Principal's Updates

Student Safety and Security at ÉOES

As parents and teachers, nothing is more important to us than the safety and security of our children. Each school day, we have the honor of supervising more than 575 students entering École Olds Elementary School for a day of learning activities. Accompanying these students are teachers, support staff, and parent volunteers who work together to make our school a safe and caring place for children to learn. The safety of all children attending our school is of the utmost importance. Here are a few of the steps that we take at ÉOES to address this:

● Supervision: Outside supervision begins at 8:25am including the cross-walk and bus area (before and after school). Recesses and noon hours are also supervised.

● Parking Lot: Each day before and after school, we close the gates to the parking lot in front of the school. We ask drivers who have vehicles in this lot to wait until the gates are opened by school staff before driving your vehicle. We do this because of the large number of students and their siblings that sometimes end up in this space.

● Security Plan: Our school security plan informs all staff of the procedures to be followed for fire drills, lockdowns, tornado safety, first aid treatment and emergency evacuations. We practice these drills and evacuations at various times throughout each year.

● Curriculum Content: The concept of safety is integrated into the curriculum. For example, in Physical Education classes, students are coached on how to play safely. In the health curriculum, safety is a prevalent topic.

● Special Programs: Every opportunity is taken to provide students with safety education. Safety programs are offered in cooperation with the Olds Fire Department, the RCMP, and the Chinook’s Edge Transportation Department. As well, all of our students in grades 1 to 4  have the opportunity to learn to swim through our Physical Education program.

We also appreciate the additional layer of safety and security that comes in the form of the hundred or so parents who visit our school each morning and afternoon to pick up and drop off their children. When it comes to safety, there is no doubt that we benefit from raising our children in a close-knit rural community like Olds. On behalf of all our staff, thank you for your continued support.

Alanna Sampson, Principal