May 8, 2015

2500 Lakewood Dr.

Vancouver, BC V5N 4V1
Phone: 604-713-4996
Fax: 604-713-4998
secord@vsb.bc.ca
http://secord.vsb.bc.ca

Earthquake
Preparedness

On Thursday, May 7th,

Secord students and staff
participated in the districtwide Big One at Two
Principal
earthquake preparedness
Richard Zerbe
drill. In this annual drill,
students and staff practised
Vice-Principal
drop
and
cover
Teresa Wells (Acting)
procedures (taking cover
Director of Instruction
under tables, etc and
Rob Schindel
holding for 1 full minute),
Liaison School Trustee
safely evacuating the
Mike Lombardi
building and gathering on
PAC Chair
the grass field. The goal
Mona Lu
during an earthquake
evacuation is to evacuate
District Parent
Representative
the building safely and
Stacy Yeats McCririck
quietly, not necessarily
quickly. In an emergency,
various specially-trained staff emergency response
teams, including district radio communication, execute
their own procedures. We have adequate materials and
supplies to properly care for students until they can be
safely released to their families.
In case of a real emergency, we can anticipate that
children and parents both will be worried about their
family members health and safety. The school has
specific student release procedures in place to ensure
that families are re-united as quickly and safely as
possible, and to ensure accountability and tracking of
each students safe release.
To this end, we must ask for parents cooperation
during a real emergency:
Students and parents will likely be quite excited
and anxious to be together. Parents MUST follow
the directions of school staff.
Parents arriving to pick up their child(ren) should
go onto the field to their childs class(es) where the
childrens teacher will release the child to you.
Please DO NOT simply take your child with you
without reporting to the teacher first. Please
explain to your child that, even if they see you,
they are not to run to youyoull be reunited soon
enough.
Please ensure you keep your emergency contact
information current. This includes people who
have your permission to take your child in the case
of an emergency as we cannot release children to
adults for whom we do not have prior consent.

Remember

NO SCHOOL FOR
STUDENTS ON
MONDAY, MAY 18.
Victoria Day Holiday

Student Placement Requests

At the end of the school year, teachers will be putting
together tentative classes for next year. The school
works very hard to make the best possible educational
placement for your child, taking into account a myriad
of variables such as academic progress, individual
learning styles, classroom interactions between
classmates, specific learning needs in different areas, a
balance of gender, a balance of those students
requiring additional support, information provided by
the child and parents, friendships (that do not interfere
with learning) and other factors.
If you feel that you have important supplemental
information pertaining to your childs specific learning
needs that would assist us in placing your child, please
put this in writing to Mr. Zerbe (rzerbe@vsb.bc.ca)
who will summarize the information and pass it on to
the teachers concerned. All notes must be received
before June 5 to be considered.
The school organization created may change
depending on the number of students who actually
arrive to school in September. As such, classes set are
tentative only and may change during the first month
of school. Consequently, we cannot be sure of how the
grade levels will be organized, nor can we know for
sure which teachers will be teaching each class. In
fact, in some cases, staffing may change with teachers
transferring in and out of Secord. Therefore, requests
for a specific teacher cannot be guaranteed, nor
would we be able to tell you before the summer
what your childs placement will be.
Also, if your child will be returning to school late in
September (after September 8), it is critical that you
submit a late return notice to the office prior to June
25 so we know that your child(ren) will indeed be
returning to Secord School.

Quebec Exchange 2015

In February, our grade 7 French Immersion students
were hosted by families outside of Quebec City for a
7-day cultural and linguistic exchange. Now its our
turn to repay their hospitality. Please welcome our
exchange twins later on this month from May 20-27.
Bienvenue Vancouver.

Splash n' Dash Thursday, May 21st

Most of our grade 3/4 to 7 classes will be participating
in the Splash n Dash at Templeton Pool and Park on
May 21. This fun fitness activity is a blend of running
and swimming (or running in the shallow pool!) where
every child is a winner! If you have not already done
so, please get your childs entry form in asap. Thanks.

Earth Day Success!

Thank you to all the parents and volunteers for putting
on such an amazing day. It was great to see the looks
of wonder and amazement on the faces of our wholly
engaged students as they got up close and personal
with their planet.

May is Wolves Appreciation Month

As part of our Spirit/House
program, May is Wolf
Appreciation Month. The
Wolf stands for Strength in
Loyalty and their house colour
is yellow. Wolf Celebration
Day is Wednesday, May 27:
Wear something yellow and
win one point for your house.

HASTe BC Traffic Safety

Thank you to families for completing and returning the
traffic safety surveys. And part of this project, HASTe
will now be collating the data with a view to making
suggestions for improvements. The next part of the
project is a community walkabout where parents and
community partners (City of Vancouver staff, VSB,
VPD, ICBC, etc) walk the neighbourhood to see
firsthand traffic issues and potential problem areas.
Mark Tuesday, June 9 at 8:30-11:00 am on your
calendar if you would like to join us. Meeting place
tba.
With the sunnier days, its great to see so many more
families and children walking to school. It is therefore
also a good time to remind parents to please not block
alleyways or driveways during pick-up and drop off
times as this can be dangerous to pedestrians.

PAC Meetings
Please note date and topic changes:
Monday, May 11, 6:30, Library
Parent presentation: When to Worry About Worry:
Understanding Anxiety in Kids by Dr. Kimberly Da
Silva, Registered Psychologist.
Questions and
answers to follow.

Families are encouraged to check out the wide variety

of summer school programs being offered by the VSB
this summer. Everything from remedial programs and
preview and preparatory courses to enrichment
programs is available. Secord School will also host the
districts French Immersion summer school, July 6-24,
with all sorts of offerings in French. Registration on
now. Go to the website at https://summer.vsb.bc.ca for
brochure and full details. Paper brochures also
available at the school.
UPCOMING DATES
(bolded dates indicate change in regular school times)

May 2015
Thur 8
Mon 11

Thu 14
Mon 18
Wed 27
Thu 28

Big One at Two Earthquake Drill

PAC Presentation When to Worry About
Worrying: Understanding Anxiety in Children
with Dr. Kimberly Da Silva, 6:30pm, Library
Performance for Students: Dufflebag Theatre
Hot Lunch
Victoria Day NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Wolf Celebration Day Wear something yellow
Spring Carnival, 4-8pm
June 2015

Tue 2
Wed 3
Thu 4
Fri 5

Immunizations for some K and Gr 6 students

Strings Concert, Van Tech Sec Sch, 6:30pm
Welcome to Kindergarten (French Immersion)
Welcome to Kindergarten (English)
Hot Lunch
Performance for Students (Ach Brasil)

PLEASE VISIT OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE FOR

REGULARLY UPDATED CALENDAR
http://secord.vsb.bc.ca

Monday, June 8, 6:30, Library

This is the last PAC General Meeting of the year.
Child minding available for both sessions.

Our last BIG school event is less than 4 weeks away! Spring Carnival is Thursday, May 28th,
from 4 to 8 pm. This year, we will be offering over 15 games, fabulous raffles, 50/50, tasty
carnival foods & treats along with a DJ and human spheres! This is our major fund raiser of
the year. Be part of the fun by volunteering, letting your family and friends know (please let
it go viral via Facebook, Twitter, other social media) and, of course, bringing your children
to the event. Signups for volunteers has been sent via PAC email and will be on the school
website Parent link and on our on-site sign up board in front of the school next week. There
will be previews and pre-purchase of raffles, 50/50 and carnival tickets between May 25 and
27 (time and place TBA). We are still looking for sponsors and raffle prize donations. Hope
to see you all! (If you have any questions, please email Amy: acsomeo@telus.net.)

Help get your child excited about starting school and ready for Kindergarten!
Calling all children who have registered for and will be attending Kindergarten at Secord School next year We would like to invite you to
our Welcome to Kindergarten event. Students and their caregivers are encouraged to come and participate together in our hands-on
learning stations. Each family will receive their own bag full of educational materials and activities.

French Immersion Kindergarten

Wednesday, June 3rd
11:00-12:00 in the small gym
Registration starts 10:30 am

English Kindergarten
Thursday, June 4th
11:00-12:00 in the small gym
Registration starts 10:30 am

This event is free, but please let the office know whether or not you are able to attend. 604-713-4996 or via reply email.
Welcome to Kindergarten focusses on parents and guardians working with their children to prepare them for Kindergarten and learning
in general. An evening focussed specifically on the Kindergarten experience at Secord School will be offered to parents and guardians in
June with details coming via email.