A Ready, Set, Learn event will take place in every elementary school in the North Okanagan-Shuswap between January and March 2020.

• Ready, Set, Learn is a free early learning event for families with pre-school aged children who are 3 to 5 years old (and not yet attending Kindergarten);
• All families who attend will receive free books and a kit of materials and resources to help support their child’s early learning experiences;
• All families are encouraged to pre-register for the event at their local school (250.832.3741) or contact Jennifer Findlay at jfindlay@sd83.bc.ca for more information;

The Ready Set Learn event at Bastion Elementary School will take place on Tuesday, February 18th at 1:00 pm in the gym.  The event will end at approximately 2:00.

Monday, January 20th
Magnificent Monday. We hope everyone has a great start to the week!

Tuesday, January 21st
Carnaval de Quebec. All of our students will be participating in a full day of activities, from dances and games to crepe making, as they celebrate a traditional Winter Festival from Quebec. All students will need to remember to dress appropriately for the weather, as many of the activities will take place outside. Everyone is invited to dress up as lumberjacks/les bucherons. We might even have a special visit from Bonhomme! A special thank you to Mme Candy and Mrs. MacDermott for working together to organize the event!!

Wednesday, January 22nd
Curling. Mme Candy’s class will be heading off for their second session of curling lessons at the Salmon Arm Curling Club.
Salmon Arm Silverbacks. As a special treat, players from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks will be visiting Bastion Elementary to read with our students and have a game of floor hockey with some of our students.
Boys’ Basketball Game. Our boys’ basketball teams will play their first games on Wednesday. Mme Mueller’s team will play a home game against Hillcrest and Mr. Menzies’ team will travel to Enderby to play MV Beattie. Good luck, boys!

Thursday, January 23rd
Field Trip for Mrs. Isaac’s Class. Mrs. Isaac’s class will be going to the high school’s Sullivan campus to play some math games, created by some Grade 11/2 students. The Grade 11/12 students have visited our school and connected with the K/1 class and now it’s Bastion’s turn to visit the high school. Hmmm… didn’t realize polynomials and calculus were part of the new K/1 curriculum!!
Girls’ Basketball Game. Mrs. Smith’s team will be travelling to King’s Christian School to play their first game of the season. This will be a good learning experience for both teams and we hope they have lots of fun!!

Friday, January 24th
Unplug and Play Week. The Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society’s (LASS) annual Unplug and Play Week will take place between January 25th and February 1st. Many fun events will occur over the course of the week, including a PJ Storytime at Bastion on January 28th, at 6:00 pm. The students will be coming home with an Unplug and Play Passport, which will have a schedule of all the community events taking place in Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Enderby and Armstrong. For more information, please click the link below:

Unplug and Play 2020 Schedule

Monday,January 13th
It… is… Cold!! Hopefully all children arrived at school dressed appropriately for the cold temperature (including windchill!). The website post after this one, provides some information on our cold weather guidelines.

Tuesday, January 14th
Gymnastics. Mme Reid, Mme Dollack, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. MacDermott, Monsieur Cote and Mme Bartsch’s classes will have their third session of gymnastics on Tuesday. All students will need to remember to have comfortable clothing, which will make it comfortable to jump, balance, stretch, somersault and cartwheel.

Wednesday, January 15th
Gymnastics. Wednesday will be the final gymnastics session for the current classes that have been participating. Parents of the students currently participating in gymnastics are welcome to attend and watch their children.
Please note: Monsieur Mueller, Mme Jesse/Mme Harker, Mrs. Isaac, Mrs. Ollinger, Mme Nadine and Mme van Varseveld’s classes will have their gymnastics sessions in the late spring.
Curling. Mme Candy’s class will be walking (students will need to dress warmly!!) to the SA Curling Club to participate in some curling lessons. We hope they enjoy learning about this good ol’ Canadian sport!

Thursday, January 16th
Fun Food Day. Those students who ordered Fun Food will get to enjoy their pizza or chicken nuggets, fruit & veggies, and cookie! Thank you for supporting the PAC.
SAS Dance Performance. Mme Candy and Mme Genevieve’s students will be walking to SAS-Sullivan to watch a dance class perform their newest dance routines.

Friday, January 17th
Trip to Larch Hills. Mme Dollack and Mme Reid’s classes will be going to Larch Hills for their second session of cross-country skiing. The temperature should be much milder, but the students will still need to remember to dress appropriately and bring a healthy snack/lunch.
Curling. Mme Valerie’s students will have an opportunity to go to the SA Curling Club and throw some rocks and hopefully get them in the house.

With the extremely cold temperatures expected this week it is important that students dress for the weather when coming to school. Please see the image above for some guidelines with respect to dressing for the cold.

During very poor weather students will be permitted to play appropriately inside. Given the protection offered by our surrounding forests, when temperatures are in the range of -10 to -12 degrees at the school, students are typically expected to play outside as long as the windchill isn’t too bad. When the temperature drops below -12 degrees at the school there is a good chance students will have an indoor recess.  The decision whether or not to have an indoor recess rests with the principal or vice-principal, and is based on a number of factors (ie. temperature at the school, windchill, shelters available, length of time outside, etc.).

If your child arrives at school before the bell, some teachers may choose to open their classroom doors a few minutes early on extreme cold weather days. If your child’s classroom door is not open, they can come in through the front doors and will be directed to go to the gym or Library or Multi-purpose room.

These guidelines are in place to protect the health of all students, staff and guests at Bastion.