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Monday, January 13, 2025

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, January 14: RBPS School Council Meeting (6:30 PM)
• Friday, January 24: PA Day (No school for students)
• Tuesday, January 28: RBPS Kindergarten Information Night (6:30 PM)
• February: Black History Month
• February: RBPS Food Drive (Details Coming Soon)
• Monday, February 5: Ottawa Public Health Vaccine Catch-Up Clinic

  Quick Links:

• Please report your child’s absence or late arrival using School Messenger, or by calling 1-833-202-1417
• SchoolCash Online
• Media Permission Forms

 Welcome Back & Staffing Update

Welcome Back and Happy New Year! We hope that all our RBPS families had a relaxing and enjoyable break. We have a few staffing updates to share.

We are pleased to welcome Ms Wejdan Osman to the RBPS team as our Multicultural Liaison Officer (MLO). Ms Wejdan has been with us since October, but we haven’t yet taken the opportunity to introduce her to the RBPS community. The MLO program is a partnership with Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). MLOs work with school staff to support newcomer students and families with settlement services, navigating the school system, filling out forms, language and cultural interpretation, conflict resolution, becoming more involved at school, and accessing supports that meet their needs within the school or community. Ms Wejdan speaks English, Arabic, Tigrigna, and Tigre, and has already begun making connections with many students, parents, and families, and she will be supporting our upcoming parent information evenings.

New Late Arrival Policy

As mentioned in the email sent home last week, we are returning to our previous policy of asking students and parents who arrive after morning entry (8:30) to park in the turning circle on the right-hand side (leaving room for other cars to pass on the left) and come to the front office to sign in. Once the sign is out, that indicates that parents need to park and enter the office.

We have already noticed a reduction in the number of late arrivals: we *really* appreciate this, because late arrivals have a significant impact at the school level, and we are grateful for your cooperation in reducing late arrivals.

The Power of Language 

This week, our Junior classes welcomed Nabil Ahmed, a Student Success Coordinator from the OCDSB Equity Team, who led a discussion on “The Power of Language”.  This discussion further supports our students' social skills growth in understanding the impact of their words, from intention vs impact to various forms of bullying, and the harm caused by racial slurs.

Mr. Ahmed’s presentation is part of the ongoing discussions that take place in each class and through the school on how we build a safe and respectful school community, and we invite you to ask your Junior child(ren) about the presentation and the topics discussed, so you can continue this important conversation at home.

End Of Day Safety Concern

Like most schools, we have traffic congestion at the end of the day, particularly on days when the weather is poor and more parents choose to drive their child(ren). Some good options to reduce this congestion are to send your child(ren) on the bus, if they are eligible, to have students walk if they are old enough, or park a bit further away and walk-a-block. The busiest time is always the few minutes immediately after the bell, between 3:00 - 3:04 PM. During this time, if you cannot find a parking spot, we would ask that you *please* do not double-park on Blohm, or stop while waiting for another vehicle to leave. This creates a safety concern as other cars speed around double-parked vehicles, or when students attempt to enter vehicles that are double-parked in the street. If it takes a few extra minutes to circle back until a spot opens up, please know that RBPS staff will supervise students until parents arrive. Once the buses and vans have left the turning circle (usually by 3:08 PM) parents are welcome to drive into the turning circle for pickup. Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation during end-of-day pickup

School Council News

All parents are invited to attend the RBPS School Council meeting on Tuesday, January 14 at 6:30 pm in the school library. This meeting will use a hybrid (in-person and virtual) format; any parent who would like to attend virtually is invited to join using this meeting link. We hope to see many parents at this meeting.

Welcome to Kindergarten Information Evening: Tuesday, January 28 at 6:30 PM

On Tuesday, January 28, we invite all parents / guardians of children who will be starting Kindergarten in September 2025 to an in-person Kindergarten information event at Robert Bateman School. If you have neighbors, friends, or family with young children (turning 4 before January 1, 2026) you are welcome to share this information with them. We hope to see many future RBPS families at this event.

Pizza Days: Term 2

Thank you to all the parents who supported our Term 1 School Council pizza days. Money raised from Pizza Days goes to support special programs for students at RBPS. The final day for Term 1 pizza will be on Thursday, February 13. Term 2 Pizza orders will be coming soon. Please ensure that you are registered with SchoolCash Online so that you can place your order. Details on ordering will be sent home soon.

Please note, when buses are cancelled for snow days, pizza day is also cancelled and you are asked to send a lunch with your child(ren). The pizza day will usually be rescheduled to the next day, an email will be sent out to confirm.

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

Activity Name: RBPS Door Decorating Contest

What is it?:  During December, students at RBPS took part in many different spirit week activities, including a classroom door decorating contest. Each class brainstormed creative ideas for door decorating, and put their ideas into action on their doors. Students from the Grade 6 Leadership Club acted as judges for the doors, and in the end every door received a prize in a different category. Attached is the Greek Kindergarten door, which won the ‘Principal’s Choice’ award.