And just like that our first week of school was over! Somehow we are halfway into week two already.
Hands were painted, sand volcanoes were made, princesses were everywhere... it was as if we'd never been away. It has been super hot, so Teacher Jenn served up extra watermelon snacks outside in the shade. The hose has also been working very hard to keep everyone cool with gentle showers, spritzs and makeshift waterfalls for the children to run through.
Teacher Jenn has introduced a couple of new features to the school day for this year: Question of the Day and Tinkering Tuesdays. Question of the Day is a yes/no question written on the whiteboard for all our friends to answer by putting checks in one of the columns. The question is announced at Circle Time and the results are collated and analyzed at the end of Story Time. So far we've learned that more families than not have pets (although I'm not sure if our contribution of "imaginary small giraffes" counts as a valid response) and that most of our OCP friends would prefer to be a dinosaur than a robot (which I'm guessing is why we had a pterodactyl hanging around on the park equipment for most of today).
On Tinkering Tuesdays, Teacher Jenn sets out two different offerings at the start of the day: a selection of open-ended art materials on one table, and construction materials on another (today it was wooden sticks and clay). Lots of super-cool things were made, including playdough cakes and intricately decorated paper rockets. Ms Haley has got some serious skills! This tinkering was clearly very inspiring for the children, who asked for more and more art activities throughout the day. After our dance party we made paper money, parrot pictures, and an alligator mask.
We celebrated a friend's birthday on Wednesday of last week with chocolate cupcakes, which his dad kindly brought in for everyone (plus a vegan option!). I'll be sure to sign up for working parent shifts on birthdays more often!
Shout-outs, notices and other new things this week
- We are getting baseball caps for school, hooray! We have one option for kids (see below) and two options for adults: same style as kids, or a flat, grey bill/peak. Celeste is very kindly organizing this for us, and has left a pre-order sheet in the classroom, on top of the cubby shelf (it's a bright pink sheet). Get your name down soon if you want one!
- We have a couple of current families who want to change days (to Tuesday and Thursday). If your child has a Tuesday or a Thursday and you want to change to Monday, Wednesday or Friday, or have no preference and are just happy to swap, then please let me (Rhiannon) know. No pressure, just putting it out there to make sure everyone is as happy with the schedule as they can be!
- The school job of Purchaser has not been filled yet, so if anyone wants to volunteer for it then that would be wonderful and very OCP of you. Our Vice-President Sierra is the one to speak to for more information or to straight-up volunteer your services.
- A note on our communication platform for current families: the board are currently trialling the BAND app, and seem to be enjoying it so far. You'll be getting official invites to join soon if we decide to go ahead with this platform, along with an email detailing these changes. If you have any experience with BAND and want to pass on your thoughts about us using this, please speak to or email Mark or Monica.
- The September schedule is out and up on the website now. A reminder that you can find all our up-to-date documents on the website, including the calendar for the year, the jobs list, the directory (with everyone's contact info) and the phone tree (make sure you know who your buddy is!).
Reminders:
- If you haven't already done so, please bring a helmet for your child to school: they can't ride the bikes without one. Don't forget to label it with their name. Also make sure that your child has extra clothing in their cubby--be sure to replenish when they have a costume change in school :)
- Working parents' coffee cups need to have a lid
- Also for working parents: don't forget to check the end of day To-Do list posted by the front door
And last but not least... We now have a grape cutter! Now we can safely cut up grapes for our friends in less than ten minutes! (Is it just me who is a v e r y s l o w chopper?!).
Let me know if you have any notices that you want me to include in future blog posts and I'll do my best to include them.
That's all from me for now! I'm off to get the sand out of my shoes and the paint off my face... We are so happy to be back :)
Rhiannon
Comentários