Signal Hill Circular - March 4th, 2022

March 4th, 2022
Dear Signal Hill Families,

Art by Aubrey Power
An action packed week here at Signal Hill as we continue to move towards Spring Break. We co-hosted a basketball tournament with Pemberton Secondary School and our boys and girls teams had fun competing against teams from Whistler! We are proud of our athletes spirit and effort! They had a lot of fun. Go Signal Hill!!
We have recently received a supply of Rapid Antigen Tests that will be available for students. We will have them available for pick-up next week, March 7th – 11th. If you would like to receive a Rapid Antigen Test kit for your child, we ask that you pick the kit up from your child’s teacher during drop-off (8:40 – 8:45 am) and pick-up times (3:02 – 3:15 pm). The teachers will be unable to distribute the tests during instructional time. The tests will remain with the teachers until Spring Break. If you are unable to pick up your child’s test prior to Spring Break, we will then have it ready for pick-up in the office.
Please contact your child’s teacher to make alternate arrangements for pick-up. Due to safety concerns, we are unable to send the testing kits home with the students.
We ask that you please take the time to read this letter. We also ask that you see the BCCDC’s Rapid Testing At Home web page before you administer a test at home.
Next week, some of our students will be participating in two student surveys. Please check your email for more information from our principal, Ms. Brynjolfson regarding the surveys.
The resources below provide tips for teachers and parents that we hope are helpful for our students and families to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.
How to Talk to Kids About Violence, Crime, and War: Common Sense Media gathers tips and conversation starters to help you talk to kids of different ages about the toughest topics.
Resilience in a time of war: Tips for parents and teachers of elementary school children: This article from the American Psychological Association can help adults guide their young children beyond fear and to resilience.
Resilience in a time of war: Tips for parents and teachers of middle school children: The American Psychological Association breaks out tips and strategies for parents and teachers of middle school-aged children.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network provides resources that can be filtered by topic or keyword and by audience with a focus on how adults can identify traumatic responses in young people and how to support them.
News, Updates, and Reminders:
SUPPORT THE JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Signal Hill's EarlyAct Club is doing a toonie drive the week of March 7-11. This is to raise awareness for Juvenile Diabetes and to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.ca). Every child who brings in a toonie by Thursday March 10th will have their name entered into a draw for a basket of home-made treats. The draw for the basket will be on Friday March 11th at 2.30pm.
There will also be a jar at the Pemberton Valley Supermarket for anyone interested in making more donations, but will not be part of the draw at school.
Purdy's Chocolate Grade 7 Fundraiser

Deadline to order online is March 21.
Pick-up will be early April at the school
Direct link to our fundraiser: https://fundraising.purdys.com/394108-94234
Catalogue: https://em.purdys.com/gnf/easter2022/2022_Easter_Catalogue_Fundraising.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3MibZbUGgBXkSGou8dqek0diuFEALac11bQ6WMG6VRIxXUZbHxLeKXdE0
Pick-up will be early April at the school
Direct link to our fundraiser: https://fundraising.purdys.com/394108-94234
Catalogue: https://em.purdys.com/gnf/easter2022/2022_Easter_Catalogue_Fundraising.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3MibZbUGgBXkSGou8dqek0diuFEALac11bQ6WMG6VRIxXUZbHxLeKXdE0
PAC Staff Appreciation Luncheon
The SHE PAC is organizing a luncheon for the Signal Hill Elementary School staff to let them know how amazing they are! Please contact Sandra, Chair of the SHE PAC to let her know what you're bringing to avoid doubles. No nuts please. Please drop off food donations at 11:30 am on Tuesday. On Behalf of the SHE PAC thank you for you kindness!
Kindergarten Registration for 2022-23
Kindergarten (children born in 2017) registration continues. Please come to the school to pick up forms and register your children. We also need their birth certificate or passport and their care card to register.
Planning for 2022-23 School Year
Are you planning to move to another school for the next school year? Is your child planning to leave the French Immersion program? Do you plan to enroll another child that’s not in kindergarten? Please inform our office so we can plan for our next school year.
Basketball
Practices have started! The practice schedule is as follows:
Mondays – Gr 4-7 Girls Team 3-5 pm
Tuesdays – Gr 4-5 Boys Team 3-5 pm
Thursdays – Gr 6-7 Boys Team 3-5 pm
If you are picking up your child, please wait outside at the front doors, do NOT enter the school.
If any parents have questions, please email Ms. Montie. Her email is [email protected]
Important Dates for Next Week:
Tuesday, March 8th - SHE PAC staff luncheon
Wednesday, March 9th - early dismissal at Pemberton Secondary School. Therefore the school buses will be arriving 15 minutes early for Signal Hill students.
Friday, March 11th - Beach Day – Don’t forget to wear your beach clothes!!!
Monday, March 14th to Friday, March 25th - SPRING BREAK!!
Monday March 28th - First Day Back to School
What Parents and Students Need to Know
Illness Reporting
As you are aware, Provincial Health will be considering student attendance information over the next couple of weeks. To support this, districts have been asked to establish baseline data for monitoring student illnesses.
Therefore, schools are being asked to specify in their daily attendance, absences due to illness. While the type of illness is not to be specified, it provides a comparison between students being absent due to illness versus a number of other reasons (vacation, field trips, medical appointments, athletics, injuries, etc.).
In an effort to best monitor student attendance information, we are asking parents to please specify if their child(ren)’s absence is due to illness. Again, it is not necessary to specify the illness.
We thank you for your continued support in helping us maintain accurate student information.
Truth and Reconciliation
Some examples of our continuing journey from this week includes:
Students in Ms. Montie's class participating in our Ucwalmícwts language class:

Learning Connections
Students in Ms. Siblock's class have been learning about chemical reactions and geological reactions like volcanoes!

Students in Mme Treadway and Mme Smith's class creating models of the solar system:


Skícza7ul's Words of the Week
amamíntsinlhkan - I like you.
(Phonetic - Amameencheenthlkan)
(Phonetic - Amameencheenthlkan)

French Word of the Week
ensemble - together

Parent Advisory Committee
Health and Safety
Updated Signal Hill Communicable Disease Plan
Staff, parents and students are regularly reminded of their responsibilities to complete a Daily Health Check and are provided with resources on how to complete one (e.g., the K-12 Health Check app)
RRT-Case Management and School Notifications, Ventilation, Masks: The RRT has developed the following FAQs to help support consistent messaging on the topics of:
· Case management and school notifications
Illness Reporting
As you are aware, Provincial Health will be considering student attendance information over the next couple of weeks. To support this, districts have been asked to establish baseline data for monitoring student illnesses.
Therefore, schools are being asked to specify in their daily attendance, absences due to illness. While the type of illness is not to be specified, it provides a comparison between students being absent due to illness versus a number of other reasons (vacation, field trips, medical appointments, athletics, injuries, etc.).
In an effort to best monitor student attendance information, we are asking parents to please specify if their child(ren)’s absence is due to illness. Again, it is not necessary to specify the illness.
We thank you for your continued support in helping us maintain accurate student information.