School Council Meeting Report - June 14th 2016

Our final meeting of the year took place on Tuesday, June 14th. There was plenty on the agenda and it was great to see such that our number of regular attendees seems to have grown during the year. Together we are stronger!

The full minutes of the meeting are available on the relevant page on this very website once the draft is approved but this post is to give a general report. The school council now aims to send out the agenda 2 weeks in advance (via email, we also link in the newsletter) and, after Tuesday's meeting, we agreed that we will leave time for Any Other Business and allow people to request that items be added to the agenda up to a week before the meeting. We do try to stick to the allotted times (didn't go quite so well this week but Jordan did a champion job in other meetings - there was just A LOT to discuss this time around!).

Funding
Although this was one of the last items discussed, it is one that sparked a lot of conversation and ideas so we shall start with it here. Overall, the idea was floated that having champions for different
causes could work well so that those passionate about a given cause could be involved in moving it forward. Sarah Layton volunteered to help co-ordinate the fundraising for different causes so that people don't overlap or organise conflicting events or the like. In the end, through discussion and voting, we came up with 5 main targets for fundraising for the year to come. These are (in no particular order)

1.                Sports equipment/uniforms – Eugene, possibly Mme Raoult – unspecified amount
2.        Chromebooks – specific appeal submitted regarding these at earlier meeting – Eve - $5000
3.        Orff instruments – specific request submitted regarding this at previous meeting - $2000 – Jordan
4.        Library books –  unspecified amount - Jordan 
5.              High Park Outdoor Education Scheme ($19.50 per student, useful for SK to grade 3) – Elize (half-committed) and David

Money for an anti-bullying program (see item below) is already in the bank for next year. If you feel passionate about any of the 5 items above or have a great idea about how to fundraise for a particular cause, do get in touch with the school council - we'd love to have more people on board!

     Safe and Caring Schools

     The school council has a sub-committee who are focussing on ways to support the school in building a happy, caring, bully-free environment. Building on from the Community Builders parent workshop held last week, the council is committed to funding a program to come into the school, and this money is already ring-fenced and in the bank. The exact program and the form it will take is to be discussed in the weeks to come and we are working with staff to see what will suit students, staff and parents!

   Save our Vice Principal Campaign

    We are sad to report that it looks like our campaign to keep a vice-principal position for the 2016/17 school year has not been successful. However, the current prediction is that we may not have one the following year either and we are not giving up the fight. We will continue to make noise and stay in touch with TDSB, with the superintendent and other relevant people to convince them that with two schools, plenty of bussing, the international language program and more, Lord Lansdowne and Da Vinci NEED a vice principal. We hope you will join in the letter writing and noise-making campaign - keep an eye out for news on how you can help!

    

     Refugee Family Sponsorship Update

    We are pleased to report that "our" family have had their interviews and are eligible to come to Canada. When they get here, there is a list of household items that they will need. You will have the opportunity to sign up at the school concert (Wednesday 22nd) if you have items you can give or you can access the list here too and sign up right now!