DATES TO REMEMBER

Dates requiring child care are highlighted.

Sept 6 First Day for Staff—Organization Day

Sept 7 First Day for Students

Sept 14 Bus Evacuation Drills

Sept 15 Stand Up Against Bullying Day--Wear Pink

WITS Kick Off Assembly 10:45am

Sept 17 Connell Chrysler Fundraiser @ Connell Mo

tors

Sept 21 Open House 6:30pm

Sept 29 Terry Fox Walk

Sept 30 Inservice Day—NO SCHOOL

Oct 1 Buick Test Drive Day at AEES

Principal’s Message - Nancy Illsley:

I can’t believe how time has flown, and now we are back in

school for another year filled with teaching and learning.

Welcome to all the new primary and “new to us” parents/

guardians. Welcome back to those families who are re-

turning to us. We look forward to working with you

throughout the school year. This is the first newsletter of

the year, and we will be sending one home the beginning

of each month. Please read the newsletter carefully as it

includes vital information about the upcoming month and

community events, as well as the cafeteria menu—always

on the last page. This information can also be found on

our website: www.aees.ednet.ns.ca

In regards to your children, if you have any questions or

concerns, I would ask you to speak with the classroom

teacher first. They would be happy to answer questions or

clarify information. (It’s amazing how some events/

information can get misconstrued by the time it gets home

to you and vice versa!)

I invite you to the Open House on Sept. 21st at 6:30 pm.

Susan and I will be presenting first and then the classroom

teacher will deliver a lot of important information regarding

communication, curriculum, and assessments. I ask you

to make every effort to attend this evening.

As always, if needed, you can contact me at 825-5330 or

drop me an email at nancy.illsley@avrsb.ca. I look forward

to working with you this year to ensure your child gets the

best education possible. See you on the 21st if not before!

AEES NEWSLETTER

AEES is a PEANUT, NUT and SCENT SENSITIVE School

Ph (902) 825-5330 Fax (902) 825-5333

aees@avrsb.ca http://aees.ednet.ns.ca

SEPTEMBER 2016

New Staff Members

We extend a welcome to our

new staff members: Katie Craig (Primary), Tasha Lightfoot

(Grade 2), as well as Rebecca Margeson (Core French), She-

vaun Clelland (Resource), and Cathy Brace (EA). We are

looking forward to a fantastic new year!

Meeting the Buses

Please remember that Primary and

Grade One students must be met at

the bus stop at the end of the day. The

bus driver will not leave a very young child alone at the side

of the road. If arrangements have not been made with the

driver, then the child will be brought back to the school and

parents will be contacted to pick up the student at the school.

Home & School Fundraiser—October 1, 2016

Watch for more information coming this month about

our Home and School Huge Fundraiser—Test Drive a

Buick at AEES on October 1, 2016. Classrooms will also

be raising money on this day with fun activities and/or

booths. Please mark this on your calendar.

Page 2 AEES NEWSLETTER

Student Attendance

Consistent student attendance is important. When a child is frequently absent from school he/she misses important learning experiences including specific skills and knowledge that may be necessary for further learning. The real danger of fre-quent absences from school is that students will develop gaps in their learning that will hinder future learning. It is understood that there are legitimate reasons why students must miss school. When this occurs, the school will work with you to ensure your child does not fall behind. Please com-municate these situations with the child’s teacher and the school principal. There are also many examples of students missing sig-nificant time when it is not necessary. Please take school attend-ance seriously. Be consistent in ensuring that your child values the importance of a good education. Make sure he/she goes to bed at a reasonable time and gets a good night’s sleep. Plan your vacation at times that will have no impact, or at the least a mini-mal impact, on school attendance. Do not hesitate to phone the school if you are encoun-tering difficulties getting your child to attend school. Allow us to work with you to find solutions. We are willing to sit with you to look at your child’s programming and school experiences as well as any other factors that may impact on your child attending school. Again this year we will be using Alert Solutions to com-municate unexcused absences. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office.

SCHOOL CAFETERIA—MEAL CARDS

Any child wishing to purchase lunch from the cafeteria or supple-

ment a lunch from home must buy a $5.00, $10.00 or $20.00 meal

ticket. Students who intend to buy only milk may purchase a

$7.00 “milk only” ticket that will last approximately a month.

Please note that milk/juice can also be purchased from a regular

$5.00 or $10.00 meal ticket.

Student Drop-off and Pick-up

In a large school such as this one, there are often students coming

and going throughout the day for appointments, and any other

number of reasons. It is difficult for us to know everyone so as

part of our continued effort to maintain a safe environment we do

the following: Students being dropped off and picked up must

first check in at the office and then either say good-bye or greet

your child in the lobby. The doors coming off the lobby will be

kept closed, making the classrooms available to staff and students

only, unless previous arrangements are made for visiting a class-

room. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in

helping us maintain a safe and secure environment for all.

Again, this year we will be locking the back and now the front

lobby doors from 8:30-2:00. If you bring or pick up your child

between these times, you will need to use the front door and

come into the office through our new entrance. Thank you for

helping to secure our school building and ensure a safe environ-

ment for students.

After School Program

Annapolis East is very pleased to be able to offer the After

School Kids Program (ASK). The hours are 2:30 – 5:30,

Monday to Friday. On days when the school is closed, ei-

ther for storms or other reasons when the building is consid-

ered uninhabitable, the after school program is also can-

celled.

The program is not available on in-service or early dismis-

sal days. Fees are $6/day. For more information, please

call 902-825-2220 between 2:15 & 5:30 pm (or 902-825-

5330 up until 2:15).

Student Medications

We are not allowed to administer medications to students until we have received a signed Approval for Administering Medications form. These can be obtained from the office. This will include over-the-counter drugs like Aspirin and cough medications. Board Policy dictates appropriate pro-tocol to ensure the safety of students. Please do not ask us to administer medications without the proper permission forms. A note from home is not sufficient permission. Please contact the office if your child needs to receive medication at school. We will be glad to help.

Bicycles

A number of children bring their bicycles to

school. Bike racks are available in the front of

the school. Please review the safety rules

with your child and make sure that he/she has a helmet

and lock so that all bikes are secure . All bikes need to be

walked on school grounds.

Terry Fox Walk

Our annual Terry Fox Walk will take place on

Sept. 29th at the Rotary Park. Classes will be

going at different times throughout the day.

We are asking the children to donate some change to this wor-

thy cause and we will then put it all together and submit it as a

school donation. We would like the children to become aware

of how a small donation from each can grow into a large con-

tribution. In this way we teach community involvement.

AEES NEWSLETTER

Lockdown Drills

Under the Emergency Procedures Plan, we are required to

have two lockdown drills and one Hold and Secure Drill

per year. These are practice drills in case of a real emer-

gency where the school would be placed in lockdown or

Hold and Secure. In a lockdown drill, students practice re-

maining quiet in their classrooms out of sight of the win-

dows under their teacher’s direction. No one is allowed to

enter or leave the building until the school is released from

lock down by Mrs. Illsley, Ms. Connell, or a member of the

RCMP. In a Hold and Secure drill, it is business is as usu-

al; however, no one is permitted to enter or exit the build-

ing. Although we try to reassure the students these are

practices, they can be a little overwhelming for some stu-

dents. Please reassure them these are only drills (just like a

fire drill) to practice keeping them safe in case of a real

emergency. The first lockdown drill is scheduled for Sep-

tember 13th at 11:30am. If you need to pick up your child

for an appointment on this day, please arrive prior to 11:15

am or after 12:00 pm. Thanks for your support in this

emergency preparedness planning.

AVRSB Volunteers in School Policy

The AVRSB updated its volunteer policy on January 1st, 2015.

As stated below it does the following:

clearly defines volunteers versus visitors;

requires volunteers to complete a standard

application form for any volunteering;

will continue to require the completion of

Criminal Records Check and Child Abuse

Registry checks prior to working with students

but will now require re-checks be completed

every (3) three years; and,

includes reference to procedures for monitoring volun-

teers in schools.

The recommended changes to the Volunteers in Schools policy

are not to discourage volunteering in the AVRSB. It is to em-

ploy the best practices to ensure our policy is effective as possi-

ble for decreasing the chances of student harm from volunteers.

**As noted above, it is now necessary for all volunteers to

have current checks (within the past 3 years). If your checks

are not within the past 3 years, they must be updated for you to

participate in any class trips or classroom activities. Please

visit the school office asap to start this process before class

trips and activities for the new school year.

Modelling Appropriate Social Media

Behaviours for our Children

Social media has become an important means of communi-

cation and of seeking information for most people. It is prov-

ing to be of particular importance for our youth as technolo-

gy has become a significant part of the identity of this gener-

ation. Unfortunately, increased technology has also resulted

in new social issues. It is sometimes used as a means of cyber

-bullying or an exchange of inappropriate information. It is

up to us, as adults, to serve as proper role models with re-

gards to technology use. We need to teach our children to

respect the use of technology and to be good digital citizens.

In order to do this properly, we as adults must also learn to

be good social citizens and to model appropriate use of so-

cial media. We must use social media tools like Facebook,

Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram,etc. appropriately, because our

children are watching and emulating our behaviours. Please

be advised that inappropriate use of technology falls under

the Provincial School Code of Conduct. Inappropriate use of

technology and social media can result in serious conse-

quences for students. Inappropriate use of technology and

social media may also fall under the Criminal Code. We have

recently seen criminal charges resulting from the sharing of

inappropriate photos. Please be informed and help to inform

your children.

For more information around proper use of social media and

good digital citizenship, please visit our website at: avrsb.ca/

digital

Breakfast Program Volun-

teers

We are looking for parent help with

our breakfast program. This would

be shopping for groceries, bagging cereal, cutting up

cheese, and/or helping to monitor the program in

the morning. Breakfast, which consists of milk,

juice, yogurt, fruit, cheese, and/or dry cereal, is

served by the school Tuesday – Friday from 7:30 –

8:30 am. Members of the Middleton Baptist Church

take care of Mondays. If you are interested, please

contact the school and speak with Mrs. Illsley at 902

-825-5330. This is an invaluable program that we

would like to see to continue but are in need of

help. Thank you for your support.

Page 3

AEES NEWSLETTER

Help Your Child Succeed in School: Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early

School success goes hand in hand with good attendance! DID YOU KNOW? Starting in Primary, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school

Missing 10 percent (or about 18 days) can make it harder to learn to read

Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks

Being late to school may lead to poor attendance

Absences can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school-and themselves. Start building this habit in pre-

school so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help

children do well in high school, college, and at work.

WHAT YOU CAN DO Set a regular bed time and morning routine (See suggested chart below)

Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before

Find out what day school starts and make sure your child has the required shots

Introduce your child to his/her teachers and classmates before school starts to help him/her transition

Don’t let your child stay home unless he/she is truly sick. Keep in mind complaints of a stomach ache or headache can be a

sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home

If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to

make him/her feel comfortable and excited about learning

Develop back-up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbour, or another parent.

Avoid medical appointments and extended trips when school is in session

WHEN DO ABSENCES BECOME A PROBLEM?

CHRONIC ABSENCE (18 or more days) — WARNING SIGNS (10-17 days)—SATISFACTORY (9 or fewer absences) For more on school readiness, visit attendanceworks.org and reachoutandread.org

Page 4

AEES NEWSLETTER Page 5

What are the WITS Programs?

The WITS Programs bring together schools, families and

communities to create responsive environments that help chil-

dren deal with bullying and peer conflict. WITS has two parts:

1.WITS Primary Program – Teaches Kindergarten to Grade 3

children to Walk away, Ignore, Talk it out and Seek help

when faced with peer conflict. The acronym also provides a

common language that children and the adults around them

can use to talk about and respond to problems.

2. WITS LEADS Program – A more grown-up program de-

signed for Grades 4-6 students, which teaches more complex

problem-solving strategies: Look and listen, Explore points of

view, Act, Did it work? and Seek help. LEADS trains students

to become WITS Leaders who can help younger children with

their problems.

Teachers reinforce the programs by reading popular children’s

books, which emphasize WITS and LEADS messages, to their

students. We also encourage students to use their WITS and

LEADS skills to deal with problems and hope you will too!

On September 10 at 10:45am the RCMP Community Program

Officer, Rodena Renaud is going to launch this program at

AEES!

It’s school time again and I would like to take this op-

portunity to introduce myself, Rodena Renaud, and

explain my role as a Community Program Officer for

the Annapolis District of the RCMP. The goal for this

position is to successfully implement crime prevention

programs and to have an accessible person from the

RCMP that you can contact. This will involve me

maintaining regular contact with school administrators,

giving regular school presentations on various sub-

jects, and educating parents on youth safety topics.

There will be many exciting programs offered this year

and I look forward to meeting all of the students and

families in my area. I am available for phone calls

and e-mails from parents, students, teachers and com-

munity members. Please feel free to contact me at

rodena.renaud@rcmp-grc.gc.ca or you can call me at

665-4481.

Rodena Renaud

Community Program Officer

Annapolis Detachment

Tel: 902-665-4481

Fax: 902-665-2822

Email:rodena.renaud@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION OF

UNEXPECTED EARLY DISMISSALS

As you know we have phone trees, community announce-

ments, media announcements when school is closing un-

expectedly during the day. Did you know you can also

receive an electronic notification on your cell phone or

through your email? Simply go to the School Board web-

site – www.avrsb.ca – and register to get these notifica-

tions. On the home page scroll down and below User No-

tification on the left hand side of the home page select

Click here to subscribe to receive important announce-

ment notifications by email or text message. On that

page follow directions to receive email notification and/or

text message notification. If you want both, register once

with your email address and then go in a second time and

enter your cell phone address as per the samples shown.

Looking for a great sport to play this fall/winter (ages 4-11) 14 Wing Greenwood Minor Basketball invites you to regis-ter with us! All you need is a pair of sneakers to play!

Registration will take place Sept 10th at the base gym dur-ing wing welcome or the following week at the 14 wing community center. Please visit our Facebook page Green-wood Minor Basketball Club for more information or email greenwoodminorbasketball@gmail.com.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

The AVRSB-Int’l Student Program

is seeking host families for a 2

month period.

A group of Korean students, ages 9-12 (grades 3-7) are

arriving on Nov 26th 2016 and departing Jan 21

st 2017.

Students will be placed with a host family that has a child

similar in age/grade. Students are coming to NS to experi-

ence our culture and in turn will teach our schools and fam-

ilies about the Korean culture. For more information on how

to become a host family, please contact; Ann Gould at

ann.gould@avrsb.ca or 902-690-0451.

Page 6 AEES NEWSLETTER

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Girl Greatness Starts Here!

Girl Guide registration - Middleton September 12, 6:15.p.m. to 7:30.p.m. Girl Guide Units in Middleton will host registration for Sparks (ages 4-6), Brownies (ages 7-9) Guides (ages 9-12), Pathfinders (ages 12 to 15), and Ranger (ages 15-18) New women as unit leaders are also welcome. Registration at the Emmanuel Congregational church, 37 Gates ave Middleton. Join us! Contact Julia 902-363-2426

Girl Guide registration - Aylesford September 12, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Girl Guide units in Aylesford will host registration for Guides (ages 9-12), Pathfinders (ages 12 to 15) and Rangers (ages 15 to 18); and September 14, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for Sparks (ages 4-6), Brownies (ages 7-9) and Guides (ages 9-12). New women as unit leaders are also welcome. Registration at the Aylesford United Church, Highway 1. Join us! Contact 902-341-2040. Girl Guide registration - Greenwood September 10, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Girl Guide units in Greenwood will host registration for Sparks (ages 4-6), Brownies (ages 7-9) and Guides (ages 9-12) – and welcome any new women as unit leaders - at the 14 Wing Greenwood Rexpo registration event, Fitness & Sports Centre. Join us! Contact 902-341-2040. Girl Guide registration - Wilmot September 13, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Girl Guide units in Wilmot will host registration for Sparks (ages 4-6), Brownies (ages 7-9), Guides (ages 9-12) and Path-finders (ages 12 to 15) – and welcome any new women as unit leaders - at the Kinsmen Centre, Dodge Road. Join us! Contact 902-341-2040. For more information please contact Tina at 902-825-6981 or uhlman.tc@eastlink.ca

Wilmot beaver and Cub registration will be taking place on Tuesday, September 13 from 6-7 pm at the Kinsmen hall.

Middleton CanSkate Program

Nationally certified learn-to-skate program

Open to boys and girls ages 4 (as of Dec.

31, 2016) and up.

Space is limited so register early! (Maximum of 40)

CSA Approved Helmet and less than 5 years old is manda-

tory. Skaters will not be allowed on the ice without one. Hel-

met and skate donations are welcome.

Come join us – learn new skills, have fun, meet new friends,

and stay active! Whether you’re a new or returning member, we

look forward to seeing you!

Our season runs for 15 to 20 weeks (weather dependent), from

mid-October to mid-March.

WHEN: FRIDAYS, 5:45 – 6:45 pm

WHERE: Middleton & District Arena, Gates Avenue

We continue to offer low rates, no fundraising, & the

following great savings!

COST for 15 to 20, 1-hour sessions:

$145 per child and $135 for each additional child on

Registration dates.

Payment We accept cash or cheque only.

Funding Assistance!

Funding assistance may be available to you through the provin-

cial KidSport program and Canadian Tire Jumpstart program.

Middleton Recreation Department (902-825-6611) or Susan

Connell (902-825-5330) at Middleton Elementary School can

assist with filling out the appropriate forms.

REGISTRATION at Home Hardware in Middleton. Registration can be done via our website after September 17th but payment has to be made at Home Hardware or the first night of skating (TBD).

In person registration and payment: September 30th ; 6 pm to 8 pm October 1st: 1 pm to 3 pm