Weekly Update. April 22, 2020
Dear Sunshine Coast families,
We know that many of our families continue to struggle financially, emotionally and socially. While we continue to provide a continuity of education structure for our students, we recognize that this is difficult for many to follow. Please continue to speak, email or otherwise communicate with your children’s teacher or principal about how they can help to support your children.
Principals have been busy scheduling opportunities for students and parents to pick up learning resources and personal items from schools over the last week. There is much talk about the warmth of the connections, safely apart, as the process unfolds. School staffs and school families deserve a huge virtual hug of thanks for the cheerfully cooperative manner that everyone is approaching this challenge.
Here are some updates for this week:
Safety and Wellness:
- Our wonderful custodial staff are making sure that our very clean schools are also carefully sanitized after any use. Many of our staff continue to work from home as they support our students and school and district operations.
Essential Support Workers Child Care:
- Our front-line medical and emergency services workers may need help with their children when they are at work. We have begun to broaden beyond health care workers to welcome the children of other essential service workers.
Vulnerable Student Support:
- Community schools are providing food to a significant number of families who are struggling to make ends meet at this time. As a district we are working with the Community School Associations and joining with other community groups to ensure that Sunshine Coast families do not go hungry during this pandemic.
- We are finalizing plans to welcome some vulnerable students to our schools for academic and other supports. This will be a gradual process as we identify needs and ways we can support them.
Continuation of Learning:
- We will continue to work with students and families on priority learning areas. Talk to us as we go along. We are all in different places in this process and that is absolutely okay.
- Gibsons Public Library: You can get a library card online and get FREE access to e-books, audio-books and databases such as Mango, Ancestry, GALE Courses and EBSCO (for accurate research sources). We will be bringing you Kanopy soon which offers juried films, learning resources, the Great Courses and more. Check out the library at https://gibsons.bc.libraries.coop/, or call (604) 389-2007.
Communication:
- 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.
Questions and Answers:
When will in-school classes return?
- School districts follow the direction of the Provincial Medical Officer of Health. When she believes that the safety of British Columbians is best served by students returning to schools she will direct us accordingly. There is not a question of whether our students will return to school, but when and how. The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.
How about graduation ceremonies for our grade 12’s?
- Graduation exercises are unlikely to take place in a manner that we have come to expect. A lot of school level discussion needs to take place as we try to imagine what we will be working with at the end of June. Our students are being supported extensively by our secondary school staff for their academic and career planning objectives but we are keenly aware that the current crisis is not at all how our graduates pictured the end of their last year in school. We will support them in their celebrations as best we can. This is very important to our students.
Have a question? Please email it to questions@sd46.bc.ca
Tips to help your family’s well-being
Eat Healthily!
Eating properly can help us to feel better in times of stress and all of the time.
Involving kids in planning and preparing meals teaches them food skills and the importance of healthy eating. The whole family can have a part to play in meal preparation.
Please see the following for some great ideas to eat well.
Canadian Food Guide: Tips for Eating Healthy
Involve Kids in Planning and Preparing Meals
All of us at School District 46 wish you well as you take care of your family and your community.
Sincerely,
Patrick