To Byng families/Guardians, 

We have had a great start to the new year and it has been so wonderful to meet all your children.  They are happy to be back with their friends and with their teachers.

I want to assure you that we are all doing our best to make school feel welcoming for our students during these times when many of our routines and expectations may not be typical of a regular school experience. 

I would like to express my thanks and appreciation for the work being done by staff.  They continue to ensure that all the current health and safety protocols are in place and are pleased to prepare a warm welcome back for students. They have done a fantastic job helping to create a supportive and fun environment for students.   

We continue to ask for your support in the following ways: 

• Complete the Mandatory Daily Health check every morning  https://www.k12dailycheck.gov.bc.ca/healthcheck?execution=e1s1  If your child is not feeling well, they need to stay home. Inform the school that your child will be staying home because they are ill. If possible or appropriate for your situation it would be helpful if you could indicate the nature of the illness (for example, chicken pox or COVID). 

• Please come dressed for the weather.  All school days will include a portion of the school day outside.  Having proper weather clothing and a change of clothes is essential for our students to be comfortable throughout the school day. 

Learning Materials – Is your child away from school? 

Teachers are working very hard to create a rich and rewarding experience for students in class.  Teachers are also working under the enhanced health and safety guidelines to ensure we have procedures in place to provide a learning environment that helps prevent sickness from spreading in school.   

With our Mandatory Daily Health check and some families feeling anxious about sending their child(ren) back to school, it is no surprise that we are currently experiencing more student absences than what we might normally expect.    

Please use the following tips to help your child’s education if they are at home.  Please do not ask the teacher to send home learning materials to be completed.   

• Our priority is for your child to feel better.  No schoolwork is expected if a child is not feeling well. 

• READ.  When feeling better, the best way to get back into learning is to read.  Hopefully your child has a book or series of books that they love to read for enjoyment.  If parents have the time, take a few minutes to read to your child and ask your child about any connections they can make between their own life and the story they are reading. 

• Keep a journal or draw. The best way to get better at writing is to write!  Choose a favourite activity and ask your child to write about why it is their favourite. Teachers will enjoy reading any journal entries when your child returns to school. 

• If your child is working with an e-portfolio, have them log in and check the assignments folder to see if any assignments have been posted – if it is essential, it will be posted there.  For those classes not using e-portfolios, any essential work that must be completed will be emailed. 

Our main priority for children who are away due to illness is to have them return to school when they are healthy.  Hopefully any absence will not be longer than a week’s time and teachers will help them with their learning upon their return.  

Ultimately, if you wish to keep your children at home for reasons other than illness that is your decision as parents.  The school, however, will not be able to provide remote instruction or instructional materials during that time as teachers will be focused on providing in-person instruction as well as preparing for the eventuality of moving to virtual learning should it be required in the future. We are simply not staffed to be able to provide remote instruction while schools are open for in-person learning. 

A message from our Librarian...

Hello and Happy New Year!

I'm happy to say that I still get to welcome the students back into the library for their allotted library time! While some things may be a little bit different in the weeks to come (spaced out seating/line ups, pause on using shared materials etc.), I'm thrilled that the students are still able to check books out of the library.  Unfortunately, in the event that I'm either away or reallocated, your students library block has the potential to be cancelled for the day/week. Should this occur, don't fret - there's always next week!  I sincerely hope this New Year brings you all happiness, health and reading, too!

Mrs. Markusoff

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Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Ms Schulz