Being Prepared for our Cold Calgary Weather

0. At Beddington Heights School and throughout all CBE schools, we are very concerned about the well-being of our students during frigid weather. At –20° C or colder (including wind chill), students are asked to come into the school when they arrive and remain inside during morning and lunch recesses. We use the Environment Canada, Weather Network and City of Calgary Websites to check the weather. 
   
   For days warmer than –20° C, make sure that you send your children with clothes that are warm enough for them to play outside for one half hour.
   
   COLD WEATHER ADVISORY
   The cold, windy weather has already shown itself and will be with us again on occasion in the months to come. On these occasions:
   
• Children should be well prepared for extreme cold and not left unattended at bus stops for any period of time, under any circumstances.
  
• Parents/guardians should provide alternate arrangements for their child(ren) that provide timely shelter, if required (for example: a neighbour who will be at home during the day).
  
• If parents/guardians cannot ensure the safety of their children to and from school, the child should be kept at home or other arrangements made for the daily supervision of the child.
  
• All CBE schools will remain open to provide a safe, warm and secure environment for attending students.
• The CBE and its chartered bus carriers always monitor the weather for developments and will keep parents/guardians and media informed of any decisions. 
  

The Last Week of School Before Winter Break!

Winter break has come around quickly!  Next week, students have three full days of school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Thursday will be an early dismissal day and students will be out of school at 11:15 am.  There is no school for students on Friday, but teachers will be participating in a Math focussed Professional Development Day with David DeCoste over at Panorama Hills School.

On Thursday, students in grades 1 to 6 will enjoy our pajama, popcorn, and movie morning.  If all goes as planned, they will be watching the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2"...a movie that is not scheduled to be released until January 28, 2014!  (Thanks to Mrs. Cumming for getting an early release from Columbia Pictures!!!)

We remind students that pajamas need to be appropriate for school and students need to be as covered as we would expect with our regular dress code.  (No spaghetti strap tops, short shorts, etc.)

Kindergarten will be watching their own movie within their classroom spaces.  PM Kindergarten classes will have their popcorn/movie/pajama day on Wednesday afternoon since there is no school on Thursday afternoon.

Grade 3 PATs Being Replaced with New Assessment Tool

On the Calgary Board of Education's home page, you may have read the newly posted information about Grade 3 Provincial Achievement Tests being replaced with a new assessment tool:

Recently, Alberta Education let us know that Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) will be replaced with Student Learning Assessments (SLAs).  These new diagnostic assessments will be administered at the beginning of the school year rather than at the end of the school year.

Moving testing to the start of the school year provides students, parents and teachers with timely information about each Grade 3 student.  This information can be used throughout the school year to build on each student's strengths and address challenges as needed.

Alberta Education is replacing all Grade 3 PATs with Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) in 2015. The plan is for PATs to be phased out gradually as SLAs are phased in. Grade 3 PATs will be phased out first, with SLAs being administered to incoming Grade 3 students as early as September 2014. We are excited to be a part of this pilot opportunity that will help shape this tool for the benefit of students, teachers and parents.

As the 2013-14 school year is a transition year, Alberta Education gave school boards the option of participating in the old PAT testing program for Grade 3.   We have decided CBE students in Grade 3 will not be writing PATs this June. To reach this decision, we worked with principals, school communities, our teacher advisory group, other school jurisdictions and the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

Moving to SLAs aligns with the vision outlined in Alberta Education’s Inspiring Education, where education systems are more responsive to the learning needs of individual students. This also aligns with our vision of personalized learning; to adjust learning to the needs of each student.

For more information about SLAs (Student Learning Assessments), click HERE to visit the Alberta Education site.