It’s hard to believe that the final week of the school year is upon us. The week will be filled with celebrations, clean-up, farewells and fun.

Monday, June 24th
Kindergarten Field Trip. All three of our Kindergarten classes will be visiting Fletcher Park and Fire Hall No. 3. A visit to the Fire Hall is always an exciting experience for a 5 or 6 year-old, as they get to see real-life heroes! Hopefully the rain will hold off so the Kindies can stay dry and have fun at the playground.

Tuesday, June 25th
Grade 1 – 5 Fun Day! Our Grade 4/5 leaders have been busy preparing their team signs and cheers for Fun Day. Our students will get the chance to participate in a variety of events throughout the day, as they show team spirit and have fun! Tuesday is suppose to be the nicest day of the week, with some sun and cloud. The students should be prepared for any type of weather, so please send your child to school with sunscreen, a hat and a hoodie/jacket.
Kindergarten Field Trip. The Kindergarten classes will be visiting the Enchanted Forest, where they will get to discover the magic of an enchanted old growth forest and its 350 handcrafted fairy tale figurines and structures.

Wednesday, June 26th
Grade 5 Farewell Assembly. As our Grade 5 students enjoy their final days of elementary school, we will be saying good-bye during an assembly dedicated to them. The assembly will begin at 12:45 pm and all family members of our Grade 5 students are invited to attend.

Thursday, June 27th
Year-end Assembly. The year-end assembly will being at 8:20. We will be saying good-bye to some staff members, and recognizing the contributions of some of the parents/family members who help make our school a great place. The highlight is definitely the year-end slideshow, where we get to celebrate all of the wonderful things our students have been involved in throughout the year. After the assembly, the students will return to their classes, where they will have a chance to say good-bye to their teachers and receive their report cards.
Early Dismissal at 10:05. The students will be dismissed at 10:05 on the final day of school. The school bus and daycare buses will pick the students up at this time, and all other students will be picked up by their parents or walk/bike home.

Friday, June 28th
Summer Holidays Begin! While the students begin their summer holidays, the teachers have one more day to get things tidied up and in-check before they begin a well-deserved break. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer, as they create fun-filled memories with family and friends.

Busy, busy days ahead!!

Monday, June 17th
A Visit from Mme Jegues. On August 1st, Mme Jegues will officially be our new vice-principal. On Monday, she will be coming to Bastion to visit all of the classrooms and meet the students and our staff. We’re happy to have Mme Jegues come for a visit, so she can see how wonderful Bastion is!!

Tuesday, June 18th
Field Trip to the Bird Sanctuary. The students in Mme van Varseveld and Mrs. Ollinger’s classes will go on a nature walk along Salmon Arm’s Foreshore Raven Trail. Hopefully the students will see many types of birds and enjoy the beautiful scenery! Are there still beavers living along the foreshore?
Grade 4/5 Waterslide Day. It’s tradition for our Grade 4/5 students to have a year-end celebration at the Salmon Arm Waterslides. It’s a bit of a “passing of the torch”, as our Grade 5 students pass on the leadership role of being the oldest in the school to next year’s Grade 5 students. Don’t forget swimsuits, towels, sunscreen and a healthy lunch!

Wednesday, June 19th
Field Trip to Boston Pizza. Mme Genevieve’s students will be walking down to Boston Pizza, and having a first-hand experience of the restaurant business. They will have a behind the scenes tour of the restaurant, as well as have the chance to make their own pizzas. Don’t forget… Mr. Menzies love Hawaiian pizza!!
Cinderella/Cendrillon. Mme Reid’s students have been working hard, as they have been practicing for the play of Cinderella/Cendrillon. Families are welcome to attend this French production at 12:45. We’re looking forward to seeing this group of Grade 3 students shine like the stars they are!

Thursday, June 20th
Field Trip to BC Wildlife Park. M Cote and Mme Ackerman’s classes will be visiting the BC Wildlife Park. These classes will have to be the tie-breaker – right now it’s pretty even between the cougars and the kermode bear as the favourite!
Field Trip to Blackburn Park. Mme Candy and Mme Valerie’s classes will be heading to Blackburn Park to have some fun at the fields and the waterpark. These two classes have been working very closely all year long, and the teachers want to celebrate the collaboration and teamwork that has taken place!

Friday, June 21st
National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Although these groups share many similarities, they each have their own distinct heritage, language, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day due to the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.
Field Trip to Allan Brooks Nature Centre. Mme van Varseveld and Mme Nadine’s students will have the chance to experience the nature centre. In talking to classes who have already gone, this is definitely one of the best field trips!!
Field Trip to Gym of Rock. Mme Valerie’s class will be having PE at the Gym of Rock. They will challenge themselves to climb high!
Bastion Circus Performance. Mme Dollack has a long-standing tradition of working with her students to present a circus performance for the school and her students’ families. The school will watch the performance in the morning and her students’ families are invited to attend the 1:00 performance. The theme of the show will connect to National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Here’s what’s happening at Bastion Elementary this week…

Monday, June 10th
Jump 360. Mme Valerie and Mme Candy will be taking their classes to Jump 360 in Kamloops. The students will have approximately two hours of jumping on trampolines, jumping into a foam pit, trying the log roller and jousting – they should be nice and tired when they get home! Parents… please remember that the students will return to the school at 3:00. Please make a plan with your child on how he/she will get home at that time. Thank you!
Kindies to the Nature Centre. All three of our Kindergarten classes will be going to the Allan Brooks Nature Centre. We hope they all have a wonderful time!!
Late French Immersion SMS Transition Visit. Our Grade 5 students who will be going into Late French Immersion, at SMS, will walk to SMS and have a tour of the school and see what life will be like in Grade 6.

Tuesday, June 11th
A Trip to Hillcrest. Mrs. William’s class will be visiting Hillcrest Elementary to visit with a Grade 2 class who they have been corresponding with. It will be neat for the students to connect with another class face-to-face!
Early French Immersion SMS Transition Visit. All of our current Grade 5 students who are in French Immersion will get their chance to visit SMS to see the various classrooms and meet some of their Grade 6 teachers.

Wednesday, June 12th
RJ Haney Heritage House. Mrs. Ollinger and Mme van Varseveld’s classes will visit RJ Haney Heritage House and experience some of Salmon Arm’s history. From the railway to downtown, as well as the original one-room school house, the students will see how far Salmon Arm has come since the 1860s.
Allan Brooks Nature Centre. Mrs. Kehl and Mme Reid’s classes will have the opportunity to visit the nature centre. The students will enjoy a grassland nature walk, engage in a pond study and discover indigenous plants.
Mount Baldy. Mme Genevieve and Mrs. Smith’s classes will head out to Mount Baldy, near Sorrento. At the end of a wonderful hike, the students will be treated to a beautiful view of Shuswap Lake.

Thursday, June 13th
Fun Food Day. It’s the final Fun Food Day of the year. Thank you very much to those parents and family members who have helped sort and distribute the food throughout the year!! We appreciate your time, which makes the Fun Food Days possible!!
English SMS Transition Visit. All of our Grade 5 students in the English program will have the opportunity to visit SMS and learn all about the learning opportunities and fun activities that they will experience in Grade 6.
200 Nights of Reading Celebration. All those students who accomplished the milestone of 200 nights of reading this school year, will have the chance to celebrate with Mrs. Murrells-Allaway and Mrs. Loewen. Congrats to all those students who have made a dedicated effort to read so often at home!!

Friday, June 14th
Tennis Lessons. The students in Mme Reid, Mme Dollack, Mme Valerie and Mr. Menzies’ classes will participate in their second and final tennis lessons at the Salmon Arm Tennis Club.

With 18 and a half days left of the school year, we’re going to have a very busy final four weeks of school.  The students (and teachers!) will have to remain focused and continue to work hard over these next few weeks, as there is still lots of learning to do!!  Even while we work hard, there is still going to be lots of fun!!

Monday, June 3rd
Bastion Choir Tour. Our amazing Bastion Choir will be touring around our community to various venues, bringing the joy of music to those who may not get to listen to live music very often. The tour will start off with a performance for our whole school at 8:30 am. Family members are welcome to attend if they wish. If you are unable to attend tomorrow’s performance, you can listen to our choir sing a couple of different songs by clicking on the Distant Shore and Coulter’s Candy audio players, on the right-hand sidebar. This is an aware winning choir, as they placed first at the Shuswap Music Festival and received the Best Youth Choir award. Thank you to Ms. Marlene Engel who has been playing the piano for the choir, and a HUGE thank you goes to Mme Shannon Anamchara for conducting our choir students!!

Tuesday, June 4th
Track & Field. Many of our Grade 4 and 5 students qualified to go to the School District No. 83 Track and Field meet. We will have students competing in 100m Sprints, High Jump, Long Jump, 400m & 800m events, and relays. All the best to our students! We hope you have fun and please remember to represent yourselves and Bastion well!!
Adams River Field Trip. Mrs. Williams and Mrs. MacDermott’s classes will be going to Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park to participate in some stations focused on outdoor education. We hope the students enjoy the day in the great outdoors!
BC Wildlife Park. All three of our Kindergarten classes will be visiting the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops. Hopefully they will get to see the cougar in action, as this was the highlight of the classes that visited the park last week.

Wednesday, June 5th
Tennis Lessons. The students in Mme Reid, Mme Valerie and Mme Candy’s classes will walk up to the Salmon Arm Tennis Club and enjoy some tennis lessons. Hopefully some of the students will be inspired from watching the French Open!!

Thursday, June 6th
Kingfisher Interpretive Centre. Mme Reid and Mme Dollack’s classes will be traveling to the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre. The students will have the chance to participate in a nature hike, learn about local Indigenous culture, and do a pond study. It might be a good idea to bring bug spray on this particular field trip!

Friday, June 7th
Acciona Volunteer Day. A parent of one of our students works for Acciona, a company that focuses on the sustainability of renewable resources, so future generations can have their needs met. He has organized Acciona Volunteer Day to come to Bastion Elementary. Acciona Volunteer Day is when employees of Acciona go into schools all over the world, and spend time doing presentations and activities with the students to help our children learn about how they can help make our world a better place. Three of our classes will have the opportunity to participate in this event. Feel free to click on the link below to learn more about Acciona Volunteer Day:

Acciona Volunteer Day