TURN OFF THE SCREEN WEEK IS COMING.

It is a good idea to make some plans for all the great activities that you and your children can do instead of video games, tv etc.

DO YOU ASK YOUR CHILD IF YOU CAN POST HIS/HER PICTURE ON THE INTERNET?

I was interested to listen to a recent program on the CBC concerning quite young  children who feel uncomfortable that a parent is posting their pictures on the Internet. It occurred to me that it is disrespectful to post a person’s picture without their permission. At school I usually check with children, staff or parents that they are comfortable with me putting their picture on the blog. This is in addition to checking the media consent form signed by the parents. However, I know that most proud parents including my own children, post their own child’s photographs on Facebook or other social media. I am planning to discuss this with my grandchildren as well as my children.

One of our teachers shared with me that she never posts her child’s picture because she believes that it will be up to the child to create her own on-line identity when she is ready. It seems to me that this is part of modeling respectful use of the Internet. This is one of those technology created problems that I hadn’t really thought about before, and that there are no hard and fast rules about what a parent should do with respect to their children’s pictures. However, it can never hurt to model respectful use of the Internet so that hopefully our children will learn that it is not OK to post other people’s pictures without their permission.

Global Citizenship Club Bake Sale was a big success.

Thank you to all the parents and students who baked and helped sell so many delicious items.  The Global Citizenship Club raised over $675.00!  The funds will go help promote improvements in healthcare in Ecuador.

INFORMATION RELEVANT FOR GRADE 7 STUDENTS AND THE TRANSITION TO HIGH SCHOOL

Vancouver School Board Cross Boundary Policy: ( Adopted March 3, 2003; Revision Date Oct. 2014)

http://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-policy/jecc-student-admission-and-school-choice

http://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-policy/jecc-r-student-admission-and-school-choice-regulation-0

1. What remains the same in terms of school practice/policy regarding schools’ acceptance of cross boundary application of students?
   1. A student’s application for cross boundary will be considered according to the factors outlined in the VSB cross boundary policy sections titled: Determination of Available Space and Enrolment Priorities ( see policy link above)
   2. Acceptance of cross boundary applications has never been guaranteed
   3. Enrollment Priorities for Cross Boundary applicants (see the policy link above, Section 6. Cross Boundary Application and Enrollment Process – Group 2 Students Table.)
2. What has changed in terms of school practice/policy regarding schools’ acceptance of cross boundary application of students?
   a.  Section 6. 1 Tie- Breaking: Where there is insufficient available space to accommodate all cross boundary applicants at the requested school, a draw process will be used to determine which applicants will be offered enrolment

(In previous years in the case of insufficient available space to accommodate all cross boundary applicants at the requested school, the cross boundary applications were accepted based on the date and time that the application was submitted to the receiving school.

b. The window of time in which families can submit a cross boundary application has been extended from two weeks to include the month of February.

Upcoming Events:

Jan 26 to 30 – Turn off the Screen Week

Jan 27 – Family Literacy Day, Camp Read

Feb 6 – Montesori Infomation (Grade 1 – 7 focus) 9:15 am

Feb 19 – Professional Development Day.  No School for Students