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.

Given the protection offered by our surrounding forests and the school, when temperatures are in the range of -10 to -15 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 -15 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. In the past, if your child’s classroom door was not open, they could come in through the front doors and be directed to go to the gym or Library or Multi-purpose room. Due to Covid and not wanting to mix Learning Cohorts, this will not be possible. If the classroom door is not open, students will need to wait until the door opens or the bell rings.

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

We understand that some neighbourhoods in the Bastion catchment have no power at this time (Wednesday, January 13th) due to the wind storm.

Please note: Bastion Elementary does have power and school is in session.

We understand if some students are late, due to the power outage.

Happy New Year Bastion Families!!

We hope all of our students and their families had a wonderful Winter Break!  We’re definitely looking forward to seeing the students and hearing the many stories about their holidays.

Below are a few important reminders as we head into the new year:

1. Daily Health Check.  As a school community, we must all continue to work together to ensure our learning community remains healthy.  Families have done a wonderful job of keeping their children at home when the children are feeling ill and having them return when symptoms are gone.  Let’s all continue to be conscientious and have students or staff members remain at home if they are ill.  To review the Daily Health Check, please click the following link: https://sd83.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/health-checklist.pdf
2. Visitor Check-in.  All family members and volunteers are required to wear a mask when entering the building.  If you need to come into the school, there is a new Visitor Sign-in binder (yellow) at the main entrance.  Please be sure to sign-in and sign-out if you need to come inside the school.
3. Winter Playground Expectations.  Hopefully we will receive some more snow, so the sliding hills can be refreshed.  Right now, the hills are quite icy.  We’ll have a close look to see if it is safe to open the hills for sliding.  Please remember, if students bring sliders from home, they need to be crazy carpets or foam sliders.  Hard plastic sliders or GTs will need to remain at home.  A short slide show will be posted on the Bastion website, showing all of our Winter Playground Expectations.  Please feel free to have a look so students and families are aware of our expectations.  Please ensure your children are coming to school dressed appropriately for the winter weather.
4. Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI).  Our school district participates in an annual survey, which provides the school and school district with information on how to best support our students.  The survey focuses on the students’ personal and social competencies.  Basically, we are looking at how our students are feeling about their experiences at school and in the community.  All Grade 5 students will be participating in the survey on a day in January or February.  We will inform the families of our Grade 5 students when a schedule is determined.  For more information on the MDI, please click the following link:  https://sd83.bc.ca/2020/12/02/sd83-students-taking-part-in-mdi/SD83 students taking part in MDI – School District No. 83 (North Okanagan-Shuswap)
5. Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA).  Each year the Grade 4 students participate in the provincial FSA.  The students are assessed in the areas of Reading, Writing and Numeracy.  The results are used to see how we can better support our students in reading, writing and numeracy.  The Grade 4 students will participate in the FSA on various days in January and/or February.  Once a schedule has been determined, we will share that information with the families of our Grade 4 students.
6. Questions or Concerns.  Please remember that if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.  Mme Jegues and Mr. Menzies are more than happy to connect with our students’ families and we welcome emails, phone calls or scheduled visits to talk with our students’ families.  We always want to work together to provide the best learning environment for our students.

We would like to wish everyone all the best for a great start to 2021!!

Sincerely,

Joel Menzies (Principal) and Laura Jegues (Vice-Principal)

Once again, one of our Bastion students has shown a true act of kindness. If you have not already read the news story about one of our students, Jane, please read the following news story. You will be inspired by her thoughtfulness and compassion. Thank you, Jane! We are all very proud of you!!

Young cancer survivor’s crafts raise $3,400 for Salmon Arm girl needing surgery