Putting together Christmas hampers for Vancouver families in need had been a proud tradition at Tennyson. However, in the last few years, administrative changes at the VSB meant we hadn't been asked. When Tennyson parents Katherine, Tara, and Shana heard of a Vancouver school in need of hampers for ten families who were struggling financially, they didn't hesitate to volunteer our school. Thank you ladies for giving us this opportunity to enjoy the true spirit of the holidays, appreciate what we have and give what we can.

Katherine sent the following message:

An ENORMOUS thank you to the Tennyson community this week, the response to our hamper initiative was outstanding and incredibly heartwarming.   I am so, so proud of how the students and families came together at the last minute to make a difference.  I shouldn’t be surprised, because this isn’t the first time Tennyson has stepped up beyond my expectations - but this feels extra special.

With your extraordinary donations, we have been able to shower all our hamper families with gifts, treats, personal products, clothing, food, experiences and more. Additionally, the school recently learned that a refugee family will joining their community in the New Year.  From your donations we have put together a generous welcome basket of personal care items, toys and gift cards.  I am proud that we can help to create a warm welcome to Canada for this family.

Have a wonderful holiday, and please know that your donations have made a lasting impact on these families.  

 Funderland Children Center is a new  after-school program located on 16th Avenue, within a 10-minute walk of Tennyson. The programming looks really flexibie, offering all week to pick an choose days options. Funderland   offers the following  package to meet your after school child-care needs:

• "free pick-up" service.
• Everyday classes from school dismissal till 5:30 pm 
• Drop-In sessions 
• Pro-D day camps 
• Winter and spring break camps
• Summer Camps

Funderland is a game-based program with a focus on developing life skills through fun indoor and outdoor group games and other activities. For more information about their program, costs and reservation please visit www.funderland.ca  email info@funderland.ca  or call 604 345 6259, Check out their  brochure here.

Come to the lobby and join the caroling fun next week December 16-20 from 8.30-the first bell. Thank you to our wonderful pianists Tyler  (Grade 6) and guitarist, Bernie (Novi’s dad) who will be accompanying the singers this week.

on Thursday will will wrap up a little early and bring some coffee and treats to the team building the new school. Please join us for that is you can at about 8.45am on Thursday.

We can safely say this lovely event is becoming a Tennyson tradition. You can see pictures from past events here, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019   and more families are joining in each year.

The Tennyson community has been given the opportunity to give back to families in need this Holiday. There are a number of families at Mount Pleasant Elementary in Vancouver who need additional help this time of year. The group the school usually partners with to provide holiday hampers wasn’t able to participate, so there is an urgent need to meet their needs this holiday season.

We are hoping that our school can come together to help make their holiday a little more magical.

Your child’s division has been given a family - the class parents will email specific information about the age and gender of children for the hamper. Our goal is to create 11 Holiday Hampers full of treats and gifts from the generosity of the Tennyson community.

The deadline to donate is Wednesday, December 18th, so we can assemble the hampers and deliver before the break. There is a box in your child’s classroom to receive donations.  

We encourage donations of:
- treats (cookies, chocolates, tea & coffee, those little extras that make the holiday special, gift cards for groceries) 
- toy that is age appropriate (if you have toys outside of the age group they are welcome also, as we can gift them to another child’s hamper)
- goodies for the parents (soap, hand lotion, bath products, scarves, gloves, small gift cards, etc)
- active items (balls, skipping ropes, etc.)
- craft supplies
- clothing (please buy according to age listed)
All items need to be in new, unused / unworn condition. Please do not wrap any items.

We know this is a busy season for all. If you would prefer to donate funds towards the purchase of hamper items, it is also greatly appreciated. Please also do not feel pressure to donate if you are not able. 


Thank You,

Katherine, Shana and TaraT

Thank you to all of the Grade 6 parents and students for hosting a magical Winterfest on Friday night.

The gym looked amazing for the  performers and the talent on show was spectacular. Thank you to our wonderful MC's Kathryn Murray-Hoenig and Andrew Liebmann who did an amazing job introducing and managing the acts and delivering terrible jokes.

There were lots of fun activities besides the talent show. The baked goods were delicious, the arts and crafts room was busy all night, the book sale was incredibly popular, and the line up for the photo booth was half way down the hall. The silent auction, wine raffle and 50-50 draws kept the night exciting.

The Quebec 2021 team sent the following message:
“Thank you for making Winterfest 2019 a huge success! We are very lucky to have such talented kids at Tennyson! Thank you to everyone who attended. Quebec 2021 is very grateful for your support."

If you're the winning bidder for a silent auction item emails are being sent this weekend. Please pick up your items from December 9-13 at drop off and pickup in room 016 (Supply Room), downstairs beside Mme. Bailey's Kindergarten class.  They will accept cash, cheque, credit card and debit.

There were some big winners on the night. A grade 6  mum, Jillian, won the 50/50 draw.  You need to check your tickets to see if you won some wine. The wine raffle winning tickets are:

Prize 1 - #6784
Prize 2 - #2266
Prize 3 - #3610
Prize 4 - #2804
Prize 5 - #6078
Prize 6 - #2409
Prize 7 - #4800
Prize 8 - #3502

Congratulations to all the winners!

Kitsilano Community Centre are offering some great after school programs this Winter and Spring. These programs look like a good learning opportunity and a lot of fun.

We all agree  Seismic Upgrading of schools should be a priority for the Provincial Government and the VSB so the conversation that followed the publication  of a UBC Earthquake Risk Perception study reminded the public that many schools are still at risk.  The area of contention for Tennyson families is that they used a picture of our school for their study and news release.

In addition to M Roch and the VSB's huge effort to persuade the researchers and UBC media department to  use another image, the PAC Executive also contacted the UBC media department on behalf of Tennyson parents. We asked the media relations officer to remove the image and he agreed to take down the picture of the intact school from their website to make it less recognizable. He also assured us that he would not be naming the school if media outlets requested. Unfortunately, it was too late and the images had already been released to the media.

The PAC Executive was only contacted by the Vancouver Sun/Province for comment and we released the following statement:

We believe all students deserve to study in safe buildings, and urge the VSB and Provincial Government to continue its seismic projects with urgency. Lord Tennyson will be moving into a newly constructed, seismically up-graded building this summer, and images, like the post-disaster image of our school used in this study, have only caused distress and anxiety in our community.

The VSB has already clearly expressed their unhappiness with the use of the image in the media releases. If you would like the PAC to also send a letter expressing our displeasure then please leave a comment below or email us. If 20 people or more comment or email we will go ahead.

UPDATE December 13 2019: We received 3 comments to the blog post and 3 emails so will let the matter rest.