PLEASE NOTE THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE IS AN EXPLANATION OF OUR REGULAR ROUTINES. THESE ROUTINES WILL CHANGE AS NEEDED IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. Our school administration will communicate current school routines and rules that will help to minimize disease transmission and to maximize student and family safety. This information can be found on the EWES website.

Rules and Expectations

We will learn together.
We will recognize that we are all unique individuals and respect our differences.
We will be positive and polite.
We will keep our hands, feet, and objects to ourselves.
We will raise our hands to speak.
We will respect ourselves and others.
We will respect school property and the property of others.

Arrival and Dismissal

School Bells
8:35 a.m.  First bell to come into classroom                
8:40 a.m.  Morning class begins                                     
10:15 a.m.  Recess       
10:30 a.m.  Morning classes resume                              
12:00 p.m.  Lunch
12:15 & 12:25 p.m.  Lunch recess bells
12:40 p.m.  Afternoon bell to come into classroom
12:45 p.m.  Afternoon class begins 
2:52 p.m.  Dismissal of students   

School Entrances
EWES has a high student population and in order to ensure the safety of students entering and exiting the school, it is imperative that students use their assigned entrance.  Our entrance is the southwest entrance to the brown relocatables.  Our boot rack is there.  Students need to put their outside footwear on the racks provided.  Older students need to walk outside and meet their younger siblings at their boot room door rather than walking through the school.  School doors are locked shortly after the 8:40 bell, reopened for the lunch hour, relocked shortly after the 12:45 bell.  The front doors near the office are open at all times.  All children and adults are asked to remove outer footwear upon entering the school.  We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our school both safe and clean.  Thank you.

Arriving Late
If your child will be late please contact the office to let the administrative staff know. When you and your child arrive at the school you will need to enter through the main doors in the front as all other doors will be locked. Please check in at the office to register your child as present.

Picking your child up from school at the end of the day
During the first week of school please pick your child up from the classroom or have a sibling pick them up. The teachers will keep an eye on the boot room doors in order to let parents in to the school at home time. This procedure helps calm any start of school worries the children may have as well as helps the teachers become better acquainted with the children’s family members.

When you and your child feel ready to establish a more independent home time routine arrange to meet at a landmark on the playground or stand near your vehicle so you are visible. We have a large school population and these small preparations will help your child find you in the busy home time crowd.

If there is a change to your regular going home routine please print it in your child’s planner or email your child’s homeroom teacher in advance. If your plans change suddenly please phone the the school and the office staff will forward your message to us. It is not wise to email a sudden change of home time plans as we do not usually have the time to read our emails during the school day.

Bus Students

EWES has two bus runs in order to accommodate our large student population. Early in September we will zip tie your child’s bus pass to their backpack. The bus pass will be the same colour as the bus run colour. Busses have large rectangle colour magnets on the exterior of the bus near the bus door which also matches the bus run colour.
BUSSING BEFORE SCHOOL: The pick up time and bus stop number will be on the bus pass.
BUSSING AFTER SCHOOL: In the upper corner of the bus pass will be a large #1. This represents Grade 1 – NOT Bus Run 1 or 2. We print in pen on the bus pass whether your child is on the first or second bus run. Students on the first run are dismissed to meet their bus at the regular dismissal time (2:52 p.m.). Students on the second bus run remain in their classrooms for approximately 15 minutes and then are dismissed to catch the second bus run.

Until the children become comfortable with their home time bus routine an adult will walk with the Grade One students from the classroom door to the front of the school in order to help them find their bus lineup. 

More information about bussing, including forms for bus passes, can be found on the EWES web page.

After School Program

An After School Program is offered at EWES. More information including an application form can be found on the school’s web page. If you enroll your child in the After School Program an adult will walk with them there after school until they are comfortable going on their own.

Blue Bags and Student Planners

Every EWES student is provided with a canvas blue bag and a student planner. The planner, homework, and library books will be placed in your child’s blue bag. Messages between home and school will be recorded in the planner. Please do not write on the interlined sections of the page. This area is designed specifically for students learning how to print. Adult notes can be written on the open spaces immediately below the interlined sections.

Students will print a short sentence in their planner most school days. It is important to read and return the planner EVERYDAY to ensure you and your child keep up-to-date with class events. The planner also assists your child in staying organized for school. It is helpful to us to have you initial the daily sentence your child prints. This lets us know that the planner is making it home to you.

Immediately under the cover of the planner is a clear plastic pouch. This is very handy for transferring smaller items back and forth between home and school. Large notes such as classroom newsletters or books orders will simply be placed into the blue bags.

Home Reading Program

Daily reading at home is encouraged by EWES teachers, usually starting later in September. A new reading book will be sent home every day in your child’s blue bag. Please record the title of the book in your child’s Reading Log or in your child’s planner according to teacher instructions. Reading books will be exchanged daily unless a parent requests more time with a particular book. As the daily book selection is from within the classroom or from the book cart in the hallway, students are expected to choose new books independently. If your child is bringing home the same title repeatedly and not regularly exchanging their book please let the homeroom teacher know and she will supervise your child more closely.

Homework for Family Holidays

Teachers are not responsible for providing homework for children when the family has decided to take a vacation. However, we encourage you to incorporate any reading opportunities you may find with your child while on vacation. Also, we encourage you to have your child keep a journal of your vacation. By writing everyday about what happened and drawing a picture to go with their writing, your child has their Show and Tell prepared for when they return to school should they wish to share it.

Sharing Time / Show & Tell

This activity is all about becoming comfortable standing in front of friends and communicating clearly.  Please preview your child’s sharing choice and keep expensive and fragile items at home.  Sharing time does not require a toy, although students often choose to bring one.  A well told story can be just as entertaining as an object to look at.

Playground Bumps and Scrapes

If your child gets hurt at school we will do our best to ensure that you are informed.  Smaller hurts that can be solved with a bandaid possibly may not be noted. For more significant injuries, such as head bumps, we will do our best to write a note in your child’s planner or phone to inform you.  Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or concerns.  Please remind your child about playing safely both on and off the playground.

Getting a Drink & Using the Washroom

Students are encouraged to use the washroom at natural break times such as recess, snack, and lunch. When students ask to use the washroom other than these times we limit the number of students attending the washroom at the same time. While the specific routine varies from class to class we wish students to understand that bathroom breaks are for good health and comfort and not for social visiting.

We encourage your child to bring a water bottle to school and to take it home every day to be washed. Water bottles are the only drink items permitted on student desks during instructional time. Spilled water is easy to clean and causes minimal damage to school materials as compared to juice or other sugary drinks.

Snacks

Students are often hungry by mid-morning. You are encouraged to send a healthy snack for your child to eat.  Please send only small snacks and avoid sugary / junk foods.  Snacks should be individually wrapped and cut up or peeled at home in advance so they may be eaten quickly and easily.   Juice boxes are allowed during lunchtime only, please.  Please consider sending environmentally friendly snacks whenever possible.
No nut products are permitted at anytime. There are students at EWES with severe nut allergies.  Please read product labels carefully when choosing snack and lunch foods for your child to eat at school.

Milk Program

If you would like your child to participate in the EWES milk program you can either purchase a milk punch card for $20.00 or send $1.00 for a single 250 ml carton. Please send any milk money in a secure container or in the plastic pouch in the front of your child’s planner.

Birthdays

Birthdays are special for children! You are welcome to send a small treat to share with the class but this is not an obligation. If you choose to do so, please ensure that there is enough for all students in the class and that the snack is NUT FREE. Please let us know in advance if you are sending birthday treats to class.

Student of the Week / Star Student

Our STUDENT OF THE WEEK activity will begin in early September. An attempt will be made to assign students to the week closest to his or her birthday. Information sheets will be sent home one week in advance of your child’s turn as the Student of the Week.

Family and Baby Pictures

As part of our Social Studies units we are asking that each student bring a baby picture and a current family picture to school. These will be carefully kept at school and returned at the end of the year.

Indoor Footwear

As indicated on the Grade One supply list, please do not send tie-up shoes to school. It is very time consuming to wait while children tie their shoes at each break. Also many Grade One students require assistance with tying shoes or they do not know how to tie them tightly enough. It can be very unsafe for children to walk in the halls or to run in the gym with untied shoelaces. Therefore, all Grade One teachers are requesting that only non-marking VELCRO shoes be sent to school. Please label your child’s footwear with names or initials as children often have the same shoes and boots.

Weather and Clothing

Please ensure your child is dressed properly for the weather – rain, sunshine, snow, wind! Often the weather changes as the day progresses so please send appropriate clothing for the season. Warm mittens and items to protect the head are extremely important in the winter months.
OUTSIDE RECESS: If the combined temperature and windchill is warmer than minus 30 degrees Celsius students will be going outside for part or all of the recess.
INSIDE RECESS: If the combined temperature and windchill is minus 30 degrees Celsius or colder students will not be going outside for recess.

During regular weather students will not be allowed to stay inside for recess without a note from a parent requesting that their child remain indoors. Recess breaks have many health benefits and children are encouraged to go outside when weather permits.

Please label all clothing items that you send to school for your child – shoes, boots, jackets, ski pants, mittens, toques, etc. Items left on the playground or around the school are placed in the LOST & FOUND container near the counsellor’s office. Smaller, more fragile items such as eye glasses are handed into the office for safe keeping. Please check the Lost & Found regularly if your child is missing personal items.

Care Partners

Each Grade One classroom is paired with an older grade for the school year. These are our Care Partners. We meet several times throughout the year and engage in a variety of learning opportunities together.

Reading Grandparents Visits

EWES Grade One classes will read to and visit with the residents of the Warman Mennonite Care Home regularly.  The purpose of these visits is to build connections in our community and to discover intergenerational friendships with people around us.  And we will get a little reading practise too!  We usually leave the school at 9:40, walk over, read for 20 minutes, and return during morning recess. 

Scholastic Book Orders

Scholastic Book Orders will be sent home once a month. You can submit payment for your order by sending cash or a cheque to your child’s homeroom teacher or by creating an online account with Scholastic Book Clubs here: http://www.scholastic.ca/parents/
Books usually take 7 – 10 business days to arrive after teachers have placed their order. Please make cheques to Scholastic Canada Inc.