News

Roden School Council is holding its first meeting of the year next Wednesday in the school library starting at 7:20 p.m.

All parents and caregivers are welcome to join us. Childcare is provided.

On Friday, October 16, Roden’s annual Walkathon will be replaced with a challenging outdoor obstacle event, due to the current teacher’s work to rule. The Great Outdoor Adventure, Roden’s biggest fundraiser of the year, will be held on school property to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for all. It’s coming up in just ONE WEEK!

Last year’s Walkathon was a tremendous success raising over $10,000 and our goal is to do that all over again! All proceeds will go towards classroom field trips and outdoor education opportunities.

We are asking that each child strive to raise more than last year so we can surpass our goal! Sponsor Envelopes must be returned on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday before the event. Those returned on Tuesday will be entered into a draw for an exciting prize!

Parents are encouraged to volunteer on the morning of the event or help your child’s class go through the fun and challenging obstacle course. The course will include a tire jump, string maze, haystacks, pumpkin sweep races and much more!

Please sign up to volunteer by returning the green form to the office or online here: http://vols.pt/vVzJEL by Tuesday, October 13.

The Cross Country Meet is scheduled to happen next Thursday October 8th.

Permission forms have not been sent home prior to today due to the current job action and it was also not clear if Roden students would particpate.

It was decided today that Roden students would participate in the meet next Thursday.

Mr. Lasso visited all the Roden classes from grade 1 to 8 and generated a list of interested students who would like to participate in the cross country meet. Those interested students were asked to pick up a permission form from the office this afternoon. Children interested in participating can only do so if their parent/guardian/caregiver are able to bring them to Ashbridges Bay and stay with them to supervise them throughout the meet.

If your child would like to participate please pick up a form from the office and return it to the office as soon as possible (we are already past the entry deadline but we have asked for an extension).

Roden has been assigned one school designate (Mr. Poon) to be present at the Cross Country Meet. Mr. Poon will be in front of the white beach house by Ashbridges Bay to greet the Roden team competitors and their parents by 9:30 a.m. on October 8th. As noted above, you will have to stay and supervise your child for the duration of the days’ events.

TDSB
September 29, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We wanted to provide you with an update about job action being taken by teaching staff represented by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents support staff.

Currently, both unions are in ongoing province-wide labour negotiations with the Government of Ontario and public school boards. As a result, members of ETFO and CUPE are taking part in a legal job action that will impact our schools.

It’s important to note that schools remain open and instructional programs continue to run. During these extraordinary times in our schools, principals and vice-principals are working together with staff to maintain a caring and positive school environment. As always, student safety and learning remain the top priorities of all TDSB staff, and superintendents are in daily contact with our schools to assess any concerns.

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario

Recently, ETFO escalated its work-to-rule campaign to include a number of new measures — the full list of which was posted on September 18th at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/labour. As a result, some activities and events (e.g. curriculum nights and fundraising events) may need to be postponed or cancelled. Wherever possible, schools are working to reschedule affected events.

ETFO has stated that if sufficient progress is not made in negotiations it MAY implement rotating one-day strikes in October. Should rotating strikes occur, we will provide you with as much notice as possible about the impact on our schools.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (e.g. custodians, school office staff, educational assistants)

Today, CUPE (e.g. custodians, school office staff, educational assistants) has started a partial withdrawal of services which includes:

Not sweeping entrances and hallways
Not doing school compost programs
Not cutting grass or cleaning up leaves unless there is a safety concern
Not collecting or accepting money for school-related initiatives and fundraising
A full list of CUPE’s directives to its members is available at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/labour.

As the withdrawal of services continues, it MAY have a more significant impact on school activities and permits.

Please note, child care programs are currently operating according to their normal schedules.

As you can imagine, principals and vice-principals have had to take on additional tasks as a result of the ongoing job action and we appreciate your patience. During this time, there may be some delays when trying to contact your school office. While we appreciate offers of assistance from parents, volunteers cannot fulfill the duties of staff during a legal job action.

For all the latest labour information, visit http://www.tdsb.on.ca/labour.

We remain hopeful that a fair agreement can be reached between unions, the Government of Ontario and public school boards in the very near future.

Robin Pilkey
Robin Pilkey
Chair Donna Quan
Donna Quan
Director of Education

On Monday, September 21, phase 3 of the teacher job action began. You can find the details of the job action at tdsb.on.ca and via the media.

Below is some information that School Council has gathered on your behalf. If you have any other specific questions you can email chair@roden.ca or send us a message through our Facebook page – Roden School Council.

1. There will be no extra curricular activities on Wednesdays, which means there is NO Cross Country on Wednesday mornings. (Cross Country will still run on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday). There are no other programs affected at this time.

2. If parents need to arrange to speak to their child’s teacher about a student’s progress, they can still do so during school hours.

3. Given that teachers can’t fill in for an absent one, the Principal or Vice Principal will either arrange a supply, or if none is available, either an emergency replacement person (over 18 and a TDSB employee with all the checks), or the Principal or Vice Principal would fill in. If all this fails, the Principal can direct a teacher to cover the class as it is considered an emergency.

4. IF there are roaming strikes in October, parents may be given 48 hours notice, but possibly less. Parents/Guardians should start thinking about what their plan for child care will be should the roaming strikes be implemented.