Dear Banff Trail School Families,
With the changing weather, it seems like an appropriate time to speak to modeling good safety behaviours for our school population. Cold, snow and ice can all play a part in creating hazards for our students.
Firstly, know that near the bottom of our school website, there is a weather widget indicated as, “Current Calgary Weather". The CBE has aligned this reporting to be the weather station nearest each school, so this temperature reading varies from school to school. When the Wind Chill temperature is indicated as -20 C or colder, it is recommended that students remain indoors. We check this temperature frequently during the day to make decisions around whether we go outside or not. Note that field trips may or may not also be cancelled due to weather, depending on the severity, amount of outside time, etc.
Second, we are often scanning our schoolyard to ensure that it is safe for students. For example, all kinds of objects or articles can be found in the field or around the school each morning. If ever you come across anything that does not look like it belongs there, please let an outdoor supervisor know, so that they can call our Facility Operator to dispose of it. Other times, we are looking at safety in our schoolyard by seeing if all areas frequented by students are not overly slick. For example, this past Monday, we experienced freezing rain, and teachers noticed that this made the playground structure very slippery. As such, we closed the structure for the day. Other examples include coming across wasp nest to report for addressing, looking at erosion damage that could become hazards, come across broken structures or equipment, and more.
Finally, the mornings and dismissal time can be very congested with traffic around our school, if only for a few minutes. This alone can be dangerous for our students, but is compounded when you add in hazardous road conditions and increasingly dark mornings. Staff work very hard at modeling appropriate behaviour for all students in our care; students are always watching and learning from adults and peers! Though the vast majority of families are excellent models of good crosswalk usage (ie not jaywalking or darting out from between parked cars), we will always strive for 100% success and compliance. We would much rather have students need to check in at the office late, than dart out across the roads in the winter driving conditions (or even in the warmer months, to be fair) to get to their class line on time. Please also continue to obey all traffic signs and rules around the school, for the safety of all.
Thank you everyone for watching out for our school community.
For your consideration:
Theme Day: A reminder that on October 31st, we invite students to dress up in either Hallowe'en costumes or black and orange, if they would like to do so. Hand-held 'accessories' and full face masks will need to stay at home. Students should come to school fully outfitted, if you would like them to participate in this day; teachers and staff will not be able to help with applying makeup, putting on/taking off outfits, etc.
Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday, October 31st: Theme Day: Orange, Black, Hallowe'en costumes
November 8: Last day before student fall break
November 9-14, inclusive: No school for students
November 11: Remembrance Day
November 15: Students return to school
November 23, 24th: Learning Conferences (details and signup to come)
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ryan Turner
Principal, Banff Trail School