Thursday, September 15, 2011

Bowmore September newsletter now online!

CORRECTION: The School Council meeting will be on the originally scheduled date, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 6 - 8 PM. Meetings take place in the 2nd floor staff room, with pizza & childcare provided. ALL PARENTS WELCOME! We apologize for the confusion regarding the dates.

What's in this month's newsletter: Link here

Welcome back to Bowmore!
Reminders regarding Code of Conduct, student drop-off/pick-up, safe arrival & punctuality
Bowmore is a peanut-free school, with several children in the school severely allergic
Tips on packing a litterless lunch
Library news: Governor General Award-winner Deborah Ellis to visit!
Guidance news: Grade 8 parents look for high school information sessions in one month!
Extracurricular fee-based programs at Bowmore: Theatre, dance & karate
Terry Fox Day coming Wed September 28! Be sure to show Bowmore spirit by wearing black & red!
Junior Cross Country Run Team practices M,W,F 8 - 8:30: Parents welcome to run too!
School Council News- First meeting to be held September 29; look for election results September 26
Pizza lunches: We need volunteers for this important school fundraiser
Bowmore Gardening Group: Join us as we beautify our school
Parenting & Family Literacy Centre - Great resource for parents of children 0-6 yrs
Education Day: Provincial All-Candidates Meeting September 20
MedicAlert's "No Child Without": If you have a child with an allergy or serious medical condition, you need to know about this!
Grade 7 trip to Camp Wahanowin
Movie Night: Mars Needs Moms - September 23

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Sept 20 - Education Day (Secord PS)
Sept 23 - Movie Night
Sept 28 - Terry Fox Run
Sept 29 - QSP Magazine Fundraiser begins
Sept 29 - School Council Meeting
Oct 3 - 7 - Scholastic Book Fair
Oct 4 - TTC student ID photos
Oct 5 - Curriculum Night
Oct 10 - Thanksgiving (no school)
Oct 11 - 13 - Grade 7 trip

Movie Night Friday September 23: Mars Needs Moms

"Mom needs a little space!"
Starring Joan Cusack and Seth Green
Watch a video preview
WHEN: Friday, Sept 23 - 6 pm doors open / 6:30 pm movie starts
WHERE: Bowmore Junior Gym (use the side entrance, under "the bridge")
SUGGESTED DONATION: $2
Pizza, snacks and drinks will be sold for a modest cost. Remember to bring camp chairs!
A fun & inexpensive family night out that supports enriched learning experiences at Bowmore.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Bowmore / Fairmount Park Shared Pool Update

The current review of the City of Toronto budget may have a serious impact on our Bowmore pool. At the end of 2011, the lease is due to expire on the 33 TDSB pools currently being leased by the City of Toronto, including Bowmore. The lease has temporarily been extended for a few months to allow for further discussion. If the City of Toronto decides not to renew the lease, our school pool programs will be in jeopardy and all swim programs offered through Fairmount Park will cease.

Read a recent news article about the risk to our swim programs at Bowmore

Four parents have volunteered to act as "Pool Captains" to lobby for renewing the lease, and to find alternate funding if the need arises to source private funds for pool programs at Bowmore/Fairmount Park. Kyle Duncan, Elizabeth Grundon, Maureen Boles and Susana Molinolo have kindly agreed to act as our advocates.

You can speak up for our swim programs, and many other vital issues facing Ontario families!
On Tuesday September 20, a delegation from Bowmore will attend the TDSB All Candidates Debate for Beaches East York. WE NEED YOU TO JOIN US AND SPEAK UP FOR BOWMORE KIDS as we ask the candidates where they stand on vital public funds for swim programs in our province.

In addition to the pool issue, this is a chance to find out where our candidates stand on the need for affordable and high-quality child care; quality of school buildings and facilities including playing fields; challenges facing special education, and many other issues impacting children and parents in Ontario.

The Beaches East York Riding debate takes place at Secord Public School, 101 Barrington Ave. 7:00pm.

Please attend and show our candidates that we care about the future of education in Ontario!

This year's School Council meetings schedule

School Council will meet on the third Thursday of every month

(PLEASE NOTE: THIS MONTH'S MEETING WILL BE ON SEPTEMBER 29 AS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED)

We will not meet in December.

We offer free pizza and childcare at each meeting, so you don't have to worry about dinner or babysitting!

We send agendas to all parents on our email list a few days in advance. We also publish minutes on our school bulletin board and on our blogsite following each meeting.

THIS YEAR'S MEETING DATES WILL BE:
Thursday, September 22 29, 6-8 pm
Thursday, October 20, 6-8 pm
Thursday, November 17, 6-8 pm
Thursday, January 19, 6-8 pm
Thursday, February 16, 6-8 pm
Thursday, April 19, 6-8 pm
Thursday, May 17, 6-8 pm

Even if you choose not to become a member of the School Council Executive, you are always welcome at any School Council meeting. All parents who attend get a voice and a vote at meetings. Please join us!

Nominate yourself for School Council- deadline this Friday!

SELF-NOMINATION FORMS DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

If you would like to be part of a dynamic, engaged group of parents who believe passionately in making our kids' school as great as it can possibly be, please nominate yourself for a School Council Executive role. It's easy! Just fill out the form below, and return it to the school office no later than 4 pm on Friday, September 16.

While every parent is a member of School Council and gets a voice and vote at meetings, the School Council Executive perform a variety of defined roles that have a powerful impact on the well-being of our school.

To learn more, please send us an email. And remember to submit your form on Friday!

Download Self-Nomination Form Here (PDF)

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Welcome back to Bowmore next week- we're serving up coffee!

Can you believe summer's nearly over???

With school starting next week, here's a heads-up on what's in the works for September:

COFFEE'S ON DAISY! Bowmore School Council is pleased to be hosting a "Welcome Back" coffee on the first day of school, Tuesday, September 6th, 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. in the school yard. We'll be serving up coffee, juice and light snacks, courtesy of our soon-to-be neighbourhood coffee shop, Lazy Daisy's Cafe (opening soon at the corner of Coxwell & Gerrard). Many thanks to Bowmore mom and entrepreneur Dawn Chapman for her generosity!

First day back to school: Tuesday, September 6 (But JK/SK entry days are staggered- check with the school about the day your kindergarten child starts if you aren't sure).
Remember that school supervision starts in the schoolyard at 8:30 a.m. each morning, and ends at 3:25 p.m.
Forget your child's teacher's name? Look up teacher/classroom assignments here (download the June newsletter and scroll to page 2)

Make that lunch litter-free please!

Bowmore students, teachers and parents worked hard last year to earn our school an "Eco-Gold" certification!

School lunches are a major source of waste in Ontario with the average student’s lunch generating a total of 30 kilograms of waste per school year. This means that an average of 8,500 kilograms (18,700 lbs) of waste is trucked to landfill from each school every year- that's the weight of two full-grown elephants!

Please help by ensuring that your child brings a litter-free lunch to school each day. Avoid ziplock bags and foil-wrapped individual packaging: Reusable containers, washable cloth napkins, refillable bottles and simple metal cutlery are healthier & cheaper over time. Save money, and the planet too!

Click here for more tips on how to reduce waste in your child's lunch.

Movie Night September 23: Mars Needs Moms

New vaccine schedule for Ontario children

This summer, three new vaccines were added to the schedule of publicly-funded vaccines available in Ontario:

Rotavirus oral vaccine for infants 6-24 weeks of age
Second dose of chickenpox vaccine for children 1-11 years of age
Whooping cough booster vaccine for adults 19-64 years of age

Do you know if your children's vaccines are up to date? Remember that the TDSB requires records for all enrolled children, and that Ontario children are required by law to be immunized against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and polio, as well as for pertussis (whooping cough) before age six. Students between the ages of 14 and 16 require one needle for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Read the TDSB fact sheet on immunization here.

If you have any doubt about your child's immunizations, please consult with your doctor.

Ontario's new immunization schedule, updated this month, is available here.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Join us July 12 to talk about saving our pool!

You can make a difference in our community, by helping to keep our Bowmore PS / Fairmount Park CC shared-use pool open!

PLEASE JOIN US!

WHEN: Tuesday, July 12, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Fairmount Park CC
Kids welcome!

At the last meeting, we discussed creating a Fairmount Park CC Advisory Group. This meeting will be an opportunity to further define the role of this group in supporting community centre programmers (both aquatic and recreational) over the long haul, and to plan action NOW to protect our pool.

We know you're busy enjoying the summer! But this issue can't wait...
We've learned that the City of Toronto Community Development and Recreation Committee will debate the renewal of the lease at their September 14, 2011 meeting, and make their recommendation to Council. Deputations will be permitted. We need to make plans now to do whatever it takes to save our pool and community centre! Please join us.

Click here to read the Community Development & Recreation Committee's Background Document

Why we're worried about our pool - When 31 school pools were nearly shut down in 2008, it was community activism that kept them open. Today we face a similar crisis, as the City’s lease of 33 TDSB school pools...INCLUDING OUR BOWMORE / FAIRMOUNT PARK POOL...expires in December. Toronto City Council will decide whether to renew the leases in September. The leases are needed to keep the pools & community centres open. ASK YOURSELF:

How does your family benefit from this pool?
Will our community’s kids be safe swimmers without it?
Is it important to our neighbourhood?
Will this community centre be sustainable without the pool?

You can help to protect our pool by spreading the word: Forward this email, post on Facebook, talk to friends and neighbours! And please join us Tuesday July 12!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at bowmoresc@gmail.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

What a year it's been...

Have a wonderful summer, and we'll see you back at Bowmore in September!