October is commonly known as “safety month” in school. This is the month that we teach students about fire safety, bus safety, personal safety, playground safety, etc. This is done early in the school year because safety is so important to all of us.
In our school, staff recognize that when your child is with us, we are responsible for their safety. We do our utmost to maintain a safe environment for the students in the building, on the playground, on field trips, etc. Thanks to our staff for their dedication in this regard. Sometimes, we are faced with challenges we can’t foresee. Last year, we had two students fall from the small play structure during winter. These falls resulted in broken arms, sadly. The cause was the very slippery plastic “bridges” that did not have proper foot/hand holds.
When we learn of hazards, we respond as best we can to find solutions and reduce or remove the hazard. In the photo below, you can see how we have removed the plastic bridges from our small play structure to remove the hazard that resulted in student injuries. Stage 2 of this project will be to redesign something to replace what was lost, with something safer. If anyone has suggestions, we are open to hearing them!
Thanks to all of you for helping your children get to school safely. The current challenge we have is that we are noticing young students arriving at crosswalks before the supervisor has arrived at 8:45 am. We are concerned about this and ask that parents do not send their children without an adult before this time. If we are able to add more time to our crosswalk supervisors, we will do so. However, for now, we rely on parents to ensure a safe transition to school. Our preference is an adult to adult “hand off” if and when possible. This is true for arrival in the morning and dismissal in the afternoon. Thanks for your help in this regard.
Have a safe and fun October!
Dale Martens
Principal
in: General