April 3, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We hope that the message finds all of our Sidney Families safe and well. We certainly miss seeing all of you in our school building.
We want to express our appreciation to all of you, our Sidney Learning Community, for being patient as we begin this new journey of remote learning. All of our teachers have been working diligently to reach out to students and families this week. This may be via email, phone call or Teams (online) video meeting.
The following information is intended to address some of the themes that you need to know about as we transition into this new way of learning:
Saanich Learns- Our District has put together a website with links to resources that students, teachers and parents use to support their learning at home. https://learn.saanichschools.ca/. These resources have been vetted to comply with FOIPPA laws and security. Parent resources are found under RESOURCES - PARENT/ GUARDIANS
Accessing the school: We are working on a plan to have families pick up essential items only next week such as medications and mobility devices. The district is developing a protocol for the retrieval of other student belongings from elementary schools the week following Easter break so please stay tuned to next week’s Bee Bulletin for details.
TELUS Internet for Good program: Telus is offering low and no cost internet to some families during this time. Please see the links below for more information about this program
Finally, our fabulous teachers have created a message for all families, which is included below:
Hello Sidney Families,
We hope this Bee Bulletin finds you well and safe. We miss our students and families very much!
We know you have many questions moving forward as we adjust to our new way of Learning At Home. Our focus this week has been to make connections with families and students. Teachers have also been using this time to collaborate, learn the Virtual Communication tool TEAMS and to become familiar with many new digital resources. Next week you should expect your child’s teacher to continue making connections with your family and the focus will be on re-building a sense of community, for the class. We will also be connecting with our school support staff and grade group colleagues. The teachers at Sidney School are being very mindful on how to best support your child’s learning at home. Our intention is to start slow to ensure successful experiences for everyone. Teachers have been emailing out a few suggestions for activities you can be doing at home right now. Take this time to explore these suggested activities and resources as you also learn to navigate this new reality for your family. More structured plans for literacy and numeracy activities will begin the following week (April 14th-18th). Please keep in mind that the delivery of learning at home opportunities will vary from class to class.
The Sidney School community is an amazing place to learn and work, and we are certain it will continue to be so during these new times.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions.
With kindness,
Sidney School Teachers