Mother Nature decided to give us early spring weather this week. Between the chilly weather and the rain, our grass is growing nicely. The garden at the front of the school has been spruced up by the local Boy Scouts/Cubs (insert correct name here). We are grateful for their continued support to keep our garden looking beautiful.

As important as water bottles are, we are having an issue with water bottles being used as squirt bottles. If your child has a water bottle that squirts, please keep it at home. We understand that having water at school is important especially as we move into the warmer months. Please make sure your child has a water bottle that can be used to drink from not as a squirt bottle. Water guns, balloons and anything else that can squirt water should not be brought to school. Thank you.

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On behalf of all Vimy Ridge Staff, THANK YOU for the incredible breakfast you gave us this morning. It was amazing to see the assortment of treats, sweets, and delicious eats from across the globe. Everyone started their day with full bellies and smiles on their faces thanks to your contributions and thoughtfulness. An extra special thank you to the organizers: Dahlia, Dee, Deema, Kately, Lisa, Maria, Melissa, Stephanie, and our school council chair, Reshanna. Without their leadership, this event would not have been possible.

From all the Vimy Ridge Staff, we appreciate you!

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Thank you to all of the families that came to our Welcome to Kinder Open House last night. It was wonderful to meet all of our new kinders and their families. We look forward to seeing you in September. 

For more information on registering your child at Vimy Ridge Public School please visit https://www.ocdsb.ca/our-schools/registration or call our school office at 613-425-4400 and we would be happy to assist you.

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EQAO’s will be next week for our Grade 6’s. EQAO is a standardized testing to assess student achievements in reading, writing, and mathematics. Please make sure your child arrives at school on time and stays until the end of day.

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The Grades 5-8’s will be participating in a Pickleball student workshop next week. Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. The students will be learning how to play pickleball and having matches with each other. We are excited to be offering a new sport for our Vimy students.

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Dear Vimy Families,

Vimy’s second annual talent show is almost here! The students have been working very hard to perfect their talents and put on a fantastic show.

We’re asking adults to purchase 3$ tickets to view our evening show only, which will be on Tuesday June 10th in the school gym at 5:30 pm. Proceeds will be used to enhance next year's performance. 

*adult tickets only, students do not require a ticket. Please see link below to purchase your tickets on school cash online.

https://www.schoolcashonline.com/

Thank you for your support,

Talent Show Staff

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Save the Date: E-Waste & Metal Fundraiser – June 6th–8th!

Dear Vimy Ridge Families,

We’re excited to announce that our upcoming E-Waste and Metal Fundraiser will take place the weekend of June 6th–8th, coinciding with the popular Findlay Creek Community Garage Sale!

This is a great opportunity to clear out your old electronics and pieces of metal while supporting our school. Simply gather your acceptable items and drop them off during the event weekend.

Please refer to the link (below) of the event poster, for a list of acceptable donation items. Your contributions will help reduce waste and raise funds for school initiatives.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Ai-GNkuM7KL7oIkp_Tl6x78t4VJ4ypj/view?usp=drivesdk

Thank you for your continued support—we can’t wait to see you there!

Warm regards,
Vimy Ridge Parent Council 

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Save the Date: Ottawa Lions Club will be having a Food Drive at Vimy Ridge Public School on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 9AM to noon, during the E-Waste & Metal Fundraiser. The Lions Club will be collecting lunch box items such as juice boxes, pudding cups, granola bars, etc. to support the Pavillion Food Bank. Thank you for helping us support this cause. Every donation helps.

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An important message from OSTA:

Messaging to Parents/Caregivers:

Ottawa Student Transportation (OSTA) has implemented an opt-out process to enhance bus routing and transportation planning for the 2025-2026 school year.

If your child(ren) will not require school bus transportation next school year, please complete the electronic opt-out form to inform OSTA that a seat is not needed. This will help optimize services and minimize disruptions. Requests for reinstated service can be made anytime through OSTA’s Transportation Issues Form, and is subject to availability and eligibility.

The opt-out form is now available on OSTA’s website. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2025

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Here is a calendar for FREE Dental Screening. _______________________________________________________________

We continue to remind students to put their phones and earbuds away. Some of our students have been reminded multiple times, and for some we will be calling parents to help remind their students and/or ask that phones be left at home. Phones, and other devices, are to be off and out of sight during the school day, including recess, nutrition break and getting on the school bus. Leaving the phone off, or at home is a successful way to manage this distraction.

As per PR 622 IT - Appropriate Use of Information Technology (Students), The District will not accept liability for loss, theft, or damage to any Personal Mobile Device while on District property, except where it can be shown that such loss was due to negligence on the part of the District.

A reminder to families that the school day ends at 3:45 pm and it makes for better learning and less interruptions when students do not leave early.  We understand that appointments are unavoidable and so when you need to pick kids up early, please notify the classroom teacher and the office the morning of. If you know of an appointment sooner than the day of, please let the teacher and office know as soon as possible. Notice to the teacher and office is greatly appreciated. This makes it easier for the teacher and the office to have your child ready for you. We ask that all early pickups happen before 3:00 as some classes have outdoor DPA or are getting ready for end of day routines and it may be difficult to locate students.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Sandra Walker, Andrew Thorp and Jannah Campbell

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As we shared, we will be having 3 leaving ceremonies in June. We have set our dates for the 3 leaving ceremonies. All of our leaving ceremonies will be held in the gym. UPDATE: Tickets went home this week for families to sign up to attend the ceremonies. Please note: due to safety regulations and chair limitations, there is a maximum of 2 guests per student/family who may attend. You can sign up using this link.

Grade 8 - Wednesday, June 25 at 1 PM

Grade 7 - Thursday, June 26 at 9:30 AM

Grade 6 - Thursday, June 26 at 12:30 PM

Idling - When you are dropping off or picking up your child(ren), we ask that you follow the City of Ottawa's bylaws to help keep the air around our school clean. The Idling Control By-law limits the time that a vehicle can idle when someone is in the vehicle:

• Maximum of three minutes per hour when it is between 0 °C and 27 °C outside
• Maximum of 10 minutes per hour when it is colder than 0 °C or hotter than 27 °C outside

Respect for all. For the past few years we have focused on learning about the impact of hateful speech and racist comments. We appreciate your support in this continued learning. Unfortunately, examples of this type of conduct are easy to find on social media outlets. Racist, homophobic and hate language is not acceptable at school. Vimy Ridge is proud of our diversity, and wants to celebrate each and every individual. We are grateful for all your support. 

Outdoor play includes playing safely. This includes being careful in the mud, puddles and on the pavement. When playing soccer at school slide tackling should not be part of our soccer games. The professional players we all watch make slide tackles look easy, which also includes a lot of training and practice. At school slide tackles are dangerous and should not be part of a school game.

Breakfast Program. Our Breakfast program is now serving over 70 students each school day! Children who walk are welcome to come to the servery starting at 8:45. If your child is on a bus they can come when they get to school. We are looking for volunteers to help with the Breakfast program. Please email andrew.thorp@ocdsb.ca if you are able to help.

 No Food Sharing. A reminder that Vimy Ridge has a “no food sharing” policy in our classes. We have too many allergies at Vimy Ridge for this to be done safely. Sharing candy, treats and other snacks also presents an equity issue between students. Please remind your students to eat the food provided by their family and not to share with other students in class.