Osprey Woods School Council Meeting

Osprey Woods School Council Meeting November 9th, 2016 in Osprey Woods School Library

Final Minutes

The regular council meeting was called to order by the chair, Eddie Suliman, at 6:34pm.

Chairperson: Eddie Suliman

Present: Alka Wrench, Paula Port, Elizabeth Lee, Kathryn Booker, Anita Pang Hrepic, Priya Ghai, Zobia Zaman,

Clelia Trinca, Stephanie Colwell, Laurie Letourneau, Amadou Thiam, Shanna Birchard, Shelley McDougall, David Raackman

Welcome

● Agenda passed around and introductions by people not at last meeting. ● 3 teachers in attendance - Shelley McDougall, Stephanie Colwell, Shanna Birchard. ● Amadou moved to approve the agenda. The agenda was approved. ● Eddie moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as circulated via email.

Old Business

● Movie Night – Paula Port o Save the date note already sent out to families. o Large pizza can be pre-ordered for $10. Orders due by Nov 21st. Payment options to include: payment online or send money to school. Money count to be done on Tues Nov 22nd. o Movie choices must be appropriate for K – Gr 5 students. Movies suggested include: Home, Minions, Zootopia, Toy Story 3, The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory. ▪ The school board must have the licence for the movie in order for it to be shown. ▪ 3 movie choices will be given to the students. ▪ Students will vote on which movie to be shown – surveys done in each class and then sent to office for compilation. o Additional items to be sold: Popcorn for $2, Chips for $2, and Cookies for $1 (leftovers from pizza days and other activities). o Families to be advised to bring water for drinks. o After movie, parents will be asked to help clean up chairs. o Note to be added to movie form advising that parents must stay with their children.

of 6 ● Marketplace – Eddie Suliman o Applications for tables due Nov 15th o Applications are still coming in but we still have tables to fill – if anyone knows of someone who is interested, direct them to Eddie

● Pizza Days – Eddie Suliman o First cycle is doing well – consistent with past years o For Cycle 2, the option to pay online will be offered. Both online and sending payment to the school will be options until people get used to the new online system, even though the board is trying to get schools to go online only. o It was suggested to possibly have a raffle for people to use the online system to try to encourage usage. However, Laurie advised that the school is not permitted to have any games of chance.

New Business

● Great Start Workshop – Eddie Suliman o Workshop for School Councils. o Don’t know if anyone was able to attend. o For future, will try to keep more on top of dates to have attendees.

● Goals & Fund Allocations for 2016-2017

Fund Allocations: o Noted that funds raised from the Marketplace are allocated for the Gr 5 graduation trip. o Areas considered for funding include:

▪ Technology - Per Clelia, a priority would be to always have a portion of funds go towards technology and replacing old technology ▪ Manipulatives for Math and Science – They are needed for new classrooms and to replace lost items. ▪ Fenced Area for Kindergarten - Want to add more activities outside. Eddie took pictures of the new design at St Simon Stock School and has contacted the Catholic School Board trustee to get more information about what they did to build the structures/zones. Everything is fixed and doesn’t need to be moved with weather. Clelia thinks the kids would benefit from new activities outside as the classrooms were not originally setup for full day kindergarten. ▪ Instruments ▪ Sound System – The sound system in the gym is not reliable. It is very difficult to hear in the back. Clelia advised that the system has been checked and it was discovered that one of the speakers was not

of 6 connected. This has been fixed. In addition, she advised that the system check showed everything was okay, but the system is original to the school. ▪ Front Gardens ▪ Outside activities for older kids – primary and junior sides. Potentially benches or trees could be put in. Posts to have activities on top – primary side has had basketball topper replaced. Basketball nets are being put out. Tetherball has been an issue in the past. o Many ideas circulated about things that could be improved at the school. Clelia asked what the school council goal is for the year. Eddie mentioned that the teachers likely have a better idea of what the students need. Stephanie Colwell indicated this could be brought up with the teachers. Clelia also mentioned ensuring the goals tie into the mission statement for the school. The New Mission Statement focuses on nurturing relationships and well-being in the community. It was agreed that our goals need to be consistent with the mission statement. o General discussion was that the school is well-maintained and up to date inside, but that more needs to be done outside (more activities, something on the field, etc). It was mentioned that a teacher is working on making the school an Eco-school. o General feedback was that it is great there are so many clubs for students.

Goals: o Me to We – Stephanie Colwell

▪ This was originally started by a 12 year old boy who had a vision to help people around the world. ▪ We are a Me to We school. There is a group of 24 students in Gr 4 and 5 who are Me to We leaders. The local goal for our school is to support the Eden Food Bank. Some initiatives include: ● “We Scare Hunger” where over 1500 lbs of food was collected by Osprey Woods. ● “We” cookies to be sold at the Marketplace by students. ● Student leaders will visit the food bank and cook with their chef to learn how to cook healthy meals.

The group is currently working on choosing a global goal for the school. Examples might include clean water or building a home or school. The students will decide the goal for this year.

The entire school is involved in Me to We. It is about being part of a community. The student leaders meet once a week with teachers.

Clelia talked about focusing on the student voice. When they are involved they are more enthusiastic and understand what they are involved in. The school will not be emphasizing as many initiatives. The ideas are to come from the kids, not just the board. o Bucket Filling – Shelly MacDougall

of 6 ▪ The teacher team has been discussing ideas about student recognition and are implementing the “Fill Your Bucket” philosophy. Teachers will share the book with their class. The idea of bucket filling ties into the school goals (character counts). ▪ Meeting attendees did a shared reading of the story. ▪ Each teacher has a class bucket that will have pom poms added to it. There will be access for all to hand out pom poms. Each class is trying to fill their bucket. It is a visual for something to be proud of and for doing something kind. Once a classroom fills their bucket, it will be transferred into the large Osprey bucket (front showcase). Students and classes will be recognized in school assemblies for receiving pom poms and filling class buckets. ▪ The idea of Bucket Filling is already being implemented in classrooms. Students are being taught about bucket filling “language” – filling someone’s bucket means making someone happy or smile. Clipping someone’s bucket means it is empty or they feel sad. Discussion is also happening around ways to fill other people’s buckets and that maybe they are doing things because their bucket is empty. Some teachers are using posters in their classes. Older kids might use a journal. ▪ The idea of Bucket Filling will be introduced at the November assembly. ▪ The idea is to be kind and not for it to be a competition. The philosophy can be related to other topics like Terry Fox, Martin Luther King and what they did to fill others’ buckets.

● Student/Teacher Needs o 3 main goals – numeracy, literacy, and climate. The school has goals and each grade will determine their specific goals. o Video clip of Dr. Steven Katz on how to determine need shared with group. The video was also shared with teachers at a separate meeting. o For Numeracy, grade level teams will get together to review student work and to look for evidence of reasoning and language being used to demonstrate thinking. The student work will be brought to the next staff meeting. The Gr 2 team has already started reviewing work and want to help students articulate better. Gr 3 and kindergarten teams are also starting. At the December staff meeting, student work will be reviewed and teams will identify needs that should be worked on. Clelia would like parents to help with math in the classroom, in addition to reading. o For Numeracy, the board has determined that students need to have more spatial awareness and proportional reasoning. They have identified games that will help. The school is looking for people to run a nutritional break club or help in class. Laurie will be meeting with Priya (volunteer coordinator) on Fri Nov 11th to discuss this. o In addition to pizza funds, there is a school fund that can also help with learning goals. o Last year, a numeracy night was proposed. A family game night was suggested for this year. A list of how the games help students could also be provided to the families. The games also teach other social skills. Timing for a numeracy event could be between Jan and Mar 2017 and possibly during the day.

● Sub-Committees o Eddie indicated that she would like everyone who attends school council meetings to have a role. She would like a coordinator and co-coordinator for sub-committees. Sub-committees include: ▪ Movie Nights – Paula Port

of 6 ▪ Learning Garden - Rebecca R ▪ Sports & Activities Coordinator – TBD ▪ Gr 5 Graduation – TBD o Eddie will send an email to everyone attending the school council meetings to see who is interested in various roles. It is important that everyone working with students have their CRC.

● Principal’s Report – Clelia Trinca o Many topics already discussed above. o Gr 4 parents – student CCAT testing next week on Mon/Wed/Thur. o Movie Night on Nov 25th. o French Immersion info night Nov 30th at 7pm. o Winter Concert on Dec 15th by Gr 3, 4, 5 students – day rehearsal and evening performance. o Quidditch tournament on Dec 20th during day and then evening with parents. o MECA Dance for Kindergarten – 2 classes have started for approximately 6 weeks. Then the other 2 classes will participate. o Working on having a constable from Peel Police do an activity with Gr 4 and 5 students on anti-bullying. Nov 21 to Nov 25 is anti-bullying week. o Parent-Teacher interviews are Thurs Nov 17th and Fri Nov 18th. Time requests have been sent home already. Teachers may ask for a time outside of the 2 days or over the phone. There is no school for students on Nov 18th

● Public Questions o Kiss & Ride

▪ Eddie received an email re: kiss & ride and that on the kindergarten side kids are not being guided into the gate. Laurie advised that usually the same teachers are on duty and one delivers kids to one gate and the other to the other gate. Bus students are usually guided by Mrs. Koffers or a TA. Email given to Clelia to review and address with parent. ▪ Question asked by David. Some kids cannot get out of the car on their own due to car seats. Is it okay for the parent to get out to help? It was confirmed that yes it is okay. ▪ The issue of kids being left unattended in kindergarten area was raised. It was advised that parents are reminded about not leaving them unattended by teachers. o Bus Delays

▪ There are still ongoing issues with buses being delayed in the mornings. If Laurie knows ahead of time, she sends a Synrevoice message to parents. If parents are bringing their children to school because the bus is late, they are asked to park and bring their children to the school. ▪ Bus # 1 has started to have late issues. Laurie has written to the bus company to find out what is going on. o School Council Meeting Time

of 6 ▪ Suggestion made to hold some council meetings during the day to draw out different people. The March meeting will be held during the day to evaluate the turnout.

The next School Council meeting will be held on January 11th, 2017 at 6:30pm in the Osprey Woods School Library. The meeting in March will be moved to during the day.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:07pm.