Posted: January 5, 2025
Information
Happy New Year, Bulldogs!
We hope your break was filled with magical moments, and that you generated a few new good core memories with family and friends.
Kindergarten Registration 2025
Kindergarten registration across the Langley School District runs January 6, 2025 – February 18, 2025. If your child will be five years old by December 31, 2025, you will be able to register your child online. Information about required documents and instructions is available online and will also be posted on catchment school websites in January. For information, please visit the District webpage here. To learn more about Kindergarten in the Langley School District, read our brochure here.
Thank you, Ms. Kim and welcome back, Ms. Sidhu
We thank Ms. Kim who was with our grade 4s for the first part of the year. You did an amazing job, and we will miss you. But her departure is bittersweet, with the sweet part being Ms. Sidhu’s return from her maternity leave. Welcome back!
Speaking of maternity…
We are excited to share that Ms. Lowry’s baby, August, was born on Friday, December 13. He and his parents are doing great!
Safe Walking
I suppose we might get some actual winter weather yet. I even had to scrape the windshield one day over the break. When you walk to school, and on school grounds, please pay careful attention to the surface on those frosty mornings. While we put deicer down extensively, there are sure to still be slippery spots, particularly on the beautiful new blacktop surfaces that were installed over the break. Watch for shiny (slippery) spots, and try to walk like a penguin, so that sliding heel-strike wipeout doesn’t sneak up on you. If you watch your step, you’ll probably see the paths and areas that have received the most deicer. And if you cross the Township crosswalks, you’ve already experienced how slick the white paint can be.
Another safety thing…
Did you know your Carbon Monoxide and smoke detectors have a limited (10-year) lifespan. I had an inkling, but it hit home Sunday morning at 3:00 when one of ours started beeping twice every thirty seconds. None of the others were going off, so we knew it wasn’t a matter of danger, but we had a very hard time, in our freshly woken state, even finding the one that was beeping. I suspect that many of you are currently living with detectors that are approaching that age, given the age of the neighbourhood. So check the manufacture dates and change them out if they’re 10, and you can save yourself some unpleasant confusion when the reminder beeps start.
Attendance
When notifying the school of an absence please make sure to include your child’s full name, first and last name, so we can make sure we have marked the correct child absent.
- Student’s First and Last Name (for reference, we have 4 Calebs, 7 Lucases, and 7 Chloes, and a number of classes where 2 students have the same first name, so both parts are necessary)
- Grade
- Division
- Length of absence
- Reason (illness, late, appointment, vacation)
With over 650 students to account for every morning, it is very important that you let the school know if your child(ren) are going to be late, absent, leaving early or away for a period of time.
If families notify teachers that’s great, but please also remember to notify the office, if the teacher is away, the school will not get the message.
We encourage you to call the school before 8:00 am to leave a message or email RBEAttendanceVoicemail@sd35.bc.ca We experience a higher volume of calls between 8:00 and 9:00 am.
Please do not email Ms. Davies or Ms. Martens, as if they are absent, the school will not get the message.
Students who are late (arriving after 8:50) need to check in at the office before going to class.
Early Start or Late Return for Winter Break?
If your student is going to be starting winter break sooner than the last day of school (Dec 20, 2024) or returning after school re-opens (Jan 6, 2025), it is very important to let the office and your student’s teachers know. If a child is marked absent, but the office has not received an email or a telephone call from the parent advising of the absence/tardiness, a phone call home, email and text message, will be made to ensure the child is safe.
Please email RBEAttendanceVoicemail@sd35.bc.ca with the name(s) of your student(s) and what dates they will be away from school. You can send in one email per family, you do not need to send a separate email for each of your children.
We need the following information (IMPORTANT – please include your students last name)
- Student’s First and Last Name
- Grade
- Division
- Length of absence
- Reason (illness, late, appointment, vacation)
If your student is going to be away for 25 consecutive school days OR more please complete the missing time form please and return it to the office
(Grade 5) The Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) is coming to your school in January/mid-March!
The Langley School District has partnered with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at the University of British Columbia to measure and promote children’s social and emotional development, health, well-being, and assets through the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI). The Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) is a self-report questionnaire that asks children in middle childhood about their thoughts, feelings and experiences. The MDI is the first survey of its kind to gather information about the lives of children both in school, in the home and in the community, from their own perspective. The survey questions align with the BC Ministry of Education’s K-12 curriculum, which includes a focus on promoting children’s personal and social competencies.
Grade 5, 6 & 8 students are invited to complete the MDI during class time between:
January 14th and March 14th, 2025.
For more information and to view the questionnaires:
https://earlylearning.ubc.ca/monitoring-system/mdi/mdi-overview/
Parent FAQs:
https://earlylearning.ubc.ca/monitoring-system/mdi/parent-caregiver-info/
Information and Informed Passive Consent letters were shared via email to families on DATE. If you don’t want your child to participate, please contact your child’s teacher, fill out the withdrawal form at the end of the parent/guardian informed passive consent letter, or contact the MDI project staff at mdi@help.ubc.ca.
Quote(s) of the week
From the PAC
Earl of Sandwich & Booster Juice Fun Lunch Order Deadline – Tuesday, January 7th
Please make sure you submit your Earl of Sandwich & Booster Juice Fun Lunch Order and PAY IT IN FULL by 11:59pm Tuesday, January 7th here: https://munchalunch.com/schools/richardBulpitt/
If you do not, your child will not receive their Fun Lunch on Friday January 17th.
Please ensure that you order by the deadlines so your child doesn’t miss out! Orders must be fully paid or they will be cancelled.
If you have any questions or need assistance with ordering, please email Zoe or Brianna at hotlunchbulpitt@outlook.com.
If you would like to volunteer for our Fun Lunch days please email Edith at rbevolunteers@gmail.com.
You can find the complete schedule and more information on our website here: https://richardbulpittpac.com/hot-lunch/
Spring Fling Vendor Market – Looking for Vendors
We are now accepting applications for vendors at our Vendor Market at our annual Spring Fling Carnival!
It will be on Friday, June 6th from 5-8:30 PM. More information, including vendor fees, can be found on the registration form.
This year the market will be held outside rain or shine. No exceptions will be made. You will have to walk through grass to get to your vendor spot, so please keep that in mind when deciding whether to register. Volunteers will be available to help you access your vendor spot from the parking lot.
Fill out the application form here: https://tinyurl.com/rbespringmarket
You can email rbepacspringfling@gmail.com with “Vendor Market” in the Subject line with any questions.
General PAC Meeting – Monday, January 20th
Please join us for the January General PAC Meeting on Monday January 20th at 7 PM in the Richard Bulpitt Elementary School Library.
You can enter through the main entry doors at the front of the school.
This is open to all parents of the RBE school community. Hope to see you there!
Flip Give Fundraiser
This year, fundraising for RBE PAC is going to be so much easier with FlipGive, a free team funding app.
We can earn cash back on every purchase we make all year long! All you have to do is shop anytime with the brands you already love, like Home Depot, Walmart, Sport Chek, Indigo, Old Navy, Apple, Esso, and Loblaws. No more going door-to-door selling chocolate bars – it’s completely virtual and contactless.
Join our team now and you’ll get a $5 bonus the first time you shop: https://flipgive.app.link/teams/join?joincode=WYW49S
Or enter this code: WYW49S
Want to learn more? Check out this 2 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vTO_Qg4n80
Email bulpittpac@outlook.com with any questions.
Stay in the Know
Follow the Richard Bulpitt PAC Facebook page, our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rbepac/) and now visit our website to stay up-to-date with all the details!
Something to read
- On the first Sunday of the break, I was reading a long piece in the newspaper about sleep, and modern western society’s growing ‘obsession’ with it (I admit that I check my sleep counter in the mornings, at least when I remembered to wear it). It talked about the ‘mind after midnight’ where our brains, if we wake up in those hours, jumps to all the scariest and most worrisome thoughts, and gets stuck there. One section talked about how, at around 3:00 am, melatonin drops in our bodies, cortisol rises (triggering wake-ups) and our temperatures rise (I can confirm waking up at 3 feeling like I’m in the tropics too many times to count).
So what’s the key to successful sleep? I wish I knew. Mindful, proper breathing can help, of course, as can avoiding screens. The article suggests reading a book (a book book, not an ebook, to avoid the lit screen) or doing a word search type of puzzle, because then all of your mental energy is going into finding the words, leaving no room for negative thought. Next time I’m awake at 3:30 worrying about the week or day ahead, maybe I’ll try that.
Things to Remember from the Calendar
Monday, January 6
- Back to school! We hope you got a good night’s sleep.
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