December 2020 Newsletter

December 2020

Message from the Chair

Parents,

As we progress through this school year full of changes, it is important to hear from parents about what has worked and what needs improvement.

  • At our November exec meeting, DPAC heard delegations from parents in the elementary transition to in-class program and from parents presenting regarding the safety of in-person learning. We also hear from delegations at our meeting this week. (Parents in the transition program may wish to join the parent-led Facebook group.)

  • The VSB is conducting a survey of the secondary learning model -- parents/guardians and students should have received an email with links to the survey.

  • DPAC is also conducting a survey for all parents. We ask parents about their school year so far and what they would like to improve. This will survey will help inform our work for the coming months. The survey will remain open for two weeks (until Dec 15). Please circulate this to your schools. Take the survey here.

DPAC would also like to congratulate Carmen Cho on her election to board chair, and Estrellita Gonzalez on her election to vice chair. Thank you to Janet Fraser for her work and leadership these past years.

Be kind, be calm, be safe.

Gord Lau, 2020/21 DPAC Chair

Upcoming DPAC Events

  • Thursday, December 3rd, 7pm – DPAC Executive meeting. Registration

  • Thursday, January 14th, 7pm – DPAC Executive meeting. Registration

  • Saturday, January 16th, 1pm - How to run a meeting/Robert's Rules for Vancouver PAC exec. Email for registration info

  • Thursday, January 28th, 7pm – DPAC General meeting: Anti-racisim focus. Registration

  • All meeting information (registration, agendas, minutes) on our meeting page.

  • Subscribe to our meeting calendar.

Advocacy Opportunity

Interested in how Seismic Mitigation Works for VSB Schools?

  • All parents are welcome to join the DPAC Facilities Committee. The committee is finishing its work on the VSB LRFP and will be creating a detailed Seismic Toolkit. Join to help in its creation. Email: chair@vancouverdpac.org.

Important Dates


2015 - 2024 -- The Decade for People of African Descent

In December 2014, the UN General Assembly, in its Resolution 68/237, proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024).

Under the theme "Recognition, Justice and Development”, the Decade provides an operational framework to encourage States to eradicate social injustices inherited from history and to fight against racism, prejudice and racial discrimination to which people of African descent are still subjected.

December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month and National Human Rights Month.

Useful Information & Resources

Parenting Resources

  • We Are Your Children, We Are Your Future: Developing Indigenous-centered parenting for children with mild to moderate anxiety

  • Raising Hope: Parenting in an anti-Black Environment is an article grounded in culture that includes tips for raising children and youth at a time where anti-Black racism is front and centre in our communities.

  • Parenting ADHD Podcast: A weekly podcast of parenting insights, strategies, and resources for parents raising kids who have ADHD, learning disorders, and/or autism.

  • Knowing how to talk to your children about gender -- your own, their's or anyone's -- is for many of us a learned skill. Caring For Kids is a website created for parents and caregivers by Canada's Paediatricians, offers substantial information in pamphlet to aid in these discussions. A main takeaway: "Love your child for who they are."

  • General parenting classes will be offered for a fee at the Adlerian Society again in January. The S.T.E.P. classes (based on the Systematic Training in Effective Parenting Method) are a proven learning tool to learn if you are parenting preschoolers, kids in elementary school or teenagers.

Inclusive Education

Seismic Update

  • Maple Grove students and staff will be moving into their new school on December 1st. Video tour of the new school is on the PAC's webpage.

Careers

  • VSB Career Programs offers students a different pathway to graduation through learning in skilled trades, technology, and healthcare. Families can get to know what we offer through a newly created collection of 6 videos available here (bit.ly/cp_tv). If you or your child is interested in more information, please contact us or your child’s grade counsellor.

Sustainability

Spotlight on Youth

Environmentalism from an Inclusive Perspective

Food Security

  • Grandview Woodland Food Connection -- Folks on Vancouver's East Side, nourishing their neighborhood since 2004

  • Thursday, December 3, 3:30pm - Attend a joint webinar between Farm To School BC & Farm to Cafeteria Canada to learn about the impact of the farm to school model. Discover the impact of the farm to school model in British Columbia and throughout Canada, and learn about how these network partners work together to promote local and healthy food. Farm to School BC will report on the impacts of the program and model in British Columbia and Farm to Cafeteria Canada will describe the achievement of the Farm to School: Canada Digs In! initiative across Canada. There will also be an opportunity to learn about the farm to school program run by schools in both rural and urban areas in BC.At the end of the event, they'll announce a new oncoming grant cycle for schools and other exciting activities to participate in.

  • Farm to School BC is offering schools grants: the Start-Up, up to $3,000 for schools with a strong team of stakeholders in place, and clear ideas and goals for the project; and the Scale-Up, up to $1,000 for those with existing Farm to School projects already in place. Also available, grant workshops to help schools succeed in writing an application. Deadline is Sunday, January 10, 2021.

Expand Your Indigenous Understanding

The Right to Clean and Safe Water

We often hear about serious water quality in Indigenous Communities across Canada, but we rarely hear about what affects the water. Often but not always, the inability to access a clean and safe water supply is directly related to resource extraction.

Unist'ot'en Camp was set up to protect the lands and waters threatened by new pipelines in the territories of the Wet'suwet'en People. The matriarchs have just been named Chateline Magazine's Women of the Year for their work.

When the tailings pond failed at Mount Polley, waterways were significantly compromised by toxic sludge which continues to run into Quesnel Lake. In the North East of this province, contaminated tailings ponds are left behind by fracking companies to leach unknown or poorly understood contaminants into the environment and water supply.

Student Liaison Officer (SLO) Program

The Right to Safe Learning Space

The SLO program is under review at VSB. Opinions and experiences of the SLO program are varied. Some VSB students and families have clearly stated they are not safe when police officers are in their places of learning. This section is meant to provide information from this point of view rather than be a "two sides" discussion in the interest of not creating false equivalents.

Mental Health/Anxiety

Caring for your kids in COVID-19 times

  • Sunday, December 7, 12pm - Facilitated discussion with FamilySmart and other families. "If you have a child or youth with mental health challenges, you may already adapt things around the holiday season. As the 2020 Holiday Season may be one for the record books, let's talk about what that might look like for families like ours. We've also gathered ideas from our team of PiRs, and can share great tips for how we can increase connections, reduce holiday stress and find a little more breathing space during this important time."

  • Participate in a BC Children’s Hospital study of the impact of COVID-19 on youth mental health. Students who are 10 to 17 years old, and parents of children and youth aged from 6 to 17 years old are invited. 

  • Watch thematic videos about parenting from a nurturing perspective from KidsCareCanada.

  • Get support for your child or youth through Kelty Mental Health Resource Center, based at BC Children's Hospital. Kelty helps families across the province navigate the mental health system, gain peer support, and connect to resources and tools.

  • Check out resources that focus on youth at TeenMentalHealth.org.

Youth Mental Health -- Self Harm

Content Warning: This section offers resources to learn about extreme bullying, youth self-harm and suicide

COVID19 is causing stress and anxiety in our communities, and for some this will grow stronger over the holiday season. It is important that as parents and caregivers we develop language, knowledge and mental health skills to be able to support youth.

Helping your Kids Learn from Home


Home learning with kids is work but it can be less challenging than one might think, particularly in the days of the internet. And Parental engagement may change the overall value and structure of education across the world. As a former home school parent, this editor believes important connections can be made when a child and parent learn together.

Here are a few resources that home schooling parents use:

At the Elementary School level:


For English as a Second (ESL) Language parents, the website Colorín Colorado, out of the United States, is packed with good information, resources and stories, much of it also has relevance outside of the USA.

Activity-based learning for Science can be as simple as watching a pine cone over time to detect changes in humidity. Check out these tips for 20 weather activities for kids. Here are some other great science-related home learning opportunities:

Encouraging some kids to participate in free writing is a great way to increase their English skills. At the earliest grades, making room for spelling and grammar errors while a child spins a tail helps them maintain a flow of great ideas. It is a little known fact that many successful authors are terrible at spelling and grammar. That's why we have editors!

Other kids, like many adults, are not comfortable with free writing and benefit from learning about the structure involved in telling a good story. Here are some other great resources to help kids get started in their writing:

Lego is a perfect tool for teaching Math -- units, multiplication, fractions are three examples. Frugal Fun for Kids offers print-out math exercises for kids to practice their math skills while spending quality time with their Lego.

Math exercises can also be found on the Mensa for Kids website. Sure they're celebrating PI day, but you can eat pie any day of the year, and math skills are forever.


At the High School level:


Most things that aid high school students also offer the services to elementary school kids. Generally high schoolers need extra help and instruction in subjects many parents might struggle to offer. (Parents can also brush up on these skills using these sites.)

There are also some excellent websites that serve students at all grades with lessons, practice and quizzes. Below are a few:

Further Resources during COVID19

Office for the Representative for Children & Youth (RCY)

Mission:

  • The Office of the Representative for Children and Youth is an independent advocacy and oversight body that champions the fundamental rights of and promotes improvements in services for children, youth and young adults.

Mandate:

  • Advocacy: To provide information, advice and assistance to children, youth, young adults and their families who need help in dealing with designated or prescribed services or programs provided or funded by government; to help them to become effective self-advocates with respect to those services; to support and promote the development of advocacy services within communities; and to comment publicly on advocacy services for children and their families with respect to designated services.

  • Critical Injury and Death Reviews & Investigations: To conduct reviews and undertake investigations of critical injuries and deaths of children and youth who have received reviewable services and to identify and make recommendations for improvements to services to prevent similar injuries or deaths in the future.

  • Monitoring: To monitor, review, audit and conduct research on the provision of government-funded designated services or programs for children and youth and their families and to identify and make recommendations for change to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of those services.

What services do they review?

BCCPAC

Updates

DPAC Leadership Summit

Pre-Summit Documents

Summit Presentations

Other Resources & Links

VSB 

News

Board Meeting Nov 30

Updates from November Committee Meetings

COVID-19 Grants & Budget

  • Updated as part of the Nov 23 Finance Committee agenda including:

    • Provincial Safe Return to School Grant ($3,556,154; pages 11-12)

    • Federal Safe Return to Class Fund ($18,354,518; pages 12-13)

    • VSB COVID-19 Budget ($1,000,000; page 14)

2020/21 Enrolment

  • Updated at the Nov 23 Finance Committee (agenda; pages 25-30)

    • K-7: forecast: 28,421; actual 28,326

    • 8-12: forecast: 19,771; actual: 19,475

    • K-12: forecast: 48,192; actual: 47,801

    • Distributed Learning (VLN), K-12: forecast: 355, actual: 656

    • International Education: forecast: 1450, actual: 1275

    • Elementary DL (VLN): 2019 enrolment: 41; 2020 enrolment: 148

    • Homeschooling: 2019 enrolment: 55; 2020 enrolment: 115

  • K-7 Student Enrolment by Option (part of Nov 18 Student Learning & Well-Being agenda; page 78)

    • Selected Home School (option 2): 114

    • Selected Vancouver Learning Network (VLN) (option 3): 167

    • Selected Learn from Home Transition (option 4): 6023

      • returned in October: 1761

      • returned in November: 765

      • will also be January and March return options

Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP)

Upcoming Committee Meetings

Dec 2 Policy & Governance Committee

  • Agenda; Live Broadcast

  • Colonial Audit – Update (verbal)

  • Racism and Discrimination motions referred from June Board meeting

  • Trustee Code of Conduct – Policy 4 motion referred from September Board meeting

  • Proposed Revisions to Policy 21 (Non-Discrimination)

Dec 2 Personnel Committee

Dec 16 Facilities Planning Committee

Ministry of Education

Updates

Info
Written by Hamber PAC On