Superintendent’s Weekly Update: 04/15

Weekly Update. April 15, 2020

Dear Sunshine Coast families,

This is the week of beginning to roll out learning activities for our students to support the continuation of learning. Teachers are moving ahead slowly as they are fully aware that families have a wide range of opportunities and challenges to supporting their children’s learning at home. We deeply appreciate your patience as we develop and trial effective educational approaches for our students.

1. Safety and Wellness:
   1. School principals have developed strategies for the retrieval of learning materials and personal items from schools. In order to support everyone’s health, please carefully follow the directions that they provide including only one person coming to pick up the items for each family. Please contact your school principal if you have any questions about this process.
2. Essential Support Workers Child Care:
   1. The children of those Essential Services Workers who require child care have begun to be supported in Sechelt and Gibsons. Other essential workers’ children will take part in subsequent weeks as we refine the program. We are very fortunate to have dedicated Educational Assistants who will be supporting this program and our community.
3. Vulnerable Student Support:
   1. The school district is working with our community to ensure that our students have access to quality food. The Community Schools are wonderful partners to us and will be coordinating much of this effort.
   2. Our counselling and resource teachers are focused on supporting students with individual education plans and other vulnerabilities. These students and their families will be contacted as we refine those supports.
4. Continuation of Learning:
   1. Please review the SD46 Elementary Framework of Learning which outlines recommended priorities and timelines for our K to 7 students during the suspension of in school classes. This is a starting point for staff and families to work from. Each teacher will have their own way of supporting their students during this time and they will connect with you about the learning program.
   2. Families with no Internet access or families with challenging financial situations caused by COVID-19 circumstances may connect with the school principal for how to obtain an access code for $9.95 internet per month through Telus.
   3. The district website has digital learning and support links that we have reviewed and are appropriate for our students. This will be regularly updated. https://sd46.bc.ca/families-and-students/covid-19-sharing-information/
   4. The Ministry of Education has many more resources available as well: https://www.openschool.bc.ca/keeplearning/
   5. We will get better at this over the next weeks and we will move gently forward with you. Talk to us. We are in this together.
5. Communication:
   1. If you have questions or comments about your child’s learning, please contact your child’s teacher. If the matter is more school related, please connect with your child’s principal. If the matter is more related to the direction of the district, please email me. If you don’t know who to talk to, contact any of us. We are here to help. All contact information is available at www.sd46.bc.ca.

Tips to help your family’s well-being!

Guided Meditations and Mindfulness from BC Children’s Hospital – Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre

Mindfulness can be practiced in many different ways, and can be done at almost any time. Dr. Dzung Vo and Dr. Jake Locke from BC Children’s Hospital have recorded some of the mindfulness meditations that they use in the mindfulness groups they offer at BC Children’s Hospital. Feel free to download these recordings and listen to them from your computer or mobile device.

https://keltymentalhealth.ca/collection/guided-mindfulness-meditations

All of us at School District 46 wish you well as you stay home to take care of your family and your community.

Sincerely,

Patrick

Patrick Bocking  

Superintendent of Schools