Today BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) has jointly released a letter with our education partner associations - British Columbia School Trustees Association, BC School Superintendents Association, BC Association of School Business Officials and BC Principals and Vice Principals Association - in support of the Ministry of Education's K-12 Restart Plan.
The plan will continue to be worked on in consultation with all our associations and many other education employee groups, stakeholders and rightsholders as it has from the beginning.
The plan will look different in every district. Districts will need time to work with these guidelines and consult with their stakeholders (ie DPACs representing parents/guardians) and determine the best way to implement them safely for staff and students. This local consultation will be robust. It will include boards, employee groups, rightsholders and stakeholders including parents. Provincially, as was always the plan, now that we have direction and a stage, the working groups will begin the necessary focused conversations on implementation.

​READ THE FULL LETTER HERE

Latest information from the VSB and School Administration
Here is the   VSB's COVID-19 Updates page
​
May 20 FAQ and information posted to VSB Website: In-Class Instruction
Dear Tennyson Families,

Thank you in advance for completing the district gradual return to in-class instruction survey, which helps schools/our district to guide planning.  We wanted to let you know of some information that is now posted to the VSB Website that you might find helpful and informative.  The FAQ may answer some questions that you might have.

FAQ for Families: In-Class Instruction:
https://www.vsb.bc.ca/News/Documents/20200519_FAQ_InClassResumes.pdf

Superintendent’s Video – Preparing for the voluntary, part-time return to in-class instruction:
https://www.vsb.bc.ca/news/_layouts/15/ci/post.aspx?oaid=a063d89b-8ef7-4d4c-b47b-224f84a97220&oact=20001

​Superintendent’s Letter to parents (emailed directly from District Communications already):
https://www.vsb.bc.ca/News/Documents/20200519_Letter_Families.pdf

Have a great day, and as always, we continue to provide you with regular Continuity of Learning updates.
May 15th Tennyson Continuity of Learning Update
Dear Tennyson Families,
I hope this update message finds you well, ahead of a long weekend.  I also hope that you all have a chance to relax a bit and have fun together over the next three days.  Here are a few updates:

Continuity of Learning Update
It was a busy week with teachers and support staff connecting and working with students in a variety of ways.  I enjoyed being in a number of the classes and see the learning happening.  As always, a big thank you to both our parents/guardians and our staff for working through the “learning-at-home” context.

You likely know that there was a provincial press conference today regarding planning for in-school learning on a part-time basis.  I know that this may bring up a number of questions from our families.  Our district staff team is working, alongside our stakeholder partners, on the local VSB plans for schools.  As always, I will communicate updates to families as plans develop.  You may wish to follow VSB twitter @VSB39 for district updates and new on a variety of things.  We continue to work with our four guiding principles being the focus during this time: 

• Health and Safety of students, staff, parents, community
• Communication
• Connections & Community
• Continuity of Learning​

Thank you to all of our families for your continued tremendous support, patience, and understanding!
 
Indigenous Education Focus Pro-D
Today’s Provincial Indigenous Education Focus Professional Development day was an excellent learning opportunity for our staff!  Teachers and support staff engaged (virtually) in collabroative learning from Indigenous Educators, elders, and storytellers.  We had the opportunity to explore many things, including:

• indigenous curriculum and learning concepts
• have conversations about, and planning around, reconciliation, indigenous knowledge and ways being and learning
• cultural/historical awareness and teaching

 
Tennyson e-Library 
I wanted to again provide the login and password for for the Tennyson/VSB e-library.  Here it is:
Weblink (copy and paste as needed): https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/lord-tennyson/Teaching-and-Learning/Learning-Commons-or-Library/Pages/default.aspx
See the May 15th email from the Tennyson Administration for the login details.  

Have a great weekend!
​
Doug Roch
Principal

May 8 Tennyson mini-Newsletter
Dear Tennyson Families,
Happy Friday!  Here is the link to our latest "mini-newsletter". You may need to copy and paste the link.  It is intended to give an update on a few things:

• Continuity of Learning – Assessment/Reporting Q&A
• Tennyson e-Library updates
• School Organization for September
• A few other items

 Have a wonderful weekend!
https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/lord-tennyson/About-Us/Publications/Documents/May%208th%202020%20Tennyson%20Newsletter.pdf


Doug & Kateryna
Tennyson Admin Team


Portion of the May 6 message from M Roch

Our VSB superintendent recently posted to the VSB website an video/article entitled “Looking Ahead and Continuing to Adapt”.  This is from the beginning of the message: "With lots of thoughts and ideas percolating about what the Provincial Government's eventual loosening of restrictions will mean, people are wondering too what that means for schools. In her latest video update, Vancouver School District Superintendent Suzanne Hoffman shares the District's thinking about what that may look like."

Here is the link (you may need to cut and paste):  https://www.vsb.bc.ca/news/_layouts/15/ci/post.aspx?oaid=74b4fc78-16a6-4115-9b8c-a10eba718e8a&oact=20001

The following list of resources was compiled in and shared with parents during the Spring/Summer of 2020 to support families with learning at home. Thank you to everyone who shared resources. Please note, some links may no longer work and some of the resources may no longer be available.

Curriculum:

• Tennyson/VSB e-library (please email for the login in info)
• French-English Dictionary
• French Dictionary
• French Verb Conjugator
• Mystery Science, for a starter list of kindergarten through fifth grade science lessons
• Prodigy, for first through eighth grade math lessons built into an interactive battle-style game
• Reading Eggs, for a homeschool reading curriculum with online reading lessons
• ABCmouse.com, for a full, online curriculum for kids between two and eight years old
•  Khan Academy Kids, for free lessons divided by grade levels and subjects
• Online G3, for classes geared toward accelerated learners
• Learning Without Tears  offers writing and keyboarding tools for the K-Gr5 set. They have just opened up some of their resources for free during this time. 
• Easy Science for Kids
• Jump Math used by many classes at Tennyson
• Kahn Academy simple instructions and great videos to explain key concepts as well as practice questions
• ​List of thinking games by grade
• Starfall K-Gr 3
• FunBrain K-Gr8
• Splashlearn has free match exercises for kid K-3
• Live It - offering a  FREE 10-Week  Educational Series which included videos and Q&A sessions. Topics include, marine environment, industry,

Educational projects and homeschooling resources:

• CBC kids
• CBC Podcasts - there are so many!! A few shout outs from  Tai, Asks Why  and  The Secret Life of Canada  got any favourites??
• Zone Jeunesse  (Radio Canada Kids)
• NASA has made their entire library publicly accessible and copyright free
• Learn a First Nations language. Anyone have any good sites for this? Here is one about the  weather in Cree
• Learn Hul’q’umi’num’ (Halkamelam), which is one of the Coast Salish languages spoken hereabouts, including by the Musqueam. web.uvic.ca/hrd/hulq/index.htm
• Seussville. Need we say more
• Think Indigenous is offering online lessons K-8. Check out their Facebook page as well.
• Audible is offering free stories for kids.
• Massimo Bottura is offering free cooking classes on IG
• Free curriculum used by some homeschooling families (in the UK). Preschool activities to 12th grade!Scholastic has created a free learn-from-home site with 20+ days of learning and activities
• ​Kids National Geographic
• Mo Williams is posting Lunch Doodles every day at 1pm. The site seems to be overwhelmed at the moment, but they can be view on YouTube
• Collage Collage is selling  craft kits that can be picked up  11am to 2pm
• Savethechildren.org, for tools and tips specific to COVID-19, plus weekly learning activities organized by age
• Scholastic Learn at Home, for a twenty-day plan with daily projects during school closures
• PBS SoCal At-Home Learning, for at-home learning tips and pre-K to twelfth grade programming and activities
• Lego! The 30 day lego challenge.
• PBS Kids
• The Microsoft store is running  free workshops online.  Derek (thanks Derk) who shared this resource said his  daughter attended a couple of them in store last summer and they were great. She especially liked the Minecraft coding course. Based on his experience of the Minecraft courses, you might want to sit with your 8/9 year old kids during this to help them along the way.
  
  

Virtual field trips:

•  Virtual Field Trips
• WebExhibits, for an online interactive museum that covers science, the humanities, and culture
• The Boston Children’s Museum, the Louvre, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and many other museums, for virtual tours and online kid-friendly activities
• The Georgia and Monterey Bay Aquariums, the San Diego Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, and the Houston Zoo, for live animal cams
• Yellowstone National Park and the Great Wall of China, for virtual field trips
• Virtual Museum Tours

General information and other bits and bobs:

• A kids guide to coronavirus podcast
• Tips here on homeschooling
• Curated Podcasts for kids
• Cosmic Kids Yoga!
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Arcademics, for free, multiplayer educational games for kindergarten through eighth grade students
• National Geographic Kids, for online games, science experiments, and quizzes
• All Kids Network, for free worksheets and printable crafts, activities, and mazes
• The Internet Archive has opened a (US) National Emergency Library for all to enjoy. Read the article in the New Yorker here.
• How to talk to your kids about COVID-19  from CBC  
• Common Sense Media has recommendations for age appropriate movies and apps
• Netflix - Ok, we all know this one, but most of the shows have a version Français tool that you can turn on. I did this ONE DAY for my 8 year old when she was home sick and it made a huge difference in her French. Honest. I’ve heard Downton Abbey is a good series to watch + there are loads of actual French movies too.
• Marble World Championships - in case you are in need of sports!
• Master Class - ok, this one costs some money, but maybe they will take pity on us and offer a deal shortly - PLEEZE (I want to know how to be a boss/master chef/movie director/basketball player/chess master!!)
•  Several mediation apps offer free trials. Try Calm, Headspace or many others
• Karen Flamenco is offering free online Flamenco classes for adults and children on Thursday evenings via zoom. Email info@karenflamenco if you are interested
• Many fitness apps also offer free trials. There are so many good ones, but if you have zero equipment in your house, try this one: The Be Coming Project
• 20 minute workouts from CBC life (that the grade 7s are really into)
• Art21 - Artist guided tours of their work