COUNCIL MEETING TONIGHT IS
CANCELLED

Agenda for Thurs., Dec 17, 7-8:30pm

 

Minutes for November 12, 2020 Council Meeting

 

JOIN US THURSDAY, DEC 3RD FOR SHOW & TELL!

 

Black and Indigenous Alliances: Reconfiguring Education for otherwise futures

Register in advance for this webinar at:
https://yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o9VxNsy-TeaY5HzKY_cA0w
For further information contact, Barb Webster at websterb@edu.yorku.ca

Free!

https://www.yorku.ca/edu/event/black-and-indigenous-alliances-reconfiguring-education-for-otherwise-futures/?fbclid=IwAR1vnUPAH20hF62S6LajbY0nnbukneo-Lvuzhba3Ae7Kee7H_2DcsekseDE

 Sign up link: https://forms.gle/Dj86zhCe9YEzRWie9

WINTER GEAR DRIVE!

 

HELP SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL!

Hello Clairlea Families!

The 2020/21 school year is back in full swing and the School Advisory Council wanted to let you know that we are still here, working hard to support our school, with our students’ best interest at heart.

Each year, the School Advisory Council ensures that supports is given to every classroom. In the past, support has been given to every teacher, music program, donations of chrome books, buses for field trips, special events for students at the school, subsidizing school trips, gym cooling system, equipment for kindergarten students and so much more. This year, the events (Halloween Howl, pizza lunch, etc.) that play a large part in our fundraising plan have been cancelled and we have to get creative with other fundraising initiatives.

Although our school year may look a little different due to Covid-19, we are shifting our fundraising efforts so that we can still hit our fundraising goals for the 2020/21 school year.

Here are some ways you can support our school:

Mabel’s labels
https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/support/

Fundscrip
https://www.fundscrip.com/support-a-group
Invitation Code: HWM2VU

Recipes In a Jar – deadline is December 4th
ClairleaPS2020.recipesinajar.ca/

Donate directly to the school - Tax receipts are provided for donations over $25.
https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/457/153/false/true

Stay tuned for more information about our fundraising plan!

Alyson Pyper
Clairlea School Advisory Council - Fundraising Chair

RECIPES IN A JAR IS BACK!

http://clairleaps2020.recipesinajar.ca/

Meeting Agenda for Nov 12, 2020

Clairlea P.S.Council Agenda - November 12, 2020

• Welcome and Introductions 7:00 - 7:05pm

• Council Election 7:05 - 7:20pm

• Welcome to our returning and new council members

• 26 nominations and acclaimed council members!

• Any vacancies may be filled by appointment (up to a max of 50 as per our by-laws)

• New Business 7:20 - 7:35pm

• Recent council expenditures

• By-Law review and update (not updated since 2012) - call for committee and/or volunteers to update our by-laws

• Call for Ward Council Rep 

• Caring and Safe Committee

• Should include at least one student and must include at least one parent, one teacher, one non-teaching staff member, one community partner, and the principal.

• Should include our virtual community

• Principal's Report (Gayle) 7:35 - 7:50pm

• Teacher’s Report (Christine Trott) 7:50 - 8:00pm

• Treasurer’s Report (Erin)  8:00 - 8:10pm

• Tracking funds (non-board funds) deposited into school account from council

• Council allotment from school budget: $776 for School Council operations + $500 Parent Engagement Grant

• Fundraising Report (Alyson) 8:10 - 8:15pm

• Fundraising and financial plan

• Recipes in a Jar kickoff this week - what are we fundraising for

• Other business, updates and inquiries: 8:15 - 8:25pm

• Council meetings will be held the 3rd Thursday of every month, 7pm-8:30pm, unless otherwise notified

• Any questions, concerns 

Action Items: 8:25 - 8:30pm

Next meeting is Thursday, December 17, 7- 8:30pm 

Thank you!!!

Meeting in Minutes - June 11, 2020

 

School Council Election/Meeting 2020/2021

We have established a date for the 2020/2021 virtual election and first meeting to be Thursday, November 12, 7-8:30pm.  Nominations will be accepted until noon tomorrow, November 5th.

We understand the delay in having our first meeting has been a concern. Rest assured we would never hold up the process for unnecessary reasons. The delay has been twofold:

1) We have been awaiting direction from PIAC as to how to hold a meeting virtually as well as the new process for elections, which are held by the principal. 
2) Subsequent to receiving our direction on how to run virtual meetings/elections there have been school specific issues beyond our control. This meant we had to wait for any council meeting or election.

If any issues are urgent and attempts have been made to reconcile it directly with your teacher, parent rep and/or the principal(s) without resolution we can assess the situation and determine the route to take further action.

If there are items you want to discuss or see organized please let us know and/or volunteer to organize. As council members we can all engage and mobilize and we have the tools and people to do so. 

We really hope that we can all work together this year with a high level of collaboration,  transparency and compassion. These are unprecedented times and we encourage patience and understanding to everyone's situation, both personally and professionally. We are all trying to figure this out. 

We hope to see everyone next Thursday. The election will be hosted by Vice Principal David who will send out an invite link.

Regards,
Laura, Lisa, Erin & Hanan

IT'S OCTOBER!

Hello Clairlea community!

Just a quick update of some upcoming council events.

Wednesday, October 21st, 7-8:30pm will be the first council meeting of the year and will include the council elections.
Everyone is welcome to attend council meetings, both in class and virtual families. All attendees will vote for parent council members, followed by a vote for executive positions by those elected parent members.

This year will be a particularly challenging year for fundraising and community collaboration. We encourage all of our parents and caregivers to be involved in the school council community. There are areas and/or committees we would like to build upon such as Caring and Safe committee, BLM, update our council by-laws, parent-class reps and more. If you are interested in any of these or other topics please do not hesitate to jump in, spearhead a committee or contact us!

Virtual Parents as Partners Conference!
Registration is now open for the Parents as Partners Conference! Join us on October 24 and 25 for our first-ever virtual parent conference. This online version offers all the same exciting, inspiring and informative content as our in-person conference, but allows you to participate all from the comfort of your own home.
 
This year’s conference includes two amazing keynotes as well as a host of breakout sessions that you can choose to tailor to your own interests and needs.
 
Some of the sessions offered include special education, mental health and well-being, anti-Black racism and virtual engagement. In the breakout sessions – led by both TDSB experts and panelists from outside organizations – you also get a chance to connect in a more intimate way with other parents, ask questions and participate in discussions.
 
Learn more at www.parentsaspartners.ca

Social Media & Communication
Council has a few active outlets to communicate with our community:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairleacouncil
Council Blog: http://clairlea.blogspot.ca/
Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/clairleaparentcouncil/shared_invite/zt-i98gbm4l-ij8eFC9RL69hcEcT2NhmWA (also with individual classroom channels)

We look forward to seeing you all (virtually) next week!

Regards,
Laura, Lisa, Hanan & Erin

Call for Parent-Class Reps!

 Hello Clairlea families!

School is now underway for some of our students! We wish them all the best as they get back into the swing of things after a very long March Break :)

Clairlea Parent Council would like to invite our parents and guardians to volunteer as a Parent-Class Representative for their child's class.

The Parent-Class Rep will play a critical role as communication liaison between parent/guardians and the teacher of that class for the school year. The Parent-Class Representative serves a primary role in maintaining good communication between parents, while also being a valuable resource to the teacher and the class.  The reps also facilitate the social interaction among families in the school community.

Parent-Class Reps:

- can help facilitate communications between students, parents and teachers of their child's class

- may participate on any committees established by the school council

- can contribute to the discussions of the school council

- solicit the views of other parents and members of the community to share with the school council

- observe the council’s code of ethics and established bylaws

At this time this is a call for volunteers to represent the IN CLASS community at Clairlea.
Further information will be sent with regards to TDSB ONLINE parent councils once it is received. We feel it is important to be inclusive of our kids that are not attending class in person this year, and assure them they are still part of our Clairlea Panther community.

If you are interested in volunteering for your child's classroom representative please sign up HERE:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s4MEkXS0pnC9fxR1j96n-ABkwP12gbmwIFOCRm5WGjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you!

Regards,
Clairlea Parent Council

clairleaparentcouncil@gmail.com

 

 Hello Clairlea!

Just a reminder of the informal council meeting on

Monday, August 31st, 7:30-8:30pm.

In response to questions and concerns our community has regarding the upcoming return to school, we have created an online document on which we encourage you to share your questions or concerns so that they may be addressed by Admin.

This is a live, shared document that can be viewed by all. The questions will be addressed in a timely manner as new information and plans are provided to Admin. Please submit any questions PRIOR to Monday's meeting via this document:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OiW5-xqhjycWec4mihatjKH9DqJXAbRdSv1PuKScR3Q/edit?usp=sharing

We look forward to seeing you all!

Congratulations to all of our 2020 Clairlea Graduates! 

What a crazy year it has been and one to remember!
We wish you all the best in your journey forward and know the community is here to support you at every step! 🤩 

Clairlea Parent Council and all of the staff of Clairlea

Please see the most recent update on Coronavirus.

Mabels Labels Sale!!

Support Clairlea & Reduce Lost & Found Items!

https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/support#ClairleaPublicSchool

OPAL - Outdoor Play and Learning at Clairlea

On Wednesday we were fortunate to have Stephanie from OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) present to our community about the benefits of having the OPAL program at Clairlea. 

We learned the benefits of free, unstructured, creative play and the many uses of something as simple as a spatula if we let our creativity in!

https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/why-do-schools-need-great-play/

Further reading:

Canadian Public Health Association:

The Play Infographics are a great summary of a lot of the benefits of outdoor free play. 

https://www.cpha.ca/play-infographics 

 

There is also general info about their Unstructured Play project, a toolkit  and some FAQs which are handy

https://www.cpha.ca/evidence-based-frequently-asked-questions-faq  

 

Outsideplay.ca

An online tool to help parents and caregivers gain the confidence to

allow their kids to engage in more outdoor play

https://outsideplay.ca/ 

This is not a spatula, it is a ________ (guitar, magic wand, shovel.....)

Feb 19, 2020 Meeting in Minutes

Meeting commence: 7:00 pm

Welcome and Introductions

The last meeting’s minutes posted on the Blog and Facebook

Special Guest – Stephanie from Opal

• Opal stands for Outdoor play and learning
• 4 teacher committee to start and will develop as it becomes more engrained in the school community
• Starting small to ensure it is done right and then roll out more
• Play and improve school culture for all students
• Partnership with GTA school boards; 46 schools participating
• Opal UK established for 20 years and using this model

Follow Up Items

• School council events during work action
• Not permitted to run activities before and after school until strike ends
• Pizza Lunch is permitted to continue

• Movie Night 
• February 28^th so long as agreement has been reached with EFTO
• Drop Off/Pick Up
• Bus loop safety blitz was successful and we have positive feedback
• Seeing better routine with parents dropping off kids
• Looking to paint lane lines to help with flow of traffic
• Look to do another blitz after March break as parents will be out of routine
• Kindergarten Asks for Opal
• 30 crazy carpets and set of gorilla blocks purchased
• Kids love it
• Around $300 for all items

Administration Report

• School walls on 1st floor has been painted last week
• Nice and fresh – future use of sticky tack on walls to not peel of paint
• Working through math money provided by Council 
• Items are being put up in math room and being shared
• K-8 benefit from this
• Grad ceremony booked in June and Porter/SATC
• Need to source out location for after grad dinner/dance
• Grad trip is on pause pending results of work action
• Fundraising initiatives for Grad and Grad trip needs to be put on hold due to work action
• Looking for plans/options depending on results of work action

Parent Inquiry – not enough math text for class (Gr 6 French)

Parent Inquiry – decals on stairs for math and in halls for mental health – what is the plan for this?

Parent Inquiry – Grade 6 trip - is there an option to take the trip next year to make up for missed trip?

ASKS

None at this time

Treasurer Report

• Bank balance $9,749.86
• $6000 will be cost of Fun Fair if it happens
• Analysis of money spent in the year based on type of spending and grades
• Can look at additional money to assist with Grad initiatives as fundraising is on pause
• Category underrepresented in spending is Athletics
• Looking to purchase Square terminal ($60 for 1 square); one for now and assess
• Fee per transaction 
• Look at different price points to allow for cost of fee per transaction for purchase at door/event
• Committee Vote for Square – unanimous

Committee Report

Fundraising for Council

• Fun Fair
• Need a decision on what we should fund (assuming we are able to hold the event); can be one amount or a number of different initiatives
• Water bottle refill stations 
• Kindi yard enhancement
• Consider a broader outdoor and eco initiatives for the school 
• Outdoor and Eco agreed upon by committee
• Look for letter to come out for sponsors or donations
• Recipes in a jar Fundraiser
• Online fundraiser with ingredients in a jar for food item 
• 30%-40% fundraising to schools; 55% fundraising to school if reach sell threshold
• Taste of what this is like and if successful look to roll out for holidays next year

Caring and Safe Committee

• No update due to work action

Other Business

• Lunch Lady
• Still available for the school and just confirmed Feb 28^th to make up for Feb 21^st strike day
• Parents can still log into account to make orders
• Rocks and Rings
• Curling activity – come to the school and provide Curling activity for up to 200 students
• Will take over the gym (suggestion to do it during warmer weather so gym classes can be held outdoors while gym is in use)
• $250 per day
• Will look into availability and details
• Strike Subsidy
• Recommend all parents sign up for this online
• If parents want to give the money back to the school
• Ask the teacher what they need for the class
• Give the teacher a gift card 
• Morale for Teachers during Work Action
• Baking and bringing food
• Parents in the neighbourhood allowing teachers to use washrooms
• Parents in neighbourhood allowing teachers to park in their driveways
• Showing support and acts of kindness
• Signs found on social media to post in window or cars or carry in support
• Help driving signs down to Queens Park to help teachers who are taking public transit
• Storing signs in garages near school as not all teachers are able to take them home

Meeting close at 8:34 pm

Next Meeting is Wednesday March 25, 2020