Principal's Page

I'd like to bring attention to something that has been happening more frequently recently: early student pick-ups in the final half-hour of our school day.

We completely understand that genuine emergencies and unavoidable appointments (such as medical visits) sometimes require early collection. In these circumstances, please continue to let your child's teacher know in advance where possible, and pop into the school office to sign your child out.

However, we've noticed that some early pick-ups are beginning to happen just so families have more time to get to regular after-school activities such as sports training, music lessons, tutoring and swimming. We love that our students are so involved in these wonderful activities, however these commitments must be scheduled so that they don't require collection prior to the school finish time of 3:30 p.m.

Please note that collecting your child early to attend regular after-school activities is not considered a school-approved absence.

Those last thirty minutes of each school day are valuable for our students. During this time, teachers are often wrapping up important learning, reviewing what they've discovered together, preparing everyone for tomorrow, sharing key information about upcoming events or reminders for the next day. When students leave early, they miss out on these special moments, and it can also interrupt the learning flow for their classmates.

We will go into our VPS Instructional Model in more depth in coming newsletters, however I have included an image of it below. It is a visual representation of how a lesson is structured here at Valkstone. As you can see, if a child leaves 3/4 of the way through a session, they will miss out on part of their opportunity to apply any newly learnt information as well as miss the time where the class reviews the focus of the lesson and what has been learnt. These are vital parts of a lesson structure for students to help move information from short-term to long-term memory. 

We really appreciate your understanding and support in helping your child experience their complete school day. Every minute of learning truly matters, and together we can make sure all our students get the most from their time with us.

Thank you so much for your ongoing partnership in your child's education.