HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-05-31, Page 10Page 10 May 31, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
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News
SPS considers balanced. school day
Susan Hundertmark
As one of the few remaining
public schools in the area who
still have a regular school day
with one lunch break, Seaforth
Public is considering convert-
ing to a "balanced school day."
Schools such as Huron
Centennial in Brucefield and
Upper Thames in Mitchell
have been operating balanced
school days for several
years.
The balanced
school day is broken up
by two 45 -minute
breaks when students
have 20 -minute nutri-
t i o n a l
breaks and
25 -min-
utes of
outdoor
recess.
If your local pharmacy closed, how far would you have to travel for
medication and health advice? It could be quite a long way if Bill 102
is passed. Bill 102 will cut critical funding that pharmacies rely on
to operate.
This means up to 300 local and rural pharmacies may be forced to
close. Many people will have to travel outside their own communities
for prescriptions and medical advice. But that's not all.
There'll be longer waiting times to fill your prescriptions and receive
answers to questions about your health.
Many pharmacies that do remain open will probably have to reduce
hours of operation and staffing levels. And some drugs will not be
available as quickly as they are now. Is this really the kind of health
care you want?
Bill 102 must be fixed before it goes too far. CaII Carol Mitchell at
1-866-396-3007 or email cmitchell.mpp@liberal.ola.org by June 5th.
For further information on Bill 102 visit: www.PharmacyCoalition.ca
Coalition of Ontario Pharmacy
"Seaforth
is sur-
rounded
by schools
with the
balanced
school day.
If we don't
go with it,
we will be
one of the
only
schools without it,"
says principal Kim
Black.
Hullett and
Blyth Public Schools
moved to the balanced
timetable last
September and Clinton
and Hensall are expect-
ed to adopt it this
September.
There are now
26 out of 44 primary
schools in the Avon
Maitland board who
are using a balanced
school day, says Steve
Howe, the board's man-
ager of communica-
tions.
"A lot of schools
are looking into it and
after a little bit of cul-
ture shock, most of the
schools find it a lot bet-
ter," he says.
The concept has
been discussed for SPS
during the last two
school council meetings
and parents are invited to
attend the next school council
meeting on June 14 when it
will be addressed once more.
"We're seriously considering
it and plan to make the final
decision after the next school
council meeting," says principal
Kim Black, adding she wel-
comes input from all parents
on the idea.
'A lot of
schools, are.
looking into it
and after a
little bit of
culture shock,
most of the
schools find it
a lot better,' --
Avon Maitland
Communications
manager
Steve I-Iowe
While not too
many have been
attending the
school council
meetings, she
says she's getting
plenty of phone
calls with ques-
tions.
The two biggest
benefits of a bal-
anced school day
are the ability to
create large
blocks of learning
time, especially
for language
lessons, and the
more frequent
opportunities to eat, allowing
students better concentration
during class, especially during
the latter part of the day.
"The sustained teaching time
for language we created with
the primary grades was one of
the reasons we think' our liter-
acy scores went up," .Black
says, adding the balanced
schedule would allow even
larger blocks, of uninterrupted
learning time.
Another benefit is an extra
recess to provide 25 minutes of
intramural sports, giving stu-
dents more opportunity to get
some exercise.
She says most parents are
questioning how to pack lunch-
es since the food will be divided
into two breaks.
If the school decides to go
ahead with the balanced school
day, the new schedule and
information about packing
lunches from the Huron
County Health Unit will be
sent home before the summer
break.
Story idea?
Call Susan or Jeff
at 527-0240