Welcome back to another exciting year at Mulgrave.  Every year, the Assistant Heads send out a few newsletters to K-12 parents on issues that relate to the broader Mulgrave community.  With the Full Colour Athletics event already behind us, grade
7 – 10 camps currently under way and a host of information evenings coming up, there is much to address at this time.  We request that you take a few moments to review the information contained below.

Yours sincerely,

Eddie de Beer
Assistant Head of School
edebeer@mulgrave.com

Stella Ablett
Assistant Head, Academics
sablett@mulgrave.com

In order to ensure that we are maintaining appropriate standards of health within our school, we are implementing the following measures with immediate effect:

1. We are currently reinforcing hand-washing (with dedicated hand-washing breaks in the Junior School).
2. Each teacher will receive a bottle of hand santiser to be used under their supervision.
3. We are educating our students with regard to correct procedures for coughing and sneezing; using a tissue, sleeve, or elbow, immediately washing their hands and disposing of tissues in a suitable manner.
4. Students are advised to stay home if they are ill.  Please keep your child at home if she/he is not well.  For extended absences, the Homeroom teacher/Advisor will assist in keeping your child up-to-date with missed academic work.
5. Students at school who are ill will be isolated immediately, and parents contacted for pick-up.

A number of independent, government and international sources are predicting a resurgence of H1N1 (“Swine Flu”) during the Fall of 2009.  In order to determine how Mulgrave is preparing for such an occurrence, please click here to read “Preparing for a possible pandemic – the Mulgrave Pandemic Response Plan”.  

We also encourage you to familiarise yourself with the material provided by the Province of British Columbia.  They have prepared documents for both parents and students.  These documents include:

• Protecting your kids from the H1N1 flu virus (PDF 35KB)
• If you think your child has the H1N1 flu virus (PDF 38KB)
• Talking to kids about the H1N1 flu virus (PDF 36KB)
• Q&A for parents about the H1N1 flu virus (PDF 45KB)
• Helping children cope with H1N1-related stress (PDF 41KB)
• Helping adults cope with H1N1-related stress (PDF 35KB)
• Q&A for students around the H1N1 flu virus (PDF 43KB)

If you have any health questions or concerns about symptoms of illness, you can phone HealthLink BC at 8-1-1.  This service is available 24 hours / 7 days a week.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Mulgrave parents for their wonderful assistance in improving traffic flow and reducing congestion, often at considerable inconvenience to themselves.  For the purposes of clarification, we are including the following information:

• Kindergarten:  From Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Kindergarten parents will pick up their children at the scheduled area in the Junior School Parking Lot at 3:00pm.
• Junior School drop-off will remain between 8:00 and 8:15am.
• Grades 1 – 4 pick-up will occur from 3:15 - 3:45 pm in the Junior School Parking Lot only.
• Grades  5 – 6 pick-up will take place at the Upper School entrance (the parking lot at the main entrance of the school) between 3:15 and 3:45 pm.
• Middle and Senior School will please drop-off before 7:45am and pick-up after 4:00pm.
• Parents with children in Junior and other divisions are welcome to pick-up all their children at 3:30 pm.  There is no reason to wait until 4:00 pm, as is the case for Middle and/or Senior School parents only.

Congestion is often caused by parents arriving too early for pick-up.   Please note that the Junior School Parking Lot will only open for traffic at 2:50 p.m. and that Middle and Senior parents should not arrive before 3:45pm.

Despite forecasts of wet weather, the morning of Friday, September 4, 2009 was beautifully sunny, promising a fantastic day ahead.   Over 400 excited Middle and Senior School students, resplendent in their House colours, boarded no fewer than 8 school buses.  They were headed for Simon Fraser University, the site of Mulgrave's second Full Colour Athletics Day.

It was a spirit-filled day, and our students participated in large numbers.  Parents and students deserve to be congratulated on making this day so successful through their enthusiasm and support.  READ MORE 

The Global Outreach Programme at Mulgrave aims to:

• develop global awareness,
• offer service opportunities locally and internationally,
• foster compassion and empathy,
• cultivate connections, friendship and team work,
• participate in collaborative aid initiatives,
• provide experiential learning opportunities,
• promote cultural understanding,
• engage in humanitarian action team projects,
• explore new environments.

In the 2009/2010 year, Mulgrave students will travel to the Eastern United States, Oaxaca (Mexico), China, Eastern Canada, Costa Rica and South Africa/Swaziland. READ MORE...

Although the school year has just begun, we have already received inquiries regarding tutoring.  We would like to clarify Mulgrave School’s position on engaging tutors.   While tutorial support is a good plan to address some gaps in a student’s learning or to give additional support to an area of weakness, there are other possibilities to explore before a tutor is employed.  All Mulgrave teachers offer tutorial sessions for their students, some during the lunchtime or others according to their own individual after-school schedules.  A student should first seek help from their own teacher who knows where their difficulties may lie before seeking external support.

We recognise, however, that sometimes a “one-on-one” situation greatly improves the student’s understanding of concepts and helps them to feel more confident.  In that case, additional support is welcome and often encouraged by the school.  Once the teacher has recommended that a tutor be engaged, please contact Ms Jane Heward, Learning Support Coordinator, for a list of possible tutors.  She may be reached via email at jheward@mulgrave.com or via telephone at 604-922-3223, extension 264.
 
Please note that the school cannot accommodate private tutors working on site. Parents and students are expected to make other arrangements at the end of the school day for individual tutoring.  The only exception to this policy is if a student has a learning assessment on file.  All requests must be cleared through Ms Heward.
 
If help is required in creating an individual support plan for your child, please contact Ms Heward.  She will be happy to assist you.

Should students wish to change their elective courses, they may complete a “Change of Elective Request Form”.  This can be picked up at the main office, or downloaded here and printed out.  The form must first be signed by the parent, and then the teachers of the affected courses.  Once these signatures have been obtained, please submit the form to the office where it will be forwarded to Mrs Ablett (Assistant Head, Academics) for final approval.  Please note that all forms must be received by Friday, September 18, 2009.

Have you checked out Mul-Mart lately?  It’s our very own community classifieds available on our Intranet.  It’s similar to ’Craigslist’ but is only available to the Mulgrave community.  Login to the Intranet and you can find the link on the menu bar.

Mul-Mart can be used for all sorts of advertisements, such as furniture, vehicles, babysitters, and help wanted.  Please write up your submission and forward it to mulmart@mulgrave.com or contact Ms Carla Donnelly at 604-922-3223, ext 290.

Please check the site often to see what’s new!  Click here to see Mulmart's location.