers, celery sticks, broccoli,
and zucchini.
Crackers and real cheese, rice cakes, pita bread, dry cereal - add cream
cheese, honey, hummus etc.
Lunch Ideas
Bagels, sandwiches, sub rolls, pizza buns, cheese buns, pizza, tortilla wraps,
pita pockets, toast, English muffins, pasta salad, soup thickened with pasta.
Leftover dinners can be put into a small thermos.
Try some new sandwich fillings or put a new twist on old ones. Mix the fillings
the night before and make up the sandwiches in the morning.
Lunch and Snack Resources
Useful website for healthy eating ideas:
http://www.actnowbc.ca/healthy_living_tip_sheets/healthy_eating
Clothing
Please layer. Our weather is very unpredictable and our class will go outside
at recess and lunch, as well as sometimes for P.E. They will therefore
generally need a coat or jacket. Our classroom will get warm and so it is
advisable to wear a T-shirt below warm sweaters so that the sweater can be
removed. Clothing needs to be comfortable and something they can safely do P.E.
in as they will only change their shoes.
Send a change of clothes in a large Ziploc bag marked with your child’s name.
Send in something slightly too big.
Birthdays
I would like to establish an opportunity for sharing a special story book with
the class on your child’s birthday. On this day, one of your child’s favourite
story books may be sent to class and shared at story time. We will sing “Happy
Birthday” and create a page for the birthday child which will be made into a
keepsake book to take home. We will celebrate summer birthdays in June. Please
do not send in cupcakes or other food items.
Toys and Personal Objects
Due to the limitations on the usual play scenario children were accustomed to
in kindergarten, I would like you to send in a large Ziploc bag of
toys/activities which will at this time be used exclusively by your child and
will supplement the bag of toys provided in class. I would recommend that the
items and bag are sanitized at home at the end of the week before swopping it
with a new selection, if possible. When routines are established and sanitizing
can be accommodated, I hope to broaden their play options at school.
Planner
At this time, in lieu of a planner, I would prefer families to email me if
there is an appointment, for example, that needs to be brought to my attention.
Please note that I will check emails between 8:00 and 8:30am and probably will
not be able to respond until after 3:15pm should a response be needed.
Home Reading
Once we are more settled, we will start a home reading program. This will
involve your child borrowing 1-2 books from class each day and sharing it with
an adult or older sibling at home. More details will follow.
Let’s make the best of the things that we can do at this time!
Karen Hoskins
