St. Edmunds Newsletter – September 2023
On behalf of all the staff at St. Edmund’s School, as well as Fr. Steny and Fr. Cannio, we welcome all our returning and new families to an exciting new school year! We will continue to work in partnership with our students, parents and parish community members in teaching our students to follow the ways of Jesus through thoughts, words and actions.
This year our Archdiocesan theme is “Living, Celebrating and Proclaiming our Faith”. On his July visit to Lisbon for World Youth Day, Pope Francis told our young people “Jesus knows the hearts of each one of you, the successes and the failures, he knows your hearts …”And today he tells you, ‘Don’t be afraid. ‘ As Our Holy Father reminds us, living our faith means to be “witnesses of Christ where we find ourselves”.
We look forward to another fun, faith-filled year at St. Edmund’s!
First Day of School & Kindergarten Gradual Entry
Tuesday, September 5th is our first day of school for students in Grades 1-7 starting at 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Beginning Wednesday September 6th, students will be in session from 8:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The Kindergarten gradual entry schedule which begins on Sept. 6th to 15th was sent out via email to parents in June. Please refer to the schedule for the exact times your child will attend.
School Bell Schedule/Hours of Instruction
8:30 a.m. Supervision begins: Students enter school grounds through Mahon Street gate entrance
8:45 a.m. School begins with morning assembly and prayer
10:30 to 10:45 a.m. Morning Recess
12:00 to 12:30 p.m. Lunch Recess (Play first)
12:30 -12:45 p.m. Eating Lunch in Classroom for all Students
3:00 p.m. All Students Dismissed
Regular attendance and prompt arrival at school is important if your child is to gain full benefit from the school program. Please ensure your child arrives on time each day. If your child is going to be late or absent for any reason, please email the school office at office@stemunds.ca. If we do not receive a call, email or notification and your child is not at school, we will call parents to ensure their safe arrival.
Health and Safety Updates
A reminder that the following Health & Safety Protocols continue to be in place for all staff & students:
- Daily Health Check – Stay home if sick
- Mask wearing is a personal choice
- Continued emphasis on diligent hand & respiratory hygiene
- Frequently touched surfaces to be cleaned daily
- Vaccines – “It is important to get all recommended vaccine doses to get the most effective protection against serious cases of COVID-19.” Please note, the school does not collect or keep any COVID vaccination records.
Communication
In order to assist with communication between home and school, a monthly newsletter will be published and other school updates will be emailed home as events arise. It is important that you read these communications to be informed about school policies and procedures as well as notable accomplishments and upcoming events. In keeping with our environmental goals, the newsletter and bulletins will be emailed to you. Please ensure we have your correct email address as well as updated contact information for all correspondence. You may contact the office at office@stedmunds.ca.
School Lunches
Please ensure that your child brings a healthy recess snack and healthy lunch to school each day. Reusable water bottles should also be brought daily and should be labeled with your child’s name. In the interest of being stewards of the Earth as well as not having the ability to handle large amounts of food waste in our garbage, we will continue to ask students to bring all leftover food back home so that it can be put into the compost. Please send school lunches in reusable, labelled plastic (no glass) containers, helping to reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill.
For parents who are interested in ordering lunch, please see the Hot Lunch Link on our school website.
School Lunch Program
The school lunch menu is now ready and you can start to order your children’s lunches. Hot Lunch will begin on Monday, September 18th. Please order for the full month and submit payments before Wednesday September 6th as menus will close.
We have updated the menu items for healthy options, many suppliers have increased their pricing to keep with freshness and quality ingredients. The BC School Food Guidelines are moving towards whole foods, non-processed, ingredients plant-based nutrition, and fewer sugar options to be sold at schools and therefore; we continue to update our menu items for healthy options.
You must register online at: https://stedmunds.hotlunches.net/admin/?action=register-form
Any questions please contact the school office. Thank you for supporting our school lunch program.
St. Edmund School Uniform
As we begin the school year, it is appropriate to be reminded that the school uniform be worn with pride and with attention to detail:
- School sweaters are to be worn daily.
- Footwear: all black, non-marking Navy blue dress socks should be worn with dress shoes.
- Hair should not be dyed or coloured in any way. Hair accessories that tie back long hair should be subdued in nature. (Plain black, blue or tartan pattern)
- Jewelry must be subdued in nature. Only stud earrings are permitted.
- Nails should be clear (no colour polish) and make-up is not to be worn.
- PE uniform can be purchased from the school (see further info below). Other uniform pieces are to be purchased at Cambridge Uniforms. Please ensure all uniform pieces are labelled with your child’s name.
Uniform Purchases
We will be holding a Gym Strip sale on Thursday Sept 14, and Friday Sept 14th from 2:30-3:30 in the school parking lot.
For those looking to donate gently used, cleaned Cambridge uniforms, kindly bring them at this time. Used apparel can be purchased for a donation.
Thank you for supporting our uniform policy and keeping our students looking their best.
Parent Participation Program (PPP)
Parent participation jobs and instructions for the 2023-24 school year were sent out to all families via email communication. Parent assignments and jobs are now posted on the portal. Please remember families are required to complete a minimum of 25 hours of volunteer hours for the school to avoid any non-participation fees.
Access the Portal at: https://www.stedmunds.ca/parentparticipationlogin.
If you have any questions regarding your access, email Ms. Swart at secretary@stedmunds.ca Further questions regarding participation can be sent to the PEC via the office email.
Note: All volunteer positions that are directly involved with students require a Criminal Record Check. If you have previously applied for a CRC, it is valid for 5 years. If you are unsure or are new to the school and would like to volunteer, please see Mrs. deFreitas in the office. Thank you for helping making our students’ safety a priority.
Medical Alerts & Allergies
Ensuring a safe and healthy school environment is a responsibility shared by students, parents, and staff. We have several students in our school who have serious allergies to nut products. This means that any contact with peanuts, nuts or nut products, in even trace amounts, may endanger a life. We are requesting the assistance of all families to keep our school a peanut and nut aware environment. Please do not send snacks and lunch items that contain nuts or nut oils. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
All students who are required to have an up-to-date Epipen and emergency plan filled out by your family doctor and brought to the school office. This is an annual requirement whether or not there are any changes to your child’s emergency plan.
With Appreciation & Gratitude
- Thank you to all our parents and parishioners who volunteered their time over the summer to water, weed and take care of our front courtyard garden as well as our custodian Mr. Dodds and parent volunteers who took care of a variety of maintenance tasks in the school.
- We are also grateful to Fr. Steny who oversaw the upgrade of gym washroom facilities.
- To the entire St. Ed’s Staff for all their hard work in the office and in the classrooms to prepare for the start of school!
Important Dates for the 2023/24 School Year
Please remember to check the online calendar and emails for the latest info/changes.
Sept. 5 – First Day of School – noon dismissal
Oct. 2 – Truth & Reconciliation Day (No School)
Oct. 9 – Thanksgiving (No School)
Oct. 11 – Photo Day
Oct. 20 – BC Pro Day (No School)
Oct. 27 – Learning Updates (Midterm Reports) sent home
Nov. 6 – Noon Dismissal
Nov. 10 – No School (Pro-Day)
Nov. 13 – No School (Remembrance Day)
Nov. 24 – CISVA Pro Day (No School)
Dec. 8 – Parent-Teacher Conferences (No Classes)
Dec. 22 – Last day before Christmas vacation- noon dismissal
Jan. 8 – School reopens after Christmas vacation
Feb. 5 – Noon dismissal
Feb. 9 – Learning Updates (Report sent home to Parents)
Feb 15&16 – Catholic Educator’s Conference (No School)
Feb. 19 – Family Day (No School)
Mar. 8 – Last day before Spring Break
Mar. 25 – School reopens after Spring Break
Mar. 29 – Good Friday (No School)
Apr. 1 – Easter Monday (No School)
Apr. 8 – Noon dismissal
April 9-11 – St. Edmund’s Walkathon Fundraiser
Apr. 12 – Student Led Conferences (No Classes)
May 6 – Noon dismissal
May 17 – Pro Day (no School)
May 20 – Victoria Day (No School)
June 10 – Pro Day (No School)
June 26 – Last day of school (Noon dismissal)