Weekly Bulletin 

In the interest of keeping you informed and involved, current and past bulletins will be posted. You can access the most Recent Bulletins HERE and see the last week's bulletin below. 



SEPTEMBER 9th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


☀️We had a wonderful first week back to school!  We were happy to see all our students and welcome so many new friends! Please read this email thoroughly as it contains important information and reminders.  


📝Today you will receive a package sent home with your children that you will need to review thoroughly and then return the completed forms school. Please note that your Emergency Release form should contain the names and phone numbers of people who are allowed to pick up your child after school and/or in the case of emergency. It is good to include people who have children at Fulford School, your children's friends’ parents as often these people are the ones that might be available to come or already coming in the case of an early dismissal or emergency.  


🕛Early Dismissal for Tell Me About Your Child Interviews – September14th, 

School will be dismissed at 12:00 next Wednesday, September 14th so that teachers can hold Tell Me About Your Child interviews with parents. Please contact your child’s teacher to arrange a meeting time. If you are unable to attend a meeting on that day, please arrange an alternate day and time to meet. 


🔍Please see our website Fulford School website to access our school calendar Fulford School Calendar and other important information and links. Also, our school has a Facebook page which is different from the Parent FB page. The name of our page is Fulford Community Elementary School so please join this page. We will use this page as one of the ways to communicate important school related information and in the case of emergency when necessary. 


📅We are very pleased to have our new, much larger school staffing process complete! With the many new team members, we will be holding a visioning meeting on the evening of September 22 to clarify what we want our Kindergarten to Grade 7 school to be. We will be looking for some parent involvement so please let Marie know if you are interested. We will also be asking for student input from the Grade 6 and 7 students to add their voice to the process. 


👋Our new staff members are:  

Teachers: Jessica Reveley in Grade 1, Amber Thompson in Grades 3-4, Logan Storrie in Grades 5-6, Geoff Fast Grades 6-7, Katie Brown as Librarian, and Linda McDaniel as LIST and Prep teacher. 

Education Assistants: Amelia Bapty, Gabby Budden, Chelsea Burch, Julia Milner, Tina Mullen and Andrea Carr. 

‍️

Terry Fox Run   

We will have our annual Terry Fox School Run Thursday, September 15 from 2:30 – 3:00 pm on the school field, weather permitting. Students and staff will run or walk laps around the school field. Students are asked to bring a $1 or $2 coin (or more) as a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation by Thursday.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for the weather and for running that day. 


✔️Please consider joining our Parent Advisory Council (PAC). The PAC is a very important part of our school and the contribution that it makes to improve the quality of our programs and our students’ experience at school. The first PAC meeting of the year is at the school on September 14th at 8:15am. Please see the attached minutes from the last meeting.  


⭐Some Reminders: 



👩‍🌾SCHOOL GARDEN 

Weekly work parties will be resuming in the garden from 1:30 to 3 every Tuesday. Come and help out! There is a lot to do! 


Have a great short weekend! 


Thank you,

 

Rebecca Nygard

Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 


SEPTEMBER 15th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


🌻We had another week of wonderful weather at school yet still seeing a lot of absences due to illness. Thank you to our school community for being so responsible and patient during this first wave of illness. 


​🧡Thursday was Orange Shirt day at school. Please take some time to ask your child about their learning activities around this. It was great to see a sea of orange out on the playground.  Friday was the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Please see these links for some information about this important day.  

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Canada.ca 

How To Talk To Kids About The National Day For Truth And Reconciliation | Learning (cbc.ca) 



📝Foundation Skills Assessment 

Beginning in October, students in Grades 4 and 7 will participate in the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA). The FSA is an annual province-wide assessment of students’ academic skills. There will be both online and written components of the assessment that will be conducted over several weeks between October 3 and November 10. Parents will receive their child’s scores and written booklets in November. Information from the FSA helps the school and district to identify strengths and stretches of our learners, and contributes to the formation of our school and district goals. For more information about FSAs, please see this link: FSA 


🛑Visitor Procedures 

Parents and other visitors are reminded that they must sign in and out when they are entering the school. The sign-in sheet is located on a clipboard on the table outside of the office.  


⭐NEWS FROM OUR PAC⭐  

In the spirit of celebrating harvest and thankfulness the PAC will be collecting non-perishable food items for Salt Spring Community Services. If you are able to participate, please send an item of non-perishable food with your child next week. There will be a box by the office for the donations.  


Here is a list from Community Services: 

 

ITEMS OF NEED FOR OUR LOCAL FOOD BANK 

Any other items gratefully accepted 

Please see the attached poster from Community Services for services geared towards parents of Grade 7 and High School Students.  


Have a great weekend! 


Rebecca Nygard

Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 


SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Dear Fulford Families,

 

🤧Fall has come in with a bang! Cold and flu season is upon us, and we’d like to remind families that students should remain home until symptoms of illness improve significantly and they are able to return to their regular activities, including running and playing. If there is still frequent coughing, please err on the side of caution and keep your children home. We had far too many students at school who needed to be sent home last week. 


🕒Supervision is provided from 8 am to 3:15 pm each day. Please do not bring your child to school before 8 am or leave them at school after 3:15 pm unless you have made prior arrangements with your child’s teacher. Teachers will open the outside entrances at 8 am in the morning. 


🧡The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, on September 30, will be observed at school on Thursday, September 29 with Orange Shirt Day. Students and staff are invited to wear orange that day to show their support for survivors of residential schools. Prior to then, teachers will teach the students the meaning of Orange Shirt Day in developmentally appropriate ways.   


🎼Fulford School Choir the Fulford Elementary School Choir will be starting on Wednesday, October 5th. Students in Grades 1 to 7 who would like to join will be rehearsing in the Multipurpose area outside the library between 11:30 and 12:00 on Wednesdays. The students will be preparing for our annual Winter Concert, as well as for our Remembrance Day Assembly. Students will be asked to wear a white top and either dark pants or a dark skirt for each performance. Choir will start up again in late February in preparation for several performances to be held in the spring, as well as a field trip. If your child would like to join the choir, please sign the form that was brought home and send it back to your child’s classroom teacher by no later than Monday, September 26th. Extra notices are located on the bulletin board across from the Music Room. 


Garden Harvest Lunch 


🍂🥕🌽PAC is leading the Garden Harvest Lunch this year, but each class will be preparing part of the food for the lunch. Classroom teachers will be looking for parents to help with food preparation during the week of October 3-6. Please let your child’s teacher know if you are able to help. 


Attached to this email you will find the school’s Code of Conduct for you to review. If you have any questions, please contact Marie. 



✔️If you haven’t yet done so, please make sure you complete the Criminal Record Check online if you would like to volunteer at the school or on field trips. See this link for the CRC process. The CRC is good for 5 years so most parents are up to date but new parents and others whose CRC has expired may need to do the CRC now. It takes a little while for the CRC to be returned to the district so please so it sooner than later before field trips and special events start happening. 


📅Important Dates: 

September 28th – Individual Photo Day 

September 29th- Orange Shirt Day at School  

October 6th -  Garden Harvest Lunch from 12:40 to 1:40 at the school 

 

Please see the attached minutes from the first PAC meeting last week.  




 

Rebecca Nygard

Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 


SEPTEMBER 29th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


🌻We had another week of wonderful weather at school yet still seeing a lot of absences due to illness. Thank you to our school community for being so responsible and patient during this first wave of illness. 


​🧡Thursday was Orange Shirt day at school. Please take some time to ask your child about their learning activities around this. It was great to see a sea of orange out on the playground.  Friday was the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Please see these links for some information about this important day.  

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Canada.ca 

How To Talk To Kids About The National Day For Truth And Reconciliation | Learning (cbc.ca) 



📝Foundation Skills Assessment 

Beginning in October, students in Grades 4 and 7 will participate in the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA). The FSA is an annual province-wide assessment of students’ academic skills. There will be both online and written components of the assessment that will be conducted over several weeks between October 3 and November 10. Parents will receive their child’s scores and written booklets in November. Information from the FSA helps the school and district to identify strengths and stretches of our learners, and contributes to the formation of our school and district goals. For more information about FSAs, please see this link: FSA 


🛑Visitor Procedures 

Parents and other visitors are reminded that they must sign in and out when they are entering the school. The sign-in sheet is located on a clipboard on the table outside of the office.  


⭐NEWS FROM OUR PAC⭐  

In the spirit of celebrating harvest and thankfulness the PAC will be collecting non-perishable food items for Salt Spring Community Services. If you are able to participate, please send an item of non-perishable food with your child next week. There will be a box by the office for the donations.  


Here is a list from Community Services: 

 

ITEMS OF NEED FOR OUR LOCAL FOOD BANK 

Any other items gratefully accepted 

Please see the attached poster from Community Services for services geared towards parents of Grade 7 and High School Students.  


Have a great weekend! 


Rebecca Nygard

Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 

 


OCTOBER 6th, 2022

😀 Thank you to all the students, staff and volunteers who helped bring together this year’s Garden Harvest Lunch. It felt nice to gather and share a well-deserved meal. Thank you to Mrs. Van Riel and Jessica’s classes for the tasty applesauce, thank you to Ms. K and Ms. Thompson’s classes for the delicious apple crumble, and thank you to Ms. Bienias, Logan and Mr. Fast’s classes for the hearty soups. Photos are attached.

 

🦃Monday, October 10th is Thanksgiving so schools will be closed. School will be in session on Friday, October 14th to make up for the holiday Monday. We are grateful for having the opportunity to work in such a vibrant and close school community and we send our thanks to all our students and families at this time of Thanksgiving. We wish you all a wonderful, extra-long Thanksgiving weekend.  


📢We have declared Friday, October 14th to be Pyjama Day at Fulford School. Students and staff are invited to wear their pyjamas to school that day. 

 

📸 Photo retakes will be happening on Tuesday, November 1st.   

 

📝Students who are in Grade 4 and 7 will soon be completing the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA). The FSA is an annual assessment in which students in Grades 4 and 7 participate. It measures literacy and numeracy skills set out in the provincial curricula and is part of the overall assessment of learning program in the district and province. The FSA has both online and written components and the components will be spread out throughout the six-week assessment period. We will do a practice test online with the students in Grade 4 so that they have an idea of what to expect and they can learn how to navigate the assessment. Our students have been very successful in the FSA in past years, and they have enjoyed many aspects of the assessment process. For more information about the FSAs, please see this link: FSA. Some parents have returned the slip of paper from the BCTF requesting their child be excused from the FSAs. I am only allowed to excuse students for specific reasons and these reasons do not apply to most of the students who have returned these forms to the school. I will be contacting the parents who have requested their child be excused to discuss the reasons for the request. If you have any questions about the FSA, please contact Marie. 


🏤 Seamless Day has a few spaces available for after school childcare for those students in Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2. This is Licensed childcare from after school until 5 O’clock. Families who are interested in accessing this program should email fulford@sd64.org for any further information.  


👓 The Lions Vision Screening program has resumed and will take place next Wednesday. See the attached letter outlining the program and let us know if you do not wish for your child to be screened this year. 

 

🚍 Many classes have started going on field trips again this month which is exciting! If you are interested in volunteering and are not sure if you have an up-to-date Criminal Record Check please contact the school at (fulford@sd64.org) and we will let you know the status of your criminal record check.    


📗 Local author and Fulford parent Kim Woolcock is having a book launch for her new book, It’s Tough to be Tiny: The Secret Life of Small Creatures. Please see the attached flyer for the event which is being held at the community library on Friday October 21st. 


Happy long weekend!


Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 


 


OCTOBER 14th, 2022

🥞 🚒 The week started off in a good way with a surprise pancake breakfast for staff and students, courtesy of the fire department. The students enjoyed pancakes before going to their classes. The fire volunteers then did fire safety presentations in each class before the first fire drill of the year. At recess many of the students enjoyed examining the fire truck and some got to sit in the driver’s seat. 


🏀 After-school basketball with Natalie Meisner starts this coming Monday, October 17th and runs from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. Please bring proper gym sneakers and attire. Student permission slips must be returned in order to participate.  


🚫 As of today, the door at the end of the hallway where Jessica, Ms. K’s and Ms. Bienias’ classes enter the building will be closed until further notice. The platform outside the door is being assessed for safety and will likely be rebuilt. In the meantime, Ms. K’s class will enter through the door in the covered play area, Ms .Bienias’s students will enter through the outside door to their classroom, and Jessica’s class will enter through the door nearest the former music room at the back of the school. The teachers will show the students their new enter and exit routines today. If you are dropping your children off, they can show you where their new entrance is on Monday. 


🚌 Each class will have a bus safety presentation next week. This is provided annually to ensure students know proper safety procedures when travelling by bus. We will also have an earthquake drill on Thursday when we participate in the Great BC Shakeout. We will do our drill at 10:40 rather than 10:20 because 10:20 is during recess. Sometimes students get a bit anxious after safety drills because they imagine the possibility of a real emergency. Please talk with your children about the reason we do the drills: so that if there is ever a real emergency, we will know exactly what to do to keep everyone safe. 


📑 There will be an early dismissal at noon on October 27 for parent-teacher conferences. This is a mid-term progress report meeting. Your child’s teacher will send out sign up documents for you to choose a time to meet. If you are unable to meet with your child’s teacher on October 27, you can arrange an alternate day to meet. 


🍅 YOU SAY TOMATO... We say come and get them! Fulford’s greenhouse is overflowing with tomatoes. Please feel free to come and harvest what you’d like. They won’t last much longer, so if you have time this weekend, come on down. 


 💻The district is offering a Free Zoom Presentation on Childhood Anxiety: Empowering Strategies & Effective Supports - Building Resilience by Julie-Anne Richards, MA, RCC, CCC on Tuesday, October 25 from 6:30-8:00.   100% of funding is provided by the Eric Foundation. 

Registration may be done directly with Eventbrite through the following link: 

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/free-virtual-presentation-on-childhood-anxiety-by-julie-anne-richards-tickets-430560216197 

 

📝 Attached are the PAC meeting minutes from October 5th, 2022. 


COMMUNITY EVENTS 

Salt Spring Fire is ending fire prevention week with an OPEN HOUSE, complete with a visit from Sparky! Please see the attached poster for time and details. 



Have a wonderful (albeit short) weekend everyone! 


Happy long weekend!


Administrative Assistant

fulford@sd64.org

T: (250)-653-9223 F: (250)-653-2090

Fulford Community Elementary School

203 South Ridge Drive, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 179


Mailing Address:

112 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island B.C. V8K 2K3


WEBSITE:

www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca 


 


OCTOBER 20th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


🍁Despite the smoke, we had another beautiful week of sun at school. Please remember, when the RAIN starts next week, ensure your child has appropriate outdoor clothing and a pair of indoor shoes to change into. We go outside for recess rain or shine and we want to keep our floors as clean and dry as possible, so it doesn’t become a safety hazard. 


🌩Please review the inclement weather procedures when you get a chance. https://www.fulford.sd64.bc.ca/snow-day-procedures  When there is a weather-related emergency and possible changes to bus service or early dismissal and power outages, please be patient and wait for us to communicate with you through email first or phone. When these types of things happen, we need to have our phone lines free as we generally have a lot going on in the office to co-ordinate with the families of our 150 students.  


🎃Hallowe’en is coming up! We will have a costume parade on Monday October 31st and students are encouraged to dress up with no weapons and no complete face masks. Please do not send your child to school with candy after the big day. Candy doesn’t make for the best brain food. 


🌼Our next PAC Meeting is Wednesday November2, 2022 in the outdoor classroom at 8:15 am.  


🕐We have an early dismissal for parent meetings on October 27. Teachers will connect with parents about setting up these meetings. School will be over at noon and buses will be running at that time as usual. If you are unable to meet with your child’s teacher next Thursday, please make arrangements to meet them on another day.  

 

Community Events: 

👻Ruckle Farm is hosting a Bone-Anza Halloween​ events on Sunday October 30th Follow the event link below for more information: 

Ruckle Farms Spooktacular Event

OCTOBER 27th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


🌧We finally welcomed the rain this week and felt the sudden turn to colder weather. Please remember to provide a change of clothing to be kept at school as we will see a lot of wet muddy pants from now until April.  


🎃Hallowe’en is on Monday and we will be continuing our tradition of a whole school costume parade at 9:30 in the gym! Students are invited to dress up in costume for the day, but masks will only be permitted during the parade.  Weapons should be left at home. Please reserve candy for at home if possible next week.  


💨Now that colder weather is here and with it, wind, rain and eventually snow...please remember that in the case of any weather event during the school day that affects bus service, the school will contact parents via email or phone. Please refrain from phoning the office in these emergencies unless we have left you a message to call the school. We need to communicate with the families of 150 students keeping our phone lines free is important.  


📸Photo retakes are on Tuesday Nov 1st. Photos will begin early in the morning so if you need photo retakes, please ensure your child is at school on time. 


🤒Thank you for continuing to do your daily health check and keeping students home with any symptoms of illness. We need to be able contact parents in case a student is unwell at school. If you are not going to be reachable by phone or email during the day for an extended period of time, please let us know. We have had some students stuck downstairs not feeling well for a long time while waiting for parents to pick them up. 


💲Our school relies on the fundraising efforts of parents in many ways. Please remember to stuff receipts in our box at Country Grocer as the school benefits greatly from this program! 


👍Our next PAC meeting is on Wednesday November 2nd at 8:15 in the outdoor classroom; the agenda is attached. All parents are part of PAC and all parents are always welcome to attend the PAC meetings. 


🍁Our Remembrance Day Assembly is on November 10th at 11am. Choir members will need to wear white (or light coloured) shirts with black pants or skirt for their performance.  


Have a great weekend, 


NOVEMBER 3rd, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families, 


🧛‍♂️This week started out with a lot of vampires, witches, goblins, pumpkins attending our school for the day. The range and quality of costumes were amazing this year! Some of the leadership students created a “Haunted Hallway” for students who wanted to go through it. The whole school participated in a costume parade that was followed by Ms. K’s class and other students performed the Thriller dance. By the end of the dance, the whole school was up walking like a zombie throughout the gym.



🌬We have officially welcomed the new season seeing more rain, wind, frost and even snow in some places. We have also seen an increase in illness in our school population. Please keep your child home if they have symptoms of illness so that we can keep our school population as healthy as possible.   


🏐Volleyball started this week!  Ms. Bienias and Ms. Kerrigan are coaching volleyball for students in Grades 4-7 on Wednesdays from 3:10-4:10. We hope the students can play games with Fernwood and Salt Spring Elementary in the coming weeks. 


🌹Our Remembrance Day Assembly is on Thursday November 10th at 11am in the gym. The choir is performing for the first time this year. Choir students are asked to wear a light-colored shirt with dark pants or a skirt. Each class will contribute to the ceremony in some way, either by singing, doing a choral reading and creating Remembrance Day art for display. Parents are welcome to attend and are asked to let the office know if you plan to attend so we can set up for the right number of attendees. 


👶Fulford ELF is now open and is welcoming children aged 0 to 5 with their parent or caregiver to attend ELF from 8:30 to 11:30 Monday to Thursday. We are pleased to announce that Joelle Morrison has accepted the ELF Facilitator position while Laurel is on her parental leave.  


🌨Now that the weather has turned, it is important that students are dressed appropriately for the weather and that they have indoor shoes so that we can keep our hallways clean and safe.  

With the “s” word (snow) being used in the forecast, it is time to remind you about our inclement weather procedures. Remember that only the people who requested an early morning phone call will be phoned in the case of a school closure. Most families have opted out of the phone tree.  


Inclement Weather and Snow Day Procedures 

There are three possible scenarios for Salt Spring Island schools during inclement weather: 

 

1) Buses running on main roads only: Schools are open as normal, but the buses will be running on the main roads only, which means there is no Bus 2 (Beaver Point Road). Parents should listen to one of the following radio stations to hear announcements regarding bus service: CJSU 89.7 FM Duncan, CBC Radio 1 690 AM, CBC Radio 1 Victoria 9O.5 FM and CFSI 1O7.9 FM Salt Spring. Marie will also send an email out to the parents and a notice will be posted on the district website. See the following link for a main roads only schedule: Main Roads Only Route 

 

2) Buses and/or water taxis not running yet School Is Open: Most  students will likely not attend yet school is open. Parents should listen to one of the following radio stations to hear announcements regarding bus service: CJSU 89.7 FM Duncan, CBC Radio 1 690 AM, CBC Radio 1 Victoria 9O.5 FM and CFSI 1O7.9 FM Salt Spring. Marie will also send an email out to make this announcement if there isn’t a power outage and a notice will be posted on the school district website. Please use your discretion to decide if it is safe to transport your child to and from school. 

 

3) Schools closed:  Only in the most extreme cases would the school actually be closed. In this situation, Marie will send an email out to the parents and class phone trees will be activated to notify parents of the closure. Announcements will again be made on the radio. * Please note: the phone trees will only be activated in the event of a school closure. In the other situations, it is parents’ responsibility to listen for announcements on the radio regarding bus service or check for an email from Marie. Notices are also posted on the front page of the district website. 



NOVEMBER 10th, 2022

🌹Our Remembrance Day assembly was held today, and the students and teachers did a wonderful job. Mrs. Freeman’s choir performed “A Kyrie for Our Time,” the kindergarten class recited the “Poppy Poem,” the grades 3 through 5 sang “The Strangest Dream,” and the leadership groups recited “In Flanders Fields.” Constable Felix Charette-Thibault said a few words, which was followed by a minute of silence. All of the other classes created Art to decorate the gym for our Remembrance Day Assembly. 


🎭Mrs. Thompson is on the hunt for parent volunteers for the Winter production. If anyone has sewing, backdrop designing (kids will paint), face painting, prop-creation, or carpentry skills and are willing to help in some way, please contact her at athompson@sd64.org or come speak to her after school. Your help is GREATLY appreciated! 


📩Please remember to email your child’s teacher and the office (fulford@sd64.org) if your child will be absent and let us know the reason for the absence.  


🐤Fulford ELF is now open and is welcoming children aged 0 to 5 with their parent or caregiver. ELF is open from 8:30 to 11:30, Monday to Thursday.  


✏️Please remember to add people to your child’s emergency release form throughout the year as they make new friends and/or you meet other parents you meet at your child’s bus stop. We are not permitted to release students to anyone who is not on the child’s emergency release form (even if you have agreed to a play date). It is better to have more people on your emergency release than fewer so that in minor emergencies (such as a sudden change to pickups, you are a few minutes late to meet the bus, etc.), your child can be released to another adult. You can send an email to the office letting us know the name and phone number of the people to whom your child can be released. 


🖊If you’re going to visit the school, please remember to sign in and sign out by the front office.  


💧It is officially the dark, dreary and rainy season. We cannot stress enough the importance of students wearing weather appropriate clothing and having a change of clothes kept at school. Students need to have indoor and outdoor shoes and a jacket for wet and cold days. We have had so many wet and muddy children this week and we need to make sure they are dry and comfortable, so they are well regulated for their learning activities. 


📠SD64 is looking for Administration Assistants; If this is something you’re interested in, please see the attached poster for more information. 


Here are some messages from our PAC: 

 

🔥Win a cord of firewood! 

To raise funds for school equipment, supplies, and field trips, the Fulford PAC is holding a raffle for a cord of dry, seasoned firewood that would be delivered to the raffle winner. Raffle tickets were distributed to students yesterday, Thursday, November 10th and ticket sales extend from November 10th to November 24th. We are asking families to help by selling raffle tickets. Each student was given a book of 10 tickets, with each ticket costing $5.00. For those who would like to sell or buy additional tickets, more tickets will be available. Tickets will need to be returned (including any not sold) in your child's planner by Thursday, November 24th. The raffle draw will be Wednesday, November 30th.  

Thank you in advance for your support, 

Fulford PAC 

 

🎁Re-Gift Fest! 

We are very pleased to announce that our Re-Gift Fest will proceed again this year on Thursday, December 1st!  We will be accepting donations starting on Monday, November 28th.  

For those of you who are new to the school community, Re-Gift Fest is a much-loved school event where families and community members donate gently used items for us to set up in our “Christmas Store.” The students then shop in the Christmas Store for free for gifts for each of their immediate family members. Families are asked to kindly start setting aside gently used items suitable for a range of ages (baby to adult) but no clothing, please. We suggest you donate the same number of items as there are members in your family. Please make sure the items are clean and in good working order, and are items that you, yourself would be happy to receive as a gift.  While we always have ample gifts overall in our Christmas store, we often find there is a shortage of gifts for dads and teens, so please consider this as you are collecting items around your home for donation.  Also, any donations of wrapping paper/gift bags/tags would be greatly appreciated. 

Jocelyn Lukow will be coordinating Re-Gift Fest this year.  We will also be looking for parent volunteers for the Re-Gift day to help with shopping and wrapping gifts, along with set-up and take-down on December 1. If you are willing and able to help, please let Rebecca or Marcie know. 

 


Have a great weekend!

NOVEMBER 17th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families,


We had another great week at school! 


❄️Mrs. Thompson is on the hunt for parent volunteers for the Winter production. If anyone has sewing, backdrop designing (kids will paint), face painting, prop-creation, or carpentry skills and are willing to help in some way, please contact her at athompson@sd64.org or come speak to her after school. Your help is GREATLY appreciated! 


📰At our weekly Whole School Meeting, the writers of The Fulford School News newspaper invited others to join the newspaper if they were interested. This is a great example of how to create an authentic purpose for writing that aligns with our school goal in writing! Attached to this email, see the latest edition of the newspaper. 

 

Here are some messages from our PAC: 

🦔Win a cord of firewood! 

To raise funds for school equipment, supplies, and field trips, the Fulford PAC is holding a raffle for a cord of dry, seasoned firewood that would be delivered to the raffle winner. Raffle tickets were distributed to students yesterday, Thursday, November 10th and ticket sales extend from November 10th to November 24th. We are asking families to help by selling raffle tickets. Each student was given a book of 10 tickets, with each ticket costing $5.00. For those who would like to sell or buy additional tickets, more tickets will be available. Tickets will need to be returned (including any not sold) in your child's planner by Thursday, November 24th. The raffle draw will be Wednesday, November 30th.  

Thank you in advance for your support, 

Fulford PAC 

 

🎁Re-Gift Fest! 

We are very pleased to announce that our Re-Gift Fest will proceed again this year on Thursday, December 1st!  We will be accepting donations starting on Monday, November 28th.  

For those of you who are new to the school community, Re-Gift Fest is a much-loved school event where families and community members donate gently used items for us to set up in our “Christmas Store.” The students then shop in the Christmas Store for free for gifts for each of their immediate family members. Families are asked to kindly start setting aside gently used items suitable for a range of ages (baby to adult) but no clothing, please. We suggest you donate the same number of items as there are members in your family. Please make sure the items are clean and in good working order, and are items that you, yourself would be happy to receive as a gift.  While we always have ample gifts overall in our Christmas store, we often find there is a shortage of gifts for dads and teens, so please consider this as you are collecting items around your home for donation.  Also, any donations of wrapping paper/gift bags/tags would be greatly appreciated. 

Jocelyn Lukow will be coordinating Re-Gift Fest this year.  We will also be looking for parent volunteers for the Re-Gift day to help with shopping and wrapping gifts, along with set-up and take-down on December 1. If you are willing and able to help, please let Rebecca or Marcie know. 


Please see the attached minutes from our PAC. 


NOVEMBER 24th, 2022

❄🧦This week we saw a lot of new levels of winter weather. It is very important that everyone now has appropriate clothing for the outside and a change of clothes. We play outside rain or shine unless it is dangerously windy! This is a good time to review our inclement weather procedures. Fulford Community Elementary School - SNOW DAY PROCEDURES (sd64.bc.ca) In the case of weather-related changes to bussing, power outages etc., we will communicate with parents via email with general updates and/or call specific families (in the case of road closures or similar issues). Please avoid calling the school unnecessarily as we often have a lot of co-ordination and communication to carry out and incoming calls create more chaos.  


🎄🎁Next week we will be accepting gifts for the RE-GIFT fest, which is on December 1st. Please place the items in the foyer next to the seating area. 

It is very important that you bring gifts that are in good condition. The beauty of this special event is that the children get to experience giving something that they feel excited about and that someone is equally excited to receive. While we always have ample overall gifts in our Christmas store, we often find there is a shortage of gifts for dads and teens. Donations of wrapping paper/gift bags/tags are greatly appreciated. We’re looking for volunteers for Set Up on Wednesday, November 30th from 8:30-11:30, and for “shopping” day on December 1st from 8:15-3:oo If you are willing and able to help for any amount of time, please let Rebecca or Marcie know. 


🙋‍♀️Just a reminder that after this week Marie will be off on a leave of absence after her foot surgery. Judy Smith will be filling in for her in December and can be reached at jsmith@sd64.org.  


👍Thank you for keeping your children home when they have symptoms of illness. Our school community has faced a lot of sickness this fall as we returned to school for the first time in two years without precautions in place such as masks and distancing. There are a lot of colds and flues circulating; we really appreciate everyone’s community minded efforts during this time.  

 

Community Events: 

The Chamber of Commerce is organizing the annual Centennial Park Christmas Light-LIGHT UP this Friday November 25 from 4:30pm-5:30pm 

We’ve purchased over $2000 of new lights to replace the old, mostly broken ones from years past. This family friendly event will have the local choir singing Christmas carols, and complimentary hot chocolate and candy canes for the kids! 

There’s also a chance for children to find the ‘golden candy cane’ and win a chance to ‘flip the switch’ and turn on the lights! For more information, please visit www.christmasonsaltspring.com 


DECEMBER 1st, 2022

🔥 The winner of our PAC firewood raffle is Dave O’Dell. Congratulations, Dave! And thank you to everyone for contributing to this incredible school fundraiser. Together we were able to raise over $4,600. Wahoo! 


🎄🎁 Our Re-Gift Fest was a great success again this year. Thank you to Jocelyn Lukow, Jenny Story, Caroline Rowley, Brandice Seabrook, Nayana Filkow, Abey Scaglione, Jennifer May, Clare Hoffman, Gina Conte and all of the staff and families for making it happen. It’s something the students really look forward to, and they enjoy the experience of “giving” rather than just “receiving” at Christmas.   


🏀 This coming Monday, December 5th will be the last day of basketball for this year.  


🎭 Our winter production is on Wednesday December 14th at 6pm. For those of you who are unable to attend in the evening, please feel free to watch the dress rehearsal on December 13th at 1:15 pm. 


📃 First term Report Cards will be sent home next Thursday, December 8. Please return your child’s report card envelope to the school the following week so they can be reused for term two reports. 


🔔Students in Grade 6 who have returned consent forms for the HPV vaccination will have their vaccine on Wednesday, December 7 at 1:00 pm. If your child is in Grade 6 and you would like them to receive the vaccine, please return your forms by Wednesday. 

We will be conducting one of two required Lockdown Drills at school next Thursday, December 8 at 11:30 am. The Lockdown procedure is a safety drill we are required to practice in schools for the unlikely event of an internal or external threat in the school. Like fire and earthquake drills, we practice these procedures so that students know what to do if a lockdown is ever required. Teachers teach this procedure in developmentally appropriate ways so as not to cause students stress or worry. We recommend that parents continue to discussion at home to help students process the drill and to normalize it as much as possible. Parents who do not want their children to participate in the drill should keep their children home until noon next Thursday.

 

🛌Marie is now on her medical leave until mid-January after having surgery today. Judy Smith will begin as Acting Principal on Monday, December 5. If you would like to contact Judy, please email her at jsmith@sd64.org. 


📃Attached are the two latest issues of the much anticipated, “Fulford School News.” Please give them a read for insight into the inner workings of daily student life. 


Below are some notes from PAC:


Fulford School PAC Info for Fulford Newsletter Dec 1, 2022


FUNDRAISING-GRANT APPLICATIONS-PARENTS NEEDED!

Pac is looking for parents to get involved in grant applications. There is money out there to be had if we get the applications for grants completed. Presently we do not have anyone working on this. If you are interested in jumping in and getting involved this way, please come to the PAC meeting on Dec 7 or contact Glen (Co Chair with Clare) 250 653 4290 or fulfordpac@gmail.com


PAC MEETING

Wednesday Dec 7 in the staff room. The outdoor classroom is a bit too cold now.


PAC MEETING AGENDA

1-Approve minutes from November meeting

2-Additions to the agenda

3-Principals Report

4-Correspondence

5-Treasurer’s report/fundraising-raffle-raffle #2?

6-Grant applications

7-Mary Freeman follow up

8-Garden report

9-Eco Club Idea-Glen Wilson


Parent Ideas List:

1-Artists in the Classroom-Jen

2-Gratitude tree-Shelly/Jen/Glen

3-Multi Cultural Whole School celebrations



Have a wonderful and warm weekend!



DECEMBER 8th, 2022

Greetings Fulford Families,


❄️Fulford’s winter production of the Snow Queen is on Wednesday, December 14th. Doors are at 5:30 and the show is at 6:00pm. If your child is a main character in the play portion of the production, please have them arrive at 4:30pm. All other students should be arriving at 5:30 and going to their classroom.

  

🕒There is an after-school rehearsal for the play Monday December 5, 2022, for students involved in the Snow Queen from 3 to 4:15.  


🦉Please ensure your children return their library books to the school next week so the books don’t get lost over the two-week break. If your child has overdue books that haven’t been found, please contact Rebecca about replacement costs. 


🐻Students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school on Thursday, December 16th for the last day of school before Winter Break. 


Here is a message from Ms. Freeman our choir teacher:  


Dear Parents,  

The Fulford Elementary School Choir will be performing in our annual Christmas Concert on Wednesday, December 14th at 6:00 p.m. in the school gymnasium. Students will be asked to arrive in their classroom at 5:30 p.m. (Students who are acting in ‘The Snow Queen’, will be arriving at 4:30 p.m.) All students, including the choir students will proceed to the gymnasium at 5:45. The choir will be the first to perform. All choir students will be asked to wear a light (or white colored T-shirt or blouse) and either dark pants or a dark skirt. Please encourage your child to practice the following songs: ‘Carol of the Bells’ ‘Starry Winter Night’ ‘Moonlight Sleighride 

PAC NEWS 


🎄CHRISTMAS CONCERT BAKE SALE. 

Fulford PAC is having a Bake Sale - by donation - at the Christmas Concert. Please bring baked yummies for this event. Arrive a little early so we can get the bake sale table set up. All proceeds will support the PAC funded programs at Fulford Community School. 

Please identify any gluten and dairy free baking! 

Thank You, 

Glen 250 653 4290 glenmayne.wilson@gmail.com 


PARENT VOLUNTEERS APPRECIATED 

Volunteering at school is a great way to connect to our school community and there are many ways to get involved. If you are interested in volunteering in your child’s classroom please contact your child’s teacher. Up to-date Criminal Record Checks are required for school volunteers using this link.  

https://sd64.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/criminal-record-checks.pdf 

 

👩‍🌾School Garden News 

School Garden Work is on hold until the beginning of February. We will have one workday in Jan to cover the Garden in cardboard, all the other exciting projects will start up again in February. 

 

 

Illness continues to spread around the school – both respiratory and gastrointestinal. We really appreciate the efforts families are putting in to keep sick kids at home to reduce the spread of communicable disease.  If your child is home with illness, you can read and play Math games to keep learning fresh. 


DECEMBER 15th, 2022

Weekly Newsletter December 15th, 2022 


The sun is shining on Fulford this afternoon in anticipation of a bright and happy holiday. The children are excited as they participate in some fun year-end activities including story time and making candy cane reindeer. Outside at midday they burst into action, running, and laughing together, full of excitement and joy. We anticipate that by the weekend the field, which is very green today, will be white, just in time for Christmas. Tonight, will be perfect for sharing good books and hot chocolate in front of a warm fire. Slow down and savour this time together. Have a wonderful holiday.  


It was so wonderful to gather as a school community for the first Christmas Concert in two years last night. We were so proud of our students and the hard work they put into their presentation. A special thank you to Ms. Thompson and Ms. Freeman for their dedication to making this performance so special.  


Today we had our winter read in. Students signed up to hear the story of their preference and listened while enjoying a candy cane.  

 

We hope you have a wonderful holiday, and we look forward to seeing everyone again in January.   

School re-opens on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. This will be a Tuesday to Friday week.  

 

For some family friendly Christmas cheer join Valdy at the Mercantile parking lot for his upcoming Merry Monday. It will be December 19, from 5:50 to 7:50. There will be a bonfire and warm beverages available. This has been a Fulford tradition for many years. Everyone is welcome. 

JANUARY 6th, 2023

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a great holiday break. 

Today was PJ day at Fulford, a day always enjoyed by everyone. 

Sports updates: Volleyball Practice will now be Thursday during lunch hour instead of Wednesday afternoons after school. Also, there will be no afterschool Basketball Skills Monday drop-in sessions this semester. 

Since all the snow has gone, today the Kindergarten students were building snowmen – indoors! 


NEXT PAC MEETING JAN 11, 2023 – STAFF ROOM – all parents welcome always 

AGENDA 1-Approve the minutes from the Dec meeting 2-Additions to the agenda 3-Principal’s report 4-Trustees report 5-Correspondence 6-Treasurer’s report 7-Carving project 8-Fundraising/Grant Applications/Raffle#2 9-Garden report-plan January workday Parent Idea List: 1-Artists in the Classroom-Jen 2-Gratitude Tree-Shelly/Jen/Glen 3-Multi Cultural Whole School Celebrations 5-Ocean Wise Educational Opportunities-Jen Eco Club-Glen/Jocelyn? 

JANUARY 12th, 2023

Greetings Fulford Families, 


We had a wonderful week of school now feeling more settled in our routine after the holiday. 


❤️This week was Judy’s last full week at Fulford and she will be missed. Thank you to Judy for stepping in for Marie and becoming such an important member of our school community. Marie will be back on January 23rd and is looking forward to scooting around the school on her knee scooter... and seeing all the students:) 


🏐This week our volleyball team had an exciting trip to Salt Spring Elementary School for their first game. We are impressed with the commitment and progress our team has made and are proud of their sportsmanship. We will host Fernwood next week for another game.  


🤢Over the past few days we saw some familiar signs of circulating illness, specifically vomiting. We heard many students report they had been either sick or vomiting the night before coming to school. For the health and well-being of everyone in the school, please keep children at home with symptoms of illness and wait at least 24 hours after symptoms such as vomiting, fever or diarrhea have been completely resolved and your child is feeling well.  


☔We have seen a lot of wet and muddy kids in this January weather. We really need parents to send extra clothes, especially pants, with their children to school. If you have any spare pants at home, we would appreciate a donation of extras at this time.  


📝After school plans: the best way to communicate after school plans is in the planner, or an email to the teacher AND the office early in the day if possible. Last minute changes are unavoidable but if you are aware of the plan, the earlier the better. 


⭐Next week On January 18th, in the afternoon, our Grade 6/7’s will be presenting their Genius Projects that they have been working on with Mrs. Creech. We are excited to see the results of their hard work.


JANUARY 19th, 2023

Greetings Fulford Families,


We had a wonderful week at school. We hosted a volleyball game with Fernwood School, the Grade 6/7’s shared their Genius Projects and we ended the week with a visit from Quentin as well as apple cider and cookies for our entire school at recess! 


⭐Some reminders:  


👟Please send indoor shoes with your child. There are many older students especially who do not have a change of footwear for inside. Wearing outdoor shoes inside makes our floors wet and slippery which is a safety hazard. If you do not have indoor shoes for your child, please contact Marie. 

Please send a change of clothes to school with your child, especially pants and socks. We had many children getting wet and needing a change of clothes this week. 


🚍Field Trips – We are seeing more and more field trips. Our busing costs are not free. The fee that your teacher collects is to cover the bus expenses plus other expenses such as admissions, please let the classroom teacher know if you cannot afford the trip and other arrangements can be made. It is important to communicate this so that teachers can plan for it; coordinating field trips is a huge job for our staff so we appreciate you following the instructions as given to you by classroom teachers.  ALSO, if you think you might want to go on a feild trip with your child's class please double check you have your criminal record check completed.


🍎It is Kindergarten registration time again. Please share with your community that may not be in the loop that it is time to come into the school and register their child for Kindergarten! Most people who do not have children in school will not have registration on their mind in February but this is when we do our next year’s projected enrolment for staffing purposes. Please follow the link for the necessary information. https://sd64.bc.ca/sd64-kindergarten-registration/  


📍It is also time to start submitting Cross Boundary requests. Please follow this link and fill out the form if you are not in our catchment area. If you are not sure if you are out of catchment, please contact the school. This needs to be submitted annually even if you have been previously approved. https://sd64.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cross-boundary-request.pdf  


✍Staff will be engaged in Profession Development tomorrow for a school-based pro-d day. Staff from Fulford, Mayne and Phoenix are working together for a 6+1 Writing Traits workshop. This workshop will  help us refine our instructional practices in writing to support our school goal.   


🙌We are so happy to report our long-lost principal will be at school next week. You will see her scooting around on her knee scooter. Watch out because I have heard she's an aggressive driver.  


🔍Please see the attached notices about community events centered around Youth Substance abuse and Literacy Week and our PAC minutes from the last meeting. 

 

 

👩‍🌾IMPORTANT FULFORD SCHOOL GARDEN NEWS

 

Yes, it is true…spring is coming. In February we are going to launch into a variety of exciting work to get the garden ready. 

GARDEN WORK STARTS IN FEBRUARY! OUR FIRST WORK AFTERNOON IS THURDSAY FEB 2 from 1:30-330. OUR FIRST WORK PARTY IS SUNDAY FEB 5 FROM 11 – 3. BRING TOOLS KIDS AND FOOD! 

Here is a list of some of the projects we hope to complete before planting: 

1-new plastic and hardware on the greenhouse 

2-finish the construction of the beds inside the greenhouse 

3-cut back unused and overgrown areas and cover with cardboard to supress weeds. 

4-create a lawn area with a picnic table of sorts to make a comfortable hang out space for students probably surrounded by sunflowers 

5-maintenance on the rainwater collection system 

6-build new growing space towards the back fence 

7-get garden student leadership happening for planning spring planting-possibly through a garden/eco club (new idea) 

8-spread new soil for new areas and put down alder/maple chips in areas along fence line to keep it a clear maintained path. 

There will be a meeting of the Parent Garden Committee at the work party on Sunday Feb 5. If any parents would like to be on this committee, please come to the meeting or let me know by emailing glenmayne.wilson@gmail.com or call me at 250 653 4290. 

Glen Wilson (Drew Gr 4) 

 



JANUARY 26th, 2023

Greetings Fulford Families, 


January has been mild and we’re even starting to see evidence of spring! But we are expecting another blast of winter starting this weekend. The sun will be shining, so it will be a perfect opportunity to get outside with your kids for some active play. Then enjoy cozy evenings around the fire with good books and hot drinks. We hope it is memorable and enjoyable. 


Have a look at our newsletter and hear all about what’s happening at Fulford School.  


Please send indoor shoes with your child. There are many students, particularly students in Grades 4-7, who do not have a change of footwear for inside. Wearing outdoor shoes inside makes our floors wet and slippery which is a safety hazard. We’re working hard to reinforce the safety rule, so your help is appreciated. If you do not have indoor shoes for your child and cannot afford to buy them, please contact Marie for financial assistance. 

It is Kindergarten registration time again. We’re inviting families of next year’s Kindergarten students in our catchment to a pizza party to find out all about our Kindergarten program. This is an RSVP event. Please see the attached poster for more information.  

Please share with your community that it’s time to come into the school and register their child for kindergarten! Most people who do not have children in school will not have registration on their mind in February, but this is when we do our projected enrolment for staffing purposes. Please follow the link for the necessary information. https://sd64.bc.ca/sd64-kindergarten-registration/  


Applications for students in Grade 5 going into Late French Immersion are due before March 1. There will be an information session, “Soirée FrancoFun”, on Tuesday February 28th from 6-8 pm, held at Gulf Island Secondary School and on Zoom. Please see the attached letter and direct your questions to Shelly Johnson, sjohnson@sd64.org . 


It is also time to start submitting Cross Boundary requests again for next year. Please follow this link and fill out the form if you do not live in our catchment area. If you are not sure if you are out of catchment, please contact the school. This needs to be submitted annually even if you have been previously approved. https://sd64.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cross-boundary-request.pdf 


The next PAC meeting is on Wednesday, February 1 at 8:15 in the staff room. We hope that you will be able to make it. 


Thanks to Mr. MacQueen, Mrs. Van Riel, Mrs. Kerrigan and Vivien Beerends, we have basketball teams starting up! The Grades 4-5 team practices on Wednesdays during lunch play while the Grade 6-7 team practices on Mondays after school from 3- 4 pm. Consent forms were sent home with the students this week and should be returned before the first practice. 


Mr. Fast is now hosting chess club in his classroom on Thursdays at lunchtime for students in Grades 4-7. Many of the chess pieces have been printed on our 3-D printer. Some of the adults in the building should participate in chess club to finally learn (hint hint, Marie). 

February 2nd, 2023

Greetings Fulford Families 


❄️We had an exciting week with some snow to play in. Thank you to everyone who has sorted out indoor/outdoor footwear for their child; our school was much cleaner and safer this week because of it. For those of you whose children still do not have indoor shoes to change into, please contact Marie if you need financial assistance to get shoes. 


🍕It is Kindergarten registration time again. We’re inviting families of next year’s Kindergarten students in our catchment to a Pizza and Play Party on February 8th to find out all about our Kindergarten program. This is an RSVP event. Please see the attached poster for more information. Spread the word to anyone you know who has a child of kindergarten age. 


🍎Please share with your community that it’s time to come into the school and register their child for kindergarten! Most people who do not have children in school will not have registration on their mind in February, but this is when we do our projected enrolment for staffing purposes. Please follow the link for the necessary information. https://sd64.bc.ca/sd64-kindergarten-registration/  


✍Applications for students in Grade 5 going into Late French Immersion are due before March 1. There will be an information session, “Soirée FrancoFun”, on Tuesday February 28th from 6-8 pm, held at Gulf Island Secondary School and on Zoom. Please see the attached letter and direct your questions to Shelly Johnson, sjohnson@sd64.org . 


📍It is also time to start submitting Cross Boundary requests again for next year. Please follow this link and fill out the form if you do not live in our catchment area. If you are not sure if you are out of catchment, please contact the school. This needs to be submitted annually even if you have been previously approved. https://sd64.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cross-boundary-request.pdf 

 

Information from Fulford PAC: 

🥕IMPORTANT FULFORD SCHOOL GARDEN NEW  

Yes, it is true…spring is coming. In February we are going to launch into a variety of exciting work to get the garden ready.  

GARDEN WORK STARTS IN FEBRUARY! OUR FIRST WORK AFTERNOON IS THURDSAY FEB 2 from 1:30-330. OUR FIRST WORK PARTY IS SUNDAY FEB 5 FROM 11 – 3. BRING TOOLS KIDS AND FOOD!  

Here is a list of some of the projects we hope to complete before planting:  

1-new plastic and hardware on the greenhouse  

2-finish the construction of the beds inside the greenhouse  

3-cut back unused and overgrown areas and cover with cardboard to suppress weeds.  

4-create a lawn area with a picnic table of sorts to make a comfortable hang out space for students probably surrounded by sunflowers  

5-maintenance on the rainwater collection system  

6-build new growing space towards the back fence  

7-get garden student leadership happening for planning spring planting-possibly through a garden/eco club (new idea)  

8-spread new soil for new areas and put down alder/maple chips in areas along fence line to keep it a clear maintained path.  

There will be a meeting of the Parent Garden Committee at the work party on Sunday Feb 5. If any parents would like to be on this committee, please come to the meeting or let me know by emailing glenmayne.wilson@gmail.com or call me at 250 653 4290.  

Glen Wilson (Drew Gr 4) 


 

Have a great weekend!

 

The Fulford Office Team



February 9th, 2023

Greetings Fulford Families, 


💧  Despite the heavy rains at times this week, we had a momentous week with some new leadership opportunities put into place for our Grades 6-7 student leaders. Some student leaders are arranging games for students at recesses, some are refereeing hockey or soccer, some are helping in primary classrooms, some in the office and library, and some helped in our SEY2TK event on Wednesday after school. It is so nice to have Grade 6 and 7 students in the school to help in a variety of ways. 


🚒 We had a little added "excitement" in the form of an impromptu fire drill. We'd like to thank the students and staff for being flexible and following the protocols. You all did a great job!


🍪 Valentine’s Day Cookie Sale 

Our Leadership Club is hosting a Cookie Sale on Valentine’s Day next week. Students will bake and sell a variety of cookies that will be sold during the Eat and Read time after lunch play. There will be both vegan and gluten-free options available. Cookies will be sold for $1 each, with the money raised going towards a student-chosen charity. 


💟 Classes may have a Valentine’s Day celebrations so please look for communication from your child’s teacher for specific details about shared snacks, etc. Students who choose to bring Valentine’s Day cards should plan to bring them for all students in the class to avoid anyone feeling excluded (mostly the primary classes). Your child’s teacher will send home a list of students’ names. 


⏲ Early Dismissal for Parent Conferences on February 15 

School will be dismissed at noon on Wednesday, February 15 so that teachers can meet with parents. Some classes are resuming the practice of student-led conferences so those teachers will send home information about the time for your child’s student-led conference. Other teachers will be available for parent conferences and will send out information about parent conference times. If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher but have not yet heard from the teacher, please contact the teacher to schedule an appointment. 


❤️ Pink Shirt Day 

Pink Shirt Day is coming up on February 22. We will participate in Pink Shirt Day as we do every year raffling off Pink Shirt Day paraphernalia, including a t-shirt, toque, and bracelets. Many classes are talking about friendship and kindness this month with both Valentine’s Day and Pink Shirt Day happening. Please continue the conversations at home by talking about how to be a good friend, the importance of kindness and inclusivity, etc. For more information about Pink Shirt Day, see this link. 


💻 Please share with your community that it is time to come into the school and register their child for kindergarten! Most people who do not have children in school will not have registration on their mind in February, but this is when we do our projected enrolment for staffing purposes. Please follow the link for the necessary information. https://sd64.bc.ca/sd64-kindergarten-registration/  


🥖 Applications for students in Grade 5 going into Late French Immersion are due before March 1. There will be an information session, “Soirée FrancoFun”, on Tuesday February 28th from 6-8 pm, held at Gulf Island Secondary School and on Zoom. Please see the attached letter and direct your questions to Shelly Johnson, sjohnson@sd64.org . 


⭐ It is also time to start submitting Cross Boundary requests again for next year. Please follow this link and fill out the form if you do not live in our catchment area. If you are not sure if you are out of catchment, please contact the school. This needs to be submitted annually even if you have been previously approved. https://sd64.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cross-boundary-request.pdf 


📝 Writing Sprints 

Mr. MacQueen, Logan and Mr. Fast’s classes are finishing up the first writing sprint with the EPIC writing support teacher. They engaged in collaborative marking to measure their students’ progress over the 6 week period. Katie, our librarian and EPIC writing support teacher, also did collaborative planning with Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Kerrigan for the next learning sprint that begins next week. 


👨‍👩‍👧👩‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👨‍👧‍👦👨‍👦👩‍👧‍👧   Family Day 

Family Day is on Monday, February 20 so school will be in session Tuesday to Friday that week. 



News from PAC:


🥕 SCHOOL GARDEN WORK AFTERNOONS: Every week on Thursday starting at 1:30 pm


💃 A PAC Family Dance Fundraiser is planned for next Thursday, February 16th, 6:00-8:00pm in the school gym.

Please join us for a fun evening of dancing for the whole family!

Entry is a toonie at the door and we will have a bake sale by donation. Beverages   

( non-alcoholic) will also be available. Please bring baked goods for the sale if you are able.