Our Lady of Fatima in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada is a wonderful school, however the parents have many concerns since the fun is disappearing.
Taking away the the right to wear a costume for Halloween to school just does not make sense. There is no harm in celebrating Halloween and it provides so many memories for the children. It should be the parents decision to send them in a costume or not, and if they feel strongly about it, then they can decide to not send their child to school that day. Orange and black day was the substitute and many parents do not own anything orange, but besides that... how is that any fun? The kids want to show off their costumes to their classmates and it is only ONCE PER YEAR!
Secondly taking away the Christmas Concert was so disappointing in 2014. We were very upset to not see our kids sing and do a performance and we did not know about it until last minute, so therefore were not able to voice our concerns. This too is an amazing memory for the children to have, and the parents and grandparents look forward to it each year. All of the children eagerly look for their parents while being on stage and get such enjoyment out of it. Sure Canada is multi cultural, but we have strong traditions too, so removing it all together so not to offend anyone again does not make sense. If parents do not want their children taking part, than don't have them take part!
Not being able to bring treats for their classmates was also disappointing for special events. All three of my children have food allergies, and all three carry an epi pen. So I completely understand the importance of being careful of the ingredients, but they only "pig out" every once in a while and just a few treats here and there won't hurt them. As long as there is a label on it that states the ingredients, why wouldn't that be sufficient?
We as parents are not trying to cause trouble as we love Our Lady of Fatima in Grimsby, we just want to voice it to the Principal so that he can see how many families are upset about the changes. We have a right to voice our opinion as this affects our children, and we hope that this will be changed right away.
Updates
November 3, 2015
I have been hearing from so many of you who miss the joy that used to define our school year. Watching these traditions disappear one by one takes away the special memories our children deserve to have. We are looking into the best way to present these concerns to the administration because your stories prove we are not alone in wanting these changes.
November 3, 2015
Seeing this kind of momentum reminds me that I am not the only one frustrated by the disappearing traditions at our school. My own children deserve to have these memories back in their classrooms. Thank you for showing that our joy is worth fighting for.
Reached 100 supporters
November 3, 2015
62 Comments
The fun of school is all being taken away... how do we expect our children to learn if you take away all of the fun of learning?! If it's not enjoyable you won't engage them... allowing only the ELKP classes to partake is hypocritical and unfair to the rest of the children.
Glad to see someone took the initiative. I attended this school, and now my children do. I remember the Christmas concerts and the Halloween parties. It is part of the school experience. Taking them away with no discussion with the parents is just plain wrong.
How can a costume be unsafe for a child to wear? Need to encourage children's growth in all stages of development including creativity, self-esteem. Self- discovery, arts and culture, music, sports, etc. Self expression is sooo important. These children will dictate our future.
I couldn't agree more with all of these posts. It's upsetting to think that all the fun and traditions we've all known for so long have been eliminated from our lovely school. It'd be nice to have all the things, that Michelle posted early, back in our school. It's what makes it a community, a family and not just a school.
I cannot believe this school is being so rigid on traditions that have been in place since I was in school. Lighten up. Life is short enough. Also, no Christmas concert in a catholic school is not acceptable and a disgrace in my opinion.
Joy Day was a December tradition every year - first Friday of December. Christmas carols playing on the speakers, grade 8 students painting windows, doing crafts & stories with younger kids, hot chocolate for everyone & kids encouraged to dress as "festive" as possible. Gone. Thing of the past. This year, very last day before holidays begin, kids are allowed to wear red/green. Well, my child does not own anything red or green. Does that mean she is penalized & has to wear the navy uniform on that day? They have also stopped the freedom to wear what you want on out of uniform days; now it's a chosen colour. Boring...... There is zero fun at the school & I do not put this blame on the wonderful teachers at all. I'm thankful my daughter's teacher is taking it upon himself to add some joy to the classroom by putting up a Christmas tree, making balloon animals on their birthday and secretly giving out treats on special occasions. I don't know who is the chief decision maker behind all the negative changes but I think it's showing in the lack of parental support for fundraising etc.
I remember when this school had grass to play on its mostly mud now. The least you could do is bring all of this fun stuff back
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Our Lady of Fatima in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada is a wonderful school, however the parents have many concerns since the fun is disappearing.
Taking away the the right to wear a costume for Halloween to school just does not make sense. There is no harm in celebrating Halloween and it provides so many memories for the children. It should be the parents decision to send them in a costume or not, and if they feel strongly about it, then they can decide to not send their child to school that day. Orange and black day was the substitute and many parents do not own anything orange, but besides that... how is that any fun? The kids want to show off their costumes to their classmates and it is only ONCE PER YEAR!
Secondly taking away the Christmas Concert was so disappointing in 2014. We were very upset to not see our kids sing and do a performance and we did not know about it until last minute, so therefore were not able to voice our concerns. This too is an amazing memory for the children to have, and the parents and grandparents look forward to it each year. All of the children eagerly look for their parents while being on stage and get such enjoyment out of it. Sure Canada is multi cultural, but we have strong traditions too, so removing it all together so not to offend anyone again does not make sense. If parents do not want their children taking part, than don't have them take part!
Not being able to bring treats for their classmates was also disappointing for special events. All three of my children have food allergies, and all three carry an epi pen. So I completely understand the importance of being careful of the ingredients, but they only "pig out" every once in a while and just a few treats here and there won't hurt them. As long as there is a label on it that states the ingredients, why wouldn't that be sufficient?
We as parents are not trying to cause trouble as we love Our Lady of Fatima in Grimsby, we just want to voice it to the Principal so that he can see how many families are upset about the changes. We have a right to voice our opinion as this affects our children, and we hope that this will be changed right away.
Updates
November 3, 2015
I have been hearing from so many of you who miss the joy that used to define our school year. Watching these traditions disappear one by one takes away the special memories our children deserve to have. We are looking into the best way to present these concerns to the administration because your stories prove we are not alone in wanting these changes.
November 3, 2015
Seeing this kind of momentum reminds me that I am not the only one frustrated by the disappearing traditions at our school. My own children deserve to have these memories back in their classrooms. Thank you for showing that our joy is worth fighting for.
Reached 100 supporters
November 3, 2015
62 Comments
I wish this would extend to my children's school as well. My daughters birthday is Halloween and she has been very diappointed that last few year as she is only allowed to weAr Orange and black to school and no treats to celebrate with school friends for her birthday.
The fun of school is all being taken away... how do we expect our children to learn if you take away all of the fun of learning?! If it's not enjoyable you won't engage them... allowing only the ELKP classes to partake is hypocritical and unfair to the rest of the children.
Glad to see someone took the initiative. I attended this school, and now my children do. I remember the Christmas concerts and the Halloween parties. It is part of the school experience. Taking them away with no discussion with the parents is just plain wrong.
How can a costume be unsafe for a child to wear? Need to encourage children's growth in all stages of development including creativity, self-esteem. Self- discovery, arts and culture, music, sports, etc. Self expression is sooo important. These children will dictate our future.
I couldn't agree more with all of these posts. It's upsetting to think that all the fun and traditions we've all known for so long have been eliminated from our lovely school. It'd be nice to have all the things, that Michelle posted early, back in our school. It's what makes it a community, a family and not just a school.
I cannot believe this school is being so rigid on traditions that have been in place since I was in school. Lighten up. Life is short enough. Also, no Christmas concert in a catholic school is not acceptable and a disgrace in my opinion.
Joy Day was a December tradition every year - first Friday of December. Christmas carols playing on the speakers, grade 8 students painting windows, doing crafts & stories with younger kids, hot chocolate for everyone & kids encouraged to dress as "festive" as possible. Gone. Thing of the past. This year, very last day before holidays begin, kids are allowed to wear red/green. Well, my child does not own anything red or green. Does that mean she is penalized & has to wear the navy uniform on that day? They have also stopped the freedom to wear what you want on out of uniform days; now it's a chosen colour. Boring...... There is zero fun at the school & I do not put this blame on the wonderful teachers at all. I'm thankful my daughter's teacher is taking it upon himself to add some joy to the classroom by putting up a Christmas tree, making balloon animals on their birthday and secretly giving out treats on special occasions. I don't know who is the chief decision maker behind all the negative changes but I think it's showing in the lack of parental support for fundraising etc.
I remember when this school had grass to play on its mostly mud now. The least you could do is bring all of this fun stuff back
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I wish this would extend to my children's school as well. My daughters birthday is Halloween and she has been very diappointed that last few year as she is only allowed to weAr Orange and black to school and no treats to celebrate with school friends for her birthday.