Principal Message

It is shocking to think that we have already completed 20% of our school year together. Time flies when you are having fun! As we head into cold and flu season, and Covid continues to be present in the region, we wanted to remind all families that it is still expected that you consult the School Screening Tool when your child has cold or flu-like symptoms. While it is not a requirement to test for Covid, it is a requirement to stay home (self-isolate) when a student has symptoms. Students can return to school when their symptoms have been improving for at least 1 day (2 days if nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea). When students return to school after being sick, they are asked to wear a mask for 10 days since the onset of symptoms. Thank you, once again, for your diligence in keeping our school a healthy and safe place to learn! Please see below for more updates about the happenings at Tuck this month.

Have a Notable November!

Remembrance Day

For our upcoming Remembrance Day ceremony, we would like to put together a presentation honouring members of our community who have served in the military (past or present). We will be collecting photos of family members who have served throughout Canada's history and present day, and will compile these photos into a presentation to share during our Remembrance Day ceremony on Friday, November 11. If you have a photo to contribute, please send a scanned copy of the photo, with the person’s name and your child’s name to Ms. Rose at roseme@hdsb.ca by November 1st. Thank you for helping us put together this tribute to our Canadian soldiers!

It’s Scholastic Book Fair time!

Mark your calendars! John T. Tuck is thrilled to be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair November 21-25. This is an event that students and teachers alike look forward to every year. Money raised from the book fair will continue to support new and ongoing school initiatives including purchasing new books to enhance our collection in the Learning Commons. Monday and Tuesday will be wish list days where Students will tour the book fair and create wish lists to bring home and share with parents. Wednesday to Friday will be purchase days where Students can bring money to school to make purchases at the book fair with their class during their designated class time. Parents can shop at the book fair too! In addition to being open to students during the school day, the book fair will also be open from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursday and from 9:00-11:00 am on Friday during Student Led Conferences. Purchases can also be made online HERE starting on November 18th, 2022. Here, you will also find book previews, videos, and featured books information too.

Book Fair Volunteers

This event relies on the help of many parent volunteers to be successful. Parents help students with generating wish lists, shopping and making purchases. We also require help with set up on November 18 and with clean up on November 25. To volunteer, please click on the following link Book Fair Volunteers - Scholastic Book Fair Volunteers (signupgenius.com). If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Lemieux at lemieuxj@hdsb.ca.

Parent Council

Parent Council is looking forward to meeting again on Thursday November 10th at 7pm in the school library. All parents interested in attending are encouraged to join us in person. We will be discussing fundraising options for the year, review the council budget and share about what is happening at our school. We will be piloting a hybrid option for those that need to join us virtually and are unable to attend in person. If you are interested in the link to this meeting, please fill out this form and it will be sent to you on the 10th.

Equity and Well-Being Update

In the month of November we will be highlighting the importance of Treaties Recognition Week from November 7th - 12th. As a school community and within the HDSB we are committed to deepening our work in learning about Indigeous rights and perspectives,Treaty relationships, residential schools and Indigenous peoples’ contributions to Canada to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action for Education. ​In our classrooms we will continue to explore a variety of resources connected to this important and ongoing Equity work.

The month of November is also a time where we highlight the importance of Bullying Awareness and Prevention during the week of November 20th - 25th. At Tuck and within the HDSB we have a commitment to our ongoing work in anti-bullying and fostering a safe, inclusive and caring environment for all of our students and families. We have invited The Get Real Movement to visit our school to facilitate anti-bullying and equity workshops for our students on November 23rd and 24th. We appreciate the support from home to continue the conversation about the importance of anti-bullying work as a school and in our community.

Flag Football Team

Flag football has finally made a return to Tuck! The team which was composed of 17 Grade 8 girls and boys competed in the Tyler Cooper Memorial tournament on October 19th. The team had a fantastic day on the pitch rolling through their division winning games 36-6, 28-0, and 31-6. As the weather made a turn for the worse the team dug deep to win both the quarter and semifinals convincingly. In the final game, Tuck was matched up against another undefeated team in Rolling Meadows. After being down the majority of the game, Tuck maintained a positive mindset and worked as a team to come from behind to win the championship 20-13! Mr. Fitzsimmons and Mr. Cruz are so proud of all the work the team put in through early morning practices and the day of the tournament. Team members are Koltyn C., Sadie S., Megan A., Olivia A., Kaylie R., James M., Noah R., Eli B., Connor B., Matt A., Doug D., Jakob A., Aric A., Mateo M., Sawyer A., Michael H., and Jackson A.

Food Drive

In early October, Grade 4 students finished organizing amazing collection for the Halton Community Food Programs. At the end of 3 days of accepting donations, we gathered 52 overflowing bins of items. The van picking up donations left Tuck each day, stacked to the roof, with a whole variety of items that will benefit so many people in need. A large part of our donations went to support the Halton Women's Shelter as well. Thank you again for your participation and generosity. We really made a difference for others again this year!

Attention families of Grade 8 students!

High School open houses are continuing through the month of November! If you are considering sending your child to Nelson High School please feel free to attend their Grade 8 Program Night on Thursday November 17 @6:30 pm. If you missed the I-STEM or ALP/IB information nights please click on the links attached to view their presentation and/or information about the program. The application process is open as of November 3, and will close on December 5, 2022.If you have any questions about your child's transition to grade 9 please connect with Miss Simmelink (simmelinka@hdsb.ca)

Inclement Weather

That time of year is upon us again. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the HDSB’s Inclement Weather Policy. The policy can be found on www.hdsb.ca by clicking on the Parent Information tab. Please ensure your child is always dressed appropriately to go outside. The threshold to stay inside during cold weather is -20C, with wind chill.

Heritage Warplane Museum

On Nov. 21 the grade 6's will be taking a field trip to the Heritage Warplane Museum in Hamilton. There the students will get hands-on with the science of flight and the stories connected to the planes at the museum. The students will be able to sit in planes like the Unitied Nations "Buffalo" flown by the "Buffalo 9", and have lunch under one of the two remaining Lancaster Bombers left in the world as engineers prepare it for a winter in the hangar. Students always leave this trip with an appreciation for the science behind flight and the stories associated with these wartime planes and the people that flew them.

Progress Report Card Delivery Dates and Student-Led Conferences

Progress report cards and Kindergarten Communication of Learning will be sent on Monday, Nov. 14th. Your child's homeroom teacher will also be in touch with you to set up a time for an in-person student-led conference during the week of November 21-25. This Student-led conference is an opportunity for our Grades 1-8 students to show off the great things they are doing in their classrooms this fall, in addition to self-reflecting on goals for the year. If you would like to discuss concerns with your child's classroom teacher, please connect at a time outside of the Student-led conference. For Kindergarten, parents will be invited into the classroom for 20 minutes in late November or early December so that parents can experience what a day in the life of our youngest students looks like. We look forward to celebrating our learning with you!

Photo Retake Day

Just a reminder that Photo retake day is Tuesday, November 2nd starting at 9:30am. If you missed our first Photo Day, or were not happy with the pictures, we will be having retakes in the morning. We will also be having class group photos taken that day.

Parent Support with Technology

Parents, you can help us by supporting and modelling appropriate use of technology in order to encourage your child to focus on academics in school during the school day. Parents are requested to:

1. Refrain from texting your children throughout the day, and call the office for emergency messages to be relayed. If your child texts you during class time, please respond with “please go to the office, talk to an adult there and use the office phones.” Trust us. When you text your child during class time and or accept texts from them, you are implicitly teaching them that they do not have to pay attention in class, or use the adults in the building to help them problem solve.

2. Buy a calculator for your child to use in Math class.

3. Make after school arrangements with your children in advance.

4. Remind your children of the appropriate uses of technology and social media, while reviewing and monitoring their online activity outside of school hours.

5. Encourage your child to keep his/her personal device locked/secure when at school and to not share their combinations or passwords with anyone else.

6. Counsel their children that devices brought to school are their responsibility. If items are lost, broken, or stolen, the school will do everything it can to help find it and/or solve the problem, but in the end, the replacement cost rests with the student who owns it.

Red Cross Babysitting Course

A Babysitting course is being offered by Stayin Alive with First Aid, CPR & AED, held in person on the Nov.25th P.A. Day at Southside Community Church, 200 Main St. East, Milton. The cost is $65 per participant (Grades 5 to 8) + HST = $73.45

Course content:

• Check, Call, Care (including phoning 911)

• Conscious choking (adult/child/baby/alone)

• Introduction to CPR (baby/child)

• Asthma (includes use of inhaler and spacer)

• Anaphylaxis (includes use of EpiPen), poisoning and insect stings

• Wound care (minor cuts and scrapes, splinters, nosebleeds, bumps and

• bruises, life-threatening bleeding, and burns)

• Broken bones, head, neck and back injuries, seizures

• Course materials delivered (address

• required during registration):

• Red Cross Babysitter’s Manual and Materials

• Red Cross Babysitter Certificate

Participants learn how to manage difficult behaviour, recognize and prevent unsafe situations, how to care for babies and children, and leadership skills. Babysitting promises to deepen and enhance the responsibility that older youth feel when caring for younger children. The curriculum includes new science for giving appropriate care in an emergency. Space is limited to 26 per course - www.StayinAliveWithFirstAid.ca Questions? info@StayinAliveWithFirstAid.ca