Inside Day for Recess and Lunch
As directed by the Surrey School District; to ensure the safety of our students, we will be having an inside day today at recess and lunch.
This is due to the partial eclipse later this morning.
Below is messaging from Fraser Health:
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse will occur when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth. In our region, this event will be a partial eclipse, expected to start around 10:40am and end around 12:20pm. While it is dangerous to look at the sun anytime, the risk of harm during a solar eclipse occurs when there is the added temptation to look. While our region will not experience noticeably lower light levels during this event, children who are old enough to understand that an eclipse is occurring, or see others look up, may be tempted to do so. Even during a partial eclipse, the sun’s intense radiation can cause severe damage to the eyes. It’s crucial to avoid looking directly at the sun, especially for children, as their eyes let in more light to the retina than adult eyes. Young children also may not fully understand the risks or be able to follow safety directives and may require more supervision.
In order to avoid the risk of permanent damage, it is reasonable to keep students indoors during the eclipse, particularly for younger students. If students are not able to see the sun from where they are indoors, closing blinds or using window coverings is not necessary. The eclipse can be watched live online. Should classrooms choose to organize a learning opportunity around this, such as viewing with a pinhole projector, recommendations for safe watching should be followed.
Avoid direct viewing: Never look directly at the eclipse under any circumstances.
Only use safe viewers: Only view the eclipse if you have safe viewers and filters that meet the international standard ISO 12312-2 obtained from a reputable source.
Do not use homemade filters: Do not use homemade filters, sunglasses, ski goggles, camera lenses, smoked glass, photographic film, or x-ray film by themselves or in combination with a binocular or telescope.
Pinhole projector: If you don’t have eclipse viewers that meet the international standard, create a pinhole projector and focus on the projected image, not the sun itself.
Always supervise children.
For more information, see:
For more information, see:
Canadian Space Agency: How to safely watch a solar eclipse - Canadian Space Agency (asc-csa.gc.ca)
Canadian Association of Optometrists: https://opto.ca/eye-health-library/solar-eclipse-safety
Student Project: How to Make a Pinhole Camera | NASA/JPL Edu
