SWC Parent Council (Virtual) Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2022
Staff:
Wanda Mills-Boone
Louise Cesario
2021/2022 Voting members: Olga Blais, Michelle Jardine, Allison Peacocke, Karen Roberts, Danielle Rodier, Margaret Sambol, Jay Shurgold, Jill Sibbitt, Rachel Talbot
Regrets: Naomi Elias, Crystal Try
Non-voting attendees: J. McDougall and J. Bent, A. Lancaster, C. Baas
Special guests: M. Skantelbery, H. Jamal,
Meeting called to order (Jay) 6:37
Minutes from April 2022
Motion to approve minutes from April 2022 meeting. Moved by Allison, seconded by Jay. PASSED.
Principal’s Report (Wanda):
Louise C will be moving to Vimy Ridge P.S. in the fall. Wanda is moving to Mary Honeywell. Megan Skentelbery and Hanif Jamal will be joining SWC in their places as VP and Principal.
Message from Hanif: Thank you for opportunity to attend Council. Administrator for 20 years, principal for 17 years. Looking forward to coming to SWC. Taught all the grades 1-8. This year got to teach kinder too! Recognizes kindergarten is an important year. Five years ago when he wanted staff to see an exemplary classroom he came to SWC to find an example. Keen for parents and teachers to work together. Lots of planning underway ensuring a smooth transition. Will be planning several visits to learn about students and staff. Plan to come in, listen, observe and support. Wants to hear from parents, students and teachers about what would make the school a great place. Promises to listen to all perspectives. Hanif used to live in Parkwood Hills community. Very excited to join SWC.
Message from Megan: Excited to be coming into the school. Coming from Pleasant Park P.S. Background in spec ed and kindergarten (EA and ECE before).
Q: Are either of you bilingual? Megan speaks French, Hanif does not.
Q: How would you describe your interactions with other councils? H: this year at the school where he is there was a massive deficit. He needed to focus on only the things that were absolutely necessary. The parent council helped support the school where possible. One thing that was achieved was to clear the deficit thanks to council contributions… including spending $4000 on library resources. Challenges? Want to fundraise without causing fundraising fatigue. Had to face challenge of having families without disposable income and being conscious of barriers activities may pose.
M: As a teacher, was the rep for the school council. Very involved with her own kids’ parent councils. Current parent council is very involved. Currently fundraising for an outdoor classroom. Challenge? Being able to reach all the families. Although council was vocal, it didn’t represent the whole community. Would like to help ensure broader involvement from all families!
From Wanda: EQAO is back this year for grades 3 or 6. Despite stress, it really tests the curriculum. Very interesting to see the marks to understand where SWC is excelling and lagging. This year will be especially interesting. This year the testing is more flexible. Testing can be done from June 4-24, with flexibility. A letter will go out closer to the test date with guidelines. EQAO will be administered on a Chromebook this year. Students will be able to go through a sample test including the tools. Grade 3s will use pencil and paper for long answer questions. Grade 6s will likely be typing onto a computer.
Currently in the board is in the midst of staffing across the district. SWC is working with staff to identify growth interests, which might result in some transitions within the school. Changes always happen, but not yet sure what they will be. Class lists start to get created around now.
It has been HOT! Some kids are starting to bring sunscreen to school. If your child does bring it, it must be applied independently, and only applied inside. Consider a light long sleeved shirt and a good hat as an alternative. NO AEROSOL SUNSCREEN. All sunscreen must be unscented.
Very excited to be allowed to have a leaving ceremony for the grade 6s. Planning is starting now! Might also be able to do something for new kinders.
SWC clothing is being explored. Likely just t-shirts on account of costs for hoodies and other items.
Teachers report (Louise)
From BIP: shared a few photos of their caterpillars and mother’s day plants.
Kinders: forest school has started for some classes. Next week a beekeeper is coming in and there will be a ‘let’s talk about science’ presentation.
Mme Perry: 5A creating characters and writing scripts. 4B working on realistic self portraits and sketch books. 2A xylophone music composition. Helping run talent show, starting with grade 6 students.
Q: Will forest school be expanded to all students? W: given only two teachers are trained it cannot be done across all kinder classes. Next year the teachers will split to have 4 classes involved. Council funded equipment to be purchased to support forest school under the assumption that it would benefit all classes. Although this hasn’t yet happened, it is atbsolutely the intention.
Treasurer’s Report (Allison)
Doing well on direct donations $2620! Spending: pretty much everything approved has been spent. There is room for a little bit more spending, including the use of the parent-involvement grant of $500. Acrylic sheets may not be purchased, freeing up $650.
Mulch: Did not have enough mulch! Another order of mulch would go a long way! Spent $350 and had $120 donated by the company equalling 5 cubic yards. Could easily use the same amount again, given it hasn’t been done for years.
MOTION: Margaret moves to spend parent involvement grant on more mulch given number of parents involved. Seconded by Danielle. Passed.
Action: Wanda to propose some dates
Fundraising activities 2021/22 (Jay)
100 orders placed through Toppers! Likely to raise about $500 over the year. Toppers has indicated that they are bringing in extra delivery people on the last Friday of the month.
Updates on ongoing fundraisers:
FlipGive: Just under $500 raised so far
Toppers Pizza: $30 raised from Topper’s fundraiser trial.
Labels from Mabel’s Labels, Oliver’s Labels and Loveable Labels:. $67 check arrived from Mabel’s labels!..
Direct donations:. $2620 raised year to date
Looking forward:
Translation of documents: What languages are we looking for? Arabic and French. Could consider contacting one of the local high schools to see if students need volunteer hours.
Has a survey ever been done to ask about parents’ satisfaction with council? Could use as a tool to solicit interest. Consider asking parents about interest in maintaining virtual meetings and/or doing a hybrid option. Consider doing one in September to get input at the start of the year.
Forward agenda: putting together a survey for parents.
May 28 General Burns Fun Day – 11 am-3pm – lots of fun, free family stuff!
Talent show – could council provide food or beverage? Maybe popsicles or freezies? Freezie Friday may be up and running by one of the teachers…
MOTION: Up to $150 for talent show freezies. Moved by Margaret. Seconded by Allison.
Passed.
End of year event – Jay to circulate email to identify anyone interested in participating in a planning meeting. Vote for spending can be done by email.
Meeting Adjourned: 7:56 pm