Bowmore Road Junior and Senior Public School

(Grades JK–08)

80 Bowmore Rd, Toronto, ON, M4L 3J2

(416) 393-9450

Principal’s Message

The 2016-17 school year is well underway and it is hard to believe that October is here! I am hopeful the wonderful weather in September continues

into the Fall Season (minus the heat). Mme Taillefer, Ms. Shea and I have been thrilled by the commitment of students, staff and families to start the

2016-17 school year off with a bang! Classrooms have established their routines, teachers and students have gotten to know each other better, and

everyone is hard at work at learning, growing, sharing and caring. As a staff we continue to work on our school goals around student achievement, well-

being, and equity, with technology interwoven in all 3 areas. We will update you on the work we are doing in these areas throughout the year.

Maintaining School Safety

Please note that main front entry doors remain accessible with a buzzer system for entry. All other exterior doors will be locked. Parents dropping off

their children to day care, have a buzzer system installed to allow for early entry that is managed by the day care staff. Otherwise, all exterior doors are

locked and will remain locked for the duration of the day. Students, parents, and guests are advised to use the front doors and to check in at the office

upon arrival. Playground supervisors at Bowmore are easily identifiable by their bright orange safety vests should children need immediate access to

the school.

SUPERVISION

Help keep our school safe by ensuring that students do not come to school before 8:30 a.m. unless they are here for an extra-curricular activity.

Staff is busy in the morning preparing for the day and we do not have supervisors on until 8:30. Thanks for your understanding and support.

EMERGENCY DRILLS

Emergency Protocol drills include fire drills as well as lockdown and hold & secure drills. These are scheduled numerous times throughout the year in

all seasons and in all kinds of weather. While fire drills are the most common of these drills, the others remain equally important.

In a LOCKDOWN drill, a threat to our safety would be assumed to be inside the building, requiring all students to remain in rooms with locked doors,

lights turned off, and staff and students gathered quietly in a corner out of the line of sight through any window. Front entry doors to the school would

remain unlocked to allow emergency responders access to the interior of the building.

In a HOLD & SECURE, a perceived threat would be outside the building. This could be something as simple as a loose animal on the playground. In a

hold & secure, all exterior doors would be locked, preventing the threat from entering the building, all children and adults would remain inside the

school, but movement around the inside of the school would generally proceed as normal.

In September, we have conducted a fire drill as well as a lockdown practice already. A Hold and Secure drill is scheduled in October, with a second

Lockdown drill to be held later in the school year. Two more fire drills are scheduled before the end of October. The remaining 3 will be done in the

spring.

Lori McKay – Principal Linda Taillefer - Vice Principal Carol Shea - Vice Principal John Chasty - Superintendent Sheila Cary-Meagher, Trustee Email: bowmore@tdsb.on.ca School Website: http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/bowmore Toronto District School Board

Website: http://www.tdsb.on.ca

School Council

Co-Chair

Elizabeth Grundon

Sandra Gauldie

Contact us @:

bowmoresc@gmail.com

Facebook.com/Bowmoresc.com

Subscribe to the newsletter

October 2016

Principal’s Message Continued

COMMUNICATION PPOTOCOL FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS

If students or parents have concerns or questions about an issue at school, please follow this communication process:

The classroom teacher is to be the first person to hear and address any concerns from a student or parent.

If the issue cannot be resolved with the teacher, Vice-Principal then Principal is to be contacted.

COMMUNICATION

Families are reminded to please make arrangements for children's play dates, birthday parties, and other social engagements prior to the event. Use of

the office phone by students is for emergency purposes in the event a child is injured or ill. Changes to students' after school schedules should be made

by students and parents before or after school! If these changes require a change to bussing arrangements for your child, please ensure you notify your

child's bus driver to avoid confusion.

If you need to speak to your child, please call close to break times so that their classes are not interrupted.

We emphasize how important it is to hear about parental concerns directly from parents. The sooner we become aware of problems, the sooner we

can address them. The best time to contact teachers by phone is before or after school, or by leaving a message to have the teacher return your call.

FALL WEATHER

As the weather turns cooler; students are reminded to dress more warmly for the fall temperatures. Recess provides an opportunity for fresh air and

exercise. We want this to be an enjoyable time for students, and one way to ensure this is for them to be dressed appropriately against the chill that's

creeping in to our fall days.

PEANUT/NUT ALERT

This is also a good time to remind all our families that we do have children with life threatening allergies to food items (such as nuts and peanuts). We

ask that parents please check the labels of any ‘treats’ that might find their way into lunches before sending them to school.

ELECTRONIC5

Students are asked to keep all electronics in their backpacks during the day UNLESS requested by the teacher to do otherwise. In some instances,

personal electronic devices may be used for in-class activities such as research or current events. However, students of Bowmore school have access to

iPods/laptops for this purpose and as such, are encouraged not to bring personal electronic devices to school, as staff cannot claim responsibility for

lost or damaged items. Cell phones should be kept in backpacks or lockers and not available during classes.

STUDENT ABSENCES

Thank you! Thank you to all of you that have been contacting the school and making us aware that your child is ill or at different appointments.

Your [our) children's well-being is upper most in our minds and this communication just adds to the safety and caring that we share for them.

Please feel free to leave a message on our voice mail as it is checked regularly. The phone can often be very busy in the morning and your patience is

appreciated.

AUTOMOBILE SAFETY ON OUR PROPERTY

Please remember our parking lot is for staff parking only. Visitor parking is available on the street. Parents dropping students off in the morning should

do so following signs that outline designated areas. You are asked to ensure students exit cars directly onto the sidewalk, and that they are not using

the bussing lanes in the morning and afternoon. We now have 7 school buses; cars left in this lane during morning entry time or dismissal will interfere

with the buses, and create significant safety concerns for students and pedestrians. The best option for safety and getting a little fresh air and exercise

is to park on a neighbouring street and walk the short distance to our school property. A reminder, the school parking lot is not a drop off and pick up

area. Nor should families be cutting through the parking lot, as there is a pathway to our pavement that is much safer. Please, engage with staff in a

positive manner, as they are trying to work with you to keep all of our children safe. Thank you for your cooperation

Thank you for following our rules and spreading the word about how it’s all done. We are looking forward to a wonderful year here at Bowmore P.

S. Thank you for being part of such a vibrant community.

Ms. L. McKay

Ttt

Bowmore NEWS October 2016

, Krista

FDK Pick-up and Drop-off

Drop-Off

Students are not to be dropped off earlier than 8:35am.

Pick-Up

Students are to be picked up by 3:10pm.

And look for the Self-nomination form in your Bowmore Welcome

Package.

Forms are due Sept. 20th

and the first council meeting is Sept. 28th

.

STAFF PARKING LOT!

We ask that you do not park in the

Bowmore parking lot when dropping off your

children, as we need to service 78 staff members!

Your cooperation is truly appreciated.

Monthly Newsletter

The Newsletter and any other important information is

Bowmore’s way of communicating with our parent community. As

of October the newsletter will be sent via Synervoice Eblast through

your email account. In order to receive the newsletter, please ensure

that your email address is updated with the office. If you wish to

receive a hardcopy please advise your homeroom teacher.

A reminder that we are a Gold Ecoschool and we would

like to reduce the amount of paper we generate.

GUIDANCE

Grade 8 Transition Information Session

As an introduction to the “Choices for Nine” program

for families, there will be parent information sessions

on:

October 4th - GA Brown Middle School- 6:30pm-7:30pm

October 6th- Glen Ames SPS- 6:30pm-7:30pm

October 12th - Bowmore Road PS-6:00pm-7:00pm

October 13th - DA Morrison-6:30pm-7:30pm

October 19th - George Webster PS (South Campus)-6:00pm-7:00pm

October 20th- Earl Beatty PS-6:00pm-7:00pm

Tracy Lambers Guidance

This is a friendly reminder that dogs are not allowed

on school property. We truly appreciate your

cooperation in keeping our children safe!

Bowmore Committees

We are looking for parents to join the following

committees!

Achievement

Equity

Well-Being

If you are interested please contact either

linda.taillefer@tdb

Bowmore shares in the responsibility to continue Terry

Fox’s legacy!

Bowmore NEWS October 2016

October 3 – Rosh Hashanah

3 - QSP Kick off

5 – Picture Day

5 – World Teacher’s Day

6 – PJ Day (8:20am Free Hot Chocolate)

7 – PA Day (No School)

10 – Thanksgiving (No School)

11 – Mad Scientist begins

12 – Guidance Transition Information Night

13 – Artist in the classroom begins

14 – QSP ends (Spirit Day) wear your bright colours

20 – School Council meeting (6:00pm – 8:00pm)

28 – Pizza Day

31 – Halloween parade – (1:00pm)

28 – Pizza Day

UPCOMING EVENTS/DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE

JANUARY 10 – Back to school

13 – Pizza Day

16 – Extended French/English Core

November

8 – FI Information Night (7:00pm – 8:00pm)

11 – Remembrance Day Assembly

15 – Reports go home

17 – Parent Teacher Interviews (4:00pm –

8:00pm)

18 – Parent/Teacher Interviews (9:00am –

12:00pm)

18 – PA Day (No School)

24 – Multicultural Pot Luck Evening

20 – 24 – Bullying Awareness and Prevention

Week

25 – Pizza Lunch

29 – School Council Meeting – 6 pm

School Board Calendar (Cut and paste this site for information)

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/aboutus/calendar.aspx

December 2 - PA Day (No School) 7 - Holiday Concert Junior 16 – Subway Lunch 22 – 23 – Holiday Sing Along 23 – Last Day of School for December

Break

School Council NEWS October 2016

SQSP

(Magazine Fundraiser) Our school's magazine fundraiser begins October 3rd and we want to get you excited about reading and curling up with your favourite magazine (book) before the Thanksgiving long weekend. (PA Day, Friday, October 7th).

PJ DAY On Thursday, October 6th it's Bowmore's Pyjama Day. Please come dressed in your favourite comfy PJ's. Also, to sweeten things up a bit… just a bit, the school council will be offering free hot chocolate in the school yard at 8:20am, until the bell rings at 8:40am. So bring in a mug - please! We will have spirit wear, water bottles, tuques & baseball hats for sale. ______________________________________________________________

Bowmore Spirit Day Friday, October 14th. Three cheers for Bowmore!

Hip Hip Hooray,

Hip Hip Hooray,

Hip Hip Hooray!

We are the Soaring Falcons and we will soar to the highest heights!!

On Friday, October 14th, it's Bowmore Spirit Day. Show us your school spirit

by wearing our school colours (black and red). You will get an opportunity

create a new cheer and a banner for the school.

The classroom with the best Spirit Day banner cheer and overall enthusiasm

will enter into the QSP pool party contest. Our judges will be Principal Lori

McKay, Vice Principal Linda Taillefer and Vice Principal Carol Shea. So let us

hear your cheers and see your Bowmore colours on this day.

Thanks!

The QSP Team

Upcoming School Council Meeting

Thursday, October 20st, 2016

All are welcome!

Pizza & Babysitting are available!

A

A big thank you … For everyone who came and supported the book

fair, it was a huge success. Your generous support will go toward books for the library, supplies for the classrooms, and so much more.

We would like to sincerely thank our wonderful volunteers Kristin, Lisa, Jody and Suzanna. Your time and efforts helped make this book fair fantastic! We hope everyone is enjoying their books and we look forward to seeing everyone again at the next book fair!

PIZZA and SUBWAY LUNCHES

Dates as follows:

Friday, October 28th - Pizza Friday, November 25th - Pizza Friday, December 9th - Subway Friday, January 13th – Pizza Friday, February 10th – Pizza Friday, March 3rd – Pizza Friday, April 7th – Subway Friday, May 5th – Pizza Friday, June 2nd – Pizza

Please note: If you have more than 1 child you must submit separate forms and payment.

Police Check

Parents who are volunteering for more then three

times in the school MUST have a police check

done.

A reminder for those who have previously

submitted one you MUST sign a annual

declaration.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate

to contact us!

Lost and Found The lost and found is in good shape so far! Just a reminder please, to continue to label your children's clothing so that clothing can be found and returned. During the week of October 3rd clothes will be on display in front of the office just before the Thanksgiving long weekend. Our next clothing lost and found display will be sometime in late November and a clean out during the week of December 19th - 23rd at which time clothes not found will be donated to the Bowmore Clothing initiative. Thanks, School Council