Thursday’s PIC Meeting (April 26th)

There are several very important items on the PIC agenda (see below) not the least of which is “the need to design a process for decision making”.  To put this in context, Halton has never had an “umbrella group” or a “council of councils”.  As such, consultation by the Ministry or the Board was done in a number of ways:

• volunteers from the community were invited to participate on board ad hoc committees, generally with equal representation from the North, East and West;
• school councils were asked to respond to recommendations from the Province, from the Board, or from the ad hoc committees noted above;
• entire communities were surveyed by the Board.

The Ministry (Province) now requires every Board to have a PIC, just as it requires every school to have a School Council.  The Minister has and will ask the Directors of Education to consult with their PICs on various subjects, and may invite PICs to send representatives to consultations.  As yet, School Councils, PICs, and the Ontario Parent Board are not associated hierarchically.

Parent Involvement Committee Meeting Thursday, April 26, 2007 7pm to 9pm Milton Sports Centre, Banquet Hall Agenda Strategic Plan: Process to date – Wayne Joudrie School Effectiveness Survey: parent involvement – Don Marshall Changes in Financial Policies required at the direction of the Ministry of Education – Steve Parfeniuk Parent Involvement Committee Coordinating Group – Wayne Joudrie need to design a process for decision making

The Milton Sports Centre is located on the south side of Derry a little less than a kilometre west of Hwy 25.

Hope to see you there!

Don

Date Change – Internet Safety

Glady’s Speers has had to change the Internet Safety presentation by Microsoft Canada to:    Tuesday, May 29 @ 7pm

You can email Sandra Bridges at:   sbridges2150@sympatico.ca  to register or if you have any questions.

Teens in your world?

April 24th is the night to mark if you have teens (or preteens perhaps) … Blakelock School Council is hosting an information night (same night as their parent/teacher interviews) about teens, drugs and well, coping.  

Information can be found at:      Blakelock Teen Information Night Flyer   

- maureen

Check this out…

I was excited to learn yesterday that Iroquois  Ridge students will have the opportunity in May to meet human rights activist Stephen Lewis.   As you may know, the Stephen Lewis Foundation works to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.  

As part of their fund raising efforts for the Foundation,  the students are pleased to present  a donated performance of the Burloak Theatre Group’s upcoming production, A Noble Pursuit.

For ticket information for the April 25th production check out the flyer at:   Stephen Lewis Foundation Benefit Performance

- Maureen

April 16th, Council Meeting @ Lorne Skuce….

Tonight’s meeting is cancelled.   Will post the new date as soon as it is established.

- Maureen

Part of what Halton Council Does..

For most of the year, we exist here in Halton “doing our own thing”.   Part of that of course is following OFHSA directives, filtering information and well, being part of the team working toward ”The best for every student”.

 With the AGM just a week away, I was responsible for writing a report to the Board of Directors (BOD)…  

 To read this, and to enjoy the use of such current catch terms as “fluid” and “blog”  click on   Report to the Board of Directors

I would appreciate any comments – positive or not so positive… (will brace myself)…  

with thanks,

Maureen

Another chance to catch the Internet Safety Presentation!

Gladys Speers P.S.  is presenting an evening about Internet Safety with Greg Milligan from Micrsoft Canada.

This is an very informative workshop!  I earge you to attend, and to spread the word in your parent community…

Internet Safety Night

Date:  Tuesday, May 8

Time:  7:00pm

Refreshments will be served.

Hosted by Gladys Speers School Council

Cost is free

but registration in advance is required. 

 Please email sbridges2150@sympatico.ca with your name and number of adults attending.

Thanks to Sandra Bridges for letting us know  about this! 

Fun Things to Do on The Web

As a H/S council  and as Associations, we direct a fair amount of energy trying to get our individual schools and the Board to listen to what parents have to say!   

The Halton Board is looking for parent input with the School Effectiveness Survey.   From April 23 through May 18, 2007   the survey will be available via the Board web site www.hdsb.ca.

 Parents can provide feedback about

• Learning opportunities
• Relationships
• Community and communication
• Belonging
• School culture and climate

You will require your child’s Ontarion Education Number (OEN) which appears at top of your student’s report card.  

 Parents without access to the internet can discuss alternate ways of having their say, with the Principal or Vice-Principal.    

 Please communicate this with your parent community.  This is a great opportunity to act as a liason for parents who may need to complete the survey, non web based (and for that matter web-based completion as well)

 - maureen

Meetings, seminars and things of interest….

As the weather warms, and the possibility of snow storms cancelling events disappearing, there seems to be a large number of information meetings scheduled over the past while.

It is of course hard to attend everything.  A couple of H/S associations I know have designated a member to filter thru all the information and attend as many evenings as possible.  Perhaps you could have some one write a BRIEF overview of the various seminars so other parents still benefit from the information.

SO please make a note of the following new additions:

The HDSB is holding a public meeting regarding Student Transporation.

Date:  Tuesday, April 17 

Time:   7pm to 9pm

Milton Sports Centre

 The objective of this meeting is to gather feedback on ways to improve student safety and communications concerning student safety.   A flyer (on yellow paper) did come home with our students about this.

 On the parenting front – check out the link below.  The White Oaks Secondary School Council is hosting an evening about parenting teens.

WOSS Parenting Teens Seminar

There you go… information for a Monday morning.

- maureen