Grocery certificates!


-----------------
Current Events:

Next PAC meeting is September 25th in the school library, meeting starts at 7:15PM.

----------------

Vancouver School Board Facilities Review

The Vancouver School Board has embarked on a facilities review and has invited students, parents, staff and the public to come to open house meetings being held this week to provide their ideas to help the school board make decisions that best reflect the educational needs and values of Vancouver students and families.

There is a questionaire up at the VSB website on this topic - please enter your concerns, etc.!

There are many factors which need to be taken into account in making decisions to about how best to meet the long term educational infrastructure needs of any district. The focus of this planning effort must be to create better educational facilities in every sense including that they be structurally sound.

We hope parents concerned about school seismic safety, along with other issues facing our school systems, will actively participate in these open house meetings.

The last general PAC meeting for this school year (2006-2007) was Tuesday May 22 in the BYNG Atrium: hear what's happening in your school from teachers, students and administration, meet other committed parents, enjoy lively discussions...all starting @ 7:15PM!

Scheduled speaker Gabor Mate - co-author with Gordon Neufeld of "Hold On To Your Kids: Parenting in a Peer-Driven Culture".

(quoting from the April, 2007 Lord Byng Newsletter)

Parenting is much more stressful and difficult these days because our children no longer look to adults for emontional support, the teaching of values or the modeling of behaviour. Adults-parents and teachers - have lost our natural position as the mentors and guides of young people, pisplaced by peer culture and uncertain values and immature drives.

This talk aims at helping to restore parenting to its natural intuitive basis and the adult-child relationship to its rightful preeminence. The concepts, principles and pratical advice presented will empower parents, teachers and the other adults who play a nurturing role to be for children what nature intended: the true source of contact, security and warmth. Parents need to be protected from becoming lost in the emontionally barren and culturally sterile world of peer orientation. The need a stable community of supportive adults.

Parents from our feeder schools are invited.

Mr. Mate spoke to an enthusiastic audience. One of his main points was that modern children feel disconnected from adults and as a result form their primary linkages with their peer group - who know nothing more about life either - and as such have no real guidance. One solution is to simply get involved with your child and bring other adults in to thier life.

Executive Members of the Lord Byng PAC are:
Daniel Chowne - Chair
Ken Cameron - Past Chair
John Robertson - Webmaster (604)222-3359
Annie Wang - Treasurer
Jan Berney - School Directory
Leo Ferry - DPAC & BCCPAC rep (604)961-6315
Michele Carrington - Grocery Certificates
Valerie Jenkinson - Member at Large
Karin Smith - Member at Large, Volunteer Co-Ordinator Volunteer info...



Parent interest:

Contact Kellie Armstrong or Allison downie for any questions about the Dry After-Grad!

Lord Byng PAC Constitution
PAC meeting, treasurer, and SPC minutes/reports
School Consultative Committee FAQ
Future Speakers:

Past Speakers: Internet Safety - Dr. Richard Rosenberg, from UBC, our speaker in March, 2006 has provided us with a copy of his PowerPoint presentation Titled "Children and the Internet" he spoke to some length about both the positive and negative features of Internet access for children and youths. Recommended for any parent.

Links:
Lord Byng School web site
Vancouver School Board
BCTF BC Teachers Federation
BCCPAC BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils
DPAC (Vancouver) District Parent Advisory Council (meets with school board to help set policies, etc.)
BCSTA BC School Trustees Association
BC Ministry of Education: Curriculum, School Act, School Planning Council, Gaming Funds...
A short video from GRAD 2006 in someones backyard... (I'm assuming this is our Lord Byng grad - looks like a typical Vancouver back yard.)