The Topsail Star
Topsail Elementary School Newsletter
12 Spruce Hill Road, C.B.S., NL, Canada, A1W 2K1
Phone (709) 834-2968
Fax (709) 834-6429
Website: http://www.topsailelem.weebly.com
January 2017
Please note that if the school is closed prior to
the day starting, there will not be a Synervoice
message. Synrevoice is used during a mid-day
school closure or to notify parents if there is an
Welcome back! We hope that everyone
opening after a morning closure. We will also use
enjoyed the Christmas holidays and that
our Twitter @Topsail. Elem to communicate if we
the New Year brings health and
are closing early.
happiness to you and your family.
Decisions regarding closures are communicated
through the radio stations in groups of schools
Professional Development Day
defined by different criteria. Topsail Elementary is
On Monday, January 16th, there will be no
part of the Metro School System usually, but, if
classes for students as our staff will be
conditions in CBS are different from the rest of
engaged in a Professional Development Day.
the Metro area, you may hear that the decision
It will be Day 1 of the School Development
only affects the CBS area schools.
Internal Review Process.
TES Fundraiser SAVE THE DATE!
th
On Saturday, April 29 we will be
hosting our 6th annual Auction,
Dinner and Dance. More exciting
details will be sent home in the near
future as it promises to be a great night out!
Kinderstart
Parents who registered a child for
Kindergarten last May for the 2017-18
school year are advised that there will be
a Parent/Guardian Information meeting on
Thursday, January 12th at 7:00 pm.
Our Kinderstart students will join us on the
following dates: February 10th, March 10th, May
12th and June 2nd. There will be no classes for
current Kindergarten students on these dates.
If you know of any parent who has a child
beginning school in September 2017 (a child who
turns 5 by December 31st 2017) and is not yet
registered, please ask the parent to contact our
office.
Early Morning Closures
Occasionally, schools may be closed
or have a delayed opening due to
weather or building issues. These
closures will be announced on a
number of local radio stations
including VOCM, CBC, OZ FM and
Coast 101. As well, an early morning
closure will be listed on the English School
District’s Website www.nlesd.ca under Status
Central. Once on the site, you can customize the
site to only display Topsail Elementary. This
would inform you of our school closures at a
glance. By bookmarking it, you can prevent a long
wait time as the system scrolls through the list of
schools.
Winter Activity Program for K-4
Students
Topsail students from Grade K-4 will be
partaking in a winter activity program. Gr.
K-2 will be participate in skating, Gr. 3s in
instructional swimming lessons, and Gr. 4s in
recreational swimming. Activities will be beginning
in February and running into March and early
April. Details and permission slips will go home in
the near future. Please keep an eye on your child’s
school bag over the next few weeks for the
information and permission forms.
School Council
Our next School Council meeting will take place
on Tuesday, January 10th at 7:00 p.m.
Family Literacy Day
Our Topsail community will celebrate
Family Literacy Day on Friday, January
27th. This is a time to celebrate literacy!
We are hoping that we may have some parents out
there who are interested and able to come and
help us celebrate this day by reading to one of our
classes. Please have a look in your child’s book bag
next week for a letter outlining the day’s activity
and a place for you to volunteer to help us with
the classroom reading request. More specific
information will follow as we get closer to the
date. Thanks in advance for considering this!
Canteen Services
The Canteen has removed pizza
pockets from the menu. If you have
any questions, please contact the
canteen at 834-2968.
Keeping our Students
Safe…Some Reminders
 Dropping students off on Spruce Hill Road: This
very UNSAFE practice has been happening on a
regular basis as of late. Please DO NOT drop
your child off at the Spruce Hill Road entrance
as there is two-way traffic and the entrance is
used for staff vehicles to enter our lot and for
buses to exit the property. Some children are
crossing two lanes of traffic and running through
the vehicles to get to the main entrance. This is a
very unsafe and unacceptable practice. Letters
will be issued to the families choosing this drop
off point. Community policing has been
requested to monitor this area for us.
 Students will only be allowed in the building at
8:00 am. There is no supervision prior to this.
With our current cold temperatures and
remembering their safety, please do not drop
students off until the doors are open.
 When parents / and / or guardians are using the
intercom system, we ask that you identify
yourself by stating your full name, the name of
your child and the name of your child’s teacher.
For example, “Hi, my name is Mary White, I am
Susan White’s mom and her teacher is Ms.
Jones”. As always, we ask that once you are
given access to the building you proceed to the
office where we will have your child paged and
they will join you in the office area. Our signing
in and signing out protocols will remain the same.
 The west end doors (the ones by Rectory Road)
will remain locked from 8:20 am until 2:20 pm.
 All students being brought to school after 12:20,
are asked to use the main entrance. Parents have
to accompany students into the office to sign
them in following lunch or when returning to
school.
In an effort to maintain our secure school, we will
be continuing with our regular secure school and
lockdown practices. Our school board policy
requires us to practice these procedures a
minimum of three times a year. The procedures
afford our staff and students the opportunity to
practice drills that prepare them for any
eventuality. More information on these practices
may be found on the English School Districts
webpage under Policies - Policy J-JLI: Secure
Schools and School Lockdown. As always we
thank you for your continued cooperation in
making our school a safe place for you and your
children.
Mitten Tree- Thank you!
With your help we were able to donate
192 pairs of mittens and 47 hats to a
local charity. Warm hands = warm
hearts. Thanks for your generosity!
Dressing for the Weather
We make decisions on going outside
for play at lunch based on several
factors (e.g. special events at school,
dryness of play equipment, etc.), but most days
this decision is based on the detailed forecasts
schools receive. Please note that we try to go
outside when possible, but in the event that the
wind chill is -10 degrees Celsius or colder, we
will remain inside. Please ensure that your child
has everything they need to stay warm during
outside play. Also, please discuss with your child
the importance of wearing what you have provided
as often students choose to not wear all of the
layers available to them.
As a precaution, we also recommend that your
child keep an extra pair of sweat pants/splash
pants in his/her locker, in case he/she should
accidentally slip during outside play and require a
change of clothing.
Many thanks for your support!
Recycling
Thank you to all families who continue to
support our monthly Recycling Blitz.
Our next Recycling Blitz is scheduled for Friday,
January 27th.
Twitter
As we mentioned in previous newsletters, our
school has a Twitter account, @Topsail_Elem.
We now have 176 followers!
We will be using Twitter to communicate short
important information. If you are interested in
setting up a free Twitter account, please visit
twitter.com to sign up. Once you are set up, you
will need to search for us (our Twitter name is
Topsail Elementary). You can also add
“NLESD” which is the Twitter name for
Newfoundland and Labrador English School
District.
Head Lice
With the winter season upon us, we kindly remind
you to:
 Check your child’s head weekly for lice or
nits
 Talk to your child about not sharing hats,
brushes, helmets and other personal items
 Tie back long hair
Please view a booklet called Managing Head Lice at
Home for some good tips. This booklet can be
found electronically using this address:
http://www.esdnl.ca/parents/head_lice_feb2011.
pdf
Also, please feel free to contact our Public Health
Nurse, Ms. Shelley Goulding at 834-7901.
Important
Dates:
Tuesday, January 3rd:
 Classes resume - Day 5.
Tuesday, January10th:
 School Council meeting at 7:00 pm
Thursday, January 12th:
 Parent Kinderstart Information Session @
7:00 pm.
Monday, January 16th:
 No Classes – PD Day
Friday, January 27th:
 Recycling Blitz!
 Family Literacy Day
Friday, February 10th:
 1St Kinderstart Session (No classes for
Kindergarten)