SIR JAMES DOUGLAS ANNEX École Primaire Douglas

7668 Borden Street Vancouver, B.C. V5P 3E1

Telephone: (604)-713-4885 FAX: 713-4887 School Website: http://go.vsb.bc.ca/schools/dgsa

Administrative Assistants: Mme Monique Nixon & Mme Ainslie Kwan Vice-Principal: Mme Eve Gagnon Principal at Main School: M. Daniel Bélanger

Director of Instruction: M. Pedro daSilva Trustee: Ms. Janet Fraser

Bulletin # 2 October 1st, 2018 Bonjour! Rain welcomed October. I was pleased to see our students dressed in boots and waterproof jackets. Thank you. My sincere apologize for not including properly the names of our beloved Student Support Workers Mme Skye and Mme Cecilia in the previous newsletter. We are grateful for your work and commitment to our students. During our monthly themed assembly of October we talked about being calm and safe in and outside our school. Thank you to Division 1’s Tristan, Noryang, Kyle, Cassidy, Sahana, Grace, Vienna, Emma, Miya, and Kara for sharing examples to the whole school. Did you know that October 5th is World Teacher’s Day? Reporting Student Absences Student safety is of paramount importance at the Vancouver School District. Ensuring student safety is a shared responsibility. In order to assist schools, we ask parents to notify schools of student absences. If your child will be absent from school, please phone the school to report this absence as early as possible. Parents should leave a message on our Douglas Annex school phone at (604-713-4885) OR on a dedicated answering service by calling (604-713-5159 Ext. 25). Messages will be received before the office is open. School offices are busy places: consistently notifying the school in advance of your child’s absence will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Safe Arrival Morning Routine. To report your child’s absence – Please call 604-713-4885 OR 604-713-5159 Ext. 25 prior to 9 am on the first day of the absence. Student Sign Out Procedure Please ensure that you sign your child/ren out at the school office when you pick up them up during the school day. If you do not sign out your child, they will be unaccounted for, and the school will identify your child as a ‘missing’ student and will commence a search of school grounds. If the school staff do not locate the child, and are unable to reach a parent promptly, the school will call the Vancouver Police Department. Therefore, clear communication is essential for ensuring the safety of your child and to prevent unnecessary searches. Thank you for helping us keep your children safe! Our One-to-One program began in the first week of September. You may see volunteers reading with students in the hallway. We are grateful to have a caring community of adults

who are supporting our students’ learning and development. Thanks to Mme Anna for organizing this program again this year. Our Great Terry Fox Run took place on September 14th at 2:30 pm. Mme Ashley and Mme Louise ran the assembly. Mme Chantal and Mme Christina taught Division 2 students a song by Greg LeRock to recognize Terry Fox’s perseverance. You can continue sending your pledges to the office or online until October 2nd. Thank you. Our second Annual Douglas Annex BBQ during our Meet the Teachers Night was this year again, a fantastic event. Thanks to the PAC for making it a healthy success.

On September 25th, we received the performers Vazzy en Nouvelle-France. Students learned to play the wooden spoon, sing, and dance to traditional songs. It was a wonderful musical and historical moment. The Library is now open. Every Thursday, your child/ren will come and exchange books.

They started with 2 books. If books are returned timely, we will increase to 4 books total (note that if students have books at home, the total of books they can borrow will stay at 4). This week, I will use a felt story basket to explore the book “When We Were Alone” written by David A. Robertson. (Quand nous étions seuls – en français). This will allow us to understand and remember Residential Schools Survivors. 100 KM Club 2018-2019 season started on Tuesday September 25th. The Club will be running every Tuesday morning from 8:20-8:45 am until the end of the year. It is open to all students from K to 3. Parents are also welcome to join us. Thanks to Mme Ashley, Mme Jessica, and Mme Emily for their team spirit. The first Cross Country meet took place on Wednesday September 25th at Champlain Heights. A reminder this is for Grade 1-3 students and the practices are part of the activity. Practices are held with the 100KM club. Keep on running strongly Douglas Dragons! Thursday, September 20th, 2018 was a Professional Development Day. This is what our staff worked on: -Behaviour -Competency-Based IEPs -Focusing on how to best integrate Indigenous ways of learning to the curriculum, -Research on How to empower students with a growth mindset to better achieve? -Looking at theories on developing and implementing a growth-oriented mindset environment in the classroom -Gather research and compile information about inclusion in the classroom -Looking at child brain development and how this affects their learning -Explore Zones of Regulation and prepare strategies to support various learners -Explore various methods to effectively communicate student learning -Develop some primary movements to French songs Music arrangements using the Orff method -Mme Nicole led a workshop on assessment tools in French Immersion. September 28th was a busy and beautiful day. We were among the 1250 schools across the country who sang ‘Le monde est à nous’ composed and sang by Alex Nevsky. If you would like to continue signing with your child/ren, Mme Jessica prepared a slowed down version https://drive.google.com/file/d/10LbJKEo4IMh1qqRRxIpmsk7tDnyxNmst/view or use this karaoke version. Les journées de la culture https://www.journeesdelaculture.qc.ca/ Photo Day (Individual Student Photos) Photo day was on Friday September 28th, 2018. A special thanks to Division 3’s Dinesan and Ryan for helping the photographer running the

day smoothly. If your child needs a photo retakes, these are scheduled for Wednesday October 24th. Les bons dragons & Je parle français All our students choose to be good dragons (towards self, others, and the school) and to speak as much French as they know. We celebrated our bons dragons students from each Division as well as for speaking in French. Our celebratory assembly took place on Monday October 1st. Bons dragons Div. 1: Tristan Div. 2: Ridley, il a aidé à ranger la classe sans qu’on lui demande Div. 3: Ben Div. 4: Katie Div. 5: Brady pour avoir aidé Mme Eve à ramasser les déchets Div. 6: Marcus Div. 7: John il prend soin de lui-même et mange calmement Div. 8: Pnina qui marche silencieusement dans le couloir Div. 9: Emily qui écoute bien et aide à pousser les chaises Je parle français nous visitons l’Afrique et allons en Algérie. Div. 1: Emily Div. 2: Alejandra Div. 3: Camilla Div. 4: Harrison Div. 5: Adi Div. 6: Amanda Div. 7: Adhiti Div. 8: Elias Div. 9: Gavin A warm thank you to Mme Jessica, Mme Emily, and Mme Anna for helping with our celebrations. Our Peer Helpers Program has already started. Peer Helpers are Grade 3 students who give their time to make sure our school is a pleasant place to be. Indoor peer helpers monitor traffic in the hallway and voice level during recess and lunch and help returning the lunch baskets to the classrooms. Outdoor peer helpers assist in problem solving on the playground, offer support at the tire swing, etc. We are thrilled to have such helpful friends at Douglas Annex. Way to take care of others! Last week, Tristan and Oliver were indoor peer helpers while Lux and Eswen kept the upper playground area safe and pleasant. Our first Bake Sale of the year will take place on Friday October 5th. Division 1 is providing the baking. Thank you to Ioanna Vassilakis for organizing the bake sales this year. Big ShakeOut- Provincial Earthquake Drill On Thursday, October 18th, 2018 at 10:19 am we will be participating in the provincial earthquake drill called the Great BC ShakeOut,

along with thousands of other schools, businesses and organizations throughout the province. Classes will practice “Drop, Cover and Hold On” and then meet outside in our designated area. Please visit www.ShakeOutBC.ca to learn more about emergency preparedness for you and your family. Our Pumpkin Patch is back Thursday October 29th, 2018. The farm truck will be here before 9:00 am so we can start unloading right away. Please stay after the 9:00 am bell for about 15 – 20 minutes and help us place the pumpkins throughout the school yard (rain or shine, please dress for the occasion). Last year, the farmer was very impressed by the efficient work of our community. Our annual Pumpkin Patch will take place as soon as we have finished. You may stay and join in the fun if you wish! Healthy and Wrapping-Free Snacks are encouraged healthy snacks and lunches. Please help us promote nutritious eating and reduce our ecological footprint! Lost & Found has started collecting too many unnamed clothes. At the end of this week, we will be taking all the items of clothing to good will. It is located in the hallway on the South wall across from Mr. Jack’s office. We continue to throw away all food and drink containers every Friday in order to avoid having rotten food in the school. Please label your child’s items (shoes, jackets, lunch bags, backpack, etc.) so that we can return them to their proper owner. Thank you. Mabel’s Labels A reminder that we are doing an ongoing fundraiser with Mabel's Labels - labels for the items kids lose! You can place an order any time and the labels we be mailed directly to you. A portion of each sale goes to the school. Check out http://mabelslabels.com/c/?type=fundraiser&b=5584&cur_website=base or go to http://mabelslabels.com/support-a-fundraiser and look for Douglas Annex in the pull-down menu. QSP- Magazine Fundraiser As previous years, we will continue with our QSP Magazine Fundraiser. It is simple. All orders are placed and paid online at www.qsp.ca Our online id is 3701984. The magazines are priced competitively and all purchases give a cash credit to our school. Thank you very much for your support. ___________________________________ Sir James Douglas Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) News (1) Our AGM is on Oct. 15th from 7:00-8:30pm, at the Main school library (2150 Brigadoon Avenue). Consider joining our executive team. Some job descriptions and nomination forms are located at https://thedouglaspac.wordpress.com/volunteeropportunities/.

(2) The municipal election is coming up. If you want more info regarding the VSB trustee candidates feel free to attend the DPAC VSB Trustee Candidate Forum on Thursday, Oct. 4th from 6:30-9:00pm (https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/dpac-vsb-trustee-candidate-forum-tickets-49766682487)

(3) We are going paperless! Parents and guardians can now order and pay for items from PAC fundraisers online via Munchalunch. Going online avoids the need for paper forms, saves time, eliminates calculation errors, and makes it easier for parents/guardians to order and pay. Instructions on how to register for a Munchalunch account is summarized on our PAC website (https://thedouglaspac.wordpress.com/)

(4) The first hot lunch will be October 26th. Note that orders have to be submitted via the Munchalunch website by October October 8th. Parents/guardians must submit their orders for October, November, and December by October 8th.

(5) Call for volunteers - PAC web administrator. We would love someone new to manage our PAC website. If you are interested in efficient communication & connection with the school community via the web, we want to hear from you! Please contact thedouglaspac@gmail.com or jin_foong@hotmail.com. Stay tuned for the additional call for volunteers for various PAC fundraising events.

(6) Please feel free to browse the PAC's website and join our mailing list (https://thedouglaspac.wordpress.com/join-our-mailist/). Sign up to get relevant information without committing to volunteer hours.

(7) The Annex Walkathon is on October 26th at 1:30 pm. Lookout for more communication from the PAC.