It appears that November has welcomed us to winter early this year and the snow just might be here to stay. We sure got dumped on last week and the communities are all working to dig ourselves out of the snowdrifts. There’s a pile of it left in the school yard so the students are enjoying it at every level.

Speaking of playing in the snow, I’ll repeat some details I send to you each year at this time. Please remind your students to wear the proper warm clothes to school again this season, including snow pants for elementary students headed outside to slide around and play in the snow, as well as for any of our students being picked up by bus.  Bus Drivers do have the authority to refuse students entry to the bus if they don’t have proper clothing for cold weather.  In the case of a breakdown, all students should have proper clothing to ensure they are safe and warm on the bus while waiting for support to arrive. W

A change has been made on the policy of bussing in cold weather – a combined temperature and wind chill that drops to minus 40 degrees at 6am will cancel buses for the morning run. That announcement can be made at https://www.spiritsd.ca/buses/  In previous years that would cancel the trips for the day – the new practice will be that if the temperature improves then the bus will run in the afternoon. Classes will never be cancelled on those days – the school is required to remain open for those students who do make it to school, including those whose parents drive them in. Class work will continue and students can look for online work posted by their teachers to keep up on those days.

I’ll offer the Cold Cats program for students again this year for students in grades K-7. Again, remember that this is an option on the indoor recess days for students who still want to go outside for some fresh air and outdoor play. I’ll be supervising them on those days on the playground. They can go back in when they get cold or once they’ve had enough, but it’s sure a great option for many of them to get some fresh air and exercise, even though its that cold. Please ensure those students are prepared with warm clothing and accessories so they can enjoy the recess. Call or email the school to sign up your Cold Cat student to be on our list. We even have long sleeve Cold Cats shirts for sale for $10!

We’re closer to the end of November than we are to the start and so I’ll bring up December and our annual Christmas lunch and the Family Fun night – both are traditions we will have to cancel this year like so many other items. That said I know that the staff is working on a few in-school ideas that will be done instead in December and I thank them for their creativity during a continuing year of changes.

The media has a lot of details this last week about large schools moving to a “phase three” which includes cutting the attendance of students in school by half each day. We have a plan in place should that time come for Hanley School and we’ll follow the directions of the school division on the particulars of what our plan will need to take into consideration. Ours will prioritize the most vulnerable students in K-6 and our red zone students and keeping their programs moving ahead within the school building each day. It will also have intentions of scheduling some of the other students in grades 7 to 12 but will not include the majority from the junior high and high school that will instead move to an online format. The plan takes into consideration the possibility of older students who can watch over younger Dundurn School siblings as needed and allows many parents of elementary students to continue their careers and work situations. It does rely on many grade 8 to 11 students to be responsible during this time and focus on learning at home. No plan like these phases is perfect but this one does support our most vulnerable students and we would hope if it comes to that it’s only needed for a short time. If we get to that point this year, we’ll send out a formal announcement by email to each family.

The first round of evaluations is now over and that includes the first Quad classes completed for High School students. We are not sending home paper copies of report cards this year and I’ll again direct you to the PowerSchool Parent app that will give you access to all the details of those marks and comments on the progress your children are making this year. The portal is set to be open at the end of the day Tuesday so it can be viewed. Teachers are always reachable by email or phone calls at the school if you have questions or concerns on the details of the student progress reports.

That’s all for now.  For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/.  As always, Mr. Anderson and I would love to talk to you if you have time to send us a message or give us a call. Talk to you soon.

As we wrap up the end of the first high school quad, I’ll remind parents that we have our first reporting period also ending this week for the whole school. We are not sending out paper report cards this year and I’ll encourage you again to sign into the PowerSchool app to access your child’s evaluation up to this point of the year. It is one of the points in our Safe Schools Plan that we hope limits multiple contacts on items moving from school to home.

Signing up for and using the PowerSchool app is an easy process and gives you up to date results on any details that the teachers have entered for marks, comments, etc. Please contact your child’s teacher or the office for assistance to get started.

The PowerSchool portal will be closed four times this year after each quarter while teachers finalize grades. They will be opened again after about a week so parents and students can access the evaluations.

I’m one of those Saskatchewan boys who’s always looked forward to the winter season and the activities that come with the season. I’m sure it’s sledding that eventually gave me my current aches in my knees and I’ve fallen in love with staring down a hole in the ice waiting for a fish to bite. I still feel that way but the cold days seem to get to my core a little quicker and with more effect every year that passes. Maybe that’s why so many of us also seem to look forward to the warm days of spring. We always have something to look forward to. J

We continue to work on our new school habits as this fall continues. Students and staff have really done a fantastic job learning to work within the confines of cohorts, masks and sanitizing. I’m hoping that our efforts have contributed to the low numbers reported in the province up to this point this fall and I also hope that everyone is doing their part to keep our students and staff healthy. Parents, please continue to remind your students about healthy practices during this time and we’ll continue to do the same. Great job, Hanley School families!

You are all doing a great job also on keeping us in contact when you have a student at home this fall. Please continue to call/email/etc the office with the message of an appointment, cleared absence, or if someone is ill and not coming to school for those reasons. We really appreciate your efforts to keep up the communication.

There was some confusion about some dates this month because the division calendar changed earlier this year. Please be reminded that there is no school for students on Monday, Oct 26^th while teachers have a prep day and start working on report cards and other teaching prep. Also, there is no school the Monday, Nov 2^nd for students or teachers.

This week has been the scheduled Tri-Conferences evenings and we have had a great turn out even if that has had to be virtually online or by phone. Thank-you, families, for being open to our latest adjustment needed this fall and for engaging with teachers about your student’s learning. It’s such an important part of their success to know their parents have a vested interest in their progress. As I mentioned earlier this fall our report cards will not be sent home in a paper format until the end of June. Please access the PowerSchool parent app for access to your student’s progress. Mrs. Block will help you with that if you haven’t set up your access yet.

There still are the annual plans to wear costumes on Oct 30. Please continue to be thoughtful of our younger students when helping your students pick out a costume that can be worn to school. Masks for COVID will still need to be part of the day when students can’t be physically distanced.

That’s all from me for this month. Monthly newsletters will continue to be our routine. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/.  As always, Mr. Anderson and I would love to talk to you if you have time to give us a call. Take care and I’ll talk to you soon.

Our start up this year has gone as planned but it’s not the regular year start up we’re used to. I have to say that students and parents are all doing surprisingly well given all the changes, and we’d like to express our thanks for the supportive messages and thoughts that have been sent our way. If you’re like many in allergy season, there is the question about how to handle that dilemma about the symptoms showing similarly to some COVID symptoms. I’ll paste below here what our school division is emphasizing and encourage you to call the office at our school if you have questions we can help answer.

Students with Allergies

We have been told our local Medical Health Officer that at the beginning of the school year, if a student displays the symptoms consistent with COVID-19 as listed in the COVID-19 Protocols for AP-432 Illness in Care, all steps in the policy should be followed beginning with the child staying at home, or if the child is at school, parents being contacted to pick up their child, and instructed to call 811 and follow the directions of the Health Officials.

The Health Official at 811 will ask the parent questions about their child’s symptoms, health history, recent activity, etc. to determine if testing is required. At times, parents may be communicating back to the school that 811 recommended their child did not need to be tested. This is not in contradiction with what we have been told by our MHO, as our instructions to parents should be consistent with “Call 811 and follow the directions of the Health Officials.”

If those steps are followed and when the student is cleared to return to school, please contact the school office first. Thank you again for your help.

We’ve added a quick link to the ONLINE SCREENING TOOL on our homepage here for your convenience.

Safe Schools Plans were uploaded today to school sites as they are completed. I’ve created a tab above for the webpage that will be used for any updates or other items related to our work on this part of the in-school education at Hanley.

Once again, thank you for your support as we all work through this together. The emails and phone calls we’ve all received have been totally appreciated. We want the best for your children as you do and that includes their safety as much as their education.

Schools in the PSSD will start the first week of school with a “Soft Start” in efforts to help students and staff get used to some of the new routines in the school and classrooms. We have worked with Dundurn Elementary to make an alphabetical split that can be arranged for both schools and be similar for families. In the case of any student family members with different last names that cause a conflict, please contact your homeroom teacher to arrange.

Tuesday and Thursday, Sept 8 and 10, students in Hanley School with last names starting in letter A through K can attend school.
Wednesday and Friday, Sept 9 and 11, students in Hanley School with last names starting in letter L through Z can attend school.

Also for your information, Safe School plans are being reviewed by PSSD this week and then I will post those details on our school webpage by the end of the week.  

Lastly today – with families making decisions about what’s best for their students and variety of in-school attendance or Spirit eLearning options, there will be some class adjustments happen in the next couple weeks to keep class sizes similar for splits, etc. Thanks for your support as we adjust and change with current information.

After a not-regular end to last school year, we’re moving ahead with plans for classes starting on September 1. Parents, please continue to check your email on file with the school for further updates and information details about new policies and practices that we’re putting into place to help keep all our students and our staff safe and healthy.

As always, I look forward to working with you all this year and also to the next time we can talk, although it might have to be through a mask. Please enjoy the rest of the summer days ahead of us all and we’ll see you soon.

Chris Tucker

Hello Hanley School Parents and Students. The events of the last couple weeks really are something new for all of us to deal with and make adjustments for going ahead with education this year. Please know that we are in the planning process for going ahead with the supplemental learning as described in Friday’s email to families from Prairie Spirit School Division. You can access it again here at the following link:

https://www.spiritsd.ca/files/boardhighlights/Prairie%20Spirit%20-%20Supplemental%20Learning%20Plan%20-%202020.pdf

March 30 will have our school staff connecting as a group online to discuss what that looks like and how best to support our Sabers families at home with our students. That may look different at each home based on your needs and abilities and your resources. There will be some degrees of uncertainty on all of our parts at some point in the next few weeks and months but we will be doing everything we can to help with clarity there.

Starting Tuesday, school staff will reach out to make contact with our school families to check in and emphasize that we are here to support families – students AND parents. We’re looking forward to connecting with you in the upcoming days and weeks and checking how you’re doing. Every K-9 student will progress to the next grade and every grade 10-12 student already enrolled in a subject will receive that credit. All students will have opportunity to increase their understanding of the course content within the remaining time of this school year and high school students will also have an opportunity to improve their current mark. Teachers will connect with each home to discuss how that will look. What we can all be sure about this spring is that learning is everywhere and it will look very different than it does in a classroom.

As a line in the Supplemental Learning Plan states, we will “Continue to learn, connect and grow together!’