Student Handbook

It is our sincere hope that Saltcoats School will continue to offer the young people of this school division a high quality educational program and a cheerful, spirited atmosphere for learning and maturing.

As a student, you have a responsibility to yourself, your fellow students, your parents and your school for your conduct. The image you project by your attitude and actions reflects on the spirit and reputation of Saltcoats School and our communities. You can make our school a place to be proud of by:

1. respecting others – staff, students, visitors.
2. supporting and taking part in the activities of the school.
3. showing respect for your own property as well as the property of others and school property.

Common sense dictates that when over 100 students and staff work together in one building, cooperation and mutual respect must exist. Students, parents, board members and staff have formulated a list of expectations regarding student conduct.Students have been made aware of these expectations. Further detailed information about student conduct can be found in the School Discipline Policy. This can be accessed on-line, or see the hard copy that has been sent home.

Mr. Quintin Robertson

Mr. Mark Forsythe

Mrs. Lois Smandych

The Saltcoats School Community Council is a group of volunteers from the school and community; anyone is welcome to attend meetings and have their voice heard. This year, members of our SCC are as follows:    Chairperson – Tina Nabozniak,  Vice Chairperson – Kim Daigneault, Secretary – Shona Evans, Treasurer – Anna Bergen.  Members - Brittany Norberg and Teagin Novak.  Community Member: Marilyn Herron. Teacher Representative: Crystal Farquharson.  The Council also includes Principal Ron Gillis and Division Trustee Lois Smandych.  If you are interested in becoming part of the SCC, or would like to attend a meeting, please contact any member or the school for more information.

All grade 7 and 8 students have the opportunity to join the SLT this year. The SLT will be hosting Spirit Days, Fundraisers, Special Assemblies, and many more fun activities throughout the year.

Grade 6, 7 & 8 students can volunteer to join the yearbook committee and contribute to the publishing of the yearbook.

Band days at Saltcoats School are Day 2 and 4 in the afternoon. Grade 7 band students will practice together at Yorkdale Central School on Day 2, 8:45-9:45. Grade 8 band students will practice together at Yorkdale Central School on Day 4, 8:45-9:45.

Students who make good use of their class time should be able to complete most of their assignments during school hours; however, students, especially in the upper grades, must be prepared to do some school work at home. Some long term assignments will be given. Students are responsible for making up work they have missed and should discuss, with their teachers, problems that arise. If parents feel there is an excessive amount of homework, they are asked to contact the homeroom teacher. Excessive homework may mean problems in a subject area. We encourage parents to take an active part in their student’s homework.

Once again, the students in grades five & six are publishing a bi-weekly paper. The money that is earned by the students will be used by each group of students for an educational trip.

Community announcements such as lost and found articles, thank you notes and the cost of regular sale ads all cost $2.00 per week. ALL ITEMS FOR PUBLICATION MUST BE IN BY NOON MONDAY or Tuesday following any holiday Monday.  Mrs. Farquharson and Mrs. Baron are the Gazette Editors this year. The cost of a subscription is $12.00 and mailouts will be $40.00 per year.

Regular attendance is essential for successful school work and is required of all students by provincial school law; therefore, parents are asked to inform the school, by phone or via the Edsby app, when a student is absent from school. When students miss school, it is their responsibility to catch up on work missed. Indoor and outdoor supervision begins when the first bus arrives. Town students are asked not to come to school before 8:45 a.m.

Students need to check the school Discipline Policy in regards to specifics with their clothing. There are expectations regarding shoes, hats, appropriate clothing and dressing for the weather.

It is extremely important that all bus students have an emergency billet in town. This provides a safe place for a student to go in the event of unexpected school closure due to mechanical difficulties at the school (water, power problems, etc) or in instances of severe weather where the busses are not running. This billet is someone who can provide supervision until it is safe for the parents to come and pick up their children. Please provide the appropriate information on your school registration form regarding this information. It would be a common courtesy to check with your suggested billet before filling in their name.

Permission to leave the school yard will be granted when permission is stated in a dated note signed by a parent. There will be occasions when students are asked, by the school staff, to run errands or to be downtown on assignments related to school studies and activities such as the curling or skating rink, and library. If you wish your child not to be involved in such off-campus activities, please inform the school in writing.

All students in the GSSD are covered under the IAP Kids Plus Accident Insurance Company. Please watch for the brochure that comes out early in the school year and read the details of the company.  Students are covered during regular school hours and school approved activities. If you wish to have coverage outside of regular hours, extra insurance needs to be purchased.

Marks sent home on a student’s report card reflect all work done by the student. It is therefore important that students apply themselves to their work at all times.

Report Cards will go out in November and March. Student Led Interviews will be scheduled for the week following report card distribution. Parents are invited to request an interview any time they feel there is a need to discuss their child’s progress. 

The Public Health Nurse will be the school. The East Central Public Health phone number (receptionist) is 786-0600.

The following groups of students will be immunized:

• Grade 8 – Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis
• Grade 6 – Hepatitis B – 3 doses and Meningococcial C
• Anyone who has not had Chicken Pox Disease by Grade 6 will be immunized at the same time as their Hep B Needles in Grade 6.

The students due for immunization will receive information about the vaccine to take home and the parents need to read the information and sign the consent form and return it to school as soon as possible.Immunization can not occur until the consent form has been received.

Vision

If you have a concern about your child’s vision, please take them to an eye doctor or contact the Public Health Nurse as soon as you become concerned. Children can receive a free eye exam once a year by an optometrist.

Hearing

Hearing can be assessed upon request of doctor, parent or teacher.

As a public facility the school needs to be kept informed of any communicable diseases your family may contract. This would include chicken pox, measles, head lice, scabies, pink eye, fifth disease, and any other situations where illness could be spread. It is the parents’ responsibility to inform the school as soon as a situation arises. All names will be kept confidential due to the sensitive nature of these matters. However, it is important to inform classmates, so safety precautions can be taken so as not to have the disease spread any further.

Edsby will provide a way for parents and guardians to receive school updates, calendar events, view student progress and much more. It will help simplify communication among and between teachers, students and parents. For each of your children – even if they go to different schools – you’ll see your child(s) classes, teachers and school information. 

Edsby is also a great way to notify the school regarding a student absence.   

We wish our bus drivers a year of happy and safe driving. We appreciate the cooperation the bus drivers have always shown in taking us on various trips, sometimes on short notice. We like to thank our bus drivers who are in charge of many of our students as they travel to and from school each day, and who drive students on class trips. Parents are urged to discuss with their children the importance of good behavior on the bus.  Please take note of the following regulations:

1. That the transportation of hockey sticks, curling brooms and similar sports equipment will be restricted to taking this equipment to school at the beginning of the season for their use and return of said equipment home at the end of their season of use .This means that this equipment will not be permitted on the bus on a daily basis.
2. All skates must be protected with skate guards or placed in the student’s duffel bag before being permitted on the bus.

Check out the Parkland Regional Library Web Site for further details.

Our library has gone through some major renovations the past few years, thanks to many volunteer hours. Students were very excited to see the physical changes, as well as the addition of many new books thanks to funds raised by the Saltcoats School Library Committee. We strive to make the library a great place to research projects and check out books for leisure reading. This is being achieved by each room making weekly trips to the library to check out books. Through the cooperation of staff, students and volunteers our library continues to be a great place to “expand our horizons”. Please do your part and send back overdue books!

Fundraising will continue to cover the difference between fees collected and actual costs. Entry fees for events such as cross country runs, indoor track meet, etc., may be collected from participating students. We will keep you notified of fundraisers throughout the year and make you aware of what the funds are intended for.

It is the sincere hope of all the staff that each student will receive maximum benefit from what we feel is a strong program and an important part of activities at our school. The P.E. teachers are interested in the health, hygiene and safety of our students. We are fortunate to have excellent facilities and equipment at our disposal, both at the school and in the community. We all have a responsibility to take care of what we use.It is with these thoughts in mind that we expect students to accept the following rules and suggestions.  We realize that some of these rules will not apply throughout all the grades.

1. Suitable clothing
   1. Clothing should allow full freedom of movement. For this reason we suggest something with elastic at the waist.
   2. We encourage the use of sweat pants for outdoor activities.Street clothes do not allow for adequate freedom of movement.Shorts are preferred over sweat pants for indoor use.
   3. Clothing should be washed at least weekly.
   4. Clothing should not be loaned to other students unless it is washed before and after.
   5. Clothing should be clearly and indelibly marked with the student’s name.
   6. Pins, jewelry, dangling earrings, badges, watches and buckles should not be worn during P.E. periods.
2. Footwear
   1. Students are required to have shoes which will not leave colored marks on the gym floor. Bare feet will be allowed for special activities only (such as gymnastics). Stockings or socks are unsafe.
3. It is each teacher’s intention to exercise good judgment in dealing with requests from students for temporary excuse from class. Normally, a note will be insisted upon. Excused students should change to P.E. attire and take part in as much of the regular class activity as possible. To ensure that students receive as much benefit as possible, without doing something they shouldn’t be doing, we ask that notes from doctors and parents be as specific as possible about the activities that should be avoided.
4. No food or drink will be allowed in the gymnasium.
5. We look forward to a year of cooperation and good sportsmanship from our students and we anticipate another year of strong performance from our athletes. We expect this from our students while participating in physical education activities at our school as well as away from our school.

In order that students and staff may work with the least interruption during class, it would be appreciated if phone calls to the school would be made during break times:

• Before Class 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• Recess 10:20 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.
• Lunch Break 11:55 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.
• Recess 2:35 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
• After Class 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

If your call is not picked up right away we would encourage you to use the answering machine. Your call will be returned shortly. IF YOUR CALL IS OF AN URGENT MATTER, PLEASE CONTINUE TO CALL UNTIL YOU REACH SOMEONE!

• The school phone number is 744-2303.
• The school fax number is 744-2696.

*Students are asked to seek permission to use the phone.  Arrangements for sleepovers, lunch visitations and after school visits are to be made from your own homes the day prior to the scheduled visit.

For any parents that are wishing to help out at the school in some manner, please contact the school at 306-744-2303.

We encourage all households who have access to the internet to bookmark: http://www.gssd.ca/ and http://sal.gssd.ca/ . From here you can click on the Saltcoats School link and have access to our monthly newsletter, Student Handbook and Discipline Policy, as well as other school information. We encourage all families who have access to use this informative site. Please call the school if you have any problems.

During the course of the year staff and students will participate in emergency drills. These drills will be staged monthly at varying times and conditions to help our students be prepared in case of a true emergency evacuation. Our goal is to ensure that all students and staff are safe and accounted for. In the event the school must be vacated, students will be supervised at the Saltcoats Skating Rink until parents can pick them up.

Calendars outlining school days and holidays can be viewed and printed from the Good Spirit School Division website at www.gssd.ca.