Oki, Danit'ada, Âba wathtec, Tânisi, Taanishi, Bonjour, Hello.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day to acknowledge and reflect on the experience of Indigenous peoples who attended residential schools and the generational trauma that ensued. While it is important to look back, it is also a day to consider actions we can take to heal and to move forward in a good way in celebrating and honouring the traditions and practices gifted to us by our Indigenous community.
As part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation through Education, we are exploring and cultivating indigenous ways of being, belonging, doing and knowing through task design that includes an emphasis on the recognition of historical and contemporary indigenous accomplishments (ie. arts culture, games, sports). This past Friday, our staff engaged in music and Indigenous games for children, activities that can be used within our daily teachings to strengthen our connections to Indigenous culture. Our focus this year is on building community across our school and connecting to the wider community at large. We are building on the work undertaken in previous years related to being and belonging and harnessing that knowledge as move into the ‘body – to do’ phase of the medicine wheel. Part of the Orange Shirt Day assembly put on by the grade 3 students last week included an opportunity to share in Indigenous song and rhythm. We thank our grade 3 team of teachers and students who organized a thoughtful assembly to recognize this important work.
Building community means not only celebrating the first peoples who inhabited this land, but also celebrating the many diverse cultures of students attending CPS. We recognize that October is German Heritage Month, Canadian Islamic History Month, Latin America Heritage Month as well as Women’s History Month. Additionally, we mark the following important dates this week:
- October 2 - Custodial Appreciation Day (Thanks to Mr. Romeo and Ms. Izha for the work they do in keeping our school looking amazing!)
- October 2 – Rosh Hashanah
- October 4 – Sisters in Spirit Day
- October 5 – World Teachers Day (Hand to heart for all the incredibly dedicated teaching staff at CPS!)
Each year Alberta Education takes an official enrolment count at the end of September. As of this week we have 500 students enrolled at CPS! In addition to verifying enrolment, as schools we must also confirm demographic information for each student. The due date for completion of the Demographic Verification Form has passed, however we still have a significant number of families for whom this data is missing. It is important to note that each student must have an updated demographic form, not just one per family. If you had a student attending CPS and you enrolled another student from your family into kindergarten this year, you must complete a form for each child. In order to do this, both students must appear in your MyCBE account. Should you have any questions about this process, please contact the office during regular business hours at 403-777-8063 ext 1.
Grade 4 and 5 students will be participating in the OurSCHOOL Student Survey over the next 2 weeks. This anonymous survey is completely voluntary for all CBE students. Responses from this survey are used at the system and school level to recognize and improve what is necessary for students to feel safe, welcome, and cared for when at school. Students provide feedback on topics such as: sense of belonging, positive relationships, anxiety, feeling safe at school, well-being, goal setting, self-regulation, and cultural awareness. If you have questions about the survey, or would like to request more information, please contact Alison Bates-Church at albates@cbe.ab.ca.
This week, students in grades 3-5 will be bringing home a form called "Admirable Use Policy". We ask all parents of these students to carefully read and review this form with their child. Signing the form indicates that students are aware of how to use technology responsibly at school, including the ‘away for the day’ policy. Should you require further information about this form, please contact your child’s teacher.
We have observed a number of toys coming to school in recent weeks, in particular Pokeman cards. We have reminded students that no toys are to be brought to school, including trading cards of any type. This approach helps prevent toys from going missing throughout the day.
Don't forget that photo day (individual photos taken) is Thursday October 10.
Lastly, we will be sending a number of notices home on behalf of school council in the coming days and weeks. Please ensure you have signed up to receive commercial messages from the CBE. For more information about how to sign up please visit:
https://www.cbe.ab.ca/about-us/policies-and-regulations/casl/Pages/default.aspx
In honour of World Teacher’s Day this week, fashion Friday will be “dress as a teacher”.
Have a great week!
The Admin Team