PAC Resources
Sounds a little fishy to me....Field Trips Ideas: Opportunities to learn about marine biology....
Aquavan.....www.vanaqua.org
Coming to Vancouver Island for 3 weeks, in COMOX VALLEY the week of Halloween
The River Never Sleeps
The River Never Sleeps is scheduled for May 5, 2013. Fanny Bay Salmonid Enhancement Society appreciates the support and encourages active student participation. It is great to get the kids involved at a young age. A contact name for FBSES is Judy Ackinclose ackinclose@shaw.ca.
Bamfield Ocean Research Centre - West coast Vancouver Island.....www.bms.bc.ca
They offer fabulous field trips http://www.bms.bc.ca/pubed/k12/index.html (copy and paste link please) and we have bursaries that elementary schools can apply for, thanks to a donor who sees upper elementary school as being a critically important age.
They also do Live Labs and Live Dives, http://oceanlink.info/bmsclive/index.html (copy and paste link please), that are curriculum linked with pre- and post materials as well as in-hand materials for these Internet mediated sessions.
Also has Teacher workshops on site in July along with their active public education program
"Seaquaria in schools" by the World Fisheries Trust....www.worldfish.org
Based in Victoria, facilitates the opportunity to have a salt water aquarium and a collection of sea animals in your school.
Display materials
DPAC has a fabric banner that is 6 feet wide by 2 feet high. It is good for in front of a folding table, if doing some kind of promotions for PAC. We can lend it out to any PAC ! Email DPAC. It has the SD 71 logo and the words "Parent Advisory Council". It is blue and white.
Download a photo: DPAC has purchased 5 photos from shutterstock.com If your PAC would like to download a photo as a jpeg, email DPAC with the shutterstock code number. We'll download it for you. Thousands of photos to choose from.
Don't forget about the SD 71 PRINT SHOP (near Canadian Tire, and near the Back Road and Ryan Road intersection). PAC's get posters and brochures AT COST. Lise and Terri are wonderful over there !!
PAC Meeting Agenda
Advice to PAC Chairs and executive. Fundraising should not be the main focus of your PAC meetings. Talking about fundraising does not bring parents out to PAC meetings. Be sure to talk about school issues, perhaps district and provincial school issues. Invite a guest speaker for part of your meeting. Meetings should begin and end on time. Host events that build school community.
Elect a DPAC representative and send motions to the DPAC - That is how we become the voice of parents in SD71 !
BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils
Each PAC should join BCCPAC for $75 per year. This is our voice to the Ministry of Education.
This website has a wealth of information for parents and PACs. They also host conferences and they have an annual AGM. PAC's have the option to become voting members of this organization for an anual fee of only $75.
Parent Advisory Council Resources
PAC 101 - PAC and DPAC publications on the Vancouver School Board website
Provincial Education news - From Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils
Federal and Provincial News Feed - From the B.C. School Trustees Association website
Parent Orientation Package - (currently under revision) written by parents of DPAC in collaboration with school board staff, this information document answers all of a parents questions about School District 71 and the who, what, where and when for student and parent issues.
E-Library - look up and request documents found in the DPAC Resource Centre and have the documents available to you through your school library.
BCCPAC - British Columbia Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils was started in 1935 and has the ear of the Ministry of Education. BCCPAC is a resource for PAC's and DPAC's for policy, procedures, financial issues as well as education, safety and health issues province wide. DPAC often sends a parent representative to annual fall and/or spring Conferences.
Individual Education Plans: A Guide for Parents Produced by 2 authors, in callaboration with the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils.
Speak Up! - a parent's guide to advocating for students in public schools.
VSB Videos - Vancouver School Board has created a very good video: "Parents are Teachers Too" in several languages.
The Virtues Project
The Virtues Project was brought to SD71 in February 2009 by DPAC and speakers presented to both Teachers and Parents at Mark R Isfeld. The Virtues Project can be used in your school and should be discussed with your principal.
Financial Information
see Treasurer's Resources
New Regulatory System for Teachers
Website Contributions
Please email dpac if you have any website contributions for us. Thank-You!!
Roberts' Rules of Order
The Basics of Roberts Rules is an outline for meeting protocol for most PAC's and DPAC meetings to follow. It is one example of many different formats for meetings.
The genious of Roberts Rules is that they work well for grops of all sizes and types. If you simply read through the rules, the terms and complexity tend ot conceal his key concepts. Used with a little assertive leadership, they keep a meeting organized and flowing;
1. Conduct business one issue at a time. Jumping around from one item to another can be confusing, and it generally delays progress on any of the items.
2. Let Committees do their work. Your general meeting is to resolve the major issues. Save everybody's time by letting committees deal with the smaller details.
3. Don't allow crosstalk. Require all speakers to address the Chairperson. This helps keep control and ensures everyone will hear the business at hand
4. Limit discussion to the topic at hand. Keep things focused, and don;t be shy about asking speakers to deal only with the current topic.
5. Cut off discussion when it becomes redundant. For controversial issues, setting a time limit for each speaker can help. When discussion becomes circular, summarize points on each side and ask for anything new - or - shut off discussion by asking for a motion.
Friends For Life Parent Program
The following information came to DPAC via email:
FRIENDS is an anxiety prevention program that teaches children important skills to help them manage worries, fears and difficult situations and provides them with life skills to build emotional resiliency.
The FORCE would like to work collaboratively with all schools (public and independent) as well as other parent organizations throughout the province to bring Parent Workshops to your area. There are two B.C. FRIENDS Parent Workshops available: 1) "Fun FRIENDS" - for parents of Kindergarten and Grade 1 students 2) "Child and Youth" - for parents of grade 4 - 7 students. Face-to-Face Workshops are designed to be 2-3 hours in length and are delivered by trained FORCE parent facilitators from The FORCE Society for Kids' Mental Health who travel to the host community for the event (Click here to read more). A few complimentary workshops are available upon request.
If your organization would be interested in hosting a parent workshop or working with another host organization in your area, please contact us at: info@friendsparentprogram.com or call toll-free (855) 887-8004 or within the Lower Mainland (604) 878-8004.
SD 69 has a good Resources for Parents page.
Legislative Analysis from the BCSTA
Parents Guide to Facebook (from the VCPAC newsletter)
iKeepSafe and ConnectSafely announce the launch of the 2012 edition of A Parents' Guide toFacebook. As Facebook continues to change, the authors updated the parent guide's content to reflect the most recent features and policies onFacebook. The free Guide is designed to teach parents how to help their teens use Facebook safely and constructively and can be downloaded atwww.FBparents.org
Triple P Parenting Programs
Family Resources in the Community
Mental Health Resouces available to Comox Valley Residents
The F.O.R.C.E. Society for Kids' Mental Health; http://www.forcesociety.com/; Comox Valley rep is Colleen Clark
Christine Middleton, B Ed, BA (CYC) ~ Suicide Prevention Presentation Facilitator; 250-650-1607 (cell)
Helpline for Children: 310-1234 (no area code needed)
Safe, Caring and Orderly Schools: A Guide (BC Ministry of Education, 2008)
Youth Against Violence Toll free line: 1-800-680-4264 This is a safe, confidential way for youth to pass on information to prevent fights, receive assistance with harassment, bullying and sexual assault, and leave information about drug and criminal activity
Vancouver Island Crisis line 1-888-494-3888 - - Helps families sort out where to turn to next. 24/7
Comox Valley Girls Group - is celebrating its 15th year in the Comox Valley. We run 4-6 groups per year (Winter, Spring, Fall) in 2 age groups: 11/12; 13-15. Groups run after school weekly for 8-12 weeks. Most groups operate out of Comox Valley Transition Society, #202-576 England Avenue. Other community locations are utilized at times. Our website is www.comoxvalleygirlsgroup.com Also on Facebook.
www.hincksdellcrest.org The ABCs of Mental Health provides two free, web-based Resources - one for teachers and one for parents – to help answer these questions. The Resources include ideas for promoting the mental health of children and adolescents, information about how children change as they get older, descriptions of behaviours that might indicate a problem, and practical suggestions for steps to take.
www.teenmentalhealth.org/ - a site specifically about how the teenage brain works. Tons of resources, including information about the importance of SLEEP, Dr Suzuki's "Surviving The Teenage Brain" (Nature of Things), anxiety, mental disorders, and much more !
www.mindcheck.ca/ - has information about substance use, moods, stress
www.forcesociety.com Comox Valley has a representative serving families and youth; Colleen Clarke provides confidential information and support, and promotes children and youth mental health.
www.keltymentalhealth.ca/ BC's mental health resource for children, youth and families.
August 23-24, 2012 Conference: The 3rd annual Summer Institute will bring together teachers, school counsellors, school support staff, school administrators, district staff, parents, students and school community partners to exchange knowledge and ideas about how to build school connectedness and improve student mental health and well-being.
www.mooddisorders.ca/program/check-up-from-the-neck-up - a site that provides an online quiz so that you can help evaluate your own mental health.
Educational Resources for Home
www.letstalkscience.ca Lets talk science is an award-winning, national charitable organization. Established in 1993, by Bonnie Schmidt, PhD. Click on the Families Tab.
Math sites via the Navigate Website: http://sites.google.com/site/mymathsites/
Khan Academy: http://www.khanacademy.org/ Learn almost anything for free!
Online Family Resources
www.EducationPlanner.ca - search engine, plan post-secondary pathways. Learners can compare undergraduate and apprenticeship programs offered through BC
Children's Life Online Essential Information for all Parents! Concept, design, structure and content by Avi Luxenburg, one of our own secondary school teachers.
www.witsprogram.ca A program that is used in SD 71. Helps elementary school children deal with bullying and peer victimization. Aimed at K - Grade 6. Offices are in Victoria.
www.rocksolid.bc.ca A charity that helps deliver the WITS program to schools in B.C. Focused on conflict resolution and violence prevention.
http://www.kidsinmind.com/ Teachers and parents can look up a movie and see rating for the amount of profanity, nudity, violence, etc.
www.commonsensemedia.org American Website for Media information - so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.
K - 12 Curriculum in B.C.