September 10, 2021
Principal’s Message ~ Sept 10th
Dear Queen Elizabeth Elementary School Community,
We made it through our first week! Staff are very excited for the year ahead and we welcome again our new and returning families for the 2021-22 school year. Classes have been finalized and students are settling in to their new classrooms and routines very well. Our school grounds have changed considerably over the summer, with the portables now relocated to make way for our new school expansion project. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2022, and while the project will take time, it is exciting to “see” the changes begin and the prospect of our entire QE family being under one roof in 2023! As we head into our second week please read the following information and reminders carefully.
Health Check – Students and visitors to our school still require a daily health check before arrival. Any person that is accessing the school grounds – caregiver or student – needs to ensure that they are not exhibiting any symptoms of illness before doing so. If a child presents symptoms at school, we will contact parents immediately. While we will work through situations with you where your child may be symptomatic for reasons related to allergies or another condition, we will expect that the child be picked up and go home until they are symptom free or we can determine the symptoms are not a cause for concern.
You will find the most recent Health Check Information here.
Mask Use by Students – Masks are required indoors for all Staff, Visitors and Students Grade 4 and up. We have a limited supply on hand should your child lose or misplace theirs, but we ask that you provide them one daily. We strongly encourage all students, including our K-3 students, to wear a mask indoors if they are able.
Drop off and Pick up – We have further modified are lineup locations from last year to help maximize the space available for staff, students and families. We encourage parents to wear masks outdoors at these more congested times, and feel it sets a good example for our children to follow and makes us all feel more comfortable. We feel drop off and pick up has gone very smoothly and appreciate your continued support here. There is always room for improvement, and we ask that you please make the daily effort to ensure you are respectfully distanced from other family groupings, and our student lineups at these busy times. Students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 will be released directly to you from their lineups, we ask that you keep your distance from the line up as we ensure your child sees, and is connected to you.
Lunches and Water bottles – Thank you for ensuring your child has a filled water bottle and a packed lunch with them each day when they arrive and not dropping off food or other items at other times throughout the day. Understandably a lunch may be forgotten from time to time and we are able to support that with a variety of food items available in the office. Supervisors will note if a child does not have a lunch or the child may communicate it to teachers/supervisors as well and we will follow up.
Recess and Lunch – Our split recess and lunch breaks have gone very well and will continue this year. Our student population is divided in half and our youngest students remain in their own specific play areas where they are supervised for the duration of the break. While one half of the school plays, the other half remains in their classrooms eating, maximizing the available play space for everyone.
Reporting an Absence – Please ensure when you are reporting an absence for your child that you phone the office BEFORE 9:00 AM at 604 517 6080. When we have an unreported absence, we need to contact you to confirm the absence and ensure your child’s safety. This can be a time consuming task for the office staff, and can be avoided by reporting your absence before school starts. It is important that even though you may have communicated the absence directly to your child’s teacher, that you inform the office as well. Your support and diligence here is greatly appreciated.
School Cash Online – Please ensure you have a school cash online account set up and ready. We use this account to process all payments to the school for planners, field trips, graduation hoodies, etc. Perhaps more importantly we use this system to complete school permissions for technology use, walking field trips and media and photo use. Your child will not be able to participate in these activities until these permissions are completed. You will find the School Cash Online Account Setup Instructions here if you need help setting up this account.
Nut safe School
A reminder our school is a nut safe school. We have many students that have serious allergies to nuts and we ask that you please do not provide lunch or snack items that contain nuts, including Nutella.
Verification Sheets
Every year at this time we send home Student Verification sheets for families to update contact information for our records. Having up to date contact information is very important. Please watch for these coming home with your child, check your contact information carefully to make necessary changes or additions and return them as soon as possible.
Important Dates in September:
Staff Collaboration Day – A reminder that Tuesday, September 21st is an Early Dismissal Day. Students are dismissed at 12:24 PM.
Individual Picture Day – Individual Student Photo Day, Thursday, September 23rd. In the past we have had families bring children that are ill to picture day as they are concerned they will miss the photos – please keep your children home if ill, you will have a second opportunity on picture retake day on Monday, November 1st.
Staff Professional Day – A reminder that on Monday, September 27th we have a Professional Development Day and school will not be in session.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – Thursday, September 30th schools in British Columbia will be closed to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Here is an updated copy of our 2021-22 School Calendar
Traffic – I want to thank families again for your ongoing efforts to make the streets surrounding our school safer. It has definitely improved, although every new school year we tend to see a return of some of our old habits. Please be reminded that there is a clearly posted NO STOPPING zone at the junction of Carter and Salter Street. This is our most challenging area, as the road narrows here and any vehicles parked in the no stopping zone impedes two-way traffic. This results in delays and unsafe conditions for drivers and pedestrians alike. Drop off parking is limited in front of the school, and this is purposeful. We don’t want more cars in front of the school, and we ask that you leave early, park further away on Salter or other side Streets and walk the short distance to your class lineups each day.
South Side Salter Street Drop Offs – this is a serious concern to drop off your child and have them cross Salter independently. Salter is busy at these times and this practice is very dangerous. Please do not drop your child off this way. There are very clearly marked NO STOPPING ZONES along the South Side of Salter – please observe them carefully.
U-turns – Please do not perform U –turns on Salter. It causes delays and is not necessary. Take the extra time to drive down a side street and turn properly.
School Roundabout and Staff Parking Lot – Parents are welcome to use the roundabout and drop off older students on the curb side, but we ask that you do not park in the staff lot at drop off and pick up times unless using the handicapped zone. At times there may be available spots, but they are needed for our staff and the act of backing out of spots at these busy times interrupts the flow of traffic through the roundabout.
30 km/h School Zone markings have been recently added to the streets around our school. They serve as a visual reminder to slow down, particularly on Salter as it is a busy pedestrian area at drop off (8:50 AM) and pick up (3:00 PM).
Thank you again for the successful start to another school year. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
I can be reached directly at pmanville@sd40.bc.ca
Thank you
P. Manville
Principal