Tanga School

**We are planning to go on a winter community walk on Wednesday January 20. We will need parent volunteers in the AM and the PM.

AM walk:  9:00am-10:00am

PM walk: 12:30pm-1:30pm

If you would like to volunteer please e-mail

(AM) Sarah: smyson3@msn.com

(PM) Lindsay:  lindsayingram@shaw.ca

Dear Mom and Dad of AM kindergarten:

We learned about a Cranston project that we do every year called “Tanga”. There is a school in Tanzania called Tanga and Cranston school has raised funds to be used to support the school 6 years now.  We looked at photos of the school and talked about the similarities and differences.

We had a special artist come in today to work with us. Her name is Mrs. Ellison. We will be working on a special art piece and on February 25, there will be a Tanga evening where you can purchase our art work for $10 each. More details to come! All of the money will be donated to the school Take a look at the photos!

Ask me to tell you about: bird's nests in the classroom, leaking roof, water, supplies

Our money helped give Tanga school a new roof as there's was leaking, new floors and a water well for them to get clean drinking water! 

Question of the day: Post on the blog something you learned about Tanga School today.

Love,

Kindergarten

Housekeeping:

I am bringing home my report card! Please celebrate my learning with me. 

Please sign the envelope and return. Thank you.

Friday books are going home with AM class today. Please help me complete my work for Monday.

You will find a yellow form in your child's report card envelopes when they bring it home on Thursday (PM) or Friday (AM). The letter below is detailed information about the consent form.

January 14, 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians:

As part of an ongoing commitment to improve the well-being of children in Canada, school authorities have been collecting data on kindergarten-age children. This year, all kindergarten classes in Alberta once again will be invited to participate. It is your choice whether your child is included.

The results will provide information on children’s development and will be used to assist government and communities to work collaboratively toward ensuring children have a strong start in life. Government and communities will be more informed about the status and progress of early childhood development.

What personal information is being collected?

Personal information including date of birth, gender, student number, postal code, and opinions and observations about your child will be collected. Registration information will be provided through the child’s student record. The teacher will not be actively questioning a child or asking a child to perform any tasks but will complete a questionnaire based on their observations.

The questionnaire is called the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The EDI was developed by the Offord Centre for Child Studies and covers five areas of child development: 1) physical health and well-being; 2) social knowledge and competence; 3) emotional health and maturity; 4) language and thinking skills; and 5) general knowledge and communication skills.

How will this information be used and disclosed?

Government of Alberta:

Aggregated and anonymized data will be used by Education, Health, and Human Services to make changes that will improve outcomes for children. The data will be used for the following purposes:

• To inform policy and program development and the allocation of resources

• To support priority setting related to early childhood development


• To support program and policy evaluation and measurement.

Alberta Education may match individual identifying EDI data with other data that is collected about student progress, for example Provincial Achievement Tests results. Individual results will not be tracked. Reported data will be grouped together and made anonymous so that an individual child cannot be recognized. The data will help Alberta Education to make policy and program decisions that will help to improve educational outcomes for all students.

Alberta Education will provide the individually identifiable EDI data to Alberta Health and it will be matched with the child’s diagnostic, treatment and care information, and registration data1. The matched data will then be used by Health for longitudinal analytics that will provide information on trends, and inform allocation of resources and policy development, evaluation and measurement.

Communities and Early Childhood Development (ECD) Community Coalitions:

Health will anonymize, aggregate and correlate matched data with census data so that population level reports can be created. These reports will be shared with Alberta communities and ECD Community Coalitions to inform decisions at the community level to improve outcomes for early childhood development. For example community leaders may choose to co locate services creating a one stop shop for early childhood related services, supports and information for families of young children; early literacy programs to include infants and toddlers may become available where there were none before; parks and playgrounds may become a reality where EDI data suggests that children need more opportunity for physical development.

School Authorities:

School and population level information about how kindergarten children are doing will help school authorities to plan and program for the needs of students as they enter the school system.

What is required for my child to participate?

We are asking for your consent for your child’s participation in the EDI and authorization for the indirect collection of your child’s personal information by signing the attached Parent Authorization Form.

Please complete and sign the form and return it to your child’s teacher by Monday, January 25^th, 2016.

Who do I contact for more information?

If you have questions or concerns regarding the collection, uses, and disclosure of your child’s personal information by Alberta Education, contact:

Director, Learner Services
Alberta Education


8th Floor, 44 Capital Boulevard


10044 -108 Street
Edmonton, AB

T5J 5E6


Or by telephone at 780-422-6551 (Dial 310-0000 to be connected toll-free from outside the Edmonton area)

Sincerely,

Lorraine Kinsman

Principal