On Tuesday, February 4th, our school will be participating in Global School Play Day, a worldwide initiative that encourages children to learn through unstructured, screen-free play for an entire day.  This initiative is rooted in the belief that play is essential to children’s learning, well-being, and development. On this day, students are welcome to bring in items from home to play with, as long as they are non-electronic (no screens, batteries, or remote controls, please). Your classroom teacher will give more guidelines about what items are appropriate to bring to their classroom.

By stepping back and giving children time, space, and trust to play, we honour their natural curiosity and capacity to learn through exploration, collaboration and imagination. In a world where children are increasingly scheduled, stimulated and surrounded by technology, opportunities for boredom and open-ended play are where creativity, imagination and problem-solving begin.

Global School Play Day reminds us that play is not a break from learning – it is learning.  

The district elementary basketball season has just started. Thank you to our coaches for coaching our teams. 

Wishart students in Divisions 1-6 will be participating in a two day Rugby unit as a part of their Physical Education class on February 10 and 11. During these lessons, students will learn the fundamentals of passing and catching and participate in some fun non-contact games.  We are partnering with Westshore Rugby, who are hosting a Try Rugby event on February 15.  For more info, see the flyer in this newsletter.

We are very happy and proud to add this incredible Wolf to our logo bank.  The artist, Brianna Bear, was great to work with and we thank her for this gift of art.

Just a gentle reminder to parents to check their students information on the parent portal- https://myeducation.gov.bc.ca/aspen/logon.do.  If you require any updates to be done regarding phone numbers, addresses and authorized pick up people please email the information that needs to be changed in to the school – nolsten@sd62.bc.ca

Please ensure you have your school cash online account up and running for your student/s. All school field trip permission forms and school fundraisers are done through the school cash online system.  Cash and/or Cheques are no longer accepted into the school. When students are going on school field trips please note that all permission forms must be completed 24 hours PRIOR to the field trip taking place.

PARENTS NEEDING TO CREATE A SCHOOL CASH ONLINE ACCOUNT:

If you need to set up a school cash online account please follow the instructions below:

Use this link to access school cash online: https://sd62.schoolcashonline.com/

#1         Please ensure you use the consent link to “consent” to the use of the school cash online program PRIOR to registering for an account: Consent for use can take up to 48 hours; once this step is complete you can register in the school cash system.

#2       Register for your account. Follow the steps to register for an account by entering your email address. A confirmation email will be sent to the address entered. Please click on the link in the email to complete your registration

   #3        Adding your student: Please add your student by using their PEN number.  Once your student is added you will be able to see all permission slip and items for sale by the school.

If you have followed these steps and still require assistance please contact the office via email: nolsten@sd62.bc.ca

Please ensure all consents are up to date each year.  Please use this link  https://consent.sd62.bc.ca/apps/OnlineConsent  to consent to the following:

• General consent for school Fieldtrips/Activites-
  this is for walking trips only; all bussing field trips will have online consent for each trip via school cash online
• Google Apps for Education
• Internet Access Consent
• Media Consent
• NA ‘TSA’MAHT Indigenous Education
• School Cash Online Consent
• SpacesEDU Consent
• Web-based Applications General Consent

Please complete your student consents as soon as possible

Parents volunteering for field trips or classroom work require a Criminal Record Check when working with our students. This needs to be completed and on file at the school office prior to volunteering. Criminal record checks for the Sooke School District are to be completed through the Ministry of Justice.

Driving any students in a private vehicle also requires a completed Criminal Records Check as well as a driver’s abstract from ICBC and  a copy of your valid driver’s license and insurance showing a minimum of $3,000,000 liability.  These are now required for all volunteers when driving for field trips and must be in to the office at least 72 HOURS PRIOR to driving or attending a field trip. Please see the link with information below.

CRC and parent volunteer

The school office will keep your CRC and Drivers abstract on file for three years from the date of its receipt. Vehicle insurance and drivers license must be submitted yearly.

Thank you again for volunteering your time so our children can have the best educational opportunities.

Drop-off and Pick-up:
We ask that parents continue to ‘Park and Go’ their child/ren at the parking lot. This is working well for most part and we request that you continue with this practice. This helps
us ensure that students and staff are safe. We will also continue to have cones in the front and at the back of the building to prevent crowding during drop-off and pick-up times.