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Parent ResourcesPreparing for UniversityOn January 19, 2010, University of Waterloo held a grade 10 family night on campus as well as providing a live webcast. CSPA Communications is pleased to offer the notes and highlights to parents and students. The evening event discussed choosing the right program, planning for the university application process, financing education, and tips from current Waterloo students. Click here to view the notes. School Health Programs On March 24th, the City of Ottawa Health Department presented healthy schools initiatives. View the presentation here. Learning Disabilities Association Parents of children with learning disabilities are welcome to explore the Association web site at http://ldao-c.ncf.ca Young Drivers - Parents' Resource Parents, please follow the City of Ottawa link for information on young drivers Balanced Day Discussions The Ottawa Catholic School Board is asking schools to consider offering a balanced day schedule. School principals will be discussing this with staff and if there is interest, will be seeking input from parents. Here is the letter that the principals will be sharing with parents if they plan to look into the idea. TransportationFor children who are bussed to school, the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) is responsible for the management and administration of all home to school transportation in accordance with the Transportation Policies of both the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. See the OSTA website for more information.Transportation is not provided to those children who live within specified walking distances of their school. The Board-established walking distances are: Junior and Senior Kindergarden - 0.8 km Grades 1-8 - 1.6 km Grades 9-12 - 3.2 km Parents with concerns about their child's walk to school may want to check out the following infomation that was created by the Safety Committee from St. Anne school. The Overview document outlines each of the subsequent documents, and provides some other useful links on children's safety. The other documents are: Transportation Review - This document outlines the 2008 review of the transportation entitlement for St. Anne's school, the streets affected, and some best practices and programs for parents to consider putting in place to ensure all children arrive to and from school safely. Safety Classes - Flyer on the safety classes program St. Anne is putting in place for children who walk to school Safe Walkers - Tips and best practices to share with your children on walking safely within our neighbourhoods Safe Driving - Tips and best practices for the people who drive in our neighbourhoods No Idling - Tips on keeping our air clean and our kids healthy Community Walk Participant Package - A walk through the community to assess safety related concerns. Record Walk - A Guinness World Record Book attempt. Nortel Kids - Kids participation in the 2008 Ottawa Race Weekend Homework - What's Your Opinion?Parents may want to check out the recent homework study completed in February 2008 by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education titled: Homework Realities: A Canadian Study of Parental Opinions and Attitudes by Dr. Linda Cameron and Dr. Lee Bartel. Read it here.A Novel on Bullying by One of Our Parents! Caroline Pignat, a parent in our Board and Teacher at All Saints H.S., has written a novel for young people on bullying. Egghead is a novel for kids 12+ that tells the story of bullying through the eyes of two bystanders and the free verse poetry of the victim. It has been really well received by parents, teachers, and especially students who find the multiple viewpoints very engaging. The novel was inspired by Barbara Coloroso's The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander and Ms. Coloroso is currently reviewing the novel as a possible recommended resource. It is also featured on the Kids Help Phone website and received a 4/4 "highly recommended" review from CM Review (read the review). Caroline was a guest speaker at our May 2008 CSPA meeting where she spoke about her book and about workshops she offers to students and teachers. You can find more information on Caroline at her website www.carolinepignat.com. Internet SafetyKeeping your kids safe on the internet continues to be a hot topic for parents. The following are two good on-line sources of information on the subject.Cyberproof - Rod Oickle's Internet Safety Blog Rod Oickle is a teacher in the public board who also does workshops for both parents and students on how to stay safe when going online. Rod was featured at our Parenting in the Transition Years symposium in April, and has also given parent workshops at some of our schools. Internet 101 A committee of police forces, led by the RCMP, created and maintains this website - a collection of safety tips, helpful presentations and links to further police-approved resources to help kids and parents surf safely. Youth Drug PreventionHealth Canada has recently begun a media youth drug prevention campaign. You most likely have seen or heard the print ads and the radio and TV ads targeting parents to bring attention to this issue. Parents should know there is also a Youth Drug Prevention for Parents website at www.drugprevention.gc.ca. From that website you can order a free copy of the booklet Talking with Your Teen about Drugs, or view the booklet on line in either HTML format or as a PDF. For more information, you can call 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232).Need help solving a problem at school?The school system can sometimes be confusing or intimidating. How you handle a problem arising at your child's school makes a big difference in how easily it is resolved. CSPA has developed a set of Issue Resolution Strategies to help guide parents when approaching their child's teacher or principal about an issue. As well, People for Education publishes a parent tip sheet offering concrete advice and a clear step-by-step process for solving problems. This tip sheet is also available in Chinese (simplified), Farsi, Filipino, French, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu at the People for Education website.Homework HelpNeed help with homework? Ask a Teacher offers FREE online tutoring with certified teachers five nights a week (Sunday through Thursday) and even has a free essay feedback service. Go to this website www.ilc.org and your child can register and receive this free service. The Independent Learning Centre is part of TVOntario. (courtesy of People for Education)Education Funding in OntarioEver wonder how Ontario determines what funding the Board received for your child's education? The so called funding formula is made up of 31 grants - each of which has its own formula, which in some cases are highly complicated. So there is no single formula applied to the Board. Check out a short presentation by Paul Whitehead from the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Associaton (OCSTA) that illustrates all the different envelopes of funding grants available to school boards across Ontario.Last Updated: 2010-05-13 |
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