The VSB has asked the DPAC to put forward a representative to the Emergency Management Committee. In addition to attending the meetings, the representative would report out  at the following DPAC executive meeting (ideally orally and in writing).  No information about the mandate or terms of reference has been shared yet, but they will send out meeting materials closer to the meeting date.

If you are interested in being the Representative on the Emergency Management Committee, please send your contact information to Jacqueline Crummey, j.crummey@icloud.com 

The next meeting is scheduled for,  Tuesday, January 23 1:00 – 2:30 pm in Room 108 A/B at the VSB Education Centre

Mme Simone has a friend who is  collecting gently used backpacks to help displaced children in Syria.
Check out the Global News link here:
https://globalnews.ca/video/3882189/b-c-man-holds-backpack-drive-to-help-displaced-children-in-syria
If you are able to donate a backpack, please bring it to Mme Simone in room 216.

Monetary donations are accepted towards providing makeshift schools
 http://www.riamphoto.com/School/Al-Nour-school-Fall-2017/n-hKPfkH

​Questions?   please contact  
Vancouveraid@gmail.com

After-School  Programs
The Community Schools Team (CST) is happy to bring back two of your favorite after-school programs for the Winter Session: Sportball and Young Rembrandts
Sportball will run January 23 - March 13 (8 weeks, $106)
Young Rembrandts will run from January 25 - March 15 (8 weeks, $116).  
And here's the best news:  registration is now online!  Your child might  have brought home a flyer  in their backpack.  If not, go to:   www.sportball.ca/vancouver  (for Sportball registration) or   www.youngrembrandts.com/metrovancouver  (for Young Rembrandts registration).

These are VSB run programs (not Tennyson PAC), please contact Dianne Sankey at 604 813 8776 or   dsankey@vsb.bc.ca  with questions or for subsidy requests.

Thank you to all of the Grade 6 parents and students for hosting a wonderful Winterfest.

And thank you to all the wonderfully brave students who performed throughout the evening. It is so amazing to see students (and even ex-students) on the stage.

The shopping was great, the bake sale and food was delicious, Santa was a treat, and the student performers were entertaining.

Congratulations to Gr 6 student Ceilidh Herrick who won the draw after completing the  Snowman Scavenger Hunt. A $10 Cupcakes gift card will be coming your way!

If you placed a successful bid on a Silent Auction item, you will be contacted soon (and the list is posted in the Tennyson lobby).
​
Here are the wine raffle winners.
The 50/50 winning ticket was 235893. It was not claimed at the event, please contact us if you have the winning ticket.

1st prize: Shirene Salamtian
2nd prize: Shane Boug
3rd prize: Kevin Stewart
4th prize: Doug Curror
5th prize: Eola Fenton
6th prize: Diane Rideout
7th prize: Jennifer Elliot
8th prize: Lalit Balachandran

Arlette Steward, a graduate student in the Educational Psychology program at SFU, is looking for parent participation in her survey.  Please contact her directly with any questions you may have and for the consent form.

This is her request:

Dear Friends and Colleagues: 

I am entering the data collection phase of my research project, and I looking for parents to participate in my study. To assist in recruiting participants, I am asking that you please forward this email to people in your network. It can be distributed widely through your email and/or Facebook networks. More details are provided below and the informed consent form is attached. Interested people should contact me directly. 

Thanks, 
Arlette 


Faculty of Education 
Application number: 2017s0539 

Invitation to Participate in Research 

Project Title: Parent’s perspectives of bullying: How do parents understand and respond to their child’s victimization in elementary school? 

Hello Parents, 

My name is Arlette Stewart. I am a graduate student in the Educational Psychology program at Simon Fraser University, working under the supervision of Dr. Lucy Lemare. My research interest is in the experience of parents who have a child who is a target of peer aggression in elementary school, and I am completing this project as part of the thesis requirement for my program. 

If you are a parent whose child (aged 6-12) has been bullied, you are an ideal candidate to provide information about the perspective of parents on this important topic. My goal is to describe and understand parent’s understandings of bullying and learn more about the strategies they use to support their child. If you participate in this study, I will meet with you for approximately an hour to ask you questions about your perspectives and experience. A brief survey will be completed to collect demographic information. Your confidentiality will be respected and your identity will be protected. All participation is completely voluntary. 

Your participation will be a valuable contribution to an understudied area of research on parent’s perspectives on bullying. Please contact me if you have any questions, would like more information or are interested in participating in the study. I can be reached at [ mailto:astewart@sfu.ca | astewart@sfu.ca ] and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Arlette Stewart 
Educational Psychology student, Simon Fraser University

The following is a message from the DPAC


A few things have arrived in our inbox since our December newsletter that we would like to share with the parents and guardians of VSB students.
Important Dates:

• new Tuesday, Dec 5, 6:30-8:30pm - SACY workshop "SACY Adult Toolkit: understanding youth & substance use" in the SACY STEP portable at Tupper Secondary. Seating limited. Please register: www.SACY.eventbrite.ca
• Wednesday, Dec 6, 6pm – VSB Committee III – Education and Student Services Meeting, Room 180, VSB Board Education Centre 1580 W. Broadway
• new Thursday, Dec 7, 7-9pm - SACY workshop "Building Bridges with Your Teen" at Churchill Secondary. Seating limited. Please register: www.SACY.eventbrite.ca
• Wednesday, Dec 13, 5pm – VSB Committee II – Planning and Facilities Meeting, in Room 180, VSB Board Education Centre
• Thursday, Dec 14, 7pm – DPAC Executive Meeting, Room 180, VSB Board Office.
• Monday, Dec 18, 7pm – VSB Board Meeting at the VSB Board Education Centre
• Monday, Dec 25 – Friday, Jan 6 – SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR WINTER BREAK.

SACY (School Age Children and Youth):Art Steinmann, Manager, Substance Use Health Promotion and SACY, VSB, will be presenting about the SACY program at the January 11 DPAC Executive Meeting.

SACY has a number of parent of parent education sessions coming up this school year. The December ones are listed in the important dates section above. More information can be found on their website (http://www.vsb.bc.ca/sacy) and in these brochures:

• SACY Parent & Family Stream
• 2017-2018 SACY Workshops.

Volunteers Needed for BCCPAC Committees: 
BCCPAC is currently seeking parent volunteers to work on the following topics:

• Inclusion
  • Complex Learners
  • SOGI
  • Aboriginal Parent Engagement
• Website Redesign
• Constitution & Bylaws
• Resolutions Acceptance Committee
• PAC/DPAC/Parent Resources
  • Leadership Manual
  • Self-Advocacy Resources

If you are interested in participating in one of these committees, please email info@bccpac.bc.ca

Below is an update from the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Committee.

 Great to see so many of you last month at our Executive and General meetings. If you were not able to make it, draft minutes are available on our website:  http://vancouverdpac.org/2017-2018-school-year/ and we hope you can join us soon.

Note: all DPAC meetings are open to parents and guardians of VSB students. Though only DPAC executives can vote at Executive meetings, and only official DPAC representatives (either PAC chair/co-chair or DPAC representative - PACs to self determine) can vote at General meetings, all parents and guardians of VSB students  can participate.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, Dec 6, 6pm – VSB Committee III – Education and Student Services Meeting, Room 180, VSB Board Education Centre 1580 W. Broadway
  
• Wednesday, Dec 13, 5pm – VSB Committee II – Planning and Facilities Meeting, in Room 180, VSB Board Education Centre
• Thursday, Dec 14, 7pm – DPAC Executive Meeting,  Room 180, VSB Board Office.
  
• Monday, Dec 18, 7pm – VSB Board Meeting  at the VSB Board Education Centre
  
• Monday, Dec 25 – Friday, Jan 6 – SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR WINTER BREAK.
  

PAC to PAC notices:
Henry Hudson Elementary PAC's Seismic Upgrade Committee is supporting a petition started by a Hudson parent calling upon the new provincial government to follow up on its stated objective of accelerating seismic upgrades for the remaining high-risk schools throughout the province.  We would welcome  participation from all other PACs in Vancouver - please help us increase the number of signatures by sharing the link  throughout your  communities! 
 https://www.change.org/p/the-honourable-rob-fleming-bc-minister-of-education-accelerate-seismic-upgrades-for-high-risk-bc-schools
 Together we can demonstrate to the government (while it is  preparing the budget for the coming year) that this concern remains high among parents across the province.  If you have any questions or feedback please contact Laura MacDougall, committee chair, through  hudsonpac@gmail.com.

DPAC News:

• Seismic Motion: On November 23rd at our General Meeting, PACs voted and unanimously passed a seismic motion asking VSB, City of Vancouver, and the Ministry of Education to expedite the seismic mitigation program to get all VSB students in seismically safe buildings by 2025. Yesterday we emailed it to them  (link to letter to VSB, CoV, and MoE)
  
• REMINDER: An electronic ballot to ratify the nomination for a new DPAC executive was sent to every PAC's general email account (PAC chair's email for PACs with no general account). Please ensure your PAC responds by Wednesday, December 13th.
  
• CALL OUT out for more executives. Currently we have four openings in our executive for Members-at-large. Members-at-large vote at executive meetings as well as being PAC liaisons and helping with events. If you are interested in joining our executive, please ask your PAC to nominate you and submit your application (link).
  

Updates at VSB:

• Trustees:
  • The new Trustees wrote a letter to parents and guardians.
    
  • Trustees have now been assigned to all the schools. Find out who yours is (link) and invite them to your next PAC meeting.
    
• Senior Staff:
  • Jody Langlois will start Jan 1 as Associate Superintendent (taking over for Julie Pearce who is retiring).
    
  • Suzanne Hoffman will start Jan 8 as Superintendent (taking over for interim Superintendent John Lewis)
    
• Capital/Facilities:
  • VSB is leasing out Sir Wilfrid Laurier Annex to Conseil scolarie francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF) starting in January through the 2022-23 school year.