Community Announcement – Maple Sugar Festival in Nanaimo

Given the large number of French Immersion students in our school, we thought that our community would appreciate knowing about this upcoming event. On the weekend of February 19th to the 21st, Nanaimo will host its 10th Annual Maple Sugar Festival. All activities are being held at Beban Park (2300 Bowen Road in Nanaimo). Promoters claim that it’s the largest bilingual festival on Vancouver Island.

If you’d like to learn more about the festival and its related events, we encourage you to visit its website.

Level 2 Wildlife Alert Lifted

Earlier today, we posted that the local RCMP had advised us to keep the students inside. This recommendation arose from the sighting of a black bear on Charters Road earlier this morning.

Earlier this afternoon, we managed to consult with a conservation officer from the BC Conservation Officer Service. We received advice from the conservation officer that, given the time since the sighting and the distance from the school, we could allow students access to the school grounds during this afternoon. As a result, we arranged for an extra outside recess at 2:00 PM this afternoon to give the students an opportunity for some exercise and fresh air. While allowing the students outside, we also followed the supervision procedures for a Level 1 Wildlife Alert.

Please refer to our school’s wiki for complete details on the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of our students.

Level 2 Wildlife Alert – Monday, February 8th, 2010

This is to advise our community that today the school had a level 2 wildlife alert. This alert was in response to a bear sighting at approximately 9:30 AM. The bear was seen crossing Charters Road. Our school’s staff was contacted by the local RCMP and we were advised to keep our students inside for recess. The RCMP also advised us that the Conservation Service had been contacted, and would be sending someone to attend.

Staff and students advised over the PA and remain inside until otherwise advised by the RCMP or a conservation officer.

Following our normal procedure, students will be allowed to go outside for breaks tomorrow (weather permitting), and the school will be at level 1.

Please refer to our school’s wiki for complete details on the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of our students.

This Week At Poirier – Feburary 8th to the 12th, 2010

Here’s what we have on our school’s schedule for this week:

• On Monday, February 8th, Grade 5 students who are interested in registering for Late French Immersion can do so at Journey Middle School starting at 8:00 AM. Late Immersion is for those students currently registered in English, but who would like to begin French Immersion for their Grade 6 year. The Late Immersion Program will be re-introduced at Journey if there is sufficient registration for September 2010 (students currently in Immersion in Grade 5 will continue next year at Journey, as has been practice in the past). If you have any questions about Late Immersion, please feel free to call or e-mail Mr. Arts.
• Also on Monday, the school’s chess club will hold its weekly meeting starting at 2:45 in the Multipurpose Room and in the Library. Chess club ends at 3:30.
• On Tuesday, February 9th, the Knitting Club will have its regular meeting at 11:50 in the library.
• Also on Tuesday, Mad Science will run after school for its third session.
• Finally, on Friday February 12th, the PAC is hosting another Slushie Day.

Further on the horizon, please note that on Monday February 15th our school’s PAC will hold its monthly meeting at 7:00 PM. Also, please remember that Friday of next week (February 19th) is a Professional Development Day, and that classes will not be in session.

Thanks for your interest in our school and have a great week!

Community Announcements

We have recently received word of two items which might interest our school community. We are posting them here for the benefit of students and parents.

Open Your Heart to Haiti
The Sooke Community Choir will present this special benefit concert on Sunday, February 14th. The concert starts at 2:00 PM and will take place at Edward Milne Community School. Admission is by donation. The concert will feature performances by:

• Ekoos Vocal Ensemble
• Grace Notes
• Kim Brandt, Guitar
• Mary Brown, Harpsichord
• Nancy Washeim, Soprano
• The Pothole Pipers
• Sooke Philharmonic Chamber Players
• Sooke Philharmonic Chorus
• Sooke Community Choir

Summer 2010 Family French Camp
This annual event is organized by the Canadian Parents for French, and is designed for families with children in French Immersion who want to provide their children with a French language experience during the summer. This year’s camp is being offered in two different weeks: August 14th to the 21st, and August 21st to the 28th. The location will be Living Forest Campground in Nanaimo. While this is an excellent opportunity for children to practice their French in the summer, parents can rest easy because they don’t need to know any French themselves.

Registration for the Summer 2010 starts on Sunday, January 24th at 9:00 AM. We have more information about this opportunity posted on our parent information board in the main school hallway. If you’d like more information about the BC Family French Camp program, you can visit their website. If you’d like more information on the Living Forest Campground, it is also available online.

This Week at Poirier – February 1st to the 5th, 2010

Kindergarten Registration Week is always a busy one at the school. We are looking forward to welcoming new students and their parents as they register. We have posted as much information as we have available in two separate postings on in our blog. You can access general information on registration from the school district at this posting, and Friday’s more recent update (including links to registration forms) from here. We expect that there will be few (if any) changes to the Kindergarten registration information, but if there are we will post an update to the blog as soon as we can.

Even with the excitement of Kindergarten registration dominating this week at school, we still have a number of other things going on in the school this week, as detailed below:

• On Monday, February 1st, Kindergarten Registration week starts. The office doors open at 8:00 AM. Early registrations cannot be accepted. Please make sure that you bring an original birth certificate and proof of residence when registering. While we do take registrations for the remainder of the year, we encourage families to register during this week in February in order to help us plan for enough space for the following school year.
• Also on Monday, the Chess Club will meet in the Multipurpose Room (for more experienced players) and in the Library (for beginners) from 2:45 to 3:30 PM. To date, we have over 70 students who have registered for this year’s club.
• On Tuesday, February 2nd, there will be a presentation at Journey Middle School starting at 6:30 PM for any Grade 5 students and their parents who are interested in registering for Late French Immersion at Journey next year. This will be your opportunity to ask questions about the program if you’re considering registering your child for entry into French Immersion in Grade 6. The program will only run at Journey if there are enough registrations. The presentation will take place in the Journey Library.
• On Wednesday, February 3rd, the entire school will be treated to a performance of Klondike Rag in the gym starting at 10:45. While entertaining, we also expect that students will learn a great deal about the Klondike Gold Rush.
• On Friday, February 5th, our school will have another Spirit Day. This month’s theme day will be ‘Crazy Hair’

We’d like to end with a reminder that you should have your child’s comfort kit sent in to their teacher by the end of this week (February 5th). This time has been extended from the one announced earlier here on the blog. Parent volunteers will be moving the kits into the storage shed soon after that.

Thanks for your interest in the school. Have a great week!

Kindergarten Registration Update

Earlier this morning, the procedures for next week’s Kindergarten registration were confirmed by the school district. We are posting the complete set of information here on the blog for the convenience of parents. Please note that any forms that parents have downloaded or received up to now will still be valid for this year’s registration (if you’ve already downloaded and filled out forms in anticipation of Monday’s registration, you do not need to fill out new copies).

Please note that registration takes place during the week of February 1st to the 5th. Registration starts at 8:00 AM and early registrations cannot be taken. Furthermore, each registrant can only register all of the members of a single family. It is important to bring a birth certificate and proof of residence (a utility bill, or a finalized purchase agreement will do). The full process of registration is outlined on a flow chart provided to us by the school district. We encourage you to download the Kindergarten Enrolment Process Flow Chart and familiarize yourself with the procedures that it summarizes.

The school district has also produced a series of FAQs related to Kindergarten Registration. We’ve made this available as a .pdf for you to access directly from the blog. We have also posted a welcome letter from our school’s PAC on their behalf.

As announced in an earlier blog posting, Poirier is offering half-day Kindergarten in both our English and French Immersion programs. The Sooke School District has produced information for parents of incoming Kindergarten students on half-day and full day programs. We have been asked to make this information available to you, so we’ve posted it here as a link for you to download.

Finally, we’ve reposted our registration form, and a form for parents to indicate their preference for morning or afternoon Kindergarten for September, 2010. Again, if you’ve completed previous versions of these forms you can bring your completed copies on Monday morning (or whenever you register), and they will be accepted.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to call the school at (250) 642-0500 or to e-mail the principal. We look forward to meeting many new parents next week!

Last Minute Additions – January 25th to 29th, 2010

In the haste to get out our weekly blog posting, we left off two items yesterday. We’ve made this special posting to highlight the following:

PAC on Facebook
The PAC has a strong digital presence in our school. In addition to maintaining a wiki (with upcoming events and meeting minutes), the PAC also has started up a Facebook Page. Please take a moment to stop by and also sign up to be a Fan!

Chess Club Reminder
Chess Club starts next week on Monday (February 1st) at 2:45 PM. So far over 70 students have signed up! If you’re interested in having your child participate in Chess Club, you can e-mail the organizers directly at poirierchessclub@hotmail.com. You can also download the registration form and send it in to the school office.

This Week at Poirier – January 25th to the 29th, 2010

The big news of the coming week is Literacy Week. The staff have been hard at work organizing the week’s events, and there is something happening every day which celebrates and encourages literacy. Last Wednesday, we posted a message to the blog that included a schedule of the week’s events. If you’d like to refer back to that posting and download the printable schedule, you can do so from here. We’ve also included mention of most events organized for Literacy Week in the general summary posted below.

• Literacy Week kicks off with our opening assembly at 9:00 in the gym on Monday. Monday is also the day students and staff will be bringing their favourite books to school.
• Tuesday’s Literacy Week activities are ‘Poem in your Pocket’ and a School-Wide Read in the gym (in the afternoon). Students are reminded to bring their own cookies for the afternoon read.
• Wednesday will be the Used Book Exchange. Donations of gently-used books will still be accepted until the end of the day on Tuesday. Wednesday will also be the Teacher Reading Exchange.
• Also on Wednesday evening, our school will hold its French Immersion information night for prospective Kindergarten parents next year. If you’re the parent of a child born in 2005, and you’re considering French Immersion for your child, we encourage you to attend this information session in the school’s multipurpose room at 7:00 PM. Please pass this information on to parents of children who are not yet attending the school, but who would be interesting in learning more about the program.
• On Thursday, the Literacy Week activity is the Read-a-Thon in the afternoon.
• Finally, on Friday, students and staff will be dressing up as their favourite storybook characters. We will close off Literacy Week with our assembly at 2:00 PM during which the staff will perform their much-anticipated Reader’s Theatre.

Hoppin’ for Haiti a Huge Success!
Last Tuesday, our school hosted a lunch-hour sock hop to raise funds for earthquake relief in Haiti. While the bulk of donations came in during the dance, we accepted more donations throughout the week. At last count on Friday, the school had raised over $1100! This is yet another example of our school community pulling together for a great cause. All funds collected will be forwarded to Save the Children’s Haiti relief efforts. Thanks for your support!

PAC Reminder – Canadian Tire Money Accepted Here!
Our PAC has asked us to remind everyone that they accept donations of Canadian Tire Money. The PAC takes your donation and builds up enough of the money so that the school can buy much-needed supplies, especially sports equipment. If you have a roll of Canadian Tire money stored away, please think about donating it to the PAC. Donations are accepted in the school office on behalf of the PAC and will be forwarded to them on your behalf.

Fifth Disease
Last week, we had an outbreak of Fifth Disease in one of the primary classes. Notices were sent home with the students in the class. The symptoms of the disease are usually mild, and have few complications. However, some people suffering from chronic conditions can have serious complications if they come into contact with Fifth Disease, as can pregnant women. Therefore, if your child does have a confirmed case of Fifth Disease, please make sure that you inform your child’s teacher and the school office. Your information will be kept confidential, although we will issue notices to the classes affected. For those interested, more detailed information is available from the BC Healthlink Web Site.

Literacy Week – January 25th to the 29th, 2010

Next week, our school is holding its Literacy Week Celebrations! A schedule of events is included on the back of this page. Please keep this notice and maybe post it somewhere prominent in your home so you can keep up-to-date with next week’s events!
We’re still collecting gently-used children’s books for the Used Book Exchange. Donations are being collected in classrooms.
We encourage all of our families to find creative ways to celebrate the gift of literacy throughout the week and at all times throughout the year.
Remember to bring…

• Your favourite book on Monday, January 25th
• Your own cookies for the School-Wide Read on Tuesday, January 26th

We’ve created a calendar of the week’s events for the benefit of families. This information is also being sent home with students through a paper hand-out. If you’d like to download the .pdf version of the schedule, you can access it using the following link:

http://poirier.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/01-01-19-literacyweekatpoiriere28093week.pdf