A safe return to Trillium Elementary School
Dear Parents and Guardians:
On Monday, you should have received an email from the OCDSB explaining the Return to School Plan and asking for you to complete the Confirmation of Attendance form. This is an important and complex decision for families. If you did not receive the email, please complete the form by midnight Sunday, August 16th.
As detailed as the Return to School Plan is, it is natural for parents to have questions. We don’t have answers for everything, but I want you to know that work is underway to answer your questions and the priority will be given to the most common questions. The OCDSB website has a new Frequently Asked Questions section related to the Return to School Plan webpage Many new questions and answers have already been posted and this page will be updated regularly. Email updates will be sent to parents this week and questions and answers will also be posted on social media.
A few things that I can clarify quickly – nutrition breaks and/or lunch will be held in the classroom, but recess will be outdoors. In fact, we will be trying to maximize the use of outdoor spaces for recess, for learning, and for physical education. When a class goes outside for recess, the students in the class will stay with their class cohort, they will not mix with other classes.
Our Kindergarten students will be engaged in inquiry based learning which naturally involves moving around the classroom for different activities. There will still be play based learning, but likely more emphasis on inquiry versus free play. This will help to reduce the number of touch points and the sharing of materials. Once we know more about how many students are coming to school, we will look at strategies that might allow for kinder students to be grouped into smaller groupings within the class.
There have been many questions about class sizes. Here is some information about average class size in the District and class sizes in our school.
|
Grade
|
OCDSB Average
|
Our School Average
|
|
Kindergarten
|
25
|
22
|
|
1, 2 3
|
19
|
20
|
|
4,5,6
|
24.5
|
26
|
|
7,8
|
24.5
|
27
|
The number of students per class could be adjusted once we know more about the number students attending school.
Many of you have asked for more information about how the school will respond to a COVID-19 outbreak. We understand that provincial direction will be provided all schools. Like you, we are anxious for more details. What we do know is that self-monitoring and staying home if you feel unwell are essential strategies. Anyone who tests positive may not return to school until they are cleared according to public health guidance. At the school we will be keeping records of classes, including seating charts, bus cohorts, and daily records of any approved visitors to the school, including occasional teachers, itinerant staff and custodians for contact tracing purposes.
Sincerely,
Brenda M Spearman
Principal Trillium E.S.