Principal's Message February 5-9th
This Week at Lord Tweedsmuir Thursday February 8th, 2024
Good morning to the Lord Tweedsmuir community!
Our second semester is now well underway and our students and staff are adjusting to new classes, new teachers, new students and new learning. I strongly encourage all students to set your learning goals very high and take advantage of the many wonderful opportunities and support systems that Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary provides. I am confident that our 2nd semester learning journey together will be positive and very rewarding. All the best Panthers!
Speaking of new learning journeys… on Monday we welcomed eight new Student-Teachers into our school. Welcome to Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary! Fostering the next generation of teachers is such an important professional responsibility for educators. As Lord Tweedsmuir staff, we accept this responsibility with great care and dedication. We had the chance to meet these newest members of our team on Monday and welcomed them to our caring community of excellence. My message was simple and sincere… thank you for choosing such an honourable and important calling. Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary is a very special place for you to begin your journey as an educator… and your dedication, hard work and care for children will make a positive difference for generations to come. Welcome to our team, and thank you to our many Teacher sponsors who have taken on this important work of mentorship!
Tuesday was a very special and important day for our students and school. We hosted a panel discussion featuring the Premier and several Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The panel included Premier David Eby, Minister Jennifer Whiteside, MLA Mike Starchuk, MLA Joan Phillip, Minister Lisa Beare, MLA Jinny Sims, Parliamentary Secretary Susie Chant and MLA Ravi Parmar. Many of our Surrey School District Trustees and our District’s Senior Leadership team were also able to join us.
The panel met with Social Studies 10 students from Mr. van Halst’s and Mr. Solari’s classes. Many of our Leadership students were also able to join us. Our students were excellent ambassadors for our school and asked the panel thoughtful and highly relevant questions related to governance and community and provincial issues. This was a very unique opportunity for our students to hear directly from our premier and MLA’s. The event directly supported the Social Studies 10 curriculum and provided meaningful feedback to our government representatives. I would like to thank all of our guests for joining us yesterday. I would also like to thank the many students and staff who participated in the panel discussion and who helped lead, coordinate and plan behind the scenes. This was a true LTSS Team effort and a great success. Congratulations Panthers!
Our 24/25 timetable construction has begun with our Course Request process. On Thursday and Friday of this week, our Counselling team met with grade 8 & 9 students to discuss their course options for next year and provide instructions for requesting courses. All students are reminded of the importance of this process and the need for very careful selection of course requests. Panthers are reminded that next year’s timetable will be built with this information and staffing will then be based upon this timetable. With this, we will build a timetable that will allow the school to provide courses that meet our students needs. However, this also means that after the timetable has been built, there will be very little opportunity for course changes. Students are advised to seek guidance and advice from staff and parents/guardians regarding course requests. Please choose wisely; and ask questions now if you need any additional information about possible future coursework. Great thanks to our Counselling team for your leadership and work in gathering this important information.
Tomorrow our staff Book Club will be meeting again to continue our discussion about the book “Is everyone really equal: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education” by Sensoy and DiAngelo. It promises to be an interesting conversation and highly relevant to our work in the public education system. All staff are invited to join us.
Hope your Friday goes well. Enjoy your weekend with rest, rejuvenation and friendship!
Ken
Traffic Safety
Traffic safety around Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary is a critical priority for our community. With increased enrollment, the number of vehicles navigating around and within our school grounds also increases. It is essential that all drivers are very cautious while driving near the school and are aware of the many student pedestrians who are nearby.
All students and parents/guardians are requested to consider the following:
- If possible, students - please walk and/or bike to school. Fewer vehicles attempting to drop off and/or pick up students will be very helpful.
- Consider dropping off/picking up 2-3 blocks away from the school and avoid the traffic congestion around the school.
- Consider drop-off/pick up earlier and/or later in the morning/afternoons to avoid peak traffic times.
Thank you for your help in protecting the safety of our students.
