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September 2018

Another school year is upon us and the staff at CPS is very

excited to be welcoming both students and parents to our

awesome school!

The primary years are crucial in the development of our

children and CPS is focused on providing your child(ren) with

a high-quality education, enriching programming, and a

caring school culture.

Cawston staff are committed to our school-wide inquiry focus

on fostering resiliency and positive choices through

understanding behaviour motivation. I look forward to joining

them on this journey and digging deeper into understanding

how we can better support learning and personal growth in

our building.

We’d like to welcome Mrs. R. Knight, our new school secretary,

Ms. M. Lewis, our new grade 2/3 teacher and Mrs. J.

Yamamoto who is a new Education Assistant. We are also

thrilled that Mrs. Lange is back!

Please visit our school website to review our School Plan,

Student Handbook, Code of Conduct & Year Calendar. You

can also find us on Facebook for regular updates and

announcements.

I look forward to another great year in this amazingly warm

and welcoming community!

Mrs. S. Miller

Upcoming Events

Sept. 7th – Pro-D Day – No

classes

Sept. 17th – First full day for all

KG students.

Sept. 18th – PAC Meeting

6:30pm

Sept. 26th - Early Dismissal for

Team Inquiry Time @ 12pm

Sept. 27th - Terry Fox Run 1pm

Welcome back BBQ 5-7pm

Sept 28th – Photo Day

Sept. 26th – District X/C Meet

Oct. 1st – Orange Shirt Day

Oct. 3rd – District Cross

Country Meet

Hot Lunch

Hot lunch starts on Tuesday,

Sept. 10th. Envelopes are

attached and need to be

returned by Thursday, Sept. 7th

You can also pay online @

cps.sd53.bc.ca

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Classes

Our class lists will be finalized on Thursday, September 6th.

Students will be starting in their 2018-19 class on Monday, Sept.

10th. Letters with class placement information will be sent home

on Thursday.

School Fees

The school fee of $40 is due no later than Sept. 21st and

includes all school supplies and communication folders. Please

contact the school if you require financial assistance. This can be paid by cash, cheque or online

at cps.sd53.bc.ca

Peanut Alleriges

Cawston Primary School is a peanut aware school. This means that we have students with severe or

life-threatening allergies. We encourage our school community to choose peanut free snacks and

lunch items and to wash their hands before and after eating. If your child is in a class with a student

who has a severe allergy, you will be notified with instructions about peanut free classrooms.

Forms

Please find attached to this newsletter a few

forms:

Parent Consent Form

Gives us permission to take and publish

pictures of your child, permission to send

emails from the school and from PAC,

permission for your child to participate in

field trips around Cawston which do not

involve a bus as well as a technology

agreement and awareness that lockers can

be searched.

Student Verification Form

This is all the personal information we have

for your child. Please update any

information that is not current.

Declaration of Indigenous Ancestry Form

This lets us know if your child should be

included in our Indigenous Cultural

Education and events.

These forms are very important for the safety and protection of your children and help us with programming and support. We appreciate you filling them in for us.

Supervision

Supervision begins each morning at 8:15. Please do not drop off your children or have them come to school before 8:15. Having unsupervised children on the playground is a safety concern for all of us. Also note, afternoon supervision concludes when the last bus leaves at 2:40.

Contact Information

During the year, please notify us at the office if you change your address, home/work/cell number or emergency contact. It is critical for us to have up-to-date information. In case of student absence, illness, injury or emergency we need to be able to contact you. Thanks!

8:40 – Sunshine Song Bell ☺

8:43 – Classes Start

10:10 – Recess Bell

10:25 – Classes Resume

12:05 – Lunch Bell

12:50 – Classes Resume

2:35 – Dismissal Bell

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Welcome Back BBQ Join us on Sept. 27th from 5-

7pm for our Welcome Back

BBQ! This is a great

opportunity to socialize with

other parents, meet teachers and visit your

child’s classroom.

School Day Our school office hours are 8:15 to 2:45. Please

let us know if your child is not going to be at

school. If you are picking up your child during

the school day, please inform the office and

your child’s teacher.

More Hot Lunch

Information

Our school meals program is available 5 days a

week! All food will be supplied by the SESS

Cafeteria Program. Mrs. Douangpanya will be

working with the staff at SESS to ensure that

students get an extremely well-balanced,

healthy and complete hot lunch.

If you need financial assistance for this

program, please contact Mrs. Miller at the

school.

We also have a ‘sponsor a lunch’ program.

Hot lunch for one student is approximately

$50-$70/month. You can sponsor a lunch for a

week, month or whole year! If you would be

interested in helping to support hot lunch at

CPS, please contact Mrs. Miller.

Breakfast continues to be available to any

student each morning. Please note, this is only

a bowl of cereal to tide students over. It is not

a full, complete breakfast and is not intended

to regularly replace a breakfast served at

home.

Terry Fox Run

Our annual Terry Fox Run

will take place on Thursday. Sept. 27th. We

will be collecting ‘Toonies for Terry’ all month

to support Terry’s dream of finding a cure for

cancer. Thanks for your support! If you

would be willing to volunteer, please

contact your child’s teacher or the office.

Medication and Illness If a student requires oral medication of any

kind, parents must submit to the office a

“Request to Administer Medication” form

(available at the office) signed by the doctor

and by the parent. Medication will be kept in

the office and may only be administered by

authorized school personnel. No medications

such as Tylenol or cold medication can be

distributed by the school and children should

not bring any medication to school.

PAC CORNER

Next Meeting: September 18th at 6pm

CPS PAC

All parents of Cawston School students are members of our Parents Advisory Committee (PAC). Mrs. Winser is our current PAC chair. Three PAC members are elected each year to serve on our School Planning Council. This group of parents works closely with the principal and staff to develop the annual School Plan. Please consider joining this very important group.

Don’t have time to attend all the meetings? No Problem! You can come out and sign up to be a ‘member at large’ and volunteer when you

you have the time!

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No Child without Program Parents are reminded that our school is

enrolled in the Canadian Medic

Alert Foundation’s No Child

Without program. If your child

has a medical condition or

allergy, they are eligible for free Medic Alert

services between the ages of four and

fourteen. For more information, contact the

school office or go to

www.nochildwithout.ca. If your child is

already enrolled in the program and there

have been changes in their medical

condition, medication or emergency

contact information, call Medic Alert at 1-

800-668-1507 to update your child’s file.

Transportation

Buses play a very important role in our school

community. We know this service is essential

for many of our students and both CPS staff

and bus drivers work hard to ensure the safety

of your children. Riding the school bus is a

privilege and improper conduct on the bus

could result in this privilege being denied. The

School District Transportation policy states

that buses cannot be used for courtesy rides:

that is, to transport children to play dates or

birthday parties. All five buses are at full

capacity and there is no room for any extra

passengers. Please inform your child’s

teacher if a child is to be picked up after

school. Please ensure you let the office know

when your child will not be on the bus – this

includes last minute pickups. Buses do not

leave the school until all students are present.

When we are unaware that a child has been

picked up, buses run late. If a child brings a

note to say their parents will pick them up

and if that parent is not here by the time their

bus leaves, the child will be put on the bus.

If you have questions about the bus schedule,

please contact Bev Leclerc @ 250498-3481

ext 130.

One to One Reading

One to one reading consists of working with

assigned students, 1 ½ hours a week for an

eight-week term. If you would be interested in

being a volunteer for our One to One

Reading program or for more information

please call the school.

Our StrongStart center opens on Wednesday,

September 5th. StrongStart is open from 8:43

to 11:45 each school day in our South

Portable. It is a free, drop-in center where

parents/caregivers and pre-schoolers come

to play and learn together. New registrations

are always welcome and we are looking

forward to seeing our StrongStart families from

last year. The September StrongStart

calendar is attached to this newsletter.

Roots of Empathy

ROE is an evidenced-based social-emotional

program that seeks to foster

empathy and compassion in

children and adults. This SD 53

district-wide anti-bullying initiative

invites interested individuals with

a 1-3 month old baby to

participate as a ROE family. The commitment is a

once a month visit to a designated classroom

assisted by a trained ROE facilitator. In this program

the baby is the "Teacher" which helps children

identify and reflect on their own feelings and the

feelings of others. The emotional literacy taught lays

the foundation for more safe and caring

classrooms, where children are the "Changers" and

become more compassionate and empathetic

towards others. Messages of social inclusion and

activities that are consensus building contribute to

positive communication and culture of caring that

changes the tone of the classroom. Visit

www.rootsofempathy.org to learn more about this

valuable program. If you are interested in

becoming a ROE family or training to become a

certified ROE Instructor- contact Marieze Tarr @ 498-

1333.

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Bouquets

Thanks to Mrs. Lamb and Mr. Lucich for running the Read & Rec and Rhyme & Rec

programs over the summer! Their work provides an amazing opportunity for our young

learners to enhance their learning.

Thanks to our amazing custodians for their hard work getting our school ready for the

new school year!

Thanks to Mrs. Knight for her time and effort getting this school year up and running

and off to an incredibly smooth start.

Cross Country Meet

On October 3rd, we will be hosting our district cross country meet here at CPS! Many

of our students will be participants. If you would like to help, please let your child’s

classroom teacher or Mrs. Miller know.

Okanagan Language Program

Cawston Primary offers an Okanagan Language program taught by our Indigenous Advocate,

Mrs. M. Ring. Students are exposed to both Okanagan language and culture and are pulled for

language classes twice a week for 50 minutes. The program is aimed at connecting our

Indigenous students to their language and culture but is also open to non-indigenous students if

space permits. If you are interested in having your child in this program, please contact the office.

SD 53 Inquiry Time

Our first Inquiry time session will begin Wed. Sept. 26th with student dismissal at 12:00pm

School District 53 schools are entering year three implementation of Team Inquiry model (TIM Time) where

Administrators, Teachers, and Support Staff will be engaged in inquiry time focused on developing best

practice, learning new ways to meet student needs, and increasing student success. Inquiry is different from

professional development or collaborative time as it focuses on a tough issue or question and the outcome

of this process is proven to enhance student learning. At our school, we will have early dismissal on the last

Wednesday once a month (September, October, November, January, February, April & May) so teachers

can meet for 2 hours of team inquiry time.

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Student Progress Reporting

This year, many schools and districts across the province will be using the new 4-Point Proficiency

Scale to communicate student progress in all areas of learning. The Proficiency scale will be used for

all CPS students and replaces letter grades at Grade 4 to allow us to better communicate a clearer

picture of the level of student understanding and performance.

Our teachers will continue to use RemindApp or email to communicate student progress to parents in

a consistent, timely manner.

CPS Reporting Plan for 2018-19:

• During the PAC Meeting on Tuesday, September 18th at 6:00pm, Mrs. Miller will share information

about continuous reporting and reporting of student achievement. We will be asking for parent input

and feedback as well.

• All teachers will be using RemindApp or email to report on all subjects, and posting information

consistently throughout the school year.

• A summative report (paper copy) will be provided to families at the end of the school year,

generated by MyEdBC (used by schools throughout the province).

• Newsletters will be used to encourage parents to check their RemindApp or email regularly.

• Parent Teacher Conferences/Student-Led Conferences will continue in October and March.

If parents have questions or require help with using RemindApp, please contact Mrs. Miller or your

child’s teacher.

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Coming up in September

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Coming Up in October

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September Lunch Menu

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CPS School Code of Conduct

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Parenting Corner

Being a parent is a tough job. In this section of our newsletter, we hope to share information that

makes it just a little easier☺.

Five tips for helping your child have a great school year

1. Be an informed parent

Open and frequent

communication with the school

ensures that parents are an

important part of the team. If

your children’s school offers an

open house or a meet the

teacher event, make a point of

attending. These kinds of events

give parents the opportunity to

learn more about the school,

the individual classrooms and

the staff and bridge valued

lines of communication

essential to best support your

child’s school experience.

2. You don’t need to wait for

parent-teacher conference

time to meet with your child’s

teacher

If you would like to share some

information about your child’s,

call the school and make an

appointment or jot a note to

your child’s teacher requesting

an appointment. Teachers are

happy to meet with parents,

appreciate the opportunity to

share information, and this

consistent communication is

key to putting kids first.

3. Know your school’s

education team

Your school’s educational team

is comprised of dynamic,

qualified, expertised

professionals who are

dedicated to helping every

child have a quality

educational experience.

Parents are a child’s first and

foremost teacher and a vital

component of every child’s

success. By staying in touch with

the school, parents are in a

proactive informed position

directly involved in helping their

children have a great year and

make the most of the

opportunities at hand.

Professional relationships

focused on putting kids first can

only enhance your child’s

educational experience.

4. Talk to your child about

school & limit screen time.

Your child is also a valuable

source of information. Show

your child that you are

interested in what he or she is

learning. Try not to ask close-

ended questions such as “Was

school enjoyable today? as you

will probably get a one or two

word answer. Instead, try

saying, “Tell me something you

learned today that you didn’t

know before.” Or “Tell me the

most exciting, interesting or

funny thing that happened at

school today.” You might be

surprised at what you learn!

Three and stars and one wish is

a strategy for helping children

reflect and goal set for the next

day. Ask them to share three

stars or highlights of their day

and one wish for something

they hope to achieve or

experience tomorrow. Screen

time includes time spent on

devices, computers, and

watching T.V. Setting up

healthy routines for activity,

screen time, outdoor play,

friends, etc. is important so that

your child is getting a variety of

social opportunities required to

develop social and problem

solving skills. Too much screen

time limits ones opportunity for

physical activity and human

connections which can directly

impact one’s health and well-

being.

5. Checkout the school website

The school’s website is another

good way to learn about your

child’s school. Often you will be

able to get information about

the school’s staff, schedules,

policy and procedure, supply

list and more. For instance,

many schools post their code of

conduct on the website. Take

the time to go over the code of

conduct with your child to

ensure that everyone knows

what is expected and be

reminded the best example is

our own modeling of

appropriate manners and

behaviours as positive

exemplars for socially

responsible, responsive, and

mindful citizens.

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Bedtime…One of the toughest routines to get back into – here is some info on how much

sleep our kids really need.

Adapted by J. Walinga (Mental Health Canada, 2014).