A Message From the Head of Junior School: Friday, November 5, 2021

On By havergaljuniorschool

Dear Junior School Parents,

Happy Friday! The Junior School celebrated Diwali in prayers on Monday, led by our students in 5B. They shared the history of this festival of lights, as ways in which it is celebrated by millions of people all over the world. Then, today, our Grade 4 students delivered a message about what it means to belong and to be included. They read us a book called “The Big Umbrella” and reflected on ways in which we can include others in our play and in the classroom, as well as explaining how to use “I” statements to share feelings. 

We are looking forward to prayers on Monday, when students in Grade 3 will lead us in our Remembrance Day service. Please feel free to join online!

This week’s blog contains information on the following:

Sincerely,

Kate

UPDATES

Vaccination Information Sessions for Families

Cold & Flu Season

  • In an ongoing effort to keep all members of our community in good health, we  thank you for keeping your child at home if they are unwell.
  •  If a student comes to school with presentable symptoms (including those not associated with COVID-19) they will be required to be picked up and to go home until they are well.

Admissions Postcard Design Contest

  • Our Admission team is keen to design a new postcard destined for prospective families. They would like to harness our students’ talents and perspectives as a means of sharing a little more about Havergal.
  • Details:
    • Students are invited to submit a photo or drawing of their favourite spot on campus 
    • If they submit a photo, it should be of high resolution and either 5 x 7 or 6 x 4
    • a short quote explaining what makes that location special should also be submitted (max. 100 words)
    • all submissions due by Tuesday, November 16th to mhw@havergal.on.ca 

Safety Campaign in the Junior School

  • Kudos to the Grade 6 team who have succeeded in raising awareness among the drivers in our community about the need to slow down, watch for pedestrians, and stop only in designated areas! 
  • We  ask for ongoing support in keeping our community safe!

Book Fair: November 29 – 5 

  • We are so excited to announce that we will once again be hosting a book fair this fall with our friends at Ella Minnow Children’s Bookstore. 
  • Given the current environment, our book fair will be virtual, so all ordering will be done online.
  • We will be hosting preview sessions for students so they can create wish lists to help guide your shopping.
  • The book fair will run from November 29th to December 5th. 
  • More information about ordering will be coming but for now, please mark your calendars!

Fall Athletics

  • The students have had a wide range of athletic co-curricular opportunities scheduled during the school day and before/after school. 
  • Congratulations to the 11 teams who have finished their season developing skills and enjoyed being competitive amongst each other. 
  • Take a look at their team pictures here: Team Pictures 

Winter Athletics

  • Please check next week’s blog for all information regarding Gr. 3-6 Winter Athletics. 

REMINDERS

Chartwell’s Ordering Form

Student Photographs

  • This is a final reminder for parents to check their student photos online at the following link: Echo Photography  
  • The password required is your child’s student identification number.
  • If you need help with identifying this number, please visit the Veracross portal and view your child’s profile carefully. 
  • Deadline for ordering student photos: November 20th
  • Should you require further assistance please email: jsoffice@havergal.on.ca

Rapid Antigen Testing Reminder 

  • Thank you to everyone who has registered for the Thrive Health app and logged results for their child. 
  • If you have not yet received an invite to set up your account, please send an email to covid@havergal.on.ca. You must set up your Thrive Health account from the email invitation, using the email address that the invitation was sent to. 
  • For further assistance with account creation see the Thrive Account Setup Instructions. If you require any changes to your account, such as a name or email change after registration, or have difficulty setting up your account, please contact support@thrive.health for further assistance. 
  • If you have not yet started, please commence testing next week, uploading test  results into Thrive Health for your child by the end of the day on Mondays and Thursdays. For info on how to upload a test result see here. Please isolate your child, arrange for PCR testing and notify covid@havergal.on.ca if there is ever a positive Rapid Antigen Screening result. 
  • As students are required to complete a self-assessment through SchoolPass on each school day at Havergal, they do not need to complete the detailed self-assessment feature of Thrive Health. Going forward, the self-assessment questionnaire within Thrive is just a confirmation that you have completed the SchoolPass wellness screen. Please complete this confirmation with each test result that you upload for your child.
  • Our Health Centre is underway with contacting families to provide confirmation that results are being logged correctly and provide instructions for families that have not yet logged results. See our Rapid Antigen Screening Guidance document here for any further questions about testing for COVID-19.

Travel Outside of Canada and What to do if your Child is Ill

  • With the November Mid-Term break  and the Winter Holidays coming up, we would like to remind families about the requirements around returning to school if you are travelling outside the country. If you and your unvaccinated child are travelling internationally, it is important to underscore that your child is unable to attend school for 14 days after their arrival back in Canada. Please note, there is no access to remote learning during this time; however, students have the option to follow along with instructions and class notes on Seesaw (JK – 3) or Google Classroom (Gr. 4 – 6) if they are not at school. If you have any specific requests, please contact the Head of the Junior School. 
  • If you have any specific requests, please contact the Head of the Junior School. 
  • For additional guidance, please review our Student Return to School after Illness, Exposure or Travel procedure, which is included in the Family Handbook’s Return to Campus COVID-19 Protocols section. You may also reference the federal government travel advice for those travelling with unvaccinated children.

DATES ON THE HORIZON

Thursday, November 11 – Monday, November 15

  • Midterm break: no classes

Tuesday, November 16

  • Submissions to postcard design contest due

Monday, November 29 – Thursday, December 2

  • Junior School Book Fair

Friday, December 3

  • PD Day
    • No classes for students
    • JS Faculty and Staff participating in Professional Development

Thursday, December 9

  • Report Cards available for online viewing

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

  • Last day of term

Christmas Break:

  • Thursday, December 16. 2021 – Monday, January 3, 2022

Classes Resume:

  • Tuesday, January 4, 2022

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