April 2024 BVE Newsletter
Dear BVE Students and Families,
It’s Spring, and the year is flying by! It has been wonderful to see the students and staff come back from Spring Break rejuvenated and ready to learn.
As a school we have continued to work toward our school goals, with a focus on literacy and numeracy, developing a strong school community, and our commitment to learning more about Truth and Reconciliation. This month we have enjoyed visits from Sinixt Nsyilxen Language Teacher Donovan Timentwa, and from Secwepemc Elder, Randy William. We were also the lucky school to get to receive a mural by Cree artist Delreé Dumont. Delreé came and spoke about her work, including what the different aspects of the mural represent and teach. More detail and images below!
April also brings Student-Led conferences (April 17 & 18), during which students and their caregivers and teachers have a chance to reflect on the learning to this point in the year, revisit goals from earlier in the year, and look toward the last few months of this school year with purpose and intentionality.
Please read on for many more recent and upcoming school events!
Sincerely,
Ariel McDowell
Dates to Note:
April 8th PAC meeting 6:30 pm BVE Library- April 9th Class photo day
- April 10th Free school-wide lunch (please send a container with a lid, and a spoon); evening session Online on Social Media Awareness erase Family Sessions (saferschoolstogether.com)
- April 11th Grade 1 Parents of Primary Students (POPS) session 5:45-7:15
- April 12th Arts Performance for four classes (RPAC) Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
- April 16th School-wide garden planting (classes will sign up for a time to plant)
- April 17th and 18th ***Dismissal at 12:30 pm to make time for Student-led Conferences***
- April 19th Regular BVE assembly and Jump Rope for Heart kickoff
- April 19th PAC Spring Fling Dance – 90s-themed, 6-8pm
- April 22nd Earth Day – classes will do a neighbourhood clean-up in the afternoon
- April 26th Kindergarten Parents as Literacy Supporters (PALS) 8:30-10:00
- May 2nd Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraiser “Jump Rope for Heart” 10:30-11:30
- May 3rd Professional Development Day – no school for students
- May 9th Electrical safety presentation for K-3 classes 1:30-2:10 in the Gym
- May 20 Victoria Day (No School)
- May 28th BVE Sports Day
- June 20th Grade 7 Celebration
- June 25th Whole-school field trip to either Blanket Creek or Mt. Revelstoke
- June 27th Last day of school, dismissal at Noon
Student-led Conferences
On April 17 & 18, school will be in session 8:25 – 12: 30 to accommodate student-led conferences those afternoons and evenings. If you are unable to attend the time given to you, you can give your child’s classroom teacher a call at the school (250) 837-3085 or send an email to arrange a different time to connect. The purpose of this Conference is for caregivers to see the learning and progress your child has made, and to reflect on the learning goals that were set earlier in the year. Please see the attached brochure from the District on Communicating Student Learning.
Volunteer Request
We always have lots going on, and sure appreciate volunteers who pitch in to help make it all happen! Here are some areas where we can use some help. Please let us know if you are able to help in any of the events or ongoing volunteer roles:
- Lost and Found – we always need parent helpers who are willing to organize and take photos of items in the Lost and Found, and to post these on the PAC Facebook page. A huge thank you to Theresa McGeragle who has been keeping the Lost and Found looking so tidy all year, and posting items.
- Breakfast Program plate preparation – a couple of mornings a week 7:30-8:25 am – wash and cut fruits and vegetables, cut and prepare muffins, bagels, toast, as well as other breakfast items like hard-boiled eggs, sausage, cheese.
- Free Hot lunch helpers, April 10, May 8 , June 12 approximately 11:15-12:30 Duties include helping set up the tables, serving the lunch to students, cleaning up the serving area.
- BVE Sports Day May 28th (variety of helpers needed for Primary and Intermediate events)
If you have time to lend a hand, please leave your name and number with BVE Secretary Meredith Biollo, and indicate which activity(ies) you can help with. Someone will give you a call back asap. Thank you for supporting our school!
Social Media Awareness Family Sessions (Online)
In partnership with the Ministry of Education and Childcare, through the erase strategy, these sessions all take place in the evenings from 6:30 – 7:30pm and we invite all parents/caregivers and their children (aged 10 and up) to attend. The dates are: Wednesday, April 10 / Tuesday, April 16
Sessions can be found at this link: erase Family Sessions (saferschoolstogether.com)
Callout for Foster Parents
The Ministry of Child and Family Development has asked schools to share the following information:
BC needs more foster caregivers. Right now, there are children and youth across B.C who need loving, supportive foster caregivers to provide a safe place when they are unable to live at home. To find out about info sessions please contact Asa Kenyon, 250-837-7612, or email Aasa-Anna.Kenyon@gov.bc.ca
Canada Learning Bond – RESP Money
The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is FREE money that the Government adds to Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP) for children from low-income families. This money helps to pay the costs of a child’s full- or part-time studies after high school and can be used for:
- apprenticeship programs and trade schools
- colleges and universities
No personal contributions to an RESP are required to receive the CLB. You just have to open an RESP account at a bank (no fees) and then apply for it.
- up to $2000 per student deposited into RESP
- no cost to families
- banks do the application
- pro-rated amounts depending on family income
- this year’s threshold is about $53,000.
- get $500 up front, and then up to $100/yr depending on income each yr.
New Mural at BVE
Earlier in the school year, BVE school was asked whether we might like to have a mural done by a Cree artist who lives in Galena Bay, Delreé Dumont. We of course said yes! You may already be familiar with Delreé’s work, as she is the artist who did the Matriarch Jingle Dancer piece near Dose. During Spring Break, Delreé was able to find the time to come in and complete a beautiful mural depicting the view from BVE, as well as our four Family Group animals: wolf, bear, eagle and wolverine. On April 5th Delreé shared some of the significance of these animals in Cree culture, as well as a bit about her artistic process. The mural took 9 days to complete, and it now brightens the back stairway nearest the Gymnastics area. We are so grateful to Delreé and the SD 19 Indigenous Education Department for this gift!
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Nsyilxen Language Learning:
We challenge BVE Students, Staff and Families to learn and practice using some phrases shared with us by Sinixt Language teachers:
“Limlempt” (Thank you)
The name for the mighty Columbia is: sn̓xw̌ n̓tkwitkw “Sin-When-tu-Queet-Qu” which means ‘Swift River’
And students at BVE know how to say, “Hello, Good Day! My name is _____”
way xast sxəlxált: iskwíst ___ “Why Hassle Halt! Ee Squeest ___(your name here)___”
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Revelstoke School District & Communicating Student Learning (CSL)
The BC Curriculum has been renewed to respond to the changes in the 21st Century. The new curriculum is student-centred, flexible, and maintains a focus on literacy and numeracy, while supporting deeper learning across many areas to develop the educated citizen. Inclusive of this is the importance of our learning surrounding Truth and Reconciliation and our growing understanding and appreciation for our Indigenous peoples’ way of knowing and being,
As the curriculum has changed, so too must the assessment and reporting of student progress. The purpose of reporting and communicating student learning is for students to be more involved with their learning, take ownership and to ensure that parents are well informed about their children’s progress. Throughout K-12, student progress in relation to the learning standards will be documented and communicated to students by teachers through ongoing assessment.
School District 19 is embracing these changes and supporting our students by moving from Reporting TO Parents, to Communicating WITH Parents on an ongoing basis. There will be more focus on growth and progress and student agency. This involves more fluid processes and changes in what we assess and how we assess, as well as how we communicate student learning to students and their families/caregivers.
The goal of communicating student learning is to ensure that communication between home and school is effective and timely, so that:
- parents are well informed about their child’s progress and growth;
parents are involved as supporters in a dialogue about their child’s - progress and the best ways to support and improve learning; and
students are provided with information that is meaningful to them - and helps them to improve their own learning.
students take ownership of their learning, with teachers as their - facilitators, and parents/caregivers as their supporters.
Stay connected!
Please visit our website begbieview.sd19.bc.ca
