Woodlawn Early Years School

February is I Love to Read month and we have lots of fun activities planned. We will be hosting lots of guest readers including Earl Funk, the mayor of Steinbach, HSD superintendents, Steinbach Piston hockey players, Corny Rempel and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers! We have some other fun events planned including everyone reading in the hallway at the same time and special assemblies.

Reading is one of the greatest indicators of lifelong success. Our students spend time throughout the school day learning how to read and improve as readers through such things as phonics instruction, fluency practice and comprehension exercises. Teaching children to read is important and our job as educators. We have to work together with families to instill a joy of reading in our students. As parents one of the greatest gifts you can provide your child is the gift of reading. That can be accomplished by finding books your children really enjoy and reading out loud to them. There is nothing better at the end of a long day than curling up with a good book and your favourite people! Listening to books develops so many reading skills, but more importantly it teaches children that reading can be really enjoyable and fun! February is always a fun month with lots of exciting activities. It is our hope that our students and their families will spend time reading together all year so that everyone loves to read!

Karen Fraser and Tara Reimer

As part of their routine math learning, 2PR play math games. The math games are used to explore new concepts, to consolidate their learning, and to practice skills that are developing. 2PR often use math games from their Building Fact Fluency Kits like the picture shown. While the game itself looks quite simple, the children must use their mental math skills as well as their communication skills. The game could be played with just two people, but they play with four people. The purpose behind these teams is to require each side to discuss their strategy and approach with each other. Through conversation, students listen to the understanding of other students and their mathematical thinking. They can deepen their own understanding when they think about the arguments made by their peers.

We are in the midst of cold and flu season. Please note that OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATION is not to be sent to school in your child's backpack or lunch kits. All over-the-counter medication needs to be administered by a parent/guardian.

In order for PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION to be administered by staff, parents need to bring the ORIGINAL container/box with the label on. There are forms at the office for parents/guardians to fill out.

During the winter months our playground can get quite icy. Ms. Holly works very hard to continuously put down sand around all of our entrances and walking paths. Even with the sand, we remind our students to walk carefully inside and outside of the building. There will also be recesses where our teachers may close down the structure or our hill when they become too slippery. When our students are playing on the hill, we do ask them to only slide down on their knees or bottom.

We try to get outside as much as we can. When the temperature with the wind chill is between -25 and -29, we will go out for a shortened recess of 15 minutes. When it is colder than -29 we do stay inside. We ask parents to make sure their children are dressed warm and prepared to go outside. Warm mittens, neck warmers, toques, and ski pants help to keep them warm and dry. We also ask that you put your child's name on these items as they often get misplaced and end up in the lost and found.

Classroom teachers will be sending out information in regards to Valentine's Day celebrations. If you are asked to bring a snack, it must be nut free. Please check with your child's teacher if you have any questions.

Are you looking for a more convenient way to let the school know about your child's attendance? You can enter your child's appointments and absences on the Parent Portal. You can even enter them ahead of time. The link to the Parent Portal is further down the newsletter. Check it out and give it a try!

If your child is eligible for Kindergarten Registration (must be five years of age on or before Dec. 31, 2024), our online registration is now available. Our new online registration process takes only a few minutes to complete. To begin, visit the HSD Kindergarten Registration page at https://hsd.ca/schools/student-registration/

If you do not have access to the Internet, please visit our school and we will assist you in completing the registration form on a school computer.

Registering early will assist our school in preparation and planning for the upcoming school year. Early registration also provides parents/guardians with the opportunity to participate in upcoming orientation activities.

We are super excited for the Scholastic Book Fair back! Here are the details -

BOOK FAIR HOURS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

8:30-8:55, 11:05-11:55 - (Kindergarten , Grade 1 & Grade 2)

1:10-2:00 - (Grade 3 & 4)

3:45-6:30** Open late only on Wednesday

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8

8:30-8:55, 11:05-11:55 - (Kindergarten , Grade 1 & Grade 2)

1:10-2:00 - (Grade 3 & 4) 3:45-4:30

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9

8:30 8:55, 11:05-11:55 - (Kindergarten, Grade 1 & Grade 2)

1:10-2:00 - (Grade 3 & 4) 3:45-4:30

Students will be browsing Monday, February 5 and Tuesday, February 6, 2024. Shopping will be Wednesday, February 7 - Friday, February 9. Check out the preview flyer going home soon for a taste of what will be at the fair. Stay tuned for more information in the letter that will be

sent home.

The HSD Parent Portal is a communications tool designed to enhance and increase parent/guardian involvement in the education of their children by providing secure online access to their child's student information. With a single username and password you can access data for each of your children attending an HSD school. If you have not received the Access ID along with setup instructions for your student please call the school office at 204-326-6110.

Please take a few minutes to review the student information and contact information for your child. It is important that the school has current address and contact information for your child in case it is necessary to reach someone during the school day. Changes can be made through the parent portal. Parents can access their child's report cards, attendance information and permission and consent forms through the Parent Portal.

For additional information please click on the button below.

We appreciate all our volunteer that help out in our school throughout the year. With field trips soon starting up, it is always a good idea to check your parent portal account to see if your paperwork is current. This will help prevent missing out on a field trip opportunity because of paperwork not being complete. If you have any questions, please email the office at: woodlawn@hsd.ca.

To ensure the safety of our students and due to the congestion of our staff parking lots and bus loop areas, parents are not to enter those areas between 8:00-4:30. If you are dropping off or picking up your child, please park on the street or on the church yard (do not block entrances) across from the school. Please do not park in the parking lot of the Envision home on Penner Street.

For the safety of your child, we request that you escort your child across Henry Street, Barkman Street and Penner Street.

At times, parents or designated others pick up their children during the school day or at the end of the school day. Most homeroom teachers recognize the parents but at times we have guest teachers or the children are in Music or Phys. Ed. It is virtually impossible for these teachers to recognize all the parents or the designated “picker-uppers”. So in order to provide a safer environment, parents are asked to report to the office to sign out their children during the school day. The secretary will be happy to call your child(ren) to the office for you.

If she is unfamiliar with you she can check our files to ensure your child is being picked up by the correct person.

If you are sending a different "picker-upper" than usual at the end of the school day please write a note in your child's agenda or phone the school office before 3:00. This applies to both walking and bus students. Please work with us as we continue to implement this safety feature.

As a school safety is of utmost concern to us. We have security cameras in various locations on the premise, both inside and outside. We have an extensive crisis plan in place and a crisis team who reviews the plan on a continual basis. We practice lock downs twice per school year in order to prepare our staff and students for a real crisis should it ever happen. All of our staff are trained to be on alert for anything or anyone suspicious and report it to the Principal immediately.

We ask that parents/guardians notify the school if their child will be absent or late. There are many ways to report your absent or late child:

- Parent Portal Account

-Phone the school at 204-326-6110 between 8:00 and 9:00 am

-Leave a voicemail at 204-326-6110 before or after school hours

-Email woodlawn@hsd.ca

-Email your child's teacher (email addresses are available at woodlawn.hsd.ca. Select the About tab, select Staff)

Students arriving after 9:05 or returning from an appointment during the school day are to report to the office for an entry slip before heading to their classroom.

Thank you to everyone for cooperating in reporting to the office when picking your child up from school during the school day.

All school busses that are running late or cancelled will be posted on the Hanover School Division website at www.hsd.ca
Under the Departments tab you will find Transportation, Bus Delay Bulletins, and a list of affected busses.

The transportation department will no longer be calling individual homes when busses are delayed. When a bus route is cancelled due to weather or road conditions it may be cancelled for the a.m. and p.m. runs. If you drive your students to school, you will need to confirm whether or not your bus is operating in the afternoon. Please call transportation at 204-320-2347.

Parents will be expected to obtain information, if needed, on the status of their bus through the website. Busses that are running more than 10 minutes late on a given day will have the bus number and estimated lateness posted on the page. Homes that do not have computer access to the web should make arrangements with another family on the route whom they could contact.

Email: woodlawn@hsd.ca
Website: www.woodlawn.hsd.ca
Location: 411 Henry St, Steinbach, MB, Canada R5G 0R1
Phone: 204-326-6110
Twitter: @WoodlawnHSD