Routines

Attendance

Regular attendance is essential for a student’s success in school. All academic subjects are taught in sequence, requiring the understanding of each concept in the order of its presentation. Persistent absenteeism or lateness creates a genuine disadvantage for a student and is regarded as a serious problem.

Absences - Safe Arrival Program

 It is the policy of the Upper Grand District School Board to have safe arrival programs in its schools that allow parents and staff to account for a pupil’s unexplained failure to arrive at school through reasonable efforts to make timely contacts with parents/guardians or care givers. Therefore, when students are absent we need a call. An ‘Advanced Notification System’ for student absence is used by our school.

If a pupil will be absent or late, the parent is asked to telephone the school office, each day, at 856-9556 EX 222, BEFORE 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. Please leave the following information: child’s name, teacher’s name and reason for absence.
If students are absent without explanation, parents and care givers will be contacted in the following order: at home, at work, care giver (if appropriate), emergency contact and if warranted, the police.

According to Upper Grand District School Board Policy, it is the responsibility of parents to:

    a) provide current telephone contacts such as: home phone number, cellular phone number, work number of both parents, number of care giver and emergency contact numbers on the student admission/information form
    b) update the information during the school year
    c) communicate with the school, prior to the start of school in the morning or afternoon, when the child will be absent or late for any reason
    d) provide written permission for their child to leave the school during the day.

Lateness

 Except when a bus is late, any pupil who is late must obtain a late slip from the school office. A note or phone call is appreciated for all pupil lateness.

Homework Requests

If a student must be away for an extended period, please notify your child’s teacher (in writing) in advance. Also, refer to Appendix C of the Student Hanbook for ideas that will provide structure and strategies to help get the most out of this ‘out of class’ experience.

Unless your child is going to be absent for more than one day, please do not request homework, as it is possible that the teacher does not have any planning time during the day to put work together. In the case of prolonged absence, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. When picking up homework it is best to pick it up at the end of the day.

Students Being Picked Up

 If the school has not received a note or phone call (in emergency cases) from the parent/guardian, pupils will be sent home in the usual way.

If pupils are to be picked up by someone other than the parent/guardian, a note is needed from the parent/guardian in order to ensure the safety of the children.

Students leaving during the school day should always be picked up by the front office where we can ensure their safe departure.

PARENTS, PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE BUS LOADING ZONES IN FRONT AND BESIDE THE SCHOOL OR PICK UP OR DROP OFF CHILDREN ON THE HARD TOP AREA DURING THE BUS UNLOADING AND LOADING TIMES (8:15-8:45 a.m. and 3:10-3:40 p.m.)

 Visiting the School

 Parents please feel free to visit the school at any time but we ask that you check in at the office first so that we can direct and assist you. If you are picking up your child, please meet them at the office. We encourage and appreciate volunteers and parents who want to visit our classroom. Please remember to call in advance to arrange an appropriate time.
 

Opening Exercises

 Please let us know, in writing, if you wish your child to be excused from participating in the ‘Opening Exercises’ each morning as well as any activities associated with religious or national holidays such as Remembrance Day and Christmas.

Opening Exercises consist of ‘O Canada’ and announcements.

Custody

 Usually, unless otherwise directed by a court of law, both natural parents have full access to the students and their records. If for some reason, these rights are restricted, legal documentation must be on file at the school.

Occassionally parents may wish their child to assume a name other than that on the birth certificate. If this is the case, we must have a court order or a written request for this to be done. Please call the school office for full details.

Request For a Student To Stay In

 Fresh air and exercise assist a child in learning. School recesses provide children with regular breaks from their school work. However, there are times when the children must remain indoors due to inclement weather (rain or extreme cold). An announcement will be made to the students to inform them of these indoor recesses.

There may also be times when children need to remain in for personal reasons. The school must make special arrangements for these youngsters. To provide a uniform approach to this, please follow these guidelines:

•     For each day that you wish your child to stay in, send a note dated and signed with an explanation.
•     For a period of time beyond three days, provide a medical certificate.
•     For any circumstances that (a) or (b) do not cover, please call the principal.

Messages

 Before your child leaves for school each day, please remind him/her of appointments, materials/homework, changes in dismissal routine, etc. The office is a busy place and each time we are asked to deliver a message, a class is interrupted. Also, if your child is not feeling well when leaving for school in the morning, please send a note to the teacher letting us know where you will be (if not at home or work or the usual place we would call). We will certainly call if your child is sick but it is difficult for us to interrupt a class to check on how a student is feeling.

Request to Leave the School Grounds at Nutrition Breaks

 At both nutrition breaks, we provide a consistently supervised eating and recreation area. We strongly discourage the practice of giving students permission to purchase lunches off school property as it removes the children from the supervision provided at the school and may encourage other students to leave the site without parents’ knowledge. We would appreciate parent requests for students to leave the grounds for ‘social’ lunches to be kept to a minimum; i.e., 1 per term, maximum. Any requests for students to leave the school at noon must be received, in writing, by 9:00 a.m.

This practise is reserved for grade 7 & 8 students only. Requests may be denied if the student does not display responsible behaviour.

Field Trips and Excursions

 Throughout the year, students will have opportunities to go on field trips beyond the school yard. Parents will be notified in advance and will complete and return to the school the Parent Permission Forms. Pupils are expected to conduct themselves appropriately. Children who misbehave may be denied the privilege of going on future excursions or parents may be called and asked to pick them up.

If the activity is within walking distance of the school and the Student Activity Permission Form has been previously completed, the teacher may not send out another permission form but parents will be notified of the outing.