Hello to our Vimy Ridge Families,

This week has been a short week, but there has been a huge amount of learning happening at Vimy Ridge. We are always excited to see students engaged in discussions, projects and hands-on learning. Next week is another short week. 

We continue to speak to students who are bringing things in from home. This is a reminder to families that perfume, cologne, toys, stuffies, crafts and other play items are not to be brought to school. They are causing distractions and conflicts in class and at recess. Please check with your child that these items are not in their bags when they leave home. Our school is designated a scent free zone, scents can cause allergic reactions.

We are excited to announce that Vimy Ridge will be celebrating Spring Walk Day on May 7! 

Spring Walk Day is an event that encourages students to arrive at school by walking and

wheeling in the fresh air (and likely some sunshine, a few puddles, and snow melt)! We

encourage as many students as possible to choose walking, biking, and busing to school on

May 7 – and every day!

For some extra motivation to be active this spring, students are encouraged to join the Hop!

Spring into Spring challenge. Students can use the Hop! app to log their walks to school or in

the community and discover the positive impact walking has on the environment. All students

who participate in the Hop! Spring Walk Challenge will be entered into a random prize draw to

win two admissions passes donated by Cosmic Adventures! Each pass admits one adult

and one child.

Today is Earth Day, and it's a great time to think about keeping our air clean by avoiding idling in our school zone. Idling is when a vehicle’s fuel engine is running but the vehicle is not moving. It wastes fuel, money, and causes air pollution that is harmful to our health. Children are at a higher risk from outdoor air pollution.  

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

Luv2Groove finished up the Hiphop dance activities for our classes last week. It was so nice to watch the skills grow and the students having fun. We are still accepting $2 donations to help fund this activity. School Cash Online is now open for donations. Thank you for your support.

Vimy Ridge will be an Voting Site for the Federal Election on April 28. Voting will take place in the gym. Please note that parking will be limited, and parking is not available in the fire lane in front of the school during the day. 

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! Happy Easter to all those who are celebrating.

Sandra Walker, Andrew Thorp and Jannah Campbell

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Leaving Ceremonies 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.

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

Outdoor Play includes being careful on slippery surfaces. We are regularly reminding students to play safely. This includes being careful in the snow, 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.

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. 

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.