May is Child Care Month

James Bay Community School and Centre

By Darcy Topinka

On Thursday May 2 from 6:30 -8:00 pm the James Bay Community School and Centre will host an evening of art appreciation with a show and a sale of children's art. The Public is invited to support the artistic achievements of our amazing kids, as they showcase their art work as part of our "Artist in the School" series. Art sales between 6:30 and 7 pm are restricted to parents and guardians of James Bay Community School students, allowing them to purchase their own child's artwork. Proceeds from the sale of the art will be used to sponsor the event the following year. Live music and refreshments are all apart of this wonderful evening, made possible by the generous support of South Harbour Partners.

Over the past school term representatives of the Community School and Centre have been working with the City of Victoria and School District #61 to secure an earthquake container/emergency supplies container which will be located on school property. Phase one of the initiative is wrapping up, the 20'x8' container which will house much needed supplies in the event of a major emergency in the school or in the community. We thank the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority for their support on this project. One of our goals is to initiate a community awareness campaign in the fall of 2013 to get residents thinking about their own personal safety in the event of a major emergency.

Make a note on your calendar, Wednesday, June 12 is our annual community picnic. Donations are flooding in for our annual silent auction. The silent auction is part of a fun-filled afternoon which marks the end of the school term bringing families and community members together.

The B.C. government has proclaimed the month of May as Child Care Month to celebrate the work of thousands of caring and committed child-care operators and early childhood educators throughout the province. The James Bay Community School offers five distinct licensed child care programs ranging from out of school care, group day care and preschool. The proclamation acknowledges the valuable service child-care providers deliver - and the significant contributions they make to children's development. Here at the JBCS we are very proud of our amazing child care team and we congratulate and thank them for their amazing contribution to our school and community.

Here are a few interesting facts regarding child care in BC, outlined by the Ministry of Children and Families. The child-care and early learning system is actively supporting parents of young children to work or go to school, providing more than 100,000 licensed child-care spaces throughout the province. B.C.'s network of child-care and early learning supports also provides thousands of jobs, currently employing more than 12,000 licensed early childhood educators and nearly 5,000 early childhood educator assistants. British Columbia has 34 post-secondary training institutes offering early childhood education programs.

Here are a few more quick facts about child care in British Columbia.

• Approximately 55 per cent of licensed facilities are group child care and approximately 45 per cent are family child care.
• In Budget 2011, government provided $365 million over three years for full-day kindergarten for five-year-olds. This is improving early learning while reducing child-care pressure on families.
• In addition, the government made a regulation change last year increasing the maximum capacity of after-school child-care programs, resulting in the creation of more spaces.
• The Ministry of Children and Family Development is invest $296 million on child care in 2012-13, a 40 per cent increase since 2000-01.Child-care subsidies are available to support low- and moderate-income families, helping approximately 50,000 children and their families every year.
• Parents looking for child care in their community can get help through their local Child Care Resource and Referral Program (CCRR). CCRRs offer quality child-care referrals, resources and support in over 400 B.C. communities.