Good morning to all our Silver Stream families!! We hope that all of you had a safe and happy summer!

We are back at school now preparing for the first day of classes next Tuesday. It is an exciting time of year as we look ahead and plan how to improve our instructional practice and make our school as safe and inclusive as possible so that all of our students achieve to their full potential.

There will be one visible improvement you will notice on the first day of school. It involves the parking lot and I am calling it an improvement because it will increase student safety. Of course, safety is our number one concern.

To begin, the entrance into the school parking lot off Farmstead Road is no longer an entrance. It is for exiting vehicles only. The only way to enter the school roadway and Community Centre parking lot is off Shirley Drive. This way, it is one continuous loop. Cars will therefore enter off Shirley and exit onto Farmstead Road, either turning left or right onto Farmstead at that point. In addition, there will be no parking of vehicles in the staff parking lot. It will be blocked off and only staff will be allowed to enter and park there. The reason for this is that last year we found some children were being dropped off in the parking lot and then they would run through the parking lot and between cars to get to the school. This was an extremely unsafe situation. Parents therefore have three choices. They can drop off their children at the "kiss and ride" as always, where there will be staff waiting to receive children, or if they wish, parents can park in the Community Centre parking lot and walk their child from that point. I understand that this may seem less convenient, but the increase in safety is the top priority. Thirdly, walking to school is a healthy alternative that promotes physical and psychological well-being! Please see an inspirational video below:

Link to video 

Secondly, our school is trying something called "flexible entry." Students will be allowed to enter the school anywhere from 7:50-8:05. There will be teachers on duty inside for these 15 minutes. We are hoping that if some students are dropped off earlier, there will be less congestion in the parking lot around 8 o'clock.

Next Tuesday September 4th, all students will go to the back of the school at 8 o'clock and there they will find teachers with lists who will inform them which class they are in. They will line up with their teacher and go into the school once all students have been assembled. The only exception are the Senior Kindergarten (Year Two) students who will enter via the usual front enclosure gate. The Kindergarten teachers will be there to greet students. Junior Kindergarten students do not come until the afternoon of the first day. An email will be sent shortly to Kindergarten parents.

We look forward to seeing you all next week!!

Have a lovely long weekend!

Trish Yeates