Bonjour BP families: 

Bravo to our students who brought in and collected donations for the Veterans Food Bank this year. 9F3 showed up by bringing 204 individual items for the donation drive this year! Thank you BP! 

I also wanted to update families on the email that was sent a couple of weeks ago re: an increase in incidences. Thank you for opening up conversations with your students, as we have seen a positive change in the building. We see students taking advantage of opened classroom space to be with their peers over the lunch hour, whether in clubs/intramurals or to just have a place to relax, we see students using our outside spaces to get fresh air over lunch, students showing pride in the building by ensuring items are stowed and garbage placed in the appropriate receptacles. Overall, this is a wonderful improvement, and we are very proud of our students for setting the example of treating one another with respect and care. We look forward to our continued engagement with students to support their connectedness and sense of belonging at BP. 

Parent Teacher Interviews– Nov. 23-24 

Teachers are looking forward to connecting with families during the upcoming Learning Conferences, which serve as a mid-semester “oral report card”. Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve the bookings when they first opened. If you were unable to book with a teacher, please do connect with them and they can update you on your child's progress and achievement. 

Virtual Conferences Tips  

• Log in 1-2 minutes before the start of your conference time.  
• Wait in the virtual lobby and teachers will admit you at the designated time 
• Cameras and microphones should be on for all participants to enhance good communication.  
• If you are a CBE employee, ensure that you are accessing the MicrosoftTeams link through your personal, not CBE email address. This ensures parent access, not meeting organizer access 

General suggestions for a successful 10-minute conference: 

• Ensure that your child is present and participates in the meeting 
• Verify posted grades on Power School leading up to the conference, which teachers are currently working intensively at updating 
• Frame your conversation around: “What has my child’s adjustment to the new grade and learning expectations looked like?” and “What are the action steps (2-3) that we can focus on between now and the first report card at the end of January?” 
• Be sensitive to start and end times, in order to allow teachers to progress through their conferences in a timely fashion 

Power School Support for Parents 

Parent and legal guardian support on accessing attendance, assignments and assessment information is available through Technical Support for Students & Parents. This includes two videos that clarify how to access student achievement information, including report cards:  

Kindergarten – Gr. 9 Parent / Legal Guardian Support Video  

BelCanFran 

Each year, Bishop Pinkham families are invited to consider having their child participate in a language and cultural experience that will change their lives.  BelCanFran is a non-for-profit reciprocal family exchange between Alberta and France/Belgium.  See the website for more information: https://www.belcanfran.com/. We have recently hosted several students from France that have enriched the classroom and school environments greatly.  Partner BP students will reciprocate the visit, leaving for France in early February. 

Families are invited to an important information session to learn more about the program: 

What:               Belcanfran Exchange Program Information Meeting 

When:              Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023 

Where:            Sunday, November 26, 2023 

Where:            Haysboro Community Centre 

                        1204-89 Ave SW, Calgary AB 

Time:               3:30-4:30 

Important Dates  

November 23- Parent teacher interviews 3:30-8:00 PM. 

November 24- Parent teacher interviews 8:00-12:00 PM. No school for students. 

November 27- WCHS IB Open House 6:30-8 PM 

November 30- Healthy Hunger (Golden Bell) www.healthyhunger.ca  

November 30- BPPC/BPPA meetings 6:30-8 PM 

December 7- Band Winter Concert 6:30-8 PM 

December 8- Non Instructional Day. No school for students 

December 22- Last day of classes before winter break 

January 8- Classes resume 

Have a wonderful week, 

Rishma Hajee 

Principal | Bishop Pinkham School