Category Archives: School Council News

Agenda for December 2018’s School Council meeting

Date: December 11, 2018

Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm

ALL Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend all or part of the meeting and all are considered members of the Council!

Location: Gledhill School Library, 2nd Floor

Pizza will be served.  Childcare will be provided.

 If your children are attending, please stay to help clean up the space that they are in when the meeting is over.

Note if the door is locked – please ring the bell and the caretaker will let you in.

Agenda Items

6:00pm to 6:15pm – Welcome and introductions

6:15pm to 7:30pm (main agenda items)

• Gledhill Gym Discussion – Mr. Webb and Mrs. Pace
• Hot Lunch Program Presentation
• Principal’s Update
• Committee Updates
• Other Business – Open floor

Upcoming Dates

• Friday, December 14, 2018 – Movie Night
• Friday, February 22, 2019 – Movie Night
• Friday, June 14th, 2019 – Family Fest

Upcoming Council Meeting Dates

• Thursday, January 17
• Tuesday, February 19
• Thursday, March 21
• Tuesday, April 16
• Thursday, May 16
• Tuesday, June 18

**Don’t forget your refillable water bottle to use at our filling station.**

This Thursday is the Gledhill School Council’s first meeting and its practically a date night!

Childcare and pizza will be provided and parents can can come learn about who the council is and what it does.

At this meeting, the elected council positions of Chair/Co-chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be filled and parents will have the opportunity to join one of our many committees.

New and returning Gledhill families are encouraged to come and get involved or just listen in to hear what the council’s all about.

Click HERE for a full list of elected roles and committees

If you have questions or are interested in putting your name forth for an elected position, please email thegledhillguardian@gmail.com

Agenda 

ALL Parents and Guardians are welcome to attend all or part of the meeting and all are considered members of the Council!

Date: Thursday, September 20th

Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location: Gledhill School Library, 2nd Floor

Pizza will be served. Childcare will be provided.

Note if the door is locked – please ring the bell and the caretaker will let you in.

Agenda Items

6:00pm to 6:15pm – Welcome and introductions from last year’s committee

6:15pm to 7:30pm (main agenda items)

Discuss council roles: Chair & Co-chair, Secretary, Treasurer

Discuss Committee Lead Roles: Parent Engagement, Communications, Fundraising, Grants, Healthy Kids, School Improvement, Volunteer Coordination, Ward & School Advocacy, Eco and Governance

• Vote for each role

Principal’s update

Other Business – Open floor

Upcoming dates

• September 28 – School wide Terry Fox Run
• October 1 – Orange Shirt Day
• March 30 – Gledhill Goes to the  Marlies
•  June 14th – Family Fest

The Gledhill School Council welcomes you to the 2018/2019 School Year!

The start of a new year always brings great excitement, and also lots of questions! As a group of parents and guardians, we (The Gledhill School Council) thought it might be helpful to put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and answers!) for other parents who may be wondering about this information. We’ve done our best to provide accurate answers, and apologize in advance if there are any errors. If you have questions about specific details, please feel free to contact the school at 416-393-1745.

School begins Tuesday, September 4th!

What is the Daily Schedule?

Children enter and exit from the school at the following times:

School starts at 8:40 am

Lunch starts at 11:30 am

Lunch ends at 12:30 pm

School ends at 3:20 pm

(Note: some Kindergarten classes come out earlier, however teachers remain with the children until dismissal time at 3:20pm)

What are the line up procedures? (where, when and how to find your line)

On the first day, (and everyday) students can find their teachers outside behind the school at 8:40 am and will line up with their class to enter the school together.

The Principal, VP and teachers will have clip boards with class lists to help guide people to their line ups.

(Note: This is always a hectic morning for everyone – kids, parents and staff! Our school community appreciates your patience.)

What if I am picking my child up for lunch?

Within the first days of school, your child will receive forms from the school for you to complete indicating whether they will be leaving or staying at lunch time.

If you are picking your child up for lunch, discuss this with the teacher at drop off on Tuesday morning. The teacher will likely bring them outside to the back of the school at 11:30am and wait with your child for you to pick them up.

Children should be back in the schoolyard to line up outside with their class by 12:25pm.

What about Food/Allergies?

Gledhill is a nut-free school. Please be sure to send nut-free snacks/lunches.

Any other allergy considerations specific to your child’s class will be communicated by the teacher in the first few days.

At Gledhill we encourage litterless lunches and snacks. There are water fountains and bottle-filling stations throughout the school.

How can we all stay safe during busy drop off/pick up times?

Let’s all work together to keep our kids safe!

Walking to school? There is a crossing guard located at the corner of Danforth and Gledhill.

Bike racks are located at the front of the school and at the north end of the school yard for your use/convenience.

If you drive your child to school, please obey the posted parking/stopping signage in front of the school and note the bylaw limiting idling to 1 min.

However you get to school, please be aware that Gledhill Avenue can be very busy at drop off/pick up times. Stay alert whether on foot, on bike, or in a car!

What if my child will be absent or late?

If your child is going to be late/absent, call the school at 416-393-1745 to notify the office ASAP.

Who is in the office at Gledhill?

Principal – Cathy McAleese

Vice Principal – Craig Budgell

Office Staff – Leverne Pierce and Dawn Russell

We look forward to seeing you!

(Mark your calendars! The first School Council meeting will be held Thursday, September 20th at 6 pm. Pizza and childcare will be provided unless otherwise communicated. Hope to see you there!)

Did you know that your child gets to participate in an extra-curricular science program in their class every year?

Every class at Gledhill gets to experience a half-day session with a scientist from the Scientists in School program (http://www.scientistsinschool.ca/) and have hands on interaction with material that is relevant for their specific grade.

For example, some classes might learn about animals and get to touch and feel different animal skins and artifacts and some might learn about volume and weight and use different equipment to test out their predictions and learn about the concepts.

The purpose of the program is to engage students in real-world experiences that spark curiosity and nurture their inquisitive minds to help them discover the fascinating and fun side of science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), and the environment.

Each year the session your child participates in will be a little different so they will get many unique scientist experiences while they are at Gledhill.  It is a favourite and memorable event for students.

AND, parents get to join in the fun!

If you are able, teachers usually ask for 4-5 parent volunteers to assist in your child’s class during the scheduled time. Volunteers get to help at one of the hands-on stations and work with students in smaller groups. There are clear instructions at each station as well as help from the scientist leading the session which helps make the learning and instructing easy and fun. You also get a glimpse into the life of your child and what their classroom and classmates are like – it is a nice way to spend half a day.

The teachers at Gledhill are also very supportive and appreciative of the program as it is a great supplement to their teaching and it encourages students to use hands on material that may not otherwise be available.

This is what one of our amazing teachers at Gledhill, M. Leclerc, said about the program:

Scientists In Schools always enriches our science programs at Gledhill. Their programs can be a great way to launch or wrap up the key ideas of a science unit. The scientists (instructors) are able to conduct their workshops many times over months or years, so they know how to maximize their half-day visit so that our students learn a ton. 

This year my class was extremely engaged, using appealing and age appropriate science equipment at each station to explore pulleys and gears and build on their own understanding of concepts as they moved through activities. The kids are also very excited when their own parents can come and volunteer for this workshop. Thanks Parent Council, it’s not always easy to round up the gear for a class to explore a topic in such depth!

The School Council, with the help from all parents at Gledhill, are happy to fund this program each year with money we earn from our fundraising efforts (the total cost is approximately $3,000 each year). 

Thank you to the Gledhill staff and administration for supporting this important and well-liked program and thank you to parents and guardians for making this program possible.