The Lord Lansdowne / da Vinci School Community has joined the 1000 Schools Challenge!

*LINK FOR DONATIONS BELOW AND HERE*

(mention Lord Lansdowne/Da Vinci in comment box)

We have all seen the media reports showing heartbreaking images of families caught in the current Syrian refugee crisis.  By participating in the *1000 Schools Challenge to sponsor a refugee family, our community can reach out across the world to help bring a family to safety, in Canada.

Our community group, made up of families with children attending Lord Lansdowne or da Vinci School, has partnered with **ORAT (Office for Refugees – Archdiocese of Toronto), a well-respected organization that has been helping refugees come to Canada for 35 years.

In order to sponsor a family, we need to raise approximately $30,000.  In addition, we need a group of individuals dedicated to providing other support (finding housing, health care, adjusting to life in Canada, etc.) for the first year after arrival in Canada.

We have identified a refugee family of four, currently living in a refugee camp in Lebanon.  Our goal is to sponsor this family to Canada.  If, for some reason, this family is not eligible to be sponsored, we will apply to sponsor another refugee family.  If we are not able to raise the required funds of $30,000, we will donate all funds raised to ORAT’s resettlement efforts.

At least two communities in Toronto have already accepted the challenge and raised the required funds.  If they can do it, we can do it – let’s make Lord Lansdowne and da Vinci part of that group!*

Donations can be made by Cheque to:

Payable to:                             ORAT – Archdiocese of Toronto

Address:                                371 Old Kingston Rd. Toronto, ON, M1C 1B7

Memo Line include:             for Lord Lansdowne/da Vinci Community

Donations by Credit Card (AmEx, MasterCard, VISA) payment, please see:  

ORAT website:                     https://community.archtoronto.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=378

Comments Box include:      for Lord Lansdowne/da Vinci Community

NOTE: We regret that Canada Revenue Agency does NOT allow the issuance of a tax receipt when donations are for a specific family, as they are in this case.

Let’s help our kids learn what it means to make a difference in the world.

Thank you for your support. 

For questions, or for those interested in getting involved with this initiative in terms of providing other support, please contact:

Karina Thompson (Lord Lansdowne parent) at 416-880-4305 or karina@irlaw.ca

*For more information on the 1000 School Challenge and the refugee sponsorship process see: http://schoolswelcome.wix.com/1000schoolschallenge#!faqs/c1ghi

**For more information about ORAT, see: https://www.archtoronto.org/about-us/departments-(o-z)/Office_for_Refugees

Report Cards coming this week! Useful information

You might find the information below about "progressing with difficulty" on report cards useful*:

“Progressing With Difficulty” in French Immersion

French immersion parents of students in Grades 1 through 6 will soon be receiving Elementary Progress Report Cards from their children's schools. These reports provide parents with an understanding of their child's learning skills and work habits, based on classroom teachers' observations during the first few months of school. They also give parents an indication of how well their child is progressing towards the achievement of Ontario's curriculum expectations in all subject areas. 

Reports indicating "Progressing With Difficulty" simply mean that some improvement is needed in order to meet the provincial standard in one or more subject areas. If this category is checked on your child's Progress Report Card, next steps for improvement will need to be planned to increase your child's opportunities for success.

DO:

• Request an interview with your child’s classroom teacher
• Collaborate with the teacher to set goals for improvement in one or more subject areas
• Decide upon strategies that will promote achievement of these goals
• Ensure that responsibilities for strategy implementation are shared by the teacher, you, and your child
• Arrange a follow-up meeting in 4 to 6 weeks to evaluate progress and plan additional support

DO NOT:

• Worry that you will be asked to withdraw your child from the French immersion program
• Assume that “Progressing With Difficulty” means that French immersion is not a good fit for your child
• Conclude that your child would have been more successful in the English-only program, as most academic/behavioural/social difficulties exist regardless of the language of instruction in the classroom

* Information provided by NANCY WISE, PH.D., FRENCH IMMERSION EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING INC. (nwise@frenchimmersionconsulting.com ) . This is not an endorsement of services provided by this company.

A Quick Word About School Council Meetings

Just to let you know, we have planned the school council meetings for the rest of the school year and they are on the calendar (which appears to the right on the desktop version of this site).

We hope you will find time to attend at least one meeting this year to find out what goes on.
Baby-sitting can be provided if we know in advance so, without further ado, the dates and times are:

• February 4th, 6pm - council meeting at 6pm which we hope will be followed by a presentation from a representative of FSLAC (French as a Second Language Advisory Committee) on the topic of helping our children with French homework, even if we don't speak French
• March 3rd, 6pm - council meeting
• April 5th, 7pm - council meeting
• May 3rd, 6pm - council meeting
• June 2nd, 6pm - council meeting

We hope to see you there!

Fundraising Updates and Results.

Thank you for clicking and donating during the Adopt-a-School Campaign

Thanks to your efforts, the library has just received  $1,128.00 in Indigo eGiftcards!  

Donate to Lord Lansdowne and get a Tax Receipt

We now have an online donation page where every donation over $3 will receive a tax receipt. Just go here - https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/lord-lansdowne-public-school-council/

Check out what we are fundraising for!

If you are wondering what the school council is fundraising for - check out this page here.

In a nutshell, this year we hope to bring two programs to Lord Lansdowne for student enrichment.

The first of these is the Scientists in Schools program which has been very well received in previous years and will cost $3,000.

The second of these is a Community Builders program which will be tailored to our school and is aims to get rid of bullying. This is not a once off presentation but a longer program and has been carefully researched and chosen as being the most appropriate for Lord Lansdowne by a dedicated school council anti-bullying committee . This will cost $8,000.

Round Up of Events

Fundraising for a Syrian Refugee Family Starts NOW

You can donate using the link below and share the link with friends, family and colleagues to get the word out and help us reach our goal:

https://www.tilt.com/tilts/lord-lansdowne-da-vinci-welcome-refugees

Pledge forms and other initiatives will be on the way!

Work to rule is over! 

Teachers seem relieved. Extra-curricular activities and general normality can now resume! (Things are not fully finalised but a tentative agreement has been reached)

Fundraising information and goals

So, we've mentioned HOW you can help raise funds for Lord Lansdowne (links here )

so now we will tell you WHY we are fundraising.

We have two major goals for the school this year. The first is to bring the Scientists in School program back again. This will cost $3,500. This program is popular with both teachers and pupils!

The second is to bring a well-researched anti-bullying program - Community Builders - to the school. Our anti-bullying sub-committee have worked hard to find a program that will work for Lord Lansdowne and this one is an ongoing, tailor-made package. This will cost $4,000.

So - get thee to our fundraising links to shop and support the school and watch out for upcoming fundraising events. You can subscribe to magazines at a discount or shop at Indigo and let 10% go to Lord Lansdowne, for example!

A beginner's guide to Lord Lansdowne

From talking to parents in the playground, I realise that I have learned a lot about life at Lord Lansdowne since my daughter started in SK. Some of it may be obvious, some a little more obscure so here is a post introducing some of the finer points of life at Lord Lansdowne.

My child has library on day 2 - is that not called "Tuesday"?

No, it is not. The TDSB runs on a 5 day cycle. This is, as far as I am aware, to avoid a situation where, for example, a class had gym scheduled on Monday so kept missing it due to public holidays. So, the first day of the school year is day 1 - generally the Tuesday after Labour day - which will make Wednesday day 2, Thursday day 3 and so on. This will continue until there is a PA day or holiday when a day of school is skipped so the days shift forward - got it?! No? Well, the school calendar on the home page also displays the TDSB school day and you should also have got a paper calendar home at the beginning of the year where the school day is printed underneath the date. You can download a pdf or that on the school blog here. You can also download the TDSB Google calendar if you use a Google calendar. 

My child went to Crocodile Island today, apparently. 

Crocodile Island is the raised area with trees close to the playground entrance at Spadina Circle. Obviously.

Newsletter/School Blog/Twitter/Facebook - what is going on?

Honestly? This is still evolving and input is welcome but, in brief:

• The Newsletter - we - the school council - send this out weekly via email, usually around Friday lunchtime but it does vary. It is a roundup of information about what happened in the school during the week, what is happening in weeks to come (e.g. PA days, council meetings) and what school council has been working on. We generally keep it to once a week unless there is urgent information to be conveyed or a time-limited campaign that we want to draw attention to. 
• This website and blog - run by school council to provide information about the school, school council, fundraising and school events for parents, future and present. The blog updates are similar to the newsletter and the newsletter archive is here so if you prefer not to have email from the school council, you should be able to find most of the information here. You can subscribe if you want so that you get an email alert when it's updated.
• School blog/website - this blog is run by the school and is run by the school office and one of the teachers (Mme. Aradj...when labour dispute allows). It provides updates about school events and TDSB communications for parents of students at Lord Lansdowne. You can also subscribe to this blog to have updates sent to your inbox.
• Twitter - this is the school council Twitter. It does not have a huge following but we tweet anyway about school events for those who do follow. We also retweet interesting TDSB, trustee or library tweets. The school also has a Twitter account which will alert you to school events and blog posts. Useful if you like Twitter but you won't be missing out if you are not a member of the Twitterati.
• Facebook - Some people love Facebook, some hate it. One of the parents started a Lord Lansdowne Facebook group and it can be quite useful for queries like "is pizza Tuesday on?" or "did you child mention anything about a school trip?". It's fairly active but not essential - you will not miss out on essential information by not being a member. To join, search for "Lord Lansdowne Parents" on Facebook and send a request and it should be approved pretty promptly. 

General updates- school council meeting, pizza Tuesday, magazine fundraiser, help refugees!

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING, MONDAY OCTOBER 26th, 7-9pm

That is all! We hope to see lots of you there to hear what's going on in school and what the council has planned for the year to come! Meetings take place in the school library

Interested in helping a refugee family in conjunction with the school community?

Some of the parents are hoping to get Lord Lansdowne involved in the 100 Schools Challenge. Here is a very short (3 questions only!) survey to let us know if you are interested in getting involved - Take survey here

Pizza Tuesdays

Da Vinci School council are running Pizza Tuesdays as a fundraiser. It saves you having to pack a lunch for your child for Tuesday! Just send them in with a toonie (exact change please) and they can choose between pepperoni, cheese or gluten free cheese pizza. For children in SK, they should bring the money and their order in on Monday (envelopes distributed for the purpose on Friday  - check that backpack!).

QSP magazine subscriptions fundraising

Please go here - http://www.QSP.ca/3721339 - to browse and choose discounted magazine subscriptions and raise money for Lord Lansdowne! We are keeping it online only this year and also NOT doing the prizes for number of subscriptions sold. Reason for not having the prizes include the difficulty of distributing them, particularly with work-to-rule and also the fact that the little prizes are generally not actually very good at all! The distribution of prizes also can highlight those families who could not afford to or chose not to buy subscriptions for whatever reason. We hope you understand!

1st of October - already! Updates and information.

School Council Meeting

Please note the first school council meeting will take place on the 26th of October, 7pm to 9pm in the library at the school. It's a great opportunity to meet other parents and hear what's going on in the school even if you don't have time to volunteer. Please let us know if you will require childcare. The date is in the school calendar there to the right which will also inform you of PA days and the like.

Labour Dispute Update

Ms. Mills posted this letter - https://lordlansdowne.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/29sept_elementary-ltr.pdf - on the school blog and many of you, if you are signed up to the TDSB email list, will have received it via email also.  The latest I heard - yesterday on the news - was that the EFTO (teachers' union) are heading back to the bargaining table. Fingers crossed that we will avoid any strikes.

Cross Country Meet - Thursday, Oct 8th

The meet will take place next Thursday at beautiful Ashbridges Bay.  Parent volunteers are needed - sign up here  - and parent supporters are very welcome too! So far the forecast looks good and it's another good way to meet parents, get involved and support the school. It's incredible to see so many children getting out there and giving their best. It is worth noting that the course is mostly run on sand so if you do have a child taking part and you could get them to practice running on sand this weekend, that would be great. The courses for the races have been posted on the main school blog here and the distances vary from 1km for the Grade 1s and 2s up to 1.5km for Grade 3, 2km for Grades 5 and 6 and 3km for Grades 7 and 8.

Weekly update - Indigo adopt a school, work to rule, blogs and newsletters

HELP WIN BOOKS FOR OUR SCHOOL
If you are on the internet most days, in particular for the next 2 weeks or so, please consider adding this link - https://adoptaschool.indigo.ca/eng/schools/743#.VgLvlni2NdA.facebook - to your favourites and making sure you click every day! The top 3 schools in the province will win books for their school and each click really makes a difference - we went from 101st to 84th in a matter of hours with only a few clicks. You can also make a donation of $12 to get an extra 10 "adopts" but you don't get more for bigger donations.



EFTO AND WORK-TO-RULE
Just an anecdotal update really about this. Firstly, I was chatting to Miss Mills (the principal) earlier in the week and she mentioned that the situation within the school feels pretty tense with the teachers having to be careful not to step outside the boundaries set for them by their union which, at times, is frustrating for everyone including the teachers themselves. I have spoken to several of the teachers and they definitely are doing their best to get things done within the confines of what the union rules are currently allowing. It's great to see the cross country practices, for example, have not been curtailed. It's not easy for everyone and though things from the playground seem relatively smooth, there is a lot of work going on inside the school to keep it all ticking over!

In terms of next steps, the union rep is going to a meeting on Tuesday (29th) for further discussions and I hope to hear from her soon after that and will keep an eye on the news also. Let's all hope for a resolution to it all sooner rather than later so everyone can concentrate on getting on with learning and teaching!

SCHOOL COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS & NEWSLETTER
At the moment, I have not been sending out newsletters- partly because I have had busy work weeks and feel I am still settling in to the new school term but also because we are working to compile the email list and class lists from the forms that have been returned. We have had a pretty good return rate on those forms so thank you so much for that! It's also better late than never so please feel free to send them back if they got pushed to the bottom of the pile - you can drop them off in the office if you get to the playground or ask your child to do so if you don't. Some teachers are just putting them in a pile in the classroom if they get returned to class so they should eventually get to us! We think class lists will be really helpful for all parents and are delighted to have had a good response.

Cross country start time update

Hello all, as Mme Aradj posted here, Thursday's cross country was excellent - perfect weather and a huge turnout! Really, really lovely.

The start time has now been updated to 8am so you get an extra 15 minutes to sleep or eat breakfast!

In other fitness and sport-related activity, we are hoping to get the Fitness Fridays initiative up and running. Please contact the school council if you have a little time before school on Friday to volunteer or help with getting our children moving in the morning and starting the school day with a burst of activity. There was information about this on the forms that went home but we understand that there are mountains of forms to get through and it's easy to miss something!


School council email: lordlansdowneschoolcouncil@gmail.com

Quick News Round-Up

Cross Country - starts THURSDAY 17th September

Parents of Grade 1 children and up - cross country practice starts on Thursday (not tomorrow as in earlier post) at 7.45am for those who want to join in. The meet will be on in early  October so just a few weeks of training to fit in! Sessions are Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school and parent volunteers and helpers and cheerleaders are welcome!

Grade 1/2 split class

Those of you with children in grades 1 and 2 may have been aware that there were so many of them, a new class was planned for early in the school year once Ms. Mills had confirmed numbers of children arriving back in September. This has now been done - there is a new Grade 1/2 class starting this morning with 9 grade 1 students and 7 grade 2 students. Those of you affected will have received information about this. The straight grade 2 class - with Mme Mackness - remains as is. 

Paperwork, forms and work-to-rule

Parents should have received two packages of paperwork home in the past week. One of these is all white paper and is updated medical and contact information for the school. The other consisted of coloured sheets and was information from the school council including forms to facilitate the compilation and management of class lists and volunteering opportunities. As the teachers are on work-to-rule, they are not permitted to collect these. This is pretty inconvenient for everyone - teachers, office staff and parents - but there you go! If you have any of the packages and do drop-off or pick-up, you can drop them in the office. If you don't get to the school, you can send them in with your child(ren) and we are working to have a dropbox in the classrooms where the teachers can allow children to drop off the forms. The teachers are co-operating and communicating with us about this and everyone is doing the best they can!

Also, Mme Aradj has told me that she cannot start the school-based blog or Twitter feed until the work-to-rule is called off. It will be active...just not yet!

Bike Racks!

Pictured are two of the four new bike racks that we now have at Lord Lansdowne! Hurray! My Grade 2 and SK children were pretty happy about them!

If you have pictures that you would like featured on the blog, you can email me  . 

Welcome back and Welcome to Newbies!

Hello and welcome!
I am hoping some of you will have found this blog from the package of information and forms that we, the school council, distributed yesterday.

This year, Mme. Aradj is also running a blog and Twitter feed so we will be coordinating so that all sources of information are useful and will be careful that parents are not receiving too many emails or anything.

We welcome any and all parental involvement in the school council - just attending meetings is great and anything more is fantastic! We strongly believe that Lord Lansdowne parents can help make it an even better place for our children to be.

Do follow us on Twitter, if you are into that: @TorontoLLPS and also follow the official school feed @LL_TDSB . The school blog - http://lordlansdowne.wordpress.com also has links to individual class blogs.

Get in touch if you have suggestions or ideas or requests for what you would like to see here and stay tuned for the announcement of the first school council meeting!

Latest newsletter from French as a Second Language Advisory Committee (FSLAC)

Click on over to our French Resources page to see the latest newsletter from FSLAC.

PA Day tomorrow, Friday 5th of June

Just a reminder about tomorrow's PA Day. The weather forecast isn't looking great at the moment, unfortunately. Enjoy the weekend! Only 3 weeks left of the school year to go!

Details of Settlement on 484 Spadina/Waverly Hotel and Next Steps

 Dear LLPS community,

As you will read below, a compromise settlement has been reached this morning by the City of Toronto and the Wynne Group (developer) on the 484 Spadina/Waverly Hotel redevelopment. Please read below the statement from City Councillor Joe Cressy and TDSB Trustee Asuma Malik on this settlement.

As you will read, the compromised development is shorter (15 stories compared to 22) and will have setbacks on certain floors to further help mitigate the impact of shadowing on our schoolyard. Shade on our school yard remains a concern. There will be no shadows on our school building.

I think this is a pretty good settlement—perhaps the best we could have expected considering the circumstances—and a testament to the hard work of our community. I want to single out our champion, Amy Furness, but also give tremendous gratitude to countless of other parents who have spent dozens of volunteer hours in preparation for and at the Ontario Municipal Board hearing.  

It is important to note that this settlement was reached during confidential discussions over the past few months between the City of Toronto and the developer, and that the LLPS School Council was not invited to participate in these discussions.

I will spend the morning at the OMB to get further clarity on this settlement as well as next steps. I will pass along the information as I get it.

As you will remember, the TDSB bowed out of the OMB discussion in exchange for a sum of $1 million from the developer. We understand that the TDSB will still receive much of this funding, even though a compromise was reached and the building height reduced.

We need to ensure that this funding goes 100% to our school and community to help us redevelop our playground and site so that we can still save as much of our sunshine as possible. Please stay tuned for further details on this, but we already know that we will advocate alongside our Trustee, Asuma Malik, and City Councillor, Joe Cressy.

I welcome you sharing your reactions and questions to this news. Please feel free to Tweet them (to @TorontoLLPS) and share them on our Facebook group using our hastags: #saveoursunshine #484spadina #trinspa

Thanks,

Miriam

LLPS School Council Chair

Documents relating to today's settlements can be viewed here

PS. I have heard that there will be an announcement at 2pm today on the potential strike action (word-to-rule) planned for Monday. We will keep you posted with details and how it will impact next week. Stay tuned.

Nepal earthquake - relief effort

Ms. Mills asked us to pass on the following information about how Lord Lansdowne and the TDSB are reacting to help and acknowledge the terrible earthquake that happened in Nepal. I know many of you will be supporting the efforts to help in your own way and I am sure you will be pleased that the children of Lord Lansdowne will be aware and helping too. From Beth:

It has been difficult to hear the reports and see the images emerging out of Nepal following the devastating earthquake. Sadly, the death toll continues to rise each day, thousands have been injured and an estimated 8.1 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance: food, shelter, primary medical care and clean water. Families in our own community are affected by the devastation.

-        Flags will be lowered to half-staff at each of our schools on Monday, May 4th.  We will also observe a moment of silence throughout the Board that day.
-        We will be supporting the Canadian Red Cross in their relief efforts. Proceeds from our next three pizza lunches (May 5,12,19) will be donated to the Red Cross.
-        The organization already has teams on the ground in Nepal providing assistance to those in need. To contribute online, visit the TDSB website at www.tdsb.on.ca.  You can donate at school or our regional offices (5050 Yonge Street, 1 Civic Centre Court and 140 Borough Drive).
-        For all donations in excess of $20, made either online or by cheque, tax receipts will be issued by the Canadian Red Cross. The TDSB fundraising appeal will run until May 25th. The federal government has announced that they will match all eligible donations made by that date.

Program Area Review - where will all the students go?!

As most of you will be aware, the English stream in Lord Lansdowne, grades JK to 6, will be taking up a new home in Kensington Community School in the autumn. Many of you will also be aware that this was a solution arrived at with the involvement of parent councils from Da Vinci, Kensington and Lord Lansdowne schools. In fact, the original proposal included the Da Vinci school moving to Kensington to allow for expansion but this part of the proposal - mainly for financial reasons, we are told - was not accepted.

However, the Program Area Review has been reconvened to further sort out the issues of accommodating growing numbers of students in the area, the supposed under-utilization of Kensington and so on. Kensington has been under threat of closure!  Lord Lansdowne has been bursting at the seams! Parent input and community involvement is really valuable to this process.

If you would like to review the documents regarding this and send some feedback, if you have any, you can read them here (documents relating to the upcoming meeting on the 28th of April) and also here (broader information about the topic and more documents!) and send feedback to Miriam, our council chair here.

If you are totally confused but quite interested in it all, you may be interested in attending Ausma Malik's SPACE FORUM on the 30th of April at Ryerson from 6pm to 9pm, childcare will be provided. (If the link doesn't work at first, try right clicking and "open in a new tab" on your computer...)

Newlsletter images - apologies!

Just a quick note to apologise to those receiving the email newsletter who could not see the images in the last couple of weeks. I am not sure what the problem is but will be doing my best to solve it nonetheless!

Kensington CS welcomes Lord Lansdowne School!

The school council at Kensington Community School is inviting those in the English stream at Lord Lansdowne, who will be moving to Kensington in the fall to an Open House:

Dear Lord Lansdowne Public School Parents,

As Parent Council Co-Chairs we are delighted to welcome you to Kensington Community School!   For those of you who are not familiar with Kensington, to help us become acquainted we are holding an Open House on Wednesday March 25th 6:30pm – 7:15pm.  We will meet in the library for a presentation, then a tour of the school with our Principal, Jennifer Wilton.  We hope you can attend.

Kensington Community School was created 42 years ago because of the collaboration and vision of individuals in the Kensington Market Community and the TDSB.   Today Kensington is an exceptional school, rich with experiences, learning, and friends.  We foster learning with an inclusive, supportive and curious nature, creating a place where children thrive.

In addition to a strong curriculum, Kensington Community School offers:

• Passionate staff
• Involved and active Parent Council
• A teaching and learning environment that is inclusive and reflects the student body of the school as well as the wider diverse global community
• Exemplary Intensive Support Special Needs Programs
• International Languages Program
• Year round Daycare (Kensington Kids) and after school programming (St. Albans)
• Library packed with books, and an Indigo Grant to continually transform our library and classroom learning
• Full-sized gymnasium, roof play area, large wooden play structure, gardens to explore
• Indoor pool and weekly swim classes for all students
• Greenhouse operated on the roof by parents, staff and students, growing produce for experiential learning and for our Snack Program
• Hallway walls filled with Children’s art and images of Kensington’s history
• Community-based Adult ESL Program
• Strong connection to the Kensington Community

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!

Best regards,

Janice & Rachael

Parent Council Co-Chairs

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying March break and the arrival of spring. Just taking the opportunity to wish you all a very happy St. Patrick's Day or, indeed,  Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

French as a second language resources

Did you know about FSLAC - the TDSB French as a Second Language Advisory Committee?

They have regular newsletters, the latest of which you can find here as well as links and other resources which you can find on their main page.

This website also has a French resources page as befits Lord Lansdowne school as a French hub!

Target Practice at Lord Lansdowne School!

Children throw snowballs.
Snowball throwing is not allowed at school.
Children STILL throw snowballs!
So, what do you do? You provide them with a target to direct their snowball throwing urges towards!

Ms. Mills mentioned this plan at a school council meeting a little while back and I think it is a lovely, positive solution to allow the children to enjoy the snow and give in to their snowball throwing urges!

Does it work? Well, I can attest to its popularity, at the least as I had to ask some children to stand back and away for a few seconds to get the photo you see here! I also saw line-ups to use it yesterday morning and today.

TDSB Excellence Awards - let's get Lord Lansdowne recognised!

The TDSB has a campaign to allow parents, pupils, community members - pretty much anyone - to nominate teachers or programmes in schools to receive excellence awards.

I think it would be great to get a few nominations in for Lord Lansdowne School stars. I have a few in mind, personally, but if there is anyone or any programme you think worthy, then go for it!

Feel free to get in touch to ask further questions! Find a co-nominator for your chosen nominee and get going!



Points to note:

•  closing date for nominations is the 20th of March
•  The link to nominate is here
• Keep in mind the Years of Action goals as well as the five strategic directions noted on the page and relate your blurbs to that
•   Each nomination requires :

           1. Two nominators each of whom provides a 250 word or less description of the work the programme/person does that makes them worthy of the award
           2.  A statement of recognition that can be up to 500 words

Fix Our Schools

Interested in the condition of TDSB schools - in terms of repairs and maintenance?
This campaign newsletter here might be of interest.

The rally mentioned is already over but contacting the relevant people could be helpful.
Lord Lansdowne school seems lucky enough to be in relatively good repair....but it is certainly important to have ALL schools being healthy, happy and safe places to learn.

New Ontario Curriculum for Health and Physical Education

This new curriculum for Health and Physical Education for elementary students was originally due 5 years ago but was shelved.
It was released today - the document can be accessed here

A useful parent guide to the new curriculum can be found here

Information Night about Changes to Special Education

Beth Mills has shared information about this information evening.

You are invited to a meeting to clarify some important Special Education processes used by the TDSB to support students: the Individual Education Plan and Identification, Placement and Review Committee.

The board is moving to reduce the number of intensive support classes for students with special needs, so parents may be particularly interested in attending this session, to find out how the changes could impact their child, whether in an intensive support class or a regular class.

It will take place on

Tuesday, 24th of February

7pm-9pm

at Bloor Collegiate Institute

(1141, Bloor Street West)

Registration is not required but if you require childcare or an interpreter, please call 416-394-3763 or 416-394-7413 to let them know.

Book Fair and Bake Sale!

The book fair will be running from Monday to Thursday this week - open 'til 4.30 after school and late on Thursday night for the parent-teacher interviews.The book fair supports the school library and there are lots of books to choose from. You can give your child some money to spend or come in yourself. Many thanks to Mr. Iorio who organises it!

Bake sale - this will be on this Thursday afternoon and on Friday to sustain you for the parent-teacher interviews and also to give you energy to browse the book fair! We do need volunteers, though. Click here to BAKE and click here to SELL (man the stand). Selling is a great way to get a sense of the atmosphere of the school and maybe meet a few kids and parents you didn't know!
All baked goods can be dropped off on Thursday afternoon, remember to label your containers with your name or use disposable containers.

Information and Updates from TDSB regarding Immunizations and the Measles outbreak

Hi there - Ms. Mills has asked me to share the following information from the TDSB in relation to immunizations and the measles outbreak. Hard copies of the letters should be arriving in backpacks too!

From the TDSB

ü  The TDSB takes its lead from Toronto Public Health with regards to vaccinations.
ü  The TDSB helps with the exchange of information between parents and Toronto Public Health.
ü  Toronto Public Health oversees vaccination requirements, including exemptions which can be granted on medical, religious and philosophical grounds. For those wishing to be exempt, a form must be submitted to Toronto Public Health — not the TDSB.
ü  It’s important to note that parents must submit vaccination information to Toronto Public Health. Every time a child has a needle, a parent should let them know.
ü  The immunization/vaccination rate at each school is a snapshot in time and does necessarily reflect the current rate — as students may have received the required immunization/documentation within days of the compiling that information.
ü  The data that has been circulated among media recently is as a result of a Freedom of Information request to Toronto Public Health and does not necessarily reflect current rates.

If you have additional questions, please contact Toronto Public Health.

Thank you

Documents from Toronto Public Health

Toronto Public Health Immunization Document

Toronto Public Health Letter to Parents

Lovely Lord Lansdowne!

Lord Lansdowne on a blue-skied winter's day

Just thought we would share this photo taken by one of our Lord Lansdowne parents of a beautiful blue winter sky in the Lord Lansdowne playground!

Latest on 484 Spadina

While closing arguments had been scheduled for this week, we hear that the 2 sides are still talking and a modified plan may be under discussion.
The closing arguments are now rescheduled for the 27th of February.
We, in the school council at Lord Lansdowne, will hope to be able to get some information about any redesigns and will certainly keep you posted!

Latest invitations to engage from Ausma Malik

Ausma Malik has really been making efforts to reach out and engage with the Lord Lansdowne community. See below from her:

1. Please take a moment to share your thoughts on the future of the TDSB with this short survey, and share with others: http://bit.ly/TDSBsurvey 

2. I will be hosting two community consultations to discuss the Minister’s directives and the future of the TDSB. Poster attached, for notice boards.

Date: Friday January 30 2015

Time: 12:30pm – 2:30pm

Location: RedFish BlueFish Creative Cafe

73 Harbord St (near Harbord and Spadina) - http://bit.ly/1C7VQuL 

Child friendly space. Refreshments provided. 

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Date: Monday February 2 2015

co-hosted with Marit Stiles, Trustee, TDSB Ward 9 & Jennifer Story, Trustee TDSB Ward 15

Facebook Invitation

Time: Drop-in from 5:30-6:30pm

Consultation from 6:30pm-8:30pm

Location: Dewson Street Junior Public School

65 Concord Ave (near College and Ossington) - http://bit.ly/1thfem0 

  Child care provided. Refreshments served.

  Translation upon request. Please email: ausma.malik@tdsb.on.ca

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3. Our February Ward Council meeting is:

Thursday February 12th (Please note: This date is new)

from 7:00pm-9:00pm

at Essex Public School (To be confirmed)

        50 Essex St (near Christie, between Dupont and Bloor) - http://bit.ly/15LLTWF 

There will be a special presentation from TDSB staff about the upcoming TDSB budget.

Childcare is provided. Refreshments are served. Everyone is welcome!

This venue is accessible & barrier-free. 

In addition, working with the Ward 10 Council Steering Committee and at our last meeting,  we set the dates for our Ward Council meetings for the rest of term.

They will be from 7:00pm-9:00pm, with locations to be determined: 

- Thursday March 12

- Monday April 13

- Tuesday May 12

Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time at: ausma.malik@tdsb.on.ca, or 416.397.3100