Journal

June 2020 Vol. 4 No. 10

3251 The Credit Woodlands, Mississauga, ON L5C 2J7 Telephone: (905) 279-7950 ● Fax: (905) 279-8098 ● Safe Arrival: 1 (855) 209-6155

Principal: Robert Stancu ● Vice-Principal: Miranda Murphy ● Office Manager: Cindy Knebel Superintendent: Darren Van Hooydonk ● Trustee: Robert Crocker

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Principal’s Message

Most of our Springfield students are continuing to be engaged in online distance learning during the current shut down of Ontario schools. Although learning is not the same without everyone working together in our physical school building, we are seeing a high level of student enthusiasm and engagement with our teachers’ virtual Google Meet sessions.

By now, parents would have received an email about the process for picking up student personal belongings from the school. Your child’s teacher will be setting up pick-up times and notifying parents of their assigned time to come to the school to pick up these items. The retrieval of student belongings can only be done by a parent, an adult family member or a designated adult. Students will not be permitted in the school at all during this process. All student items have been placed in labelled bags for easy identification and pick up at your scheduled time. Entry to the school is limited to one adult person per scheduled appointment from June 15 to 19.

Students who have borrowed devices such as Chromebooks from the school are allowed to keep these devices over the summertime. A plan for returning these devices to school will be shared later in September. Our Grade 6 students who have borrowed devices can also keep them over the summer. The only students who should return borrowed devices are those students who are leaving the Peel board in the fall.

This year, our Grade 6 students, like all of your children, have missed out on many opportunities which our students have enjoyed in previous years, i.e., extra-curricular sports, clubs, the Spring Musical, and Grade 6 Graduation. Due to the school system shut down and physical distancing restrictions, special gatherings like graduations cannot occur in the same way they did in the past. So, our Grad Team are working on a virtual Grade 6 Farewell presentation which will be available for viewing online on June 24. Grade 6 teachers will share further details about this pre-recorded online event with their classes shortly. Stay Safe and Healthy, Robert Stancu

Springfield Kindergarten

Registration is Online

We are still accepting registrations for Kindergarten for the 2020-21 school year. The registration process is currently happening online during our school closure. Please begin your registration process by visiting www.peelschools.org OR copying and pasting the following link in your browser: http://peelschools.org/parents/kindergarten/registration/Pages/default.aspx

What you will need for the registration process:

Proof of child's age

Canadian birth certificate

Canadian passport

citizenship card/certificate

Permanent Resident Card

confirmation of permanent residence

work permit

refugee permit Proof of address

Ontario driver's license

utility bill

bank statement/client slip (directly from financial institution)

credit card statement

federal government forms (e.g. Social Insurance Number, Service Canada documents)

purchase agreement Proof of custody – children must live with their parent(s) unless provided documentation supports an alternate living arrangement Proof of immunization – proof that your child has been immunized/vaccinated

Summer Activities that Boost Learning

Kindergarten to Grade 4

Sorting and stacking – Teach classification skills with dinnerware. Ask your child to match and stack dishes of similar sizes and shapes. Also have your child sort flatware – forks with forks, spoons with spoons. This is like recognizing the shapes of letters and numbers. Comic strip writing – Use comic strips to help with writing. Cut the segments of a comic strip apart and ask your child to arrange them in order. Then ask your child to fill in the words of the characters (orally or in writing). Float and sink – Encourage hypothesizing (guessing). Use several objects – soap, a dry sock, a bottle of shampoo, a wet sponge, an empty bottle. Ask your child which objects will float when dropped into water in a sink or bathtub. Then drop the objects in the water, one by one, to see what happens.

Grades 5 to 8

Follow the news – As a family, choose an important news event to follow for a day or two. Ask each person to find as much information on the topic as possible – read newspapers, look at online news webpages, listen to the radio and watch TV news. Then talk about what everyone learned. Pro and con: what do you think? – Make a family game of discussing a special issue. For example, "Teenagers should be allowed to vote," or "There should never be any homework." Ask your children to think of all the reasons they can to support their views. Then ask them to think of reasons opposing their views. Which views are most convincing? For variety, assign family members to teams and have them prepare their arguments pro and con. Stretch, run, walk – Ask your child to do at least one kind of exercise every day. For example, run or walk briskly for 10 minutes. Walk, when possible, instead of driving, for any distance less than a mile. Have your child make a week-long exercise plan. Try to think of a modest reward for sticking to the plan and exercise with your child. Let your voice be heard – Promote good citizenship. Help your child write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper about an issue affecting children – for example, suggest that a bike path be built near the school or that a city event be planned for youngsters. Children are citizens, and their ideas are worth hearing.

Keep your Child Safe

on the Internet

Even without trying, children can come across materials on the internet that are obscene, disturbing, violent, hate-filled, racist or offensive in other ways. Here are some steps to help you ensure that your children use the internet as safely as possible:

make sure your children understand what sites are appropriate for them

keep the computer in a common area of the home like the kitchen or family room

discuss the meaning of an ‘unsafe’ site with your children

explain to your children what they should do if they reach an unsafe site

make exploring new websites a family activity

pay attention to the games your children may download or copy

look into software or online services that filter out offensive materials or sites It's important to review safety tips with children regularly. It is possible for children to meet unsafe strangers on the internet. Ensure your child knows the following rules:

never give out personal information (including name, address, phone number, age, school name or location)

never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they meet online

never use bad language or send mean messages

never respond to e-mail messages that make them feel confused or uncomfortable

tell an adult immediately if something on the internet makes them feel uncomfortable

Using Social Media Safely With the growing number of social media sites, it is no surprise that social media is the most common form of communication for children and teenagers. Posts, status updates, comments, instant messages, video uploads, tweets and texts have become a regular part of their lives. While there are many positive benefits to using social media, including staying connected with friends and expressing your interests, students must be cautious in their use of these networks. Among the most popular social media platforms used are Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Whatsapp Messenger. Many of these platforms are free and are available on smartphones and other electronic devices. These platforms are easy to navigate and often allow information to be shared instantly, not only with friends, but with strangers. On social media, it is important to remember that the world is watching. Here are some tips, provided by the Canadian Safe School Network and GetSafeOnline.org, to keep your children safe and help them make smart choices when using social media:

Set some boundaries for your child before they get their first ‘connected device’ (mobile, tablet, laptop or games console). Once they have it, it can be more difficult to change the way they use it or the settings.

Have a conversation about what is appropriate online behaviour and what actions could have huge repercussions that could damage their reputation and be harmful to others.

Talk to your child about the kind of websites they look at. Encourage them to speak to you if they come across something they find worrying or upsetting on websites, games or social media.

Discuss with your child what is safe and appropriate to post and share online. Written comments, photos and videos all form part of their ‘digital footprint’ and could be seen by anyone and available on the internet forever, even if it is subsequently deleted.

Explain to your child that being online doesn’t give them anonymity or protection, and that they shouldn’t do anything online that they wouldn’t do face-to-face. Users should only accept people they know in order to protect themselves from spammers, strangers and others who may be using social networking sites to commit crimes.

Unlike when they’re meeting someone face-to-face, children don’t always know who they’re actually ‘talking’ to online, even if they think they do. Tell your children they must never email, chat, or text with strangers, and it’s never okay to meet a stranger in the real world.

Ensure your children set their privacy settings appropriately. Take the time to learn how privacy settings work on your children’s favourite sites, and teach them how to control their privacy.

Tell your children never to share personal and private information with anyone online. This includes, but is not limited to, his or her full name, age, birth date, address, phone number, social insurance number, credit card information and parents’ full names.

Limit the amount of time that your children spend on social media platforms and talk about the importance of healthy and appropriate use of technology.

Summer Well-being! Summer break is around the corner! The psychological and physiological benefits of summer are hard to beat. However, while summer allows for a break from the routine and structure of the school year, for some children and youth, it can be stressful to be away from school. So, while the stressors change when the last school bell signals summer, they don't disappear. Here at a few tips for summer well-being to keep everyone safe and having fun in the sun! Get outside. With longer and warmer days, try to spend more time outdoors which increases our vitamin D intake

and allows us more time to exercise and connect with nature. A minimum of 60 minutes of daily physical activity

is recommended for all children and youth. Healthy body = healthy mind.

Always stay hydrated. Replace sugary sports drinks & sodas with water; add slices of fresh fruit like strawberries, lemons, limes or watermelons to your water for a delicious flavor. Staying hydrated prevents heat related illness: symptoms are headache, cold sweats, exhaustion, nausea and/or vomiting, and diarrhea. Get plenty of rest. During the hot summer heat, making sure you get plenty of rest is important to prevent heat exhaustion. While playing outside, take frequent shaded breaks and use sunscreen. Getting 8-10 hours of sleep every night is important for recuperation and growth. Wear safety gear. Whether you are riding your bike or swimming in a pool always wear the recommended safety gear. Being safe reduces stress for everyone! A good rule is that if you are not doing an activity safely; you will not be allowed to do it.

Be safe on-line. Some students will stay in-touch over the summer primarily on-line. Remember that some

people will use electronic media to embarrass, harass, or threaten their peers. When there is cyberbullying

occurring remember to save it, report it, and block it. If the incident is criminal call Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-

222-TIPS (8477).

Constant communication for the win! Using open ended questions with children and youth can help identify

fears, anxieties and concerns. Ask questions like, “How are you feeling about going to summer camp?” In addition,

communicating expectations about what is going to occur during the summer will help to ease transitions. Saying,

“I am inviting relatives to stay with us in July” or saying, “You will need to be in bed by 9 pm on weekdays this

summer” allows children and youth time to adjust to what will occur.

Over summer break remember that HELP is always available:

Peel Children’s Centre maintains a Crisis Response Service (24/7/365) if your child is experiencing a serious mental health problem at 416-410-8615 Kids Help Phone is Canada's only national 24-hour, bilingual and anonymous phone counselling, web counselling and referral service for children and youth. 1-800-668-6868

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“Pick Up of

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Week Begins

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First Day

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Father’s

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Virtual

Gr. 6 Farewell

Premiers online

Report Cards

Go Home

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Last Day

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Be a Reader-a-saurus!

Read 15 to 20 minutes

every night!!

S p r i n g f i e l d P u b l i c S c h o o l

June 2020

Help Prevent the Spread of Covid-19.

Remember to practise Physical Distancing!