Kwanwatsi Preschool

Gilkasla!

Welcome to Kwanwatsi Preschool
(250) 286-3274

Parent Handbook

Kwanwatsi Preschool is made possible by the Campbell River Indian Band, British Columbia’s First Nations Education Steering Committee, and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. The Band has committed funds from various sources to be able to offer Preschool to their Band members.

The purpose of this parent booklet is to familiarize you with the programs, procedures and policies of the school. Please take the time to read through this booklet. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to the staff as soon as possible.

Mission Statement
The Kwanwatsi Preschool program recognizes that children are our most valuable resource. The Preschool works to ensure that the family and the community are grounded in traditional language and culture, literacy, health, nutrition and education.

Philosophy
Kwanwatsi Preschool program is founded on the belief that parents and guardians are the primary teachers and caregivers for their children.  The Kwanwatsi teachers are here to support and encourage each child’s positive sense of themselves and their desire for learning.  The teachers support the role of the parents in planning, developing and evaluating the program.

The goal of the Kwanwatsi Preschool program is to provide children between the age of 3 to 4 years with positive, developmentally appropriate growth opportunities, by providing activities and materials that are cognitively stimulating, culturally reflective, creatively rewarding, socially satisfying, physically challenging and most importantly fun!

Staff
Manager: Rachel West
Rachel is a Licensed Early Childhood Educator and a Special Needs & Infant Toddler Educator. She received her training in Malaspina University – College. She is a mother of two children and is half Kwaguilth and half Haida.

Assistant Early Childhood Educator: Ann Almond
Ann is a Licensed Early Childhood Educator and Special Needs Educator. Ann received her training at Douglas College. Ann is mother of two children and has lived in Campbell River area for seventeen years.

Nutritionist/Cook: Maggie Henderson
Maggie has her Food Safe Certificate.  She is an elder of the Campbell River Band. Maggie moved back to Campbell River 12 years ago and has been working for the Band ever since. Maggie was a hairdresser for 37 years. She loves working with children and does a lot of volunteer work in the community.

Language Teacher: Dana Roberts
Dana Roberts has recently graduated with a Developmental Standard Term Certificate from the University of Victoria. She has been teaching Likwala language at Kwanwatsi School for three years. She is a mother of five and a grandmother of one.  She is a member of the Wei Wai Kum Nation and originates from the WeWai Kai Nation.

Hours of Operation
Kwanwatsi Preschool program is open ten months of the year from September to June, with a two-month summer closure over July and August. The Preschool is also closed for two weeks over the Christmas holidays as well as on all statutory holidays.  
Regular hours are Monday to Thursday: 9:30am – 2:30pm

Clothing
Please be sure your child has a spare set of clothes (shirts, pants, socks and underwear) in their cubbies at all times. Please do not send your child in clothing that you do not want to get dirty.  Many of our art and outside activities have the potential of getting children’s clothing wet, dirty or stained.

Please ensure your child arrives with weather appropriate clothing for that day. Also, please send your child in comfortable and appropriate footwear to allow for safe running and playing (i.e. no high heel shoes or flip flops).

If your child should require extra clothing staff will send a reminder note home.

Unforeseen Closures
Unforeseen closures may occur as per licensing regulations. In this situation, you will be contacted immediately to pick up your child.

Unforeseen closures may include the following: Electrical failure, water problems, highly contagious disease, or unusually severe weather.

Snow Closures
Kwanwatsi will close for the day if School District 72 school buses and/or schools close for the day. 

Daily Schedule

 
Sick or Unwell Children
Please keep sick children at home as the program does not have facilities or extra staff to care for them.

If your child has had any of the following conditions in the past 24 hours please keep them at home and notify the centre regarding cancellation of care for that day:

• Fever over 100 degrees
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Unidentified rash
• Deep cough
• Dark-coloured runny nose
• Communicable diseases such as: Chicken Pox, Measles, Pink Eye, etc.

If your child cannot participate in all aspects of the program (e.g. outside time), they must remain at home.

Medications
Staff will only administer prescription medication for which a medication form has been filled out and signed by the parent. All medications must be in the original container, labelled with the child’s name. Staff will not administer non-prescription medications (Tylenol, cough syrups, throat lozenges, vitamins, holistic herbs, etc.) without a note from the child’s medical doctor.

Head Lice
Head lice are small parasites that live and breed on the scalp and hair.  Although head lice are frustrating and difficult to control, they do not cause any major health concerns. Head lice are extremely contagious. Hair to hair contact, contact with hairbrushes, clothing or hats can easily transfer head lice from one person to another.

Head lice are in no way a reflection of a person’s level of personal or home environmental cleanliness. Head lice actually prefer clean scalp and hair.

Kwanwatsi staff conducts head lice checks every month. If your child is found to have head lice, you will be contacted to come and pick up your child immediately to avoid further spread of head lice to other children and staff at the school.

Children must be kept at home until their hair has been treated and their heads are free of all lice, eggs and nits.

Lunch is provided by a nutritionist who cooks the children healthy lunches and a dessert each day. Please be sure to notify us if your child has any allergies.

Guidance
Our methods of guidance may include setting limits, clearly stating expectations, modeling appropriate behaviour, and redirecting children to a different activity. 

If a child’s behaviour requires a brief removal from the group, an adult will stay in touch with her/him, and then help the child to become involved again.

On rare occasions when a child is becoming aggressive and endangering themselves or others, a staff member may be required to use a child safety holding technique until the child is capable of appropriate behaviour, the staff will stay in touch with the child, and then help them become involved with the program again.

Staff will always:

• Establish clear, consistent and simple expectations
• Provide opportunities for appropriate and positive behaviour through the program activities
• Acknowledge children’s feelings

  Offer choices that are developmentally appropriate

• Demonstrate respectful affection and caring to each child
• Use modeling and give verbal direction and redirection as the main way of guiding children

Pick up & Drop off Policy
Please note for the safety of all children and the liability of the facilities staff, children must be signed in on arrival and signed out on departure.

We require parents/guardians to fill out a form with the names and numbers of individuals over the age of 19 years who may pick up your child. 

Your child will not be released to anyone who is not on the pick up list, unless acceptable arrangements have been made. 

If a staff member is not familiar with the individual who will be picking up your child, we will need their name and a description of the person picking up and they will have to show identification.

Kwanwatsi School Personal Belongings List

You child needs the following items for his or her cubby, all labelled with your child’s name. If, for some reason, you are unable to provide these items, please contact the center and we can make arrangements.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Enrollment

Please click below to view & print the
Kwanwatsi Enrollment Form.

Enrollment Form