Robert Bateman PS

Bateman Bobcat Banner

Monday, September 9, 2024

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, September 24, 6:30 - 7:30 PM: RBPS School Council meeting
• Wednesday,September 25: Rowan's Law Day (Concussion Awareness)
• Late September (Date TBA): RBPS Meet the Staff Event (details to follow)
• Friday,September 27: PA Day (No School for Students
• Monday, September 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
•  October 2-4: Rosh Hashanah (Shanah tovah to those celebrating)
•  Monday,October 14: Thanksgiving Monday(No School for Students)

Thanks to all our families for a successful first week back, and welcome to the first Bateman Bobcat Banner of 2024/2025. Every two weeks, we will share the Bobcat Banner via email and post a copy to the RBPS website. The Bobcat Banner has news about upcoming events and activities, showcases student work, along with other information we hope will be of interest to the Robert Bateman Community.

Voluntary $20 RBPS Student Fee

In the past, Robert Bateman PS. along with other schools in the OCDSB and across the province, have collected voluntary student fees from families. These fees are used to support additional activities to enrich the student programs, such as guest speakers and special presentations, and to subsidize field trips. Our request is for a voluntary donation of $20 per student (up to a family maximum of $50). This fee can be sent electronically using Schoolcashonline, or sent as cash / check with your child(ren). We would like to emphasize again that this fee is voluntary, and information on which families choose to make this donation will not be shared (i.e. there will be no lists of names in the classrooms). Thank you in advance for considering this request.

Transportation

Thank you for all of your support in helping our first week back to school go so smoothly. We especially appreciate your patience during drop-off and pick-up.

The turning circle is for school buses and OSTA vans only between 8:15 - 8:30, and from 2:45 - 3:10. Parents are welcome to park in the turning circle if they are picking up or dropping off students in the middle of the school day, or after the bus has left. The staff parking lot is for staff only at all times. Please do not cross the bus lane, but instead cross at either the north or south end of the school.

Reporting Student Absences/Late Arrivals

Please let us know if your child(ren) will be absent or late by using our automated student absence system called SafeArrival. You can report your student's absence or late arrival by either using the School Messenger App, or by calling 1-833-202-1417. For more information on using this system, please read this document.

Arrival Time

Thank you to all the parents / guardians who support their child(ren) to arrive at school between 8:15 and 8:30 AM. This week, there have been very few students arriving after 8:30, and we appreciate all the work that goes into getting your Bobcats up and out the door every morning. This year, our common instruction times mean that most students will be starting either English or Math instruction right at 8:30. When students arrive late, they miss the first part of the lesson, and interrupt instructional time. We appreciate your support in helping your child(ren) to arrive on-time.

Early Pick-Up and End-Of-Day Dismissal

If your child has an appointment during the day, please let the office know (either by Robert Bateman PS Attendanceor by phone) so we can have them in the office ready for pick-up.

Given the business at the end of the day, we would ask that you not pick up your child between 2:45 and 3:00 PM. During this time, students may be in transit to the various locations to prepare for dismissal, loading of busses and vans, or transitioning to EDP.

If your child has an appointment right after school, we would request that you either collect them at the regular 3:00 dismissal, or collect them from school earlier at 2:30 PM. For Kindergarten: parents are welcome to wait outside the gate prior to dismissal.

School Council

Please join us for the Annual General Meeting and first School Council meeting of the 2023-2024 school year. This meeting will take place on Tuesday September 24, 2023 starting at 6:30 pm. Parents and Guardians are invited to attend, vote, and welcome to run for positions on the School Council. We will continue to hold our meetings using a hybrid model, so parents can attend either online or in-person. We hope to see you there.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Monday, September 30)

During September, students and staff at Robert Bateman School will join people across Canada in observing National Truth and Reconciliation Day.  Leading up to September 30th and beyond, students at RBPS will continue to learn about the legacy of residential schools and their aftermath, in an age-appropriate context. We will make use of age-appropriate resources provided by the OCDSB Indigenous Education team, and our librarian, Ms Green, continues to build our collection of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit resources. We will share more information on our upcoming activities as we get closer to September 30.

Student Accident Insurance

Creating a caring and safe environment for our students is our top priority. Unfortunately, despite all reasonable precautions being taken, accidents can still happen. Some injuries may result in medical, dental or other expenses that are not covered by provincial health care or employer group plans and caregivers become responsible for these expenses.

The OCDSB does not provide student accident insurance. Caregivers are encouraged to consider purchasing accident insurance or student accident insurance for incidents that may not be covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) or any additional medical plans they have.

Student accident insurance is available for purchase on a voluntary basis. Caregivers may apply online or call 1-800-463-5437. The accident insurance coverage options range from $17.00/year to $33.00/year. All plans provide 24/7 coverage and a variety of important accident benefits (benefit limits differ based on plan selected). If you have any questions, please call Jones DesLauriers Ottawa (formerly Binks Insurance Brokers) directly at 613-226-1350.

RBPS Activities (In every Banner, we highlight a different activity taking place at RBPS.

Activity Name: Grade 1 - 6 Literacy and Math Screening

What is it?:  Last week and into this week, our Learning Support Team of Ms Shackleton, Ms Menicuccii, with support from Mme Tessier, Ms Fuller, and others, are conducting Literacy and Math screeners of students across the school. This information will be used along with all the student data we already have to help us determine how we will allocate our learning support.

Also, we will be using this information to make smaller, mixed Literacy groups for our Grade 1/2/3 students. On Tuesdays - Fridays, our Primary English students will spend 40 minutes in small groups to work on specific skills identified as a need in our assessments. After a few weeks, we will re-sort these groups based on updated assessment. We are excited about this initiative as an excellent intervention tool to meet the learning needs of our beginning and emerging readers.

 RBPS Staff: 2024-2025