​                                                     Hillsborough Elementary Newsletter             

November 2021

734-3700

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The November newsletter was ready to print and then things changed with the announcement of home learning. A few additional notes have been added.  At this time, students will be learning from home until further notice.  Teachers will be communicating about learning plans for students.  We understand that this may not be easy for some. Students may be in places other than home, so plans are meant to be flexible, with students participating as they can. Email is the best way to communicate with teachers, however you can leave a phone message at the school, and this will be passed on to the teacher. You can also email susan.wilmot@nbed.nb.ca.

Picture retake day will be rescheduled. The new date will be communicated once it is confirmed. If you still have orders for school pictures that were due this past Friday, these can be brought to school when the students return.  We also plan to continue with our Halloween plans when students return including costumes and a parade to Fundy Manor.

We are planning a virtual Remembrance Day assembly with the students. They are familiar with virtual assemblies now.  Again, this year our local Legion is providing medals for a Remembrance Day poster contest.  Students will show what Remembrance Day means to them through art.  We look forward to being able to include the community again in the future.

Our librarian, Mrs. Comeau is planning a book sale in the library later this month. Please be aware:

 Library Used Book Sale Nov 25-26.  All books will be $1 regardless of size or condition.  

Finally, some on-line safety information is included at the end of this newsletter because of some popular online trends with TIK TOK and Squid Game. Inappropriate games/activities related to these have been noticed at school. We have had discussions with some students about this.  Our Guidance Counsellor, Mrs. Bamford has provided some specific information about these trends.  She has also included some tips to help.

Susan Wilmot

Principal HES

Online Safety and Awareness from Mrs. Bamford  (School Counsellor)

Squid Game

Netflix has a series for a “mature audience” called “Squid Game” which features debt-ridden adults playing children’s games for a huge cash prize-turned deadly.  In the first episode, tournament participants play a twisted version of the children’s game “Red Light, Green Light” in which those who are caught moving during the red light by the doll character are shot dead.  Squid Game is also being viewed via other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and given the popularity of the games in the show, developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Fortnite, Roblox, and other gaming platforms.  Some versions are not as violent as others (ex. there is a version where contestants are sprayed with a water gun).

We are seeing some students play this at school and have had discussions with them about it not being an appropriate playground game.

It would be helpful to have home conversations that allow children to process what they may be seeing on Netflix/ hearing other children talk about or play. 

Some specific talking points:

a)       TV versus reality

b)      Time and place and understanding that schools have children of all ages and comfort levels 

c)       Shooting gestures at school is not appropriate.

 TikTok Challenges

#DeviousLicks challenge involves school vandalism.