Policies

Attendance and Dismissal

Students are expected to be at school every day, on time and prepared to work to the best of their ability. If your child will be absent or late please call the 24-hour school phone number at 204-958-6840. Students are considered late if they do not enter the school with their class at 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Students arriving late must report directly to the office for attendance purposes. Please support your child in understanding the importance of being on time.

Please ensure that your children know the arrangements for after school before they leave home in the morning each day. This will reduce the number of interruptions to the learning environment that comes from delivering messages to children during class time. 

When a student is leaving before regular dismissal time, a parent (or authorized adult) must come to the office to sign out the student. Once they are signed out, the student will be called to the office.  Parents are asked to contact the principal if students have to miss school for extended periods of time (i.e. medical reasons, family vacation) during the regular school term.

In the event of an emergency please be aware that the school may have to close resulting in children being sent home early. All parents are required to leave the name and phone number of someone to contact in case of an emergency. It is essential that parent and emergency contact information be kept up to date. Please advise us of any change of address or telephone number.

Clothing and Footwear

The River East Transcona School Division believes the best learning and behaving takes place in a safe, caring and respectful environment.  Students shall dress in a manner that is appropriate for a learning and working environment.

Student clothing should not interfere with the educational process. Hats and jackets are considered outside attire and they are not to be worn in the school. Common sense standards of decency will prevail. At Wayoata School this means that the following items are not acceptable: skimpy clothing, beach wear, bare mid-riffs, “short shorts”, any clothing with inappropriate messages and any items depicting offensive language or messages that are deemed unacceptable. Under garments should not be visible.

Footwear (with non-marking soles, must be worn at all times. Students must have two pairs of shoes. One pair remains at the school and is only worn inside. Outside shoes must be taken off at entrances and carried to the classroom. It is strongly recommended that students wear runners in the school. Parents and students are responsible for appropriate student attire.

In keeping with the division’s objective to make all students and staff feel safe, welcome and comfortable in the River East Transcona School Division, offensive images such as inappropriate slogans, racist, sexist or demeaning pictures and/or words on clothing, handbags, backpacks, etc. are not permitted.

School Administrators will have the authority to address inappropriate attire in their schools.

Communication

In grade 1-5, the agenda book helps your child keep track of his or her schoolwork and activities and helps you support and share your child's success at school.  As it is the main communication tool between school and home, students are expected to take their agenda home every day and have a parent/guardian check and sign it every day.

In addition to the student agenda book, the school website and newsletter are important communication tools between the school and families. Newsletters are published several times per year and are available on the school website.  Email notifications and updates about school events and activities are sent to families who have provided email addresses on student registration forms. 

Lost and Found

Lost and found items are stored in the bin in the front foyer. Should your child lose something, please remind them to check the bins. Lost and Found items are displayed in the front foyer 3 times a year. Keys, wallets, jewelry, etc. are kept in the front office for students to identify and claim. Any unclaimed items are donated to charity. 

Media

When you are attending school events, River East Transcona School Division welcomes you to capture memories with photo or video. Please respect others' privacy and do not post photos or videos online that contain children other than your own. 

Recess

Please be sure that your children are always dressed appropriately for the weather as all students will go outside for recess in the morning and afternoon for 15 minutes and for 30 minutes at lunch. Please do not request that your child stay in at recess since all supervision is assigned to the playground. A child who is too ill to go outside for recess should not be at school. 

Indoor recess will only take place on days when the temperature or windchill reaches -27°C degrees or colder or on days when there is severe weather.

During indoor recess, students remain in classrooms to participate in indoor recess activities or are invited to join the walking club in the hallways.

We offer Polar Bear Recess to our students in grades one to five. Students with parent permission to participate in Polar Bear Recess may continue to go outside for recess in temperatures as low as -39° C. Students must be dressed appropriately. Students who are a part of the Polar Bear Recess Club can choose each recess whether to go outside or stay inside. If students go outside, they can choose to come back inside at any time. All students will remain inside when the temperature reaches -40°C.

Reporting

Student progress reports are posted to the RETSD Parent Portal at the end of each term (December, March and June). Credentials to access the Parent Portal will be distributed to parents by the school office.  Learning conferences take place in December and March. Additional meetings can be arranged at any time throughout the year by the parent, teacher or principal as necessary.

School Hours

Wayoata School operates on the six-day cycle. Each of the six school days is divided into eight class periods of approximately 35-40 minutes each.

• 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.    Office Hours
• 8:30 a.m.    Student entry
• 8:40 a.m.    Morning Announcements
• 10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.    Recess
• 11:30 a.m.    Lunch Recess
• 12:00 p.m.    Eat Lunch
• 12:30 p.m.    Classes commence
• 1:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.    Recess
• 3:15 p.m.    Dismissal

School Property

Students are responsible for the books, library materials, and school equipment issued to them. A fee may be assessed if the equipment is lost or damaged.  Playground equipment is provided by the school for use during recess. Students should not bring their own playground equipment/toys to school. 

Student Property

All electronic items such as iPads, cell phones, music devices and gaming systems are not allowed at school, unless requested by the teacher. At times, teachers will request that students bring their own device to school for educational activities. The school is not responsible for any damage or loss of any personal items.

Sustainable Living Practices

At Wayoata School we work to reduce our negative impact on the environment.  We encourage students and staff to reduce the amount of garbage that we produce that ends up in the landfill. 

We have a recycling program and a composting program. We promote what we call 'litterless snack'.  For 'litterless snack' we ask families to consider sending a reusable container for your child's snack or a fruit or vegetable that can be composted. We encourage the use of reusable water bottles. 

As we streamline the recycling program at Wayoata School, we have discovered that we are unable to recycle juice boxes.  Juice boxes that are sent to school will be sent home to be recycled as a part of your family's recycling plan.