Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Peanut-Safe Environment We encourage a NUT and PEANUT FREE environment at Balmy Beach as some of our students and staff suffer from life-threatening allergies. Please ensure lunches and snacks do not include nut or peanut products or by-products.

Illness at School
If your child becomes unwell during the school day, his or her teacher will send or take the child to the office and a member of the office staff will phone the parent indicated on the emergency card if the problem persists.

Chronic Illnesses, Allergies & Medication
If your child suffers from any illness that could impede their ability to perform (i.e. asthma for Phys. Ed.), a severe allergy or any other other condition that could have an impact on their well-being at school, please let the office know. You may be asked to complete a special form so we have the necessary contact information. If the school staff needs to administer medication on your behalf, including epipens, you will need to provide medication and clear instructions as to the correct dosage and frequency, as well as completing a form giving us explicit permission to do so.

Communicable Diseases
If you believe your child has an illness that could be transmitted to others, you are strongly encouraged to keep your child at home to minimize the risk of infecting the larger school population. If you are keeping your child home due to sickness, advise the office and let them know the nature of the illness. This is particularly important in the case of highly contagious childhood illnesses such as chicken pox, mumps and seasonal ailments such as influenza.

Mental Health and Anxiety Presentation by Psychologist Janet Bone and Social Worker Sue Knutsen.

Headlice/Pediculosis
Pediculosis is a nuisance rather than a health hazard. Cases of headlice are on the increase in society. Parents are notified by letter if their children have lice. If you find lice on your child, please contact the office so that we can send a note home to other parents in the class asking them to examine their own children. Parents must take this responsibility very seriously as untreated lice multiply and spread to other children in the classroom. The TDSB has a Pediculosis Program Co-ordinator available to come to the school to assist our parents and parent volunteers with ridding children of headlice.

Walking to School & Parking
Please instruct your children to take the safest route to and from school and to stay well away from the parking lot. For safety reasons we must strictly enforce the policy of no students in the staff parking lot at any time. Parking is always a challenge around our school. Very special attention to the safety of our children is a must. When it is necessary for you to drive your child to school, please observe the street signs in our neighbourhood. Legal parking is available on Balsam and Beech. Please do not block our neighbours' driveways. The child drop off zone on Pine Avenue is limited to 15-minute between the hours of 7:30 – 9:00 a.m., 11:00 – 1:00 and 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. If you need to park, please find a parking zone.

Bicycles
Bicycles may not be ridden in the schoolyard during school hours. It is recommended that all bicycles be padlocked in the bike racks by the Beech entrance during the day. You are responsible for your own bicycle.

Skateboards, Rollerblades & Scooters
Skateboards, rollerblades, scooters and heelies may not be ridden in the schoolyard or in the school during the extended school day (until 6 p.m.) Skateboards also cannot be used in the yard while outdoor Daycare is in progress.

Schoolyard Use After Hours
While we welcome the community’s use of the school yard after normal school hours, we wish to remind parents that the safety of the children at play on TDSB property is a parental concern once the staff have completed their supervision duties at 3:45. Also, please note that the Balmy Beach Daycare Centre have exclusive access to parts of the yard at specific times.

Dogs On School Property
As per TDSB policy, dogs are not allowed on school property. Please do not tie your dog to the outer fence or leave dogs unattended when picking up or dropping off students. 

Banned Substances On School Property
Smoking, drinking alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden on TDSB property at all times.

Neighbourhood Watch
We encourage our neighbours to keep an eye on our building and report any suspicious activity to school staff, to the TDSB Call Centre at 416-395-4620 on evenings or weekends, or directly to the police if necessary.