Dear Shatford Families,

It has been a wonderful start to “Back to School” learning. The students have worked hard getting back into routines academically. They love being back in the structure of the classroom and learning “live” with their peers. Patterns and routines, around COVID protocols have fallen in place as well. Thank you for all your support in continuing to send your children with clean 3-ply masks.

The children really enjoy playing outside together and we place a great deal of importance on outdoor play and learning. Thank you for ensuing your child(ren) are dressed for the weather. Mits, hats, snow pants, winter jacket and boots are a must. Labelling these items ensures that they get back to their owner.

Starting next week, HRCE should be installing our outdoor classroom, which will consist of a collaborative space for teaching. Our School Advisory Council (SAC) considered all possibilities, in conjunction with input from staff.  The decision resulted in us going with a structure made up of mostly picnic tables and benches for collaborative learning opportunities. Hopefully, the weather won’t interfere with its start date.

Lately, we have had a few children stay after school to play independently. Please let the school know in writing if your child has permission to stay after school without supervision. These notes need to be emailed to me directly. Include info about when this should occur. This helps us ensure that all children are safe and where they are suppose to be. Thank you!
Sarah

Registration for School
Student registration for the 2022-23 school year begins on Tuesday, February 1. Registration will be an online process only, as schools are limited to essential visitors right now.
The updated registration page on the HRCE website will be live by Tuesday morning:
https://www.hrce.ca/registration
Parents/Guardians will complete the registration form and email it to our school, along with appropriate documentation.
If families have questions or do not have access to the internet, please direct them to HRCE’s Parent Navigators for support:

• Missy Searl: lsearl@hrce.ca or 902-464-2000 x 4362
• Zachary Garcia: zachary.garcia@hrce.ca or 902-464-2000 x 4361

EXCEL Partnership
Effective January 17, 2022, the EXCEL program is partnering with the Departments of Education and Early Childhood Development and Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage to provide the Nova Scotia After Program at Shatford Memorial.
The After School Program promotes health, well-being and a physically active lifestyle by focusing on physical literacy, movement and outdoor play. For more information about the NS Before and After School Program, please visit https://www.ednet.ns.ca/bap. 

Excel Registration for 2022-2023
Registration for the 2022-23 EXCEL Program will start in late April for Parents/Guardians with children currently enrolled and in early May for New Parents/Guardians. Please note: Siblings of current EXCEL participants who will be starting school in September 2022 are eligible to enroll during the Early Registration Period. Registration will be completed online by accessing the EZChildTrack Parent Portal. If you have an existing account with EXCEL, access the Parent Portal by entering your email and password in the Returning Parents Sign In section. If you are new to the EXCEL Program, enter the Parent Portal using the “New Parents Open Account” section. Once finalized, specific details on the registration process and fees for 2022-23 will be posted on the HRCE website at
https://www.hrce.ca/excel_registration

Rapid Test Kits: Updated Instructions
As you know, all schools received rapid test kits to share with all staff and students.
Nova Scotia Health is now recommending both a throat and nose swab to provide a more accurate test result than with a nose swab alone. Please disregard the instructions included in the box from the manufacturer and refer to the updated instructions below.
Student kits (SD Biosensor): updated instructions http://policy.nshealth.ca/Site_Published/covid19/document_render.aspx?documentRender.IdType=6&documentRender.GenericField=&documentRender.Id=93146

Community chest – Backpack buddies
The Lions Buddy Backpack provides food to families who need an extra help with weekend snacks, fresh fruit, vegetables and light meals. This food gets delivered to school and distributed. There is an appeal to Bay Treasure Chest supporters to please continue to support children by playing the monthly online draw. The Community Chest has went online and participation is down. This has a direct impact on our families who need support. Please consider playing online.
www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/btcamonthly

Late French immersion Grade six
Our Late Immersion program starts in Grade 7 and is intended for students that have only completed Core French classes in Elementary school. This program allows students to learn French as a Second Language at Five Bridges. 
The Late Immersion program gradually teaches the students French while also continuing standard Nova Scotia Junior High School curriculum. Students will take courses in French Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Health. The remainder of their specialty courses will remain in English.
Please see the two attachments for more info on this program.

School Cash Online
HRCE is launching a new payment system that allows families to pay for student fees, fundraisers and other school expenses/items electronically. Effective immediately, SchoolCash Online will be our preferred method of payment.
Parents can register for SchoolCash Online even if your school does not yet have items to sell.  When items get posted, parents that are registered will be sent an email notification from the system advising that there is now an item available for purchase. 
The URL to the site is: https://hrce.schoolcashonline.com/ 

Online School Clothing
As a service to the school community, we do have an online clothing store. This store has different options to purchase t-shirts, hats, hoodies and mask ect. with Shatford’s Logo on it. Check it out.Great presents!
https://www.maritimepromotions.ca/collections/shatford-elementary

Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day will be celebrated in each of our classrooms (Classroom teachers will also be sending out correspondences). Students may choose to create Valentine’s for their classmates. If your child would like to do so, please have them fill out only the “From” section of the card (please do not personalize) as this gives teachers ease when passing out Valentine’s to their class and limits the amount of people touching them. Please have Valentine’s sent in a zip-lock bag to your child's teacher by Feb 9th. This allows the teachers time to set them aside for a few days before passing them out. Thank you.