Valleyfield Junior School

Minutes of School Council Meeting

December 1, 2015

The meeting started at 6:08 p.m. with greetings from the Chair, Jason Martin.

Approval of the Agenda moved by Jason Martin, seconded by Renee Hewer, carried.

Approval of the Minutes of the October 24, 2015 meeting, with noted corrections, moved by Michelle Drimmie Miller, seconded by Renee Hewer, carried.

Principal’s Report

Ms. Drimmie Miller started her report with the highlights of November.  

There was a Remembrance Day Assembly that all the children attended.  There were a variety of excellent presentations and one very moving presentation done by the grade 6 class.  This was the first event of the year that the Ambassadors hosted.

The Family Channel Anti bullying rally was exciting and kids saw themselves on TV in the month of November.   The school will Tweet out the YouTube address out for those that didn’t see the TV spot.  The staff will continue to build on the positive anti bullying messaging throughout the year.

Three staff members attended training in November about restorative justice.  The workshop was given by the police department and will be a valuable tool to use in the classroom.

The Ambassadors did a Playground Pals ½ day training to be leaders in the playground.  They will be scheduled to lead novel games for students in the playground.

The Buddy bench has been installed.  Ambassadors will read the story that goes with the bench to the junior assembly. There will also be an introduction with children and teachers about the bench at the character assembly in December.  The follow-up will continue throughout the year.

School clubs are going strong - Reading club, Boys to Men, Newcomers, Ambassadors, Girls Group and 3 Math clubs.  There are currently two sports clubs 2 basketball teams and a volleyball team.  All teams competed last week.  More are to begin shortly.

There is a new temporary caretaker starting this week, with hopes of a full-time caretaker starting in February.

Staff are taking part in safety training this week with a social worker.  They will be looking at policies that require mandatory training – i.e. Child Abuse and Neglect and Ms. D. M. conducted the Sabrina’s Law training to review the allergies and the use of an epi pen.

Report cards are coming out on December 10 for Grades 1 to 6.

Two individuals have made a large donation of new books for the library. The value is equal to or above the annual allocation from the school budget so this is an exceptional gift.

The Talent show is December 15 at 1pm, with 14 acts ranging from piano playing, to magic tricks to singing and dancing.  If your child was selected for the talent show, a note has gone home to parents inviting them to the show.

Class skating will be starting up soon.  Ms. Rattner and Mr. Graydon will be organizing the outings.

A Bus Safety assembly is scheduled for January 26.  The school is concerned that kids are not following the safety rules on the bus.  The Islington Bus 2 is for older students so has no monitor and the children have not been behaving.  One solution may be to spread the children out between Bus 2 and Bus 3, therefore having smaller loads.

The school will be hosting the following programs for parents and children in the new year:

January - Family Fitness Night;

February - Family Math Night with guest speaker Mr. Trevor Brown;

Movie Night in late January or early February.

Dental Screening is January 18 to 20. 

Staff will be meeting the first week back in January and will plan for the remainder of the school year.

Ms. Drimmie Miller made a request on behalf of the library teacher Ms. Lewis for the Parent Council to purchase the 2016 Silver Birch Reading Program books at a cost of $569.  Jason Martin moved that council fund Ms. Lewis’ request and pay for the Silver Birch Books.  Seconded by Renee Hewer.  Motion Carried.

Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that there have been some questions and misunderstandings about the funding of the school snack program.  Currently the school receives some grant and the grant requires that the parents either fund raise or pay to supplement the costs of the program.  She advised that parents do not have to pay, but explained that the funding received to run the program does not cover all the costs.  Therefore, a letter will be going home suggesting that parents pay $25 per term ($75 per school year) to assist in covering the cost of the program.  Currently the children receive morning meal which consists of three food groups (dairy, fruit/vegetable and bread/grains) in accordance with the Canada Food Guide.  The morning meal is delivered to the classrooms just after the morning announcements, and it is at the teacher’s discretion of when it is served.

Treasurer’s Report

Renee Hewer advised that paperwork still needs to be completed so there is no report.  Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that there is approximately $5,000 in the Council bank account.

Committee Reports

Nutrition Program

In addition to the information in the Principal’s Report above, Mr. Martin raised the issue of looking into the Snack Program including what is offered and when it is given to students.  He noted that he had heard concern from a few parents so was investigating the situation.

He advised that he has spoken to the individual who runs the snack program in an effort to understand the program.  This person has nutrition training and food handling safety training.  Jason had asked her to come to the council meeting to speak more about the program but unfortunately due to the change of meeting date, she was unable to attend. 

Mr. Martin shared that one of the concerns that parents voiced to him about the snack program was that uneaten food from the snack program was coming home in their children’s lunch bag.  More investigation will be done into this as leftovers from the snack program are not to be sent home. 

Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that the school had not been contacted about any concerns with the snack program and cautioned council to proceed cautiously for fear of losing an excellent snack program coordinator.

Jason Martin made a motion to form a sub-committee to look into the snack program to get feedback from parents about the program and to see if more can be done to secure funding.  The motion was seconded by Patresia. Motion carried.

Fundraising

The Dance A Thorn is scheduled for February 11.  A cheque is needed to make a deposit to the DJ.

Patresia Bartley will be approaching local businesses for donations to a raffle.  She hopes to have the raffle in December or January.  The money from the raffle will be used to purchase tablets for classrooms.

Teacher Report

Ms. Vasilaros was happy to say that Work to Rule was over.  Workshops for teachers have resumed and she was very pleased that she was selected to attend the Restorative Justice program last week.  She also advised that field trips are being booked, there are a few classes going to the Science Centre next week.  She is looking forward to skating starting for the classes.

Parent Council By-Laws

Jason Martin has been working on getting by-laws for our parent council and Ms. Drimmie Miller provided two samples for the council to examine.  Jason made a motion to form a sub-committee to work on the council by-laws.  The motion was seconded by Renee Hewer. Motion carried.  Jason and Renee will work on a draft and circulate it in advance of our next council meeting.

Model Schools Report

Information was passed on about community training sessions coming up in the next few weeks.

Kofi Sankofa reported that he has been encouraging parents to help with the transportation issues that have arisen with respect to the Islington bus route.  The issues include safety, weather, and bus coming late or not coming.  He is working with parents, Toronto Community Housing (TCH), and Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to form an alliance to make positive changes.  He is in the process of forming a committee to work out the issues and has encouraged parents to join the committee.  He would like to get parents trained to be bus monitors to work to assist organizing families to safely wait in a line and to load the children in an organized fashion.  Parents cannot ride the bus as monitors. He is also looking into getting a bus shelter and has been in touch with the city councilor and trustee to assist him.  Kofi will host a transportation meet and greet at one of the apartment buildings on Islington or at C-School in January.

One parent raised a concern about the Dixington bus route.  The distance between the two stops on McArthur is very large for small children to walk to/from, especially in winter.  They had brought their concern to Ms. Drimmie Miller who contacted the bus company on their behalf, but was informed that the distance from 236 Dixon to the bus top at McArthur is 230 meters.  Transportation policy notes that 230 meters is a reasonable distance to have students walk to meet the bus.  Kofi and Jason Martin will look into it to see if they can find a solution to the request to move the bus stop.

Feel free to contact Kofi at kofi.sankofa@tdsb.on.ca

Open Discussion

One parent asked a question about the ranking of Valleyfield.  Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that Valleyfield’s LOI ranking is 45.  Kofi advised that the LOI is made up of various social economics.  A score of 45 makes Valleyfield qualify as a Model School, for which extra money and professional development is received from the TDSB.

Parents also asked about EQAO scores.  Ms. Drimmie Miller explained that it was a summative test delivered in the Grade 3 and 6 year only.  The information tested comprises all that is covered in the primary years on the Gr. 3 test and the junior years on the Gr. 6 test.  Staff analyze the data to guide further teaching for students as well as use that data to form workshops to build capacity in whatever areas demonstrate a gap. It provides parents with yet another means of knowing how their children are doing in school as well.

Kofi offered to have a guest speaker come in to talk about EQAO and LOI ranking in the future.

A parent suggested sending home a work binder so parents know what their kids are doing in class during the week.  Ms. Vasilaros will inquire of the teachers about how they let parents know about what is going on during the school week, and will let us know at the next meeting.

Meeting Adjourned at 7:44 pm.     

Next meeting date:  Thursday, January 28 at 6 p.m.