Safety

A safe and welcoming school environment is essential for students to grow and develop in mind, body and spirit. Establishing and maintaining this positive and safe atmosphere is achieved by staff, students, parents/guardians and the community working together.

Security and Signing In

All visitors (parents, relatives, resource personnel, etc.) must report to the office immediately upon entering the school. To facilitate this, all exterior school doors will remain locked during the day. A camera has been installed and our wonderful office staff can buzz you in.

Please be patient with us as we work to maintain safety within our Catholic School Community!

We thank you in advance for helping us to keep our children safe.

Parents may wait for their child outside between the hours of 3:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. If you are simply picking up your child, the office will call the student down to the office and will send your child to you. If you are simply dropping something off, please wait until 3:20 p.m., when the secretary is allowed to let you in. This limits and tracks who has access to our students, minimizing interruptions and increasing the safety of all students.

Visitors must sign in and wear a visitor identification tag. When leaving, visitors should sign out at the office and return the tag.

Other Ways That We Keep Our Students Safe

    • We teach our students about Catholic Virtues and conflict resolution strategies.

    • All members of our community support our Code of Conduct .

    • All parents and visitors state their business at the office upon arrival.

    • Students are supervised at all times.

    • Alcohol, smoking, and illicit drugs are strictly prohibited on school property.

    • Medications are distributed and logged according to Board Policy.

    • When students are not going home in the usual manner, a morning note or phone call is required.

    • A safe arrival procedure is in place to alert staff to unexplained student absence.

    • The school community works cooperatively with bus operators to ensure safe bus transportation.

    • Skateboards, scooters, roller blades, and bicycles must be walked on and off of school property.

    • Emergency Response Plans are in place for at-risk students.

    • A School Emergency Preparedness Plan for Crisis Response including evacuation is up-to-date.

    • Fire drills are conducted each term.

    • The school site is inspected regularly.

    • WHMIS protocols are followed.

    • The Kids Help Line number (1-800-668-6868) is included in the student agenda.

    • We seek assistance from Board Social Work personnel.

    • We seek assistance from Board-approved community agencies.

    • Students must sign an Internet Acceptable Use Agreement form for each division of their education at PVNC Catholic District School Board.

Internet Access

The PVNCCDSB School Board is committed to ensuring that the Internet is used to support learning in a manner that is consistent with the Board Mission statement and guiding principles. Our school computers are connected to the Internet by means of the School Board's Wide Area Network. The School Board recognizes that there may be concerns related to Internet usage and has developed an Internet Acceptable Use Agreement.

Once a student has signed the document, he/she will be granted access to the Internet within the scope of the Internet Acceptable Use Agreement. Students must sign a separate Internet Acceptable Use Agreement form for each division of their education at PVNCCDSB: Primary (J.K.-3), Junior-Intermediate (Grades 4-8), Intermediate-Senior (Grades 9-12).For further information, please visit the Board Website for the Safe Surfing Document or contact your local school.

Leaving School Property

Students who will be going home for lunch daily, are required to supply a note to the school at the beginning of the school year. They will need to sign in and out of the office daily. Other occasions of leaving school property require the following:

Kindergarten to Grade 8

All students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 are to remain on school property until dismissed at the end of the day - exceptions are those who go home for lunch and those picked up by parents at the office for personal appointments.

Students must have notes to leave the school for any reason.

Bikes, Scooters, Skateboards, and Roller Blades on School Property

The safety of pedestrians, students, and staff, and those on bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and roller blades is a huge concern for staff, parents, and bus operators. The rule that skateboards, scooters, roller blades, and bicycles must be walked on and off of school property has been in place for many years. This is frequently discussed with the student population to keep people safe.

As you can imagine school parking lots are busy places, we have children, parents and staff from our school moving about the property at all times of the day.

There are also five school buses, numerous family members picking up students in vehicles and often deliveries and guests travel through our parking lot daily, especially at the beginning and end of the school day..

If students choose to ride their bikes, scooters, skateboards, and roller blades on school property, they are compromising the safety of themselves, other students, parents, and staff. Parents will be notified in writing or via phone call to have a shared discussion to determine if riding privileges need to be suspended or revoked.

Please support the school in providing a safe environment for all.