November 2022

Happy Friday ESQE Families!

Wow, can you believe December is just around the corner?! Lots of fun to be had so please keep up to date with your child’s teacher and our weekly emails! As we near the holiday, it is important to keep to the same sleep schedule and routines. We still have learning to do and we want the students to be ready to learn and be engaged.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Scholastic Book Fair this fall. It was a huge success and will provide many new books for our Library! A special thank you to the SQE PAC for volunteering their time helping with the fair.

We have an action packed newsletter, please take the time to read through all of the details below!

Sincerely

Sarah Hain

ESQE Principal

Important Upcoming Dates:

Dec 2nd ESQE Writing Day & Pajama Day 9:00am-10:00am

Dec 5th Elf Workshop at ESQE

Dec 12th Popcorn Day

Dec 15th ESQE Magical Winder Wander 5:00-6:30pm

Dec 16th Hot Lunch (order due Dec 2nd)

Dec 16th Last day of school before Winter Break

Dec 19th - Jan 2nd School Closed for Winter Break

Jan 3rd First day back from winter break!

_Reminders

_{Please send your child to school with appropriate clothing and shoes for the weather.}
_{We have a busy parking lot during drop off and pick up. Please remember to drive safe, do not idle in the round about, please park in the school parking lot during morning drop off and afternoon pick up.}

_{Staying Home Sick}

The flu bug is a bad one this year and we have had a lot of sickness going around!

Please make sure you are continuing to do a daily health check to see if your child should be coming to school or not.

We know that there may be some lingering coughs, but if it is a new or persistent cough, or other symptoms are present, we be calling home if they come to school.

We understand the inconvenience of the cold season, but we need everyone to be health and ready for their day at school, so rest is best until symptoms improve.

Ecole Squamish Elementary Writing Day - Dec 2nd!

You are invited to join your child in writing to friends and relatives for the holiday season on Friday, December 2nd! We’ll supply an assortment of writing paper. Christmas cards will also be on sale. We encourage you to bring along any family members or friends so that every student has someone to write with them. Students are welcome to wear their pajamas to help get into the cozy winter holiday spirit!

Please join us from 9:00-10:00am on December 2nd. Students and theif families will have the option of writing in the gym, the library, or their classrooms. Please check in with your childs teacher in the classroom first.
As we will not be providing envelopes, please feel free to send your own cards and pre-addressed envelopes with your child. Unfortunately, Canada Post is unable to sell stamps this year, so children will be bringing home their letters and cards for families to mail from home.
For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas we encourage you to have your children write family letters
If your child would like to write a letter to Santa, please send an envelope with the correct return address and name for Santa to write back to you. There is no cost to send Santa a letter.
Christmas Cards for sale (optional): 2 cards for $1

Santa's Address is address is:

Santa Claus
North Pole
HOH OHO

Winter Wonder - Dec 15th!

Affordability Fund for Families!

If you are needing access to some support and you haven’t already let us know please read on and email me (Sarah Hain -ESQE Principal) at [email protected].

We would like to update you on the grant from the Ministry of Education and Childcare to make back-to-school more affordable for students and their families struggling with rising costs of living due to global inflation. We are mindful that many families in our community are struggling with the increased cost of living. We want every family to know that they are eligible for financial assistance through the Student & Family Affordability fund, no questions asked.
This one-time funding support (this year) will be allocated towards school-related expenses, including:

School supplies
Field Trip funds
Family food security
Basic necessities
Clothing/footwear
Other necessities of a family needed

The funds will be able to be accessed through gift cards from Walmart & London Drugs (supplies, basic necessities, clothing, food), Save-On-Foods & Nesters (foods and other supplies).

If you would like to access the affordability fund, please let the office know by email to myself at [email protected] & share what you may need support for from the above list. Please be patient while we organize getting these gift cards and a system in place to support our families. If for whatever reason you have not heard back from me within a week, please re-send just incase it was missed. I don’t want any barriers for you to receive this support

Term 1 Reporting

Here is what you need to know about reporting this year!

Option 1 (timely evidence): Reminder that if your child’s class is in this option for reporting, their point of progress will be available on MyEd Parent Portal no later than January 15th.Teachers will let families know when to expect these reports, timing is based on when it fits with the evidence they are sharing for Term 1 (this may be different timing than other classes). These reports are based on the evidence you should be receiving throughout the term.

Option 2: Reminder that if your child’s class is in this option for reporting, these reports will be uploaded to the MyEd parent portal on Friday, December 9th for your viewing. You will have access to these reports in MyEd for 3 weeks.

New families, you would have received an email at the beginning of the year from our system administrator providing you with a log in and temporary password, if you didn’t receive this email, please first check your junk mail and if it’s not there, let me know and I will have him generate another one for you.

Please note, the first time you log in it cannot be from a mobile device. Make sure you keep your log in and password in a safe place for future use. If you have forgotten your login information, use the information provided below to gain access.

Common to both (please read):

Reports are posted on the MyEd Parent Portal (no longer paper copy unless requested). MyEd features a family portal which parents/guardians and students can view student information and to retrieve various publications including report cards.
You will receive an email from us when your child’s report has been posted to the portal and there will be a window of time to access this information.
If you do not have the information to access MyEd, please contact the school office.
If you need a paper copy, please let your child’s teacher know a head of time.

Here are two videos that you may find helpful. Please note that mobile devices have limited ability with this application.

Introduction to the family portal: https://youtu.be/lt1EsmBFEWc Collecting report cards: https://youtu.be/ngiwWICCahI I hope you will find the portal to be a convenient and useful service.
Please feel free to contact MyEd support for any questions or concerns. Email: [email protected]

Cross Country

Wow, what an amazing effort put forward by this years Cross Country team! In rain or shine we had a dedicated group of students running and represented ESQE!

Remembrance Day

On Thursday November 10th ESQE gathered to honour those who have fought, given their lives, and continue to fight for our freedom. Thank you so much to Mr. Georgy-Embree class and Ms. Busalacchi for putting together a beautiful assembly.

Mme. Lazars Class

Mme. Lazars class has started to explore the idea of "Worrying". They have created "worry monsters", discussing what worrying looks and feels like. Next, they will be creating the worry habitat, and exploring ways to tools to help them manage their worry feelings!

Implementation Day

On Monday November 24th, ESQE staff gathered to learn. We spent our morning attending a workshop about Compassionate Leadership, and our afternoon exploring the 4 Blankets (Self, Family, Community, and Culture) and collaborating on ways we can integrate these into our daily practice.

PAC - Parent Advisor Council

Sea to Sky Artisan Market

Thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting the student and adult vendors. We are looking into the potential for a spring market! We will keep you posted!

Happy Hippo - Fundraiser ends Nov 30th

Elf Workshop

We are hosting our Elf Workshop Dec 5th. We will be collecting donations of new and lightly used items, tape, and wrapping paper! These can be dropped of in the foyer across from the office

Community Christmas Care Packages

We will be continuing to collect new items and gift card donations until Dec 9th. There is a box in front of the office for donation collection. No food this year please!

Happy November Birthdays!