Principal’s Message

Dear Maple Grove Families,

As we head into this weekend many of the staff will be staring thoughtfully at their computer screens thinking of their students and writing report cards that, hopefully, reflect your child’s school experience at Maple Grove.  This was a busy first Term.  This is just a heads up for parents so you’ll know what to expect over the coming weeks.

The Province of BC, Ministry of Education (MoE) requires that parents receive three formal written reports (roughly December, March and June) which follow the requirements set out in provincial legislation.  This rule applies to all elementary and secondary school programs in BC.  There will also be at least two informal reports through meetings (these take the form of Goal Setting Conferences (occurred in Oct) and Student-Led Conferences (scheduled for March 8+9).

Written reports include a description of the student’s academic progress and a description of the student’s behaviour, including information on attitudes, work habits, effort and social responsibility. According to the expected learning outcomes of each curriculum, reports must clearly describe: (a) what the student is able to do, (b) the areas in which the student requires further attention or development, and (c) ways of supporting the student in his/her learning.  Parents occasionally request additional letters or certificates about their child’s schooling, but in British Columbia report cards are the official record.  Report cards are not issued according to our annual calendar, if students are absent when report cards are issued the reports will be available when the child returns to school.  The MoE and the Vancouver School Board (VSB) set the frequency of reporting for different subjects.  Not all subjects are reported each term.  This is standard practice throughout the province.

English Second Language Learners, Special Needs students and other students who receive additional learning support and curriculum adjustment who meet the prescribed curriculum learning outcomes will receive regular letter grades. When it is determined that a student is not capable of achieving the learning outcomes or when substantial curriculum modification is necessary the use of letter grades and percentages for reporting is not appropriate, Individual and Group Education Plans (IEP’s) as well as VSB ESL Reports will be used to describe the program and progress for these students.  Furthermore, a student may receive and asterisk as a mark for the term where one would normally expect to see a letter grade.

I hope this is helpful information.  I will be adding more information in the coming blogs.

 

Holiday Hampers

The collection period goes on until December 8th.  The best items to contribute are non-perishable foods, toiletries, treats and small gifts.  Our twelve families are mostly single parent families, with a total of 10 girls, aged 4 to 12  and four boys, aged 8 to 12.  We are also hoping to collect $2.00 from each Maple Grove student to go towards the purchase of a grocery store gift certificate for each family.

Please be sure to check the expiry date of the food item before donating, and make sure your items have not been opened.  Thank you Maple Grove families!   The twelve families will have a much happier holiday season because of your generosity.

 

Pajama Day 2015 – We were all nice and cozy on a cold day

Holiday Concert – December 17th

Watch for your invitation to the Holiday Concert.  There will be two performances – 1:15 Matinee and 6:30 Evening.  Each Family is guaranteed two tickets.  The tickets are $5.00 each.  You must have a ticket to attend either performance.  The deadline to get your ticket order in is December 4th.  We’ll be selling any extra tickets from the office starting December 11th.

Upcoming Events

December 9th -Christmas Craft Day for Primary Students
December 4th – Deadline to order tickets to the Winter Concert
December 8th – Last day to contribute to the Holiday Hamper fund.
December 11th – Any extra tickets for the Winter Concert will be available for purchase from the office
December 16th – PAC Meeting
December 17th – Raffle (PAC)
December 17th – 1:15pm and 6:30 pm Winter Concert
December 18th – Reports Go Home
December 21st to January 1st – Winter Holiday
January 4th – School Reopens

March 4th and April 15 – see translated letter below regarding two new professional development days for 2015 – 2016

Curriculum Implementation Professional Development Days

This letter was sent home to parents in last week’s blog.  At that time, we only had an English version.  We have subsequently received a translation in Traditional Chinese (繁體中文):  We have included both for your reference.

致貴家長:

多年來,卑斯省教育廳、學校管理層及教師協力設定一個新的幼稚園至十二年級綜合課程。 時至現在, 幼稚園至九年級新的課程正在省內試行, 而十至十二年級的新課程將會在2016年9月可供試行。 本年初秋, 教育廳及卑斯省教師聯會 (BCTF) 宣佈一份支持長遠推行新課程的計劃, 其中要求各學區在2015-2016 學年內增設兩天的課程推行準備時間, 讓老師們更熟悉新課程及計劃來年的全面執行。

在溫哥華,這兩天的日期如下:

三月四日（星期五） 及 四月十五日（星期五）  

這兩天學生不用上課

我們很高興在新課程的轉接期間, 老師有額外時間致力在這重要工作上, 以求為貴子女提供更好的教育。

如有任何問題,請聯絡你們的校長。

Simplified Chinese (简体中文)：

致贵家长：

多年来，卑斯省教育厅、学校管理层及教师协力设定一个新的幼儿班至十二年级综合课程。现在幼儿班至九年级新的课程正在省内试行，而十至十二年级的新课程将会在2016年9月试行。本年初秋，教育厅及卑斯省教师联会（BCTF）宣布一份支持长远推行新课程的计划，其中要求各学区在2015-2016 学年内增设两天的课程推行准备时间，让老师更熟悉新课程及计划来年的全面执行。

在温哥华，这两天的日期如下：

三月四日（星期五） 和 四月十五日（星期五）

这两天学生不用上课

我们很高兴在新课程的转接期间，老师有额外时间致力在这重要工作上，以求为孩子提供更好的教育。

如有任何问题，请联系你们的校长。

For Parents,

As you may know, a new comprehensive curriculum for the K-12 system is being developed in BC. This work has been years in the making with teachers, administrators and the Ministry of Education involved in its development. At the present time, the curriculum for students in Grades K-9 is being piloted throughout the province. New curriculum for students in Grades 10-12 will be available for piloting in September 2016.

Earlier this fall the Ministry of Education and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) announced a plan to support the ongoing implementation of the new curriculum. As part of this plan, districts have been asked to add two days of curriculum implementation time during the 2015-2016 school year. This time will be provided for teachers to continue to familiarize themselves with the new curriculum and to plan for its full implementation in the coming years.

In Vancouver, the following two days have been selected as our local non-instructional days for curriculum implementation:

Friday, March 4 and Friday April 15

Schools will not be in session for students on these two days.

We are pleased that teachers have been given this additional time to spend on this important work to serve your children better as we transition to the new curriculum.

Please contact your principal if you have any questions.