A Message from School Council

Hello Fern Families,

We're headed for lockdown. Here's what the City of Toronto is asking us as of Friday, November 20:

"Residents of Toronto are strongly encouraged to stay home, except for essential travel, such as groceries and other necessities, like medicine; healthcare appointments; exercise; school; child care; and going to work. By reducing the number of people who are out in the community, we reduce the number of potential contacts and exposures to COVID-19, which will drive down case counts. 

Having family or friends who are not members of your household in your home for a social visit is prohibited under provincial orders. Essential support workers and emergency repairpersons are exempt. Outdoor organized public events or social gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people. Non-essential travel outside of one’s own community is strongly discouraged." 

What does this mean for Fern Ave PS?

The good news is that schools are still open and we seem to be doing a good job of keeping transmission down inside our school. The bad news is that outside school, we all need to think twice about our activities. 

We've all had a slowly shrinking window of discretion over who we see and how our families interact with the world, but that window is closing. This will hit all of every family differently. 

If you have one child in JK you are in a different place than those of us with kids in secondary and Senior grades. If you have family ten minutes away, you may view this lockdown differently than those of us who are a plane ride away. If your family relies on the retail or service industry, this lockdown is hitting even harder. 

Regardless of your situation, there are things you can do to help. 

--Limit Your Contacts 

Please limit your contacts with people who do not live with you. Outside visits only, and limit those visits to 10. If you are still hanging on to that friend bubble, please burst it. 

None of us are perfect, but ask any parent whose child has had a sore throat or a fever this fall how much they panicked and how long their contact list was while they waited for the negative test. Your list of people who have been unmasked, within 2 metres of your child in the last two weeks should be only the people who live in your home. If reading this is making you mentally write that list, and it's not that short, then time to change your plans. 

Many of us have become used to feeling safe in our little corner of Toronto because our case count has been low, but we DO have cases in our immediate neighbourhood. Our kids go to school with families who have children at other schools in higher-count areas such as Queen Vic, specialty schools, and high schools. We share our sidewalks, parks, and services with folks from areas with much higher numbers. We are not an island. Please don't let yourself get lulled into complacency by the relative calm of our part of the storm. It is raging all around us. 

--Your Child Must Stay Masked

Please keep having conversations about masks with your kids. The masks need to stay on anytime your child is within 2 meters of someone who does not live with you. Review what that measurement looks like with your child. Again, for some families this will be a change. 

I'm especially asking for help from my fellow parents of teens and tweens or anyone else whose child self propels to school and back: your kids are taking their masks off, and they are walking shoulder to shoulder in groups of a dozen or more on their way home from school, while happily shouting and laughing into each other's faces. 

This isn't make-believe or exaggeration. I was trapped in a sea of Fern grade 7 and 8's on Roncy last week on the way to an appointment. A couple of dozen in front of me, a couple of dozen behind me, NONE in masks. 

I get it. It is totally developmentally appropriate for  Grade 7 and 8's to form big groups and want to be close and loud and fun. The COVID rules have been incredibly hard on this age group. 

"I'm sure that's not my child" you may say. Stand on Fern, or Wright, or Roncy someday after school and watch the migration. An extremely large proportion of the 7 & 8's take off their masks the second they leave the building at lunch of after school. They laugh, they shout, they lean in to tell secrets, they hug, they high five, they grab each other, they crash into one another. They are totally oblivious to anyone else on the sidewalk, just as they would be any other year. But this isn't any other year. This year we're in a pandemic, and now we're in lockdown. 

So please talk to your child about two things:

 1. Be respectful and aware of other people's space during the lockdown. A big crowd makes it difficult for other people to keep 2 metres distant, and people are frightened and brittle right now. Remind your big kid to be a good neighbour. 

 2. If they are with even one friend and can't keep 2 metres apart, keep the mask on until they get home. 

There are parents who will disagree with me, who think this takes the joy out of adolescence -- but here's the practical reality -- if your 12 year old spiked a fever tomorrow,  how would you make that list of contact names to give to TPH? If your child is walking home or is at the park for lunch without a mask, bumping shoulders or whispering close with friends, how do you know which friends to call? Your teens can still laugh and shout and jump and run and skip and be silly, but unless they are 2 metres apart, they must be masked. 

If you or your child still aren't convinced, which is worse: your child keeping their mask on an extra 10 minutes on the way home, or your child being home for two weeks because they or one of their friends has tested positive? There will be far fewer opportunities for expressing glorious teen exuberance in isolation in the basement than there will be at school. 

So MASK UP. 

-- Dress Appropriately for the Weather

Again, this may be more of an issue for older children who make their own clothing decisions. Winter is coming and there will still be lots of time outside and open windows. Ensure your child has clothing that will withstand more than a 15 minute recess. Unless your child is going home for lunch, they will need to be equipped for spending the lunch hour outside. 

We're working on a COVID safe way to get winter clothes in the hands of families that need it. Stay tuned.        

--Keep up the Good Work 

Keep your kids home if they're symptomatic. Keep using the COVID app. Keep washing your hands. Keep smiling at each other over your masks at pick up and drop off. Keep helping each other. Keep the school informed, and let us help. If you find yourself in isolation, and you need groceries, or something from the drug store, reach out. We're your community, and we're here for each other. 

Hang in there friends. We managed this before, we will manage it again.