Welcome back to school! Bienvenue de retour !
Welcome to Division 9’s class website. Here you can learn about our classroom activities through weekly posts. I will update the website throughout the school year to share information on both upcoming and past activities.
My name is Mairi Anderson, and I will be teaching Division 9 this year! I am new to École Brantford Elementary and this is my third year of teaching in Burnaby. I have worked in after school care programming, and writing and arts-based day-camps, and have taught Grade 5/6, Music, ELL, and French language support. If you wish, take a look through old blog posts on this site to see some of the work my former students and I enjoyed!
In these days of response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I know that there are likely many concerns about what back-to-school will feel like. I am hopeful that we will practice care for ourselves and one another with respect and safety, in addition to all the academic lessons we will cover this year.
Returning to school during a pandemic will look different than previous years, with many adjustments made to follow Health and Safety Guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Education. The Burnaby School District and Brantford Administration have sent out general emails explaining Phase 2 of learning in schools. This letter provides details specific to our classroom routine.
There is a lot of information to share, so here it is in a bulleted list:
- Parents are asked to walk their children to the classroom (Room 108). Students cannot be dropped off and picked up through the roundabout as this area is now reserved for staff only. Upon arrival, please line up outside the classroom door at the marked areas. We are expected to do a health check of students upon arrival. If your child answers “Yes” to any of the questions below, he/she/they will not be allowed to attend school that day:
- Do you have a cough?
- Do you have congestion?
- Do you have nasal drip?
- Are you experiencing nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea?
- Is anyone in your household ill?
* Please note: parents/guardians are asked to wait until their child is in class before leaving. In the case that a students responds “yes” to any of the health questions, they will need to return home and call 8-1-1 for medical advice.
- It is encouraged that students use the bathroom and wash their hands at home before arriving at school to minimize bathroom usage. There will be scheduled bathroom breaks at school (with the exceptions of unexpected emergencies). Upon entering the class students will hang up their jackets and backpacks and proceed to the sink to wash hands. After handwashing students will sit at their desk and work independently while their classmates complete handwashing. Once everyone has washed hands, we will commence our lessons.
Students will be asked to wash their hands when they arrive at school, before recess, after recess, before lunch, after lunch and before leaving to go home. They will also need to wash their hands after they go to the bathroom, anytime they touch their noses or sneeze/cough into their hands. Additionally, students will wash their hands before engaging in activities using math manipulatives or centre/explorations materials.- Students will be trained on proper handwashing hygiene and safety expectations.
Students are to bring a recess snack, bagged lunch, their own utensils (if required) and 1 or more water bottles (labelled with student name) to school. Water fountains will be closed. NO lunch drop offs will be permitted, nor sharing of food/drinks. Students must bring home all their food wrapper garbage. - While we love to celebrate birthdays in our classroom, due to COVID-19 guidelines around food-handling, we will be unable to bring food goods such as cupcakes and cookies to school to share with other students in the classroom. We will instead celebrate in our own special way in class.
- There will be signage and floor labels used throughout the school to help staff and students remember to keep a safe distance and follow the safety protocols. Grade 3 students are not required to wear masks in the classroom, nor outside of their cohort. However, staff will wear masks in the hallways and outside of the cohort.
- Students will not be able to share school supplies. Students will keep their individual supplies in designated cubbies and/or in bins near their chairs. Students will keep required material at their desks and will not be able to touch materials in other students’ allocated space.
- Students will be asked to social distance from each other and staff outside of their cohort. Within our class, we will aim to maintain minimized physical contact among students but will not enforce 2 metres of distance.
- There will be staggered recess and lunch times. Students will wash hands before eating, before going outside, and upon entering the classroom.
- We will take our learning outside as much as possible so please be sure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather (including appropriate footwear) and that they bring an extra change of clothes.
In preparation for your child’s return to school, please front load them so that they are aware that instruction in the classroom will not look the same as it did before the March break of last year.
For more information, the BCCDC has created a response to frequently asked questions about the pandemic. Please see this link for answers to many common questions:http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/childcare-schools/schools
Beginning Monday, September 14, 2020, this will be the schedule for our class, Cohort C:
*Please note that Mondays will be early dismissal throughout the year*
| Cohort C Schedule | |
| 8:50 | Arrival |
| 8:55-10:15 | Class |
| 10:15-10:30 | Recess |
| 10:30-12:15 | Class |
| 12:15-12:35 | Eat in classroom |
| 12:35-1:00 | Play outside |
| 1:00-2:58 *Mondays 1:58 | Class |
| 2:58 *Mondays 1:58 | Dismissal |
I will be sending home a classroom newsletter next week that will inform parents of the learning activities for the month of September. I have planned for a broad range of topics to study in line with the BC Curriculum. Homework and class notices will be communicated through student agendas. Parents/guardians are requested to read and sign agendas daily.
Along with an introduction letter, and Student Information Verification forms, I have sent home a paper copy of a Family Introduction Survey with students, however, if you prefer to respond online, please complete the Microsoft Form version here:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=LV7swROUrEqeab99Ida2Qn_FfRQ-6iJBrtK7BVAon-lUQzNLS1ExTkUzV1NDT1dBQUk2NElJS0hGSC4u . This survey is to help me get to know you better, so I can best support all students throughout the year. Please respond to the questions as you feel comfortable. Thank you for taking the time to complete it!
For students doing transitional return, the curriculum will be available for download from the Burnaby School District website after September 21st. If you wish to send your child to school, please inform the school office at least one week prior so that we may prepare for an orientation for your child. Thank you!
I know that there may still be many questions as we open our classrooms this fall. I will certainly keep you informed of any information that affects the learning of your children. I look forward to working together with you to help your child excel. You may contact me by email at mairi.anderson@burnabyschools.ca; I will do my best to respond to parent emails within one day. In urgent cases, I can be reached through the school office at 604-296-9002. I welcome any comments you may have.
I am confident that as a class we will be able to support each other through the challenges and successes of the 2020-2021 school year. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you!
Warmly,
Mme Mairi Anderson