Mustang Memo - November 22, 2024
We were lucky to have some great discussions around the topic of bullying this week as part of Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. Our counselors, Mrs. Bashaw and Ms. Mitchell, shared this resource with teachers to support classroom instruction. Students learned about what bullying is and isn't, what to do if you are being bullied, how to show empathy and kindness to others and ways that you can stop bullying by being an upstander.
Ms. Julia, our Mental Health Capacity Builder also visited classrooms to talk about bullying prevention. Students learned a variety of strategies that you can try when encountering bullying behaviour which they wrote on cut outs of handprints. We will display the handprints and strategies on the glass outside of the library so make sure to stop in and check it out!
Students also watched short videos about these topics each day in the morning announcements like this one:
Bullying is a hot topic and the word often gets used a lot. Sometimes students confuse rude or mean behaviour with bullying. As explained in the video we can use this acronym to understand bullying. Bullying is:
B - Being mean (physically, verbally, socially/emotionally, or through online social media)
O - On purpose
O - Over and over again
Here's another way you can think about it:
- When someone says or does something unintentionally hurtful and they do it once, that rude.
- When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they do it once, that's mean.
- When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they keep doing it - even when you tell them to stop or show them that you're upset- that's bullying.
The key to stopping bullying is in making sure that you are reporting it. We encourage students to talk to a trusted adult like a parent, teacher, supervisor or counselor when they are experiencing bullying.
We need students to report bullying every time they experience it so that we know that the problem persists. If we know it keeps happening, we can step up the intensity of our intervention to make it stop. The key is to keep reporting it over and over again! We want all kids to be safe at school, so let us know if there is an ongoing problem! We'll work together to make it stop!
If you want to learn more about how to prevent bullying and what you can do if it's happening to you, you can visit this website.
Together, we can make this school a safe place so that everyone feels like they belong!
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
You belong here!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- Winter's Here - Dress for the Weather
- 12 Days of Christmas Food Bank Drive is Coming
Opportunity
- Counsellor's Corner
- Lunch Clubs Are Starting!
- Parent Volunteers
Information
- How Does DCE Handle Student Conduct
- Boot racks are Here
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
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| Tuesday |
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| Wednesday |
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| Thursday |
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| Friday |
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ACTION
Winter's Here - Dress for the Weather
Now that the snow is on the ground, it's time to break out the winter gear! Thank you for making sure that students are coming to school dressed for the colder weather with boots, snow pants, mitts, tuques and scarves. We send the students outside all winter so these items are essential for enjoying the snow safely!
When the thermometer drops below -22 degrees or colder (including with the windchill) we keep students indoors.
12 Days of Christmas Food Drive for the Food Bank
DCE has a tradition of helping those in need through our 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive for the Strathcona Food Bank. Last year we collected over 1600 pounds of food for Sherwood Park families in need!
We want to do it again this year! How does it work?
Each day, we invite DCE families to send items to go in the donation boxes under our Christmas tree. Each day there will be a new item. Families can participate as much or as little as they want. For example, perhaps you happen to have a can of soup in your cupboard and a box of Bear Paws. You could participate by sending those two items to school stop there. Maybe you are able to be extra generous and buy a flat of juice boxes to send in on one day. Maybe you want to buy one of each item to send all twelve days. Perhaps you can afford to send in one pudding cup. All donations are valued and welcome!
Each day on the announcements, we'll sing a line from the 12 Days of Christmas indicating the item to bring each day. We'll get kids to help us with the singing! Students will drop the items off at our big tree and we will watch the donations grow until December 13 when the Strathcona Food Bank will come to collect it all up! Our items will help support families in need from our own community!
Let's see if we can match, or even surpass last year's 1600 pound donation! Let's go, Mustangs!
Here is the list of items that they would like:
- Day 1:Low sugar cold cereals
- Day 2: Toilet paper
- Day 3: Crackers
- Day 4: Canned fruit/cups
- Day 5: Canned pasta
- Day 6: Ready soup or chili
- Day 7: Juice
- Day 8: Pasta
- Day 9: Shampoo/Conditioner
- Day 10: Canned veggies
- Day 11: Toothpaste
- Day 12: Toothbrushes
OPPORTUNITY
Counsellor's corner
As school counsellors, one of the most important aspects of our work is helping students learn how to navigate and resolve conflicts. Children often encounter disagreements with friends, classmates, or even family members, and your support as parents is key in guiding them through these situations and teaching them valuable conflict resolution skills.
Here are a few tips to support your children when they face conflict:
- Stay Calm and Listen: Encourage your child to express how they feel and what led to the conflict. Active listening helps them feel heard and understood.
- Teach Empathy: Help your child consider the other person’s perspective. Teaching empathy shows them that both sides are important in finding a resolution.
- Problem-Solving: Work with your child to brainstorm possible solutions to the conflict. Guide them in thinking about peaceful and fair ways to resolve the situation.
- Model Respectful Communication: Children learn by example. Demonstrating respectful communication, even when emotions are high, teaches them how to handle difficult conversations.
For additional tips and strategies on conflict resolution, please visit Teaching Kids How to Deal with Conflict - Child Mind Institute.
Mrs. Bashaw and Ms. Mitchell
DCE Counselling Team
Lunch Clubs are Starting!
Our lunch hour clubs are just getting started. While we are still working out the details, here are a list of upcoming clubs:
- Art Club: Grade 2 (to start)
- Crochet Club: Grade 5
- Cute Things Club: Gr. 4-6 (starting with Gr. 5)
- Daebak Dance (K-pop & Zumba dance club): Gr. 4-6 drop in
- Drama Club (various students preparing for Christmas concerts)
- Dungeons & Dragons Club: Gr.4-6
- Games Club: all grades
- Intramurals: Volleyball Gr. 6
- Patrollers: Gr. 5 & 6
- Pokémon Card Club: Gr. 2-4 (starting with Gr. 3)
Staff leaders announce the clubs, what they are who is invited and where to go on the morning announcements. We will also show which clubs are running daily on the Week at a Glance in this Mustang Memo each week! Let the fun begin!
Parent Volunteers
We are reaching out to invite you to get involved in supporting our school through the Hot Lunch Committee. As you may know, the Hot Lunch program is our biggest school fundraiser, and it plays a vital role in helping to fund various school activities and initiatives throughout the year.
The committee is currently seeking volunteers to assist with the following:
- Handing out hot lunches on designated hot lunch days
- Making popcorn on snack days
- Running the concession stands at Family Dance Nights, Literacy Night, and Numeracy Night
- Selling raffle tickets at various events throughout the year
Volunteering is a great way to contribute to the success of these important events and help keep our Hot Lunch program running smoothly. There is no expectation for you to commit to every hot lunch day—just a couple of times throughout the school year will make a significant impact.
If you're interested or have any questions, please reach out to Keri at dcehotlunch@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for considering helping. Your support is truly appreciated and helps make this school year a success for all!
INFORMATION
How Does DCE Handle Student Conduct?
In looking over our parent survey data, we discovered that 27% of parent community didn't know how discipline is handled in our school. While we were surprised at first, we realized this makes sense as most parents will have had no occasions where their child has experienced a disciplinary situation at school.
Why is that?
Because, generally speaking, we have few serious discipline challenges at Davidson Creek Elementary. Our Mustangs try to be safe, kind, respectful and their best selves as much as possible and it shows!
In case you were curious, here is how we support students with making good choices at school.
We believe that all of our students are good people who sometimes make mistakes for a variety of reasons. We also believe it is our role to teach students how to repair relationships and undo harm that they might cause through their words or actions.
When students make choices that are dangerous or hurtful (to themselves, others, or property) we teach them why those are not good choices and what they could do instead. We also teach them not to think like victims, but rather, to understand that they get to choose how they will act, what they will say, and even how they want to feel about something.
We consider disciplinary situations on an individual basis, with action taken dependent upon the intensity, frequency, duration and intent of the misbehavior. The age of the student is also taken into consideration.
Action taken includes logical consequences appropriate for the misbehavior ranging from apologies, missed recesses, acts of community service or suspensions as well as supports for remediation and the teaching of required skills/strategies. Our school team works together to investigate all reported incidents to ensure fairness and justice.
In accordance with the regulations outlined in the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FOIP), details regarding disciplinary action are disclosed only to the immediate student guardian and/or appropriate authorities when required.
If you have questions about this, or anything else, please feel free to reach out to the school administration team: helene.hewitt@eips.ca or jay.robertson@eips.ca
Boot racks are Here!
Have you noticed a great new addition to our school? We have several new sets of boot racks that were recently installed to our delight! With these new boot racks, the shoes on the floor in the foyer have a new home and there is more room for students in older grades to place their boots in the vestibule. We would like to thank Elk Island Public Schools and the incredible Facilities team who helped us to make this dream a reality! Team work makes the dream work!
Parents make the difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
Predict, prepare and practice to prevent behavior problems
When it comes to discipline, families often wait until after a problem arises to take action. Preventing problems in the first place is much more effective.
Follow these three steps:
- Think about a behavior you would like to change. Perhaps your child gets up so late that mornings are hectic.
- Since you can predict the behavior, you can also think about ways to prevent it. Instead of waiting until your child straggles down to the breakfast table, think of ways to avoid the late start. Is your child tired in the morning from staying up too late at night? An earlier bedtime could change that. Is your child rushing around trying to get organized for school? Spending time the night before could save precious minutes in the morning.
- Help your child practice the prevention strategies until they become habits.
If you predict, prepare and practice, you can also prevent many behavior problems from recurring.
Reprinted with permission from the November 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.