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| | Message from Trustee Gough
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| Dear :
Spring is here! Although you wouldn't know it today, the weather will shortly be warming up and everyone will enjoy becoming more active outdoors as the summer approaches. I'm reading a great book: Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of the Pedestrian Act, by Dan Rubinstein. It's full of information about the importance of the simple act of routinely walking from spot to spot for brain health as well as long term physical health and wellbeing. In one study, 2,500 British school children were monitored as they started to walk to school for the first time. Eighty per cent reported they felt calmer and were better able to do their lessons.
Naturally, it's important to have safe streets for children to walk safely in their communities, and many parents have told me they feel the streets need to have more sidewalks, safer road crossings and better traffic calming measures to make them safer for children. The international movement, Safe Routes to School, is very active here locally in advocating for safer streets. For those in the Lakeshore, Councillor Mark Grimes is hosting two upcoming meetings where city staff and 22 Division police will be on hand to present measures to promote traffic safety in the Lakeshore area and to listen to feedback. I encourage all who are interested in this issue to attend. For Alderwood, the meeting will be 6:30 pm on Tuesday March 29th in the Alderwood Pool Community Room, 2 Orianna Drive. For the Mimico area, the meeting will be Monday April 4th, 6:30 pm at Mimico Centennial Library, 47 Station Road.
In this issue: Local Education News and Updates - Learn and see STEM: Ward Council March 29 2016
- TDSB summer music camps
- Focus on Youth summer job applications
- Bike to School Week
- Parent Reaching Out grant applications
- TDSB Parents as Partners Spring Conference April 16 2016
- Parent's guide to new health and physical education curriculum
News and Updates from TDSB's Education Centre - Provincial education funding amounts announced
- Schools to receive more coaches, focus on early literacy
- TDSB reaches local agreements with several labour groups
In our Community - Grandkids Walk for Alzheimer's April 9 & 10 2016
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Local Education News and Updates
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Learn and see STEM: Ward Council March 29 2016 Please join me on Tuesday March 29 at 7 pm. Lanor Jr. Middle School's award-winning principal, Alison Gaymes San Vincente, teacher Katrina Kenny and her students will demonstrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in the TDSB. We'll also have an update on our local Safe Routes to School initiatives. Children 4-10 will be treated to a pizza program with Chef Sarah. Registration for the pizza program is limited to 15. Please advise Elizabeth Betowski at elizabeth@terradom.ca if bringing children for pizza making. More information is on this poster. When: Tuesday, March 29, 7-8:45 pm Where: Lanor JMS (450 Lanor Avenue, south of Evans and East Mall), school library. TDSB summer music camps TDSB summer music camps offer students in Grades 5-9 instrumental music opportunities in a residential camp located in a beautiful outdoor education centre near Orangeville. Three camp sessions are held each summer, each offering students a complete orchestral experience, exploring all the genres from classics to pop. Students also receive master class and small ensemble instruction. The instructors are outstanding TDSB music teachers, and the Associate Camp Director is our own Mr. Samotowka, known to many schools in Etobicoke Lakeshore for his inspired music teaching. More information is available here. Focus on Youth summer job applications The objective of Focus on Youth Toronto (FOYT) is to support high quality program opportunities for children and youth in Toronto’s less affluent areas. Programs promote learning through play, healthy lifestyle and positive self-image. FOYT provides employment and leadership opportunities for youth aged 16 years and up who are in a TDSB secondary school and who have limited job experience or face barriers to employment. Summer employment pays $11.25/hr. Applications are available here and are open until April 10. Bike to School week The TDSB has officially declared May 30 - June 3 2016 to be Bike to School Week. Bike to School Week is part of the Bike Month celebration that is supported across the GTHA by Smart Commute, a branch of Metrolinx. Last year, over 11,000 TDSB students in 65 TDSB schools participated in Bike to School Week. Schools with enthusiastic students, parents and teacher champions of cycling can sign up here to register their schools and those who do so early can receive free education kits including helmets and bells as well as stickers, trip tracking tools, and posters. At the TDSB we support and promote safe, active, and sustainable transportation and have developed a Charter for Active, Safe and Sustainable Transportation that guides us in our decision making. Parent Reaching Out grant applications now open Parents Reaching Out grants (PRO) are grants given to school boards from the Ministry of Education to encourage parent engagement. The Ministry of Education is now accepting on-line applications for 2016-2017 PRO grants. The deadline to apply is Sunday May 29, 2016. Under the PRO grant program, school councils are eligible to receive up to $1000 from the Ministry. More information, examples of past projects, and links to the application forms are available here. TDSB Parents as Partners Spring Conference April 16 2016 The TDSB will be hosting a free conference on Saturday April 16, 8 am to 4 pm at the Allstream Centre (CNE grounds). Keynote speakers will be Dr. Marie Wilson, Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and Dr. Ian Manion, child and youth mental health expert. The conference will offer a selection of 80 sessions that cover a broad range of topics to provide parents with useful information and resources to help children improve their achievement and well-being at school and at home. Bussing and childminding programs will be provided free. For more information and to register; please see the following links: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/parentconference/Home.aspx Parent's guide to the new health and physical education curriculum
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News and Updates from TDSB's Education Centre
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Provincial education funding amounts announced The Ministry of Education today announced the next academic year's grant funding for publicly funded school boards, called the Grants for Student Needs. The amounts granted will be analyzed over the next weeks to determine the impact on the TDSB budget. The early release of the funding announcement will give TDSB a chance to adjust budget plans in timely way as it coincides with the staffing planning that is done this time of year to meet collective agreement deadlines. The government's funding priority is to create community hubs and increase support First Nations, Inuit and Metis education. "We recognize that financial constraints are the result of the Ontario government addressing the provincial deficit," said Ontario Public School Boards' Association President Michael Barrett, ..."[While the grants reinforce a strong school environment and student success] many of our member boards have been absorbing reductions in other budget areas such as special education and this has had an impact of their flexibility." You can see OPSBA's full statement here. Schools to receive more coaches, focus on early literacy Director John Malloy and TDSB trustees are working on a review of governance and administrative organization, in keeping with the recommendations of the Hall panel report. As part of the proposed changes, the board will expand its use of community outreach workers to assist families in navigating the school system, and increase the voices of students in effecting system change. Over the next six months, resources will be brought closer to schools, including increasing the number of teacher- coaches available to schools, with special emphasis on those trained in early literacy. More information is available here. TDSB reaches local agreements with several labour groups The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has reached tentative local agreements with support staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and elementary occasional teachers represented by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) — pending ratification. - Ratified local agreements have also been reached with four other employee groups:
- Elementary teachers represented by ETFO;
- Secondary occasional teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF);
- Education workers (e.g. Child and Youth Workers, Speech-Language Pathologists, Social Workers and others) represented by the Professional Student Services Personnel (PSSP) Unit of OSSTF; and,
skilled trades workers represented by the Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council (MCSTC).
Negotiations are continuing for a local agreement with OSSTF, the federation representing high school teachers. Hopefully a settlement will be reached shortly.
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Grandkids Walk for Alzheimer's April 9 & 10 2016 Inspired by Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, two George R. Gauld students are undertaking a personal project: they are going to do a two-day staged weekend walk from Ashbridge's Bay to Amos Waites Park in Mimico in support of Alzheimer's research. Other children are invited to join them. Details can be found here.
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