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Gator News

5490 Eglinton Street

Burnaby BC V5G 2B2 February 2016

http://gilpin.sd41.bc.ca

PRINCIPAL: MR. BLAKE BRISCOE PAC Co-CHAIR: HEELAH TAII & GILL BASSETT

HEAD TEACHER: MR. JEEVAN DOSANJH PAC SECRETARY: ALISON DRUMMOND

SECRETARY: MRS. JUDY POATO PAC TREASURER: ED SIT

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Mission Statement: Gilpin School strives to promote an awareness of self and others and an appreciation of individual differences within a supportive and purposeful environment. Opportunities are provided through varied learning experiences for students to develop a love for learning and to be independent thinkers. We believe in nurturing a positive attitude in students which will further their intellectual, social, emotional and physical growth. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Gilpin Community,

Time is flying and we're almost at the halfway mark for the school year!

Coming up for the Gilpin community is the move to online ordering for all hot lunch orders. After

spring break, we will be using the School Cash Online system to order our lunches. As Gilpin al-

ready has an excellent adoption rate of using this system, the transition to ordering lunches online

should be straightforward. Watch your email for more information on this.

Looking (way) ahead, we have several PAC events to look forward to:

April 8th - The Evening of Indulgence

May 6th - Plant Sale

May 27th - Multicultural Dinner

April 16th - Family Photo Day

Lastly, when the email systems were not working in December , we were reminded that technology

is not fool-proof! To keep you all up-to-date on Gilpin PAC news and community news, we will

be updating the bulletin board by the gym. There you can find notices, copies of minutes and infor-

mation about upcoming events.

To be even more "in-the-know", come to our next PAC meeting scheduled for 7 pm on Tuesday,

February 16th.

Thanks!

Gill and Heelah

PAC Co-Chairs

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Upcoming Events in February

Date Time Event

Feb 5 2:00 pm Early Dismissal

Feb 8 Family day-No School

Feb 19 Pro-D Day-No School

Feb 23 Boys’ Basketball-Recreational Play Day

Feb 24 Pink Shirt Day-Wear Pink !

Feb 25 Girls’ Basketball-Recreational Play day

Feb 29 2:00 pm C.O.L.A.

Next Celebration of Learning

( C.O.L.A. )

February 29, 2016

Time: 2:00 PM

Basketball schedules:

Girls: Coaches:

Jeevan Dosanjh

Joanne Heslop

Raffi Mahseredjian

Practices :Tuesday /Friday

8:00 am

Games on Thursdays

Boys: Coaches:

Shawna Kenny-Clark

Blake Briscoe

Practice: Mondays @ lunch

Thursday 8:00 am

Games on Tuesdays

FAMILY PHOTO DAY

Saturday, April 16, 2016

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We acknowledge and thank the Coast Salish Nations of

Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish

on whose traditional territories we teach, learn and live.

Our canoe is finished. It is smooth and gleaming and has 2 seats and a paddle. It is ready to launch! Our journey began with a desire to understand the meaning of the Traditional Territories Ac-knowledgment spoken in assemblies and meetings. We were guided and led in our learning by the artist Aaron Nelson- Moody (aka Splash) and Tracy Healey and Ditta Cross, the Burnaby Aboriginal teachers. On Wednesday 27

th January, Gilpin held a ceremony to say goodbye to

them. In each classroom and in the gym, children and adults gathered. Everyone was given a chance to speak their name and share their memories of the learning journey we had travelled with our canoe. Children spoke of learning patience. Of learning about the lives of the Ko-Salish nations. Of drawing thunderbirds and salmon. Of remembering stories from another culture and of the spicy smell of cedar in the air. Teachers spoke of friendship. And of the amazing body of knowledge gained from working with Splash, Tracy and Ditta. They spoke of a profounder understanding of the connections between people and the rich, natural landscape of our coast. Parents and Grandparents spoke of their new insights into Canadian culture and of their delight at being taught by their children. Students felt the significance of being given a voice to express their identity and their ideas. They learned how to be in a community ceremony and proudly gave their gifts of art and writing to thank Splash, Tracy and Ditta for their time in our school. We heard children confidently read the Traditional Territories Acknowledgement in their classrooms and knew that their minds and hearts were alive with new images and understandings of the shared world in which we live. McGill Library has exhibited a beautiful, complex mural created by our Grade 4 class entitled The Northwest Coast from Time Immemorial. It is inspiring to see how the children interpreted the knowledge they had gained and watch the ripples of their learning journey move outward into our broader community. In the Fall we gathered together on a warm day to thank the earth and the elders from Splash’s village in Squamish for the gift of our ancient, cedar log. We bushed the log with cedar boughs, offered it our best selves and Splash promised to make a woman’s canoe for our school. In the winter we gathered together again. Again we brushed the wood with boughs of cedar and this time we made the promise. We took ownership of the canoe from Splash and promised to take care of it and to remember our journey of learning. Huy chexw, Splash. Gill Bassett PAC co-chair

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Next PAC Meeting:

February 16, 2016

7:00 pm

Hot Lunches

Gilpin Fundraisers

Please remember that every time you go to Boston Pizza Brentwood on Lougheed Hwy and you tell them that you're part of Gilpin, 10% of our pre-tax bill will go towards Gilpin!

Please ensure that your lunch forms are submitted by the deadlines. The deadlines are there as we need to provide the orders to our suppliers 5-7 days before the lunch. Summarizing all the orders takes time and we need to ensure that our parent volun-teers who run the lunches have some lead time.

Lunch Date Lunch Provider Deadline for Ordering

Feb 3 Subway Jan 25

Feb 10 Sushi Feb 1

Feb 17 Domino’s Pizza Feb 9(

Feb 24 Boston Pizza Feb 15

Mar 2 Subway Feb 22

Mar 9 Sushi Feb 29

Mar 30 Domino’s Pizza Mar 9

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Pro-D Days 2016

Jan 18 Feb 19

April 25 April 26

May 13 June 6

Spring Break 2015/2016

March 14-28, 2016

School Website – Please check out our website at http://gilpin.sd41.bc.ca . School newsletter, calendar (Calendar icon), and other relevant infor-mation will be available on the website.

Listserv - Gilpin (school and PAC) uses a Listserv to com-municate to parents about events, newsletter distribution and other important information. If you have not registered and would like to receive an elec-tronic copy of our newsletter, please inform the office of your e-mail address.

Family Day February 8, 2016

Spring vacation period Mar 14-18, 2016

School Closure Mar 21-24, 2016

Good Friday Mar 25, 2016

Easter Monday Mar 28, 2016

Victoria Day May 23, 2016

Last day of school for students June 29, 2016

Administrative day June 30, 2016

Administration 2015-2016

Blake Briscoe - Principal

Jeevan Dosanjh - Head Teacher

Judy Poato - Secretary

Please see our school’s Weekly Updates and monthly calendar on the website:

http://gilpin.sd41.bc.ca

Bell Schedule 2015-2016

8:53 am - (bell rings) 8:58 am - students expected in class

10:30 am - recess starts (no bell) 10:45 am - recess ends (bell rings) 12:05 pm - start of lunch (students begin

eating – no bell) 12:20 pm - first bell rings (students

may go outside) 12:30 pm - second bell rings (students

must go outside) 12:55 pm - bell rings to come in

1:00 pm - classes start 3:00 pm - students dismissed (no bell)

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Leaving the School Students are not permitted to leave the school dur-

ing school hours without consent from a parent or

guardian. We would appreciate it if you would ar-

range medical appointments outside of school

hours. However, if your child must leave during

regular school hours, a note is required. Students

who normally eat lunch at school must bring written

permission before they are allowed to leave the

grounds during the lunch hour. A note is also re-

quired if your child is going to another child’s house

for lunch. If a student needs to go home due to

sudden illness, we will contact a parent/guardian or

an emergency contact. Finally, if you have ar-

ranged for a friend or relative to pick up your child,

please send a note to the classroom teacher.

Walking To School • Know the route your child takes to and from

school and how long it takes

• Encourage your child to walk with a friend or in a group and know the telephone numbers and addresses of these friends.

• Arrange for your child to arrive at school as close to the morning bell time as possible. Set a time for your child to report home after school.

• Encourage your child to wear light colored clothing so that s/he is easily seen on rainy, dark days

• Review street safety rules with your child.

Nut Aware School We have a number of children in our school who

have serious, life-threatening peanut/nut allergies.

This means that any contact with peanuts/nuts or

nut products in the classroom, in even trace

amounts, may endanger the child’s life. We are

requesting the assistance of all our families in

keeping our school a peanut and nut aware envi-

ronment. You can help by not sending snacks and

lunch items that contain nuts or nut oils. We appre-

ciate your cooperation in this matter. Further infor-

mation will be passed on by your child’s classroom

teacher.

Scent Awareness We have staff members and children who have

scent allergies and become quite ill when they are

exposed to scents, perfumes and other scented

products. We ask you to refrain from wearing

scented products when visiting the school. Your

cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

PLEASE INFORM THE OFFICE

WHEN:

Your child is ABSENT

Your child will be away for a holiday

Students are LATE –They must sign in

at the office

Rainy days With the weather changing please have your child dress

appropriately. We will try to send the students outside

for recess and lunch unless the weather is very uncoop-

erative and raining heavily.

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****ON-LINE PAYMENTS NOW AVAILABLE FOR

Gilpin Elementary****

Register at https://burnaby.schoolcashonline.com

Step 1: Visit https://burnaby.schoolcashonline.com

Step 2: Register by selecting "Get Started Today" and follow the steps.

Step 3: You will receive a confirmation email. Select the "click here" option, sign in and

add your child(ren) to your household account.

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Parent Volunteers Needed for Local Action Teams: Child & Youth Mental Health and/or Substance Use

The Force Society is seeking parent volunteers to join a Collaborative Local Action Team in Burnaby. The team will consist of local mental health and substance use professionals (Doctors, Clinicians, Counsellors, Teachers, RCMP, community groups), youth (18 to 25 yrs) and families who have experience in accessing child and youth mental health and/or substance use services and supports. As a co-member of the team vol-unteers can contribute their experience and ideas about the people, ser-vices and practices that have helped them when accessing services and supports and offer suggestions about the challenges families sometimes face when they need help. This is an opportunity to collaborate WITH Service Providers and work together towards making a difference within the child and youth mental health and substance use community. For more information, please visit: www.forcesociety.com/cymhsu-

collaborative or email: christie@forcesociety.com

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