Community and outdoor field studies

​

At Bastion we recognize that learning must happen outside of the four walls of a classroom both in nature and throughout our community. I wholeheartedly believe this and am trying a new program this year that embraces this philosophy. This will increase the amount of field studies I normally do, having us learning off school grounds at least once, and sometimes twice per week. 

​

In collaboration with district and school administration, and many community organizations, our aim is for this program to be educationally rich, engaging and complementary to the new curriculum that was instituted last year. To be successful, I will be leaning on parents to help as volunteers, but also to provide feedback to us so that it can be improved as we go. Again, as a believer in experiential education, I'll be taking risks and learning from my mistakes along with the students. 

​

You will see some repetition here from the field trip permission form but please re-read it. It is important that this information is clear to you as we embark upon this exciting year!

​

I will send out one general walking fieldtrip permission slip for the 2017-2018 year. I will give notice before we head out on any walking fieldtrip and will often request parent volunteers to accompany our class. I will also try my best to send most of the Sept-January field trip forms together as one document to minimize paperwork. I may cancel or add additional trips based on how things go. I will send out a schedule in advance outlining the days we need parent volunteers and how many.

 

A handful of our site visits have risk management documents (here) prepared and require fewer parent volunteers. One nearby location is a forest adjacent to the high school (Sullivan campus) which will not require any volunteers as it is a 5-minute walk from the school, and it is on School District property.

​

Also, to save time and to minimize walking along roads, I will often ask parents to drop off and pick up at different locations around the city (near the school). This may happen as often as once per week, particularly in the spring. Our schedule of locations will be posted on this website and students will have it written into their agenda’s each day. I will help arrange rides for those students that take the bus or need a ride back to school. On these days, students may be dropped off anytime between 7:55-8:15 to accommodate sibling drop-off. Similarly, for pick-up I will provide a 15 minute window for pickup between 2:05 - 2:20. Please call or text me if you foresee yourself being late or absent. Please make an extra effort to arrive on time as our class will need to wait before we can leave the pickup/dropoff parking area. 

​

I will inform you of any upcoming walking fieldtrips via email and post them on our calendar on this website and the students will also write them in their agendas. Should you have any concerns about this, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.

​

CLOTHING....

​

You all know the saying about no such thing as bad weather, right? (Only bad clothing). At the nature kindergarten in Williams Lake, the temperature cutoff for going outside is -23 C. Seriously. I visited a school last year in Maple Ridge that had no indoor classroom. They had their rainiest winter ever. The kids were in good health and did not complain!

​

Please send your child to school with a rain jacket, rain pants and boots even on days that you think there is no chance it will rain/snow/sleet. Help them gain self-responsibility by ensuring they themselves ensure that they have what they need (we will chat about this in class). Layering is the way to go and wool sweaters and wool toques can work wonders. Here is a good resource I found online. Wool clothing is expensive but super cheap at the thrift store. If you have issues getting appropriate gear, please contact me and we can figure something out.

​

​