Dear Tennyson Community,

We have a few important announcements before we proceed with our annual, Welcome Back BBQ!

BBQ and more

The VSB is repairing and painting our picnic tables and 3 benches outside in the front. It will be very important to stay away from the corded off area this evening. I know the timing is uncanny but we would like to suggest that people bring chairs and blankets to picnic in the field. Also, please let your children know that they must not play in this area. The large playground will be open.

Cross Country (important guidelines)

Cross country has begun and the Tennyson Team is as enthusiastic as ever. We are very proud of the volunteers and our students’ participation each year. That said, here is how the process must unfold if your child is attending the meets.

For liability reasons, it is very important that prior to leaving Tennyson you sign in your child with the VSB employee (teacher). You will find them in the back of the school waiting by the primary playground.
When leaving the meet it is of upmost importance that you sign out your child with the VSB employee (teacher) representing the school, at the meet.

We need to ensure the safety of your children. Please consider the impact on all of us, if we are unable to locate your child/children. It is important that you follow these guidelines.

Car Seats and Helmets for our Bike Riders.

Just a reminder that we are required by law to have car seats for children under 40lbs. Also, no child between 40-80lbs or until the height of 4’9” tall can travel in a car without a proper booster seat. Please ensure you have these for your children. It is our “duty to report” if we see otherwise.

We are also required by law to wear a helmet when riding a bike. It has come to our attention that some of our students are arriving without helmets and have been seen on Broadway and 10th Ave. If your child/children are riding their bikes to school, please remind them to wear their helmets.

On a more positive note. We look forward to seeing everyone this evening and the weather is perfect!

Thank you for your attention on these matters.

Sincerely,

Mme Alain

Please see the following message from Mme Alain:
Dear Tennyson Community,
We are looking forward to our annual Meet the Teacher and Welcome Back BBQ this Thursday September 29th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The Meet the Teacher event will be informal with several teachers offering a presentation and others an open door to chat between the hours listed below.
The primary team will be available from 5:00 to 5:30 in their classrooms to greet families.
The intermediate team will be available from 5:30 to 6:00 in their classrooms to greet families.
Please note that Kindergarten Teachers will not be meeting families but will be mingling outside at the BBQ.
You are welcome to consult the teacher to see what option they are using.
On another note, our talented and energetic volunteer Jaqueline Crummey is looking for volunteers to help her with the BBQ. Please contact her at j.crummey@icloud.com if you can lend a hand.
We are looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday. The weather person tells us the sun is going to shine!​

Kindest Regards,

Claudette

Please see the following message from PAN:
Presentation to Select Standing Committee - PAN Needs YOUR Help
PAN presented to the  Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services  on September 19th and during our presentation we were asked a number of questions. Due to time constraints, two questions were "takeaway" items for us and we NEED YOUR HELP! It's the data from these questions which will help show yet again how much parents are funding schools and how much has and continues to be taken away from our children.

Please take a few minutes to answer the three questions on our web form  - http://www.panvancouver.ca/news/request-for-information-questions-from-the-select-standing-committee-presentation
And we hope you can help share the link to the questions through your networks and on social media. The more data we have, the stronger the argument.

http://www.panvancouver.ca/

The Halloween Howl is  the  event of the year at Lord Tennyson. It will be held on Friday Oct 28. Don’t miss it!

For the uninitiated, our school is completely transformed to a fun Halloween carnival, which you won't recognize. Games, cake walk, Von Schtinko's Lab, photo room, bingo, scary story-telling, costume contests, fortune teller, and the haunted house... do you dare to go through it? And of course, food and drink aplenty.

Doors Open at 6:30pm.
Rooms and games close by 9:00pm, prizes close at 9:15pm, and doors are closed by 9:30pm.
Remember both kids AND parents show up costume – it is so much fun!

This event CANNOT HAPPEN WITHOUT YOUR HELP. The more hands, the better. Stay tuned for sign-up info.

**Remember that volunteers who do two pre or post event shifts get a free ticket for themselves, and volunteers who volunteer the night of the Howl get in free.​

Setup and Clean Up Timing Details

Thursday night Setup:  5:30pm - 9pm,

Friday setup: 3pm – 6pm (though we try to get done by 5:30). We need many hands! Even if you cannot commit to the entire time, please come for as long as you can. 

Saturday clean up party (with PIZZA for the crew) is 10am-2pm

ALSO: Help feed the troops. Bring some of your favourite sweet or savoury snacks for the hard working crews on Thursday night (5:30 to 9:00 pm) or Friday (2:00 to 6:00 pm). Drop them off in the staff room. Sign up is online for Volunteer Food at http://www.lordtennyson.ca/halloween-howl.html

Ticket Sales & Game Cards

Advance ticket sales start after school Monday Oct 24 th…and will take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before and after school. 

On the night of, tickets go on sale at 6:15pm
Doors open 6:30pm (or close to it).
Tickets $5 per person - children under 5 are free.
Game cards $5 - 20 stamps per card (games cost between 2-4 stamps each).

Calling all Pastry Artists! 

We will need lots of cakes for the Cake Walk.  The signup sheet for cake donations is on the Howl homepage.   Please drop off your masterpieces on Friday, October 28. 

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Last year the pumpkins were amazing! Drop your child’s creation on the day of the Howl ... Fri, October 28 (by 9am). Judging takes place between recess and lunch.

Remember that all the pumpkins will be used as decoration for the Howl and you must pick up your pumpkin before noon on Saturday (during cleanup) or it will get disposed of.

Thanks to everyone for helping and participating in this EPIC event.

Tennyson events for the week of Sep 26 (Pro D day this Fri, Sep 30)
(grab a snack or a drink and settle in ... this is a long one!):

Provincial Budget Consultation - 2017

All BC residents have the opportunity to participate in the BC Budget Consultation - this is a great opportunity to request increased/adequate funding for public education in BC. Watch for questions 2 & 4. The survey takes no more than 3 minutes to complete - here it is. Thank you for advocating for public education in BC.

Wed, Sep 28: Andy the Musical Scientist

Andy the Musical Scientist will be performing for students at Tennyson. Andrew Kim presents to children the scientific concepts behind the creation of musical instruments by performing on his home made inventions that he’s created out of recycled household items.
 
As was mentioned in the letter sent home by Tennyson administration, the show will be taped. Please print and send this form back to the school if you would prefer your child be in the "no-videoing" section.

Thu, Sep 29: Meet the Teacher Night & Welcome BBQ, 5-7pm

Details around Meet the Teacher will be sent out by Tennyson administration early this week. The BBQ will be running from 5-7pm. Keeping things simple, it will be a hot dog bbq ... there will be beef, chicken and veggie dogs along with drinks, fruit & chips. Hot dogs not your thing? No worries, see the next item - Whole Foods Taste of Thanksgiving Dinner!Volunteers are needed for: shopping, food prep, food distribution, set up, take down, clean up, food sales, and BBQ-ing. Please let Jacqueline Crummey  know if you can help in any way, no amount of time is too small. And we will happily take both responsible students and parents.

Thu, Sep 29: Whole Foods Taste of Thanksgiving Dinner

For the second year in a row, the Whole Foods on West 4th is donating all proceeds from their Taste of Thanksgiving Dinner to our Playground Fund. Last year, they made a donation of $3010! Here is last year's blog entry and photos.

For $10 (100% of this gets donated to our Playground Fund), you receive a full Thanksgiving dinner. It runs from 5 - 8pm on Thu, Sep 29 (unfortunately this is the same night as our Meet the Teacher event but the date was not flexible).

Please encourage all of your family and friends to have dinner at Whole Foods (West 4th and Vine) this Thursday evening. Consider stopping by yourself before or after our school event.

They also have an additional incentive on the night of the event. During the holidays they offer meal kits (Ex: Turkey meal for 4; uncooked turkey, additional sides that just need to be warmed up) so you don’t need to stress during the big night. For every holiday meal ordered and paid for on the night of the event, they’ll give an additional $10 to Lord Tennyson.

Cross Country Team - still welcoming new members

See the most recent message from Coach Chris (mini-meet dates included)

School Parking

Please do not park in the No Parking or Permit Only (Resident) Parking areas around the school (and, yes, I know that is pretty much everywhere). Parents are often ticketed and even towed. Residents call the city when we fill their spots and parking attendants start hovering. It gets nasty!

Please consider parking south of 12th and walking a couple of blocks to the school.

Noon Hour Programs

The Gr 4-7 karate class has been opened up to grades 1 -7. Yesterday there was one spot left for guitar and some karate spots left but everything else has sold out!

Kick-Start CampaignIt is the time of year when the PAC starts fundraising, with the annual “Kick-Start” fundraiser. Your child should have come home with an orange sheet in their book bag last week. Our 2016-17 PAC budget requires that we raise $28,445. Along with the spring “math-a-thon” or “spell-a-thon", these make up the PAC’s main fundraising initiatives. Last year, the Kick-Start raised $16,585!! The funds helped buy iPads, sound equipment for assemblies, speakers including Saleema Noon, science kits, a green house, French atlases, wireless keyboards for a typing project …  If it is within your means, we are asking for a minimum donation of $50/family. The Kick-Start contribution is the only tax-deductible means by which to donate to the PAC this school year (tax receipts will be issued by the Vancouver School Board). Please return the form, with your contribution, to the designated box outside the office by October 14, 2016. Thank you for helping enrich Tennyson's students' education. Cheques should be made out to Tennyson PAC. Online payments can be made at the bottom of http://www.lordtennyson.ca/kick-start-campaign.html.

Hot Lunches

I know, I know ... we are all tired of making lunches.
Details will be sent out soon! Expect ordering to open within a week. Stay tuned ...

Fri, Sep 30: Pro D Day (no school)

Happy Sunday - enjoy!

Enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner at Whole Foods on West 4th this Thursday, Sep 29 from 5-8pm. 
$10 for a Thanksgiving dinner with 100% of proceeds donated to Lord Tennyson's Playground Fund.

Please see the following message from Coach Chris:

Hello All Tennyson Tigers. 

There is still time to join our fabulous and exciting Cross Country Team. Practices are Monday, Wednesday and Fridays 8:00AM until 8:45 PM. Yes we will have a practice on a race Day. Please print forms and return them in the boxes outside the office with cheque or money. 

This team is open to all ages. Anyone grade 2 or lower we ask that a parent be there to support your runner.  This year we have added a few surprises so stay tuned.

Parents your help has been great so far, great running and snacks, we have a parent photographer, parent race supporters, parent managers and uniform persons- WOW! We need a Snack Parent for both the races and Fridays. Please email Chris if you are able to help organize something healthy and yummy. We also need parent drivers for the meets. Please drop by the school office and ask for a parent insurance driver form. Fill it out and bring it back to the school. We need all seats possible as some student's parents cannot provide rides. 

Parents please arrange a rides for your runner with their friend, classmates, teammate etc. We will also assist in this process at practice this Monday. Please also make arrangements to have your runner picked up after the race.

Cross Country Meets (Races)
Start at 3:30pm with Gr. 7 boys then Gr. 7 girls then Kindergarten/Gr 1 going upwards meet usually ends by 4:45pm
Wed. Sept. 28 Camosun Park @ 16th & Camosun
Mon. Oct. 3 Jericho West @ 1525 Discovery
Tues. Oct. 11 Vanier Park @ Near Space Centre
Thur. Oct 20 Trout Lake @ 15th & Victoria
After all the meets our team goes to Boston Pizza on Broadway a few blocks east of the school and we have a lot of fun. It is   not terribly expensive if you purchase the Kids Card (Only $5 for 5 or 6 kids meals)

Please let us know if you have any questions. On behalf of coaches Carina, Ryan and others
 Sincerely Coach Chris

44 Sounds Orton-Gillingham Learning Studio (located at Oak and 21st) supports students with dyslexia and language learning struggles.
​Details here.

The very popular Tennyson Noon Hour Programs are starting soon. Registration  opens at 7pm on Fri, Sep 23 and closes at  11pm on Wed, Sep 28.

Noon Hour Programs are available (with a fee) for students in grades 1 - 7. They are not open to kindergarteners  this fall. Kindergarteners are still adjusting to their school routine and adding a lunch-time class for them to get to on their own poses too many challenges!

Check out our FAQ document and here is a list of the classes offered this fall.