January 2nd, 2021

Greetings Keatsway Students and Families,

Happy New Year!

I wanted to send a quick message to welcome you back to school in 2021.

Based on direction from the Ministry of Education, starting January 4th, Keatsway ‘in-person learning’ students will begin the new year learning remotely from home and our schools will be closed to students during this time. Elementary students will engage in remote learning from January 4 to 8, 2021. During this time, teachers and other educational staff will be providing instruction to your children from home.

We ask that you please be patient with school staff as we continue to navigate these changes and challenging times. We will continue to do our best to support you!

Our students currently enrolled in the Elementary Distance Learning Program will continue as normal.

Here are some things to you can expect from Keatsway staff this coming week:

Monday January 4th:

An educator from the school to reach out to your family for each child that attends Keatsway. This could be a phone call, or online meeting using Google meet or D2L Brightspace.

During this time, teachers will determine learning needs specific to each student and household (e.g., access to technology, learning preferences)

Teachers will post at least one curriculum activity for students to do independently at some point on Monday. I have called a school staff meeting first thing in the morning, so this may be later in the morning or afternoon.

Tuesday, January 5 to Friday, January 8, 2021

Educators will be available to students and families during our normal school day 9:20 am to 3:40 pm.

Educators will share a schedule with you that will help you plan for the week. It may look different than normal, or may need to be modified as we go. In these situations, classroom teachers will notify their students and families of any modifications.

Students will be provided with learning opportunities every day. The amount of instruction in a day will change by topic, instructional task, and/or individual student learning needs.

You can expect approximately 300 minutes of instruction per day and around 180 minutes synchronous instruction for Kindergarten students and 225 minutes for Grades 1 to 8 per day.

Teachers will be providing instruction to our students following our Keatsway bell times. This will include synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. 

  • School day starts at 9:20 a.m.
  • Nutrition Break 1 at 11:20 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 
  • Nutrition Break 2 at 1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.
  • School day ends at 3:40 p.m.

Teachers will be providing an outline of the learning day to students and families on Monday, January 4 through a Google Meet or an individual phone call.

As they would be in face-to-face instruction, teachers will be available to students at all times during the teachers’ assigned timetables

Students and Families Who Prefer a “Tech Free” Learning Environment

On Monday, January 4, homeroom teachers will be connecting with students and families. Families are encouraged to share this preference with their child’s teacher. “Tech free” learning may consist of the following:

  • Daily check ins from teaching staff (this may not be the student’s homeroom teacher) via google meet or phone call
  • Due to the short time period, learning packages will not be sent home and the focus will be on teachers assigning learning opportunities that can be pursued in the home, for example:
    • During the daily check in, a teacher may spend time discussing a favourite book the child has at home and/or encouraging them to read a book, short story or newspaper article and write a summary or reflection or response. 
    • Students may be encouraged to analyze, compare or contrast this story/book/article to another. 
    • For Mathematics, teachers may assign creative learning tasks for students to engage in at home; for example, estimation, measurement, number sense activities

Attendance for Elementary Students:

Teachers will confirm learning preferences on January 4 and will connect with the student via phone or online, mark the student as present.

Once a connection is made, the educator will continue to take attendance during the week.

As is our normal practice, should your child be absent from online or tech-free learning, please call or email the school to report their absence.

Chromebooks / Devices:

Families are asked to call our office at 519-886-1650 or email kea@wrdsb.ca to request a device. Thank you to those who have already reached out to us. Many of you will also be able to connect directly with a teacher regarding this.

We will try to ensure those that need a device will be contacted, and receive their device by the end of the day Tuesday January 5th. Thank you for your patience!

Please keep in mind that we do not have enough devices for every child at Keatsway. However, if you need a device(s), please let us know and we will do our best to help.

Support for Students with Special Education Needs

Our Special Education support staff will continue to support students with special education needs throughout the week. Given the virtual environment, this will of course look a bit different; however, our special education team has become very adept at providing support virtually and will be actively assisting our students throughout the week.

Family Support / Nutrition:

Please let us know if you need assistance. We may be able to help with things like Nutrition For Learning if there is a need for students. There are also parents and other volunteers in our community that are willing to help you.  We also have access to translation services if that can help your family.

Please check the WRDSB website regularly for updates at www.wrdsb.ca. Please also don’t hesitate to call the school at (519) 886-1650 or email kea@wrdsb.ca if you need help, or have a question.

Sincerely,

Scott Dowling

Principal, Keatsway Public School