As of October 4th, the provincial health office and Ministry of Education announced that masks would be mandated for all students in kindergarten to Grade 12.

Staff will continue to work with students and families in a positive and inclusive way regarding mask wearing. They will work with students to foster proper mask usage including how to wear, take off and store masks.

Thank you for your help with this.

Thank you to our incredible Lakewood families for sending in a Toonie for Terry.

WE RAISED A TOTAL OF $980.90.

Amazing!!!!

Tomorrow is our annual Terry Fox run.   If you can,  please donate a Toonie for Terry and the school will forward the funds to the Terry Fox foundation.  

EVERY CHILD MATTERS

Below is a link to The Lakewood Kids “Spring 2021” album. This year each class helped write lyrics to a song on a topic that they voted for. Once the lyrics were written I put them to music and the students worked hard to learn their song in order to record it. As everyone Is aware we were unable to have performances this year. Hopefully this collection of songs can help with that. Please feel free to download the album on Bandcamp for free, lyrics to each song are also included. Enjoy.

https://thelakewoodkidz.bandcamp.com/

Please find attached a poster from our school district’s international program, as they are looking for families interested in hosting an international student in the 2021-22 school year.

Have questions? For more information, and to learn about COVID19 safety protocols put in place before and after students arrive, contact information is included in the attached poster.

Homestay Families Information Poster

Jump Rope for Heart is an organization supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation.  This is a 25-year tradition at Lakewood in which we have raised $216,174!

This year the campaign is set up so that all fundraising is done online and will run from April 12 – 23. With parent consent, students register online to count their daily EASY healthy habit streak and to set up a fundraising page in order to win prizes. Please go to jumpropeforheart.ca, for all required information.

Like all things this year, the Skip-a-thon will look different from previous years, however we are excited for classes to still be participating. Unfortunately, parents are unable to attend due to COVID restrictions, so please do not come to the school until dismissal time on Friday, April 23^rd.

We will be closing the drop-off-pick-up loop from 12:30pm-2:25pm in order to provide more space for students to safely skip.

2021 sees the start of a new Strategic Plan for the Sooke School District. The Strategic Plan contains the Board of Education’s overall vision and goals that they want the school district to work towards. The Plan is important as it guides decision-making, budget use, and the activities found in the annual Operational Plan.

Between April 1-April 16, SD62 is undertaking a survey with the whole community to gather views on what people think should be our key priorities. We encourage parents/guardians, students, staff and anyone else to provide your views that will help shape our future.

The Strategic Plan Survey is now *live* and can be found HERE

March 31, 2021

Dear Parents/Guardians,

During an announcement this past Monday by Dr. Bonnie Henry, new health and safety guidelines and regulations for schools were released. This update to the health and safety measures is being introduced as an extra layer of protection in response to recent increases in COVID-19 cases across the province, including Vancouver Island. Read the full release here. A summary of the changes is provided below.  We are currently updating our School Safety Plans and these updates will be available on our District Website.

 Masks

Masks must now be worn at all times while indoors at school by:

• Students in Grades 4-12
• All staff
• Adult volunteers and visitors

This requirement includes while seated/standing at desks or work stations.

Please remember to send a reusable mask with your child to school each day.

 Exceptions

Masks are required to be worn unless:

• A person is unable to wear a mask because they do not tolerate it (for health or behavioural reasons);
• A person is unable to put on or remove a mask without the assistance of another person;
• The mask is removed temporarily for the purposes of identifying the person wearing it;
• The mask is removed temporarily to engage in an educational activity that cannot be performed while wearing a mask (e.g. actively playing a wind instrument, high-intensity physical activity, etc.);
• A person is eating or drinking;
• A person is behind a barrier;
• A person is communicating to another person who has a disability or diverse ability (including but not limited to a hearing impairment), where visual cues, facial expressions and/or lip reading/movements are important.

On the school bus

Staff, adult volunteers and all Grades 4-12 students are required to wear a mask on the school bus.

 Exceptions

The recommendation above should not apply as follows:

• To a person who is unable to wear a mask because they do not tolerate it (for health or behavioural reasons);
• To a person unable to put on or remove a mask without the assistance of another person;
• If the mask is removed temporarily for the purposes of identifying the person wearing it; or
• While eating or drinking.

Kindergarten to Grade 3 students

Primary students are encouraged to wear a mask at school and on buses, but are not required to do so.

Please remember to send a reusable mask with your child to school each day.

Implementing this new requirement

For some of our schools, mostly elementary schools, where students are not used to wearing masks indoors, staff will spend the next few days helping students to adjust to this change. Please have a conversation about these new guidelines with your children.

Places masks are not required

Students will be able to remove their masks while outside, including at recess, lunchtime and while learning outside. As the weather improves, teachers will continue to look for opportunities to move their classes outside.

Teachers will go through these updates and changes with your children and we encourage you to do the same at home.

Families and students can find up-to-date information about K-12 schools at: https://www.gov.bc.ca/safeschools

Thank you again for helping us adapt to these changes.

Sincerely,

Scott Stinson