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Community Update - January 20

Posted On Monday January 20, 2025

Good evening, Bellwood Community, the home of the Bobcats where we Belong, Believe and Succeed!

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend our School Community Council meeting on Thursday January 16, 2025.  We will be sending out the meeting minutes next week.  Please save the date for our next meeting which will be held on Wednesday February 19, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.

WINTER IMPORTANT NOTICE: As we are in the depth of winter weather, we are encouraging parents to work with us to make sure that children are coming to school prepared for the winter weather.  The expectation is that all students will wear a coat outside for recess.  When it snows students in grade 1-5 will be expected to wear snow pants and boots if they would like to be on the field playing in the snow.  Students in grade 6-8 will be expected to wear boots if they would like to play in the field when it snows.  If students do not have the proper gear when it snows, they will be asked to stay on the pavement. 

We would like to thank you for making safety your number one priority as you use our Kiss N Ride to pick up and drop off your children at school.  We continue to ask you to please use the sidewalks when you park your car to walk your children to their areas.  We still have a few parents and children who are crossing in front of cars in the Kiss N Ride which poses a serious and significant safety issue.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Please see below for our weekly updates:

Bell Let’s Talk/Listen is January 22, 2025

DDSB Let’s Listen: A campaign to “just listen” on Bell Let’s Talk Day, January 22, 2025.

"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person

is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever

give each other is our attention.” – Rachel Naomi Remen

The DDSB’s three Strategic Pillars- Well-Being, Connected Communities, and Meaningful Learning- highlight DDSB’s commitment to fostering the foundational conditions throughout our Board that support positive well-being and mental health of students and staff.   On January 22, 2025 many will acknowledge Bell Let’s Talk Day. Creating opportunities to openly talk about mental health and well-being is a component of creating a welcoming, safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and working environment.  This requires us to listen in ways that support staff and students to feel seen, heard, and valued.  As caring individuals, our first instinct is often to move to support, advise and problem solve with or on behalf of an individual, we listen to reply, however is it important we pause so we can listen to understand.    When it comes to mental health, a vital step is allowing the person to talk openly and be truly heard as we hold space where the person can share and be responded to without judgement.  Listening to understand involves: 

  • Acceptance – even though the other person’s views may be different to ours, it is essential that we respect and accept them. We want to strive to be understanding of the other’s experiences, which may be different then our own. 
  • Genuineness – it is important that your body language, tone of voice, and approach matches what you say in order to show that you care and what you say reflects genuine concern. 
  • Empathy –We need to actively listen to the story students and staff tell us about what it's like to be in their shoes and believe them even when it does not match our own experiences (Adapted from Brené Brown- Atlas of the Heart).  This will require us to resist the urge to fix the person’s problems by offering advice and staying out of judgement. 

We all contribute to promoting welcoming, safe, respectful, and inclusive environments where staff and students can have meaningful and supportive conversations about mental health and well-being

Together, let’s make Bell Let’s (Listen) Talk Day a meaningful one- for our schools, staff, students and everyone! 

We would like to thank our Healthy Action Team and Student Council for organizing and preparing fun, engaging and meaningful activities for Bell Let’s Talk/Listen Day on January 22, 2025!

30 Credits My Way (January 23 Webinar for Grade 8 Students)

Grade 8 students & families:

Join us on January 23 for 30 Credits My Way: Supporting Grade 8 Transitions to High School Success.

Learn about student transition planning from Grade 8 to Grade 9.

Register: https://bit.ly/40bYD6V 

Kindergarten Registration 2025

DDSB Kindergarten Registration started online on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Kindergarten is a child-centred, play-based educational program that provides children with a stronger start in school and in life.

To be eligible for enrollment in Junior Kindergarten (JK) or Senior Kindergarten (SK):

  • Children must be four years old by December 31, 2025 to enroll in year one, JK
  • Children must be five years old by December 31, 2025 to enroll in year two, SK

For more information on the Kindergarten program and to register your child on or after January 7, please visit the Kindergarten Registration webpage.

Parent Engagement Speaker Series

Join All-Canadian athlete, executive manager, sales director, and entrepreneur Roland Acheampong’s upcoming presentation OVERCOMING

OBSTACLES: How To Succeed No Matter What Is In Your Way Thursday, January 30, 2025

7:00pm - 8:00pm (Please see flyer for Registration link) Engagement Speaker Series - Roland Acheampong Flyer_02 (002).pdf 

Kiss and Ride – We need your help so we will continue to ask you to adhere to the following rules!

  • Between 8:55 – 9:15am please DO NOT park in front of the kindergarten enclosure. We need to keep the flow of traffic moving.
  • Please DO NOT let your children out of the car in the center lane to pass.  Please drive through the Kiss and Ride to let children out of the car.  This is a safety concern for us here at Bellwood.
  • When you are using the Kiss and Ride, please make sure you drive right up, pick up your children quickly and safely and follow the directions to keep moving by the staff supporting the smooth running of our Kiss and Ride.
  • Please do not park in the Kiss and Ride as this causes back up and is not safe for our students.
  • Please use the sidewalks to walk your children around and do not cut between the cars as this is a safety hazard.  This is a safety concern for us here at Bellwood.

Safety is our number one priority, and we work hard to make sure that our Kiss and Ride runs safely and smoothly.  We need your help!

Teams and Activities Around Bellwood after the break

  • Intermediate Boys Basketball: Tuesday morning @ 8:15 am and Wednesday after school until 4:45pm
  • Intermediate Girls Basketball: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday tournament after school until and Thursday mornings at 8:15am.
  • Intermediate Cricket tournament: Monday 12 – 3:45 pm
  • Junior Cricket tournament: Tuesday 12 – 3:45 pm
  • Senior Band – Tues. and Wed. @ lunch
  • Intramurals: Mondays grades 1 and 2, Tuesdays grade 3 and 4, Wednesdays grades 7 and 8, Thursdays grades 5 and 6

Students are encouraged to check the schedules posted on the white board by the gym doors for practice days and times.

Save the Date

  • Bell Let’s Talk/Listen: Wednesday January 22, 2025
  • P.A Day: No school for students on Friday January 24, 2025

Dates of Significance

Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 20, 2025

This day commemorates the leader of the Civil Rights movement in USA. People of all races and religions have benefited from the sacrifices and accomplishments made by this great man. He was a Nobel Prize winner (Peace Prize 1964) and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Lincoln Alexander Day January 21, 2025

Since 2015, January 21 has been recognised across Canada as Lincoln Alexander Day. The Honourable Lincoln Alexander was a pioneer in the fight for racial equity in Canada. Alexander’s legacy is marked by many firsts for the Black person in Canada. Alexander was the first Black Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first Black federal Minister, and the first Black Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Board of Ontario. These firsts are only a few of the accomplishments that have and will continue to inspire generations of African, Caribbean and Black identifying people across Canada.

January 24 International Day of Education

Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

January 27 International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Holocaust

Every year around 27 January, UNESCO pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to counter antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. It was officially proclaimed, in November 2005, International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly.

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Sharon Knights and Todd Smart