Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Here is some questions and answers about swine flu. uploads/frequently%20asked%20question%20Pub%20H-29pm.pdf

Students are asked to be at school by 8:45am on the day of Track and Field. The busses will depart by 9:10am .

Fern Avenue P.S. Athletics Track and field Dates and Locations Conference meet - Monday May 11th at York University Conference Championships - Thursday June 4th at York University City Championships - Wednesday June 10th at U of T Departure : 8:30a.m. You should meet in the auditorium 15 minutes prior to departure time. Our 1500m runners will have to leave earlier (event starts at 8:30a.m.) Arrival: The first bus will be back before the end of the school day with the primary students. The second bus will be back at approximately 5:00p.m. with the junior/senior students. Track and field practices Primary students will be practicing their events at Fern Ave. P.S. during school hours with coach Andrew Archdiken Junior and Senior students will be practicing their events on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (8:00-8:50) with coaches Bogdan Nikolajevic and Sarantos Katsihtis. Things to do bring at the track and field meet WATER-lots of it HEALTHY SNACKS-fr

The Fern Food Program Advisory Committee invites all parents, guardians and members of the Fern Community to an Open House on: Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 7:00 – 8:00 pm in the School Cafeteria. Childcare provided in the Parenting Centre. Would you like your child to have a nutritious hot lunch at school? Is your child already enjoying the lunches and you’d like to know more about how they are made and funded? Did you know that Fern is one of the only public schools in Toronto with a hot lunch program? Your child could join the legions of Fern kids who over the years have enjoyed and thrived on the healthy lunches they get every day in their own cafeteria. Meet our cook, Maggie, who will present some of her menus. Find out about lunchroom supervision. Learn about Fern as an Eco-School. We welcome your ideas, questions, concerns, and participation! Click here for more information about the Fern Food Program: Food Program description 2009.pdf Submitted by Carol Pauker , secret

April 29, 2009 Public Health 277 Victoria Street 5th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W2 Tel: 416-338-7820 Fax: 416-392-0713 dmckeown@toronto.ca www.toronto.ca/health Information for Parents About Swine Flu Toronto Public Health is working closely with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to monitor the progression of the outbreak of swine influenza and specifically to investigate reports of possible cases in Toronto. The World Health Organization has raised the alert level for pandemic influenza preparedness and is calling on all countries and populations to participate in preventing the transmission of swine flu. What is swine flu? Swine flu is a variant of seasonal influenza and contains parts of flu viruses from birds, pigs and humans. Symptoms of swine flu are the same as seasonal influenza and include fever, headache, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, chills, and weakness or fatigue, and may include vomiting and diarrhe

Draft minutes attached: uploads/April 16, 2009 minutes.pdf Submitted by Carol Pauker , school council secretary Note: minutes from all the school council meetings since the beginning of this year will be posted in the next few weeks.

A few cases of Pediculosis have been found in a few classes at Fern Avenue Public School. Pediculosis is an infestation of head lice or head lice eggs (called “nits”) which is spread by direct contact with an infested person and, indirectly, by contact with his/her personal belongings. These include clothing, combs, brushes and head gear. We have currently screened our students and have contacted parents. We ask that you take the following precautions: 1. Inspect your child’s hair and scalp frequently for the next 10 days. The louse may be brown or grayish, with a flat wingless body 2-3 mm in length. It has six legs. The eggs may be yellow, brown, or white tear drop shaped, are glued to the hair near the scalp and are called “nits”. It is usually the eggs which are first noticed. 2.If your child complains of an itchy scalp, you should check for lice and/or nits. 3.If your discover your child has lice or nits, please notify the school right away. We will send you a Treatment Inst

Due to the poor weather forcast for Tuesday and Wednesday, the Primary Track Day will be moved to Thursday April 23/09 from 1:00 to 2:30. Thank you for your support!

Hot Off The Press! Here is our Fern Avenue April Newsletter! Enjoy and Happy Reading! uploads/AprilNews.pdf

TDSB participation in this important event is intended to raise awareness about children’s mental health and wellness issues. As part of Children’s Mental Health Week you will receive posters to display in your schools. Your help in sharing this information with staff, students and the community is much appreciated. To find out more about Children’s Mental Health go to www.kidsmentalhealth.ca and for teacher resources www.brocku.ca/teacherresource/ABC/

Accident on Roncesvalles: It has been brought to our attention that yesterdays accident was witnessed by some of our students while they were walking to a performance. We will be contacting all the parents of the students who witnessed the accident. We have contacted TDSB social workers, who will come and support our students and staff. Our condolences to the family and friends of the elderly gentleman who passed away. Thank you for your understanding in this issue and if you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. Craig Tsuji Principal Please read the news release below. Toronto Police ServiceNews Release Traffic fatality #13/2009Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 8:52 AMTraffic Services416-808-1900On Monday, April 20, 2009, at 1:30 p.m., police responded to a call for a personal injury collision at the intersection of High Park Boulevard/ Roncesvalles Avenue.It is reported that:- a man was walking in the north crosswalk, across Roncesvalles Avenue at High Park Boulevard, from the e

Attached is a message from Let's Make Waves, a non-partisan advocacy group that is having one last rally this Wednesday in an effort to stop some TDSB pools, including Fern's, from closure. Let's Make Waves.pdf Toronto School Pools Fact Sheet.pdf Submitted by Sandy Welsh , Fern parent

At Wabash Park, the Old Linseed Building is becoming a frequent ‘hang-out’ spot for our Fern students. We are strongly concerned by this as the building is unstable, abandoned and extremely unsafe. Our students are entering the building over the lunch hour and are walking through the many levels of the structure. We are immediately being informed by community members and by our local police of this dangerous and concerning matter. The police are working with us, but their main concern is the children’s safety. For this reason the police would like you to know it is a criminal offence for these students to be trespassing and/or breaking and entering. The next time children are found in the building, they will be charged. We have discussed this with all the grade 7 and 8 students and emphasized the seriousness and danger of this act. We want to keep our students safe at all times, even during the lunch hour. We have communicated our concern with all of our students and will monitor

Save this date: May 13, 2009 The Fern Eco-team proudly presents........ Kids' World of Energy Festival Learn how to conserve, understand and respect energy in our homes and communities. Grades 5, 4/5 & 5/6 will be attending at Bandshell Park, Exhibition Place. Parent volunteers needed for this fun outing, so put this in your calendar please! Permission forms coming home last week of April. Contact the office for further details. Submitted by Joanne Somers , Fern Eco-Team

Fern School Council Meeting Agenda Thursday April 16, 2009 7:00 – 9:00 School Staff Room (1) Approval of Agenda, 2 min (2) Approval of Minutes from Feb 19, 2009, 2 min (3) Reports: - Chair (John Richmond), 10 min - Treasurer (Sally Brady), 5 min *special discussion: preparing for ‘09-10 budget, 10 min (4) Principal’s Report and Discussion (Craig Tsuji), 30 min - Including Girl’s Government, Pool Update, Student Council (5) French as a Second Language Advisory Committee (Lise Snelgrove), 5 min (6) Committee Reports, 20 min - Communications Committee - Math, Science and Engineering - Eco Schools Committee - Playground Committee - Arts Collective - Food - Fundraising (7) Parent Involvement Campaign (Lise Snelgrove) (8) Other Business, 5 min Next Meetings: Thursday, May 21, Thursday, June 18 Childcare Available

On Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 1:00pm (changed from 9am) our Grade 8 students have the opportunity to retake their graduation photos. This day is only for students that missed taking a photo or who absolutely need to retake their photo. Boys are asked to wear white shirts and ties and our girls are asked to wear white shirts.

Concerns have been raised that students are walking and playing directly on the road, Wright Avenue. As a staff, we are in constant communication with our students about safety. We have immediately addressed any concerns with regards to inappropriate behaviour or unsafe behaviour (such as walking or playing in the middle of a road). Through announcements, direct conversation with teachers and students we are determined to keep our students safe at all times. We ask that our Fern Community assist us in reviewing street safety with their children.

We kindly ask our Fern community to ensure that all medications/puffers/epi-pens, etc are clearly labeled with their child’s name. All information pertaining to the use and storage of medications coming to the school should be clearly communicated in writing to the school office and classroom teacher(s) of your child(ren). There has been one incident of medication being found that has raised concern for the safety of all children. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

On Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 9am our Grade 8 students have the opportunity to retake their graduation photos. This day is only for students that missed taking a photo or who absolutely need to retake their photo. Boys are asked to wear white shirts and ties and our girls are asked to wear white shirts.

We are asking our Fern Community to support our efforts in keeping all Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Dejimon playing cards at home. The use of these cards during recess and lunch times has caused many unfortunate problems between students. We ask that these cards remain at home, instead we encourage our students to be active during lunch and recess times. We thank you in advance for your continued support.

Our LOST and FOUND has many articles of clothing that have lost their rightful owners! We kindly ask our FERN parents/guardians/caregivers to have a look at the contents displayed in the front foyer of the school. We would like all items to be returned to their owners by Friday, April 17, 2009. Any items that remain in the LOST and FOUND after this day will be given to a charity. We will be encouraging our students to have a look aswell. They might find what they've been missing!

Dear Fern Parents and Staff, The Council is sending home - as well as posting on the web site - the necessary background information and application forms for funding requests for 2009-2010: treasurer report April 2009.pdf Funding Process - in-year 2009-10.pdf Request for School Council Funds 2009-10.doc Funding Process handout 2009-10.pdf What the kids get April 2009.pdf We look forward to working with all of you to plan for next year. Thanks to Carol Pauker, Amy Stein and Sally Brady for helping to prepare these documents and plan for next year. All funding requests should be dropped off at the school no later than May 4. Funding requests will be reviewed by the Executive in early May and presented to the School Council May 21. Thanks, John Richmond, Chair, School Council

Dear Parents, Our next school council meeting is Thursday, April 16. We will be sending home the agenda as well as posting it here, on the Fern site. Everyone is welcome to attend. Our next meeting is important because we will begin the process of planning for next year's budget. Mark your calendars now for the May 21st meeting - at that meeting we will decide together on the requests for 2009-2010. Submissions for budget requests should be in no later than May 4. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions: 416-532-9870. John Richmond, Chair, School Council

If you are interested in attending two information sessions for parents/guardians of TDSB students regarding effective communication, negotiation and conflict resolution in a special education context, please read the attached for further information. uploads/Shared%20Solutions%202009.pdf

If you have a gently used chessboard (and all it's pieces) that aren't being used, Fern Avenue Public School would love to have it! We are looking to start a Chess Club. We kindly ask that you drop off your unwanted chessboard at the school office. Thank you!

Fern Avenue Public School is looking for a parent representative group to look at STAFFING for the 2009-2010 school year. Fern is looking for a good representation of the community and hope that interested parents will contact the office ASAP at 416-393-9130 to indicate their interest. All meetings will take place before April 15th. Maximum flexibility of time is an asset. For greater parent involvement and as per TDSB staffing guidelines please consider the following information. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT In SCHOOL ORGANIZATION Experience at schools where parents have been involved with the planning of program models strongly suggests that an inclusive and co-operative culture among administration, teachers and parents is achieved. Parents who understand the constraints under which the school staffing committee must operate and how difficult it is to create the models are more supportive and less critical of the final result. To that end it is recommended that the T.D.S.B. work toward t