The Holiday Season

The holiday season is upon us and we are busy wrapping up learning activities, having fun with holiday crafts, and preparing for our Christmas celebration on Dec 20!

A few things to note:

1. Our Christmas celebration will be held on Dec 20th at 6pm. Please join us for a dinner, some holiday cheer, a couple of short performances from our students and a few carols. Your invitations to dinner will come home next week for RSVPs.

2. As you may have heard, we have a student at school with an anaphylactic allergy to tree nuts. Please feel free to continue sending lunches for your own student as you have been, however if you choose to send birthday treats, snacks, or participate in hot lunches that are to be shared, we ask that THOSE be nut-free to ensure safety and inclusion for all students, otherwise they will not be handed out.

3. Many of you have already signed up for, and are using, SCHOOL DAY, our online system for collecting permission forms and paying online for school activities. We will continue to send paper permission forms home, however if you'd like to check out school day and didn't receive your student-specific code that was sent home, just let us know! It saves time from having to enter health card information, carry cash, or sign your name 10 times!

4. You may hear rumblings of students receiving extra snacks at school. The Food Sharing program has been great at opening orders for us, and biweekly, we are often able to bring in some fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks to promote at school!

When your child will be away, please update their attendance in the School Messenger app so we are aware.

For any abnormal pick up or bus changes, please let us know. The primary class will be using agendas to communicate from home to school. If plans change throughout the day, please call the school and speak to someone directly so we are aware of the change. Email and voice messages are not effective as we sometimes are busy in the classroom and do not check them before dismissal.

I first want to say the students, families, and community have been so warm and welcoming to me. Thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart.

A little fact about me, is that I listen to Christmas music all year long. It shouldn’t surprise you to learn then, that Christmas is my favourite time of year. I love the magic and spirit of the season – so much so, in fact, that I will be decked out in holiday attire everyday this month.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, the office is decorated with a Christmas tree. I am hoping soon that the tree will have some decorations made for it, by students. The office door is decorated with Christmas lights that have all the student’s names on them, and a little note that says, “We are small, mighty, and shine bright” echoing the school moto.

A new addition to the office this week, is the Grinch, who has a very tiny heart. Students are encouraged to pop into the office and share about something kind or positive they said or did. These kind gestures and positive words or actions will be added to the bulletin board to help to grow the Grinch’s heart.

Let’s see how BIG the Grinch’s heart can grow!

Even throughout rotating absences this month due to sickness, we had a busy month! When asked, our senior students say their highlights of November were visiting the Art Museum, attending the Volleyball tournament in Kingston (and doing wonderfully), making holiday crafts, writing Haikus, learning with new Micro-Bit chips, and learning how to find different percentages of a number. We are also loving the surprise snacks that Ms G puts together for us from the Food Sharing program!

We learned lots of different things in November and we couldn't pick just one to talk about so this month each student wrote about one thing that they found interesting or important.

This month we have been learning about animals. I think it is interesting to learn about reptiles and more. - Lake

This month we learned a new song in Ms. Sutherland's class. I think it is important because we will present it in the gym. - Isabelle

This month we have been learning about conjunctions. I think it is important because I use conjunctions in my sentences to make them interesting. - Eve

This month we have been learning about friendly numbers. I think it is important because you can get good at adding. - Rylynn

This month we started learning about the human body. The human body is really interesting because there are seven systems that fit in one little body. - Marianne

This month we learned about suffixes. Suffixes are important because they help you know the meaning of words. - Estie

This month we learned about paragraphs. Paragraphs are really important because they help you organize your ideas. - Hendrix

This month we learned about human body parts. Human body parts are interesting because you find out what is in your body. - Keegan

This month we learned about animal groups. Animal groups are really interesting because you can learn their characteristics. - Lionel

This month we learned about friendly numbers. Friendly numbers are really important to learn about because they can help you with adding. - Harrison

This month we learned about foot skills in gym. Foot skills are really interesting to learn about because now I know how to control my ball. - Isla

This month we learned about animal groups. Animal groups are interesting because some animals have a backbone and some animals do not have a backbone. - Lincon

In French, the students learned about Le jour du souvenir and learned about the bravery and sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers during World War I. The Primary class is beginning their unit on Noël and the Senior class is participating in Noël Commercial Madness.

The Primary class has been learning about how to create maps of important places in their community, researching celebrations, and learning about settler communities. We will be taking some time in December to experience aspects of settler life! More information to follow.

The Seniors have started a Black Belt recorder unit in Music and have learned two songs to earn their White Belt! The students who participated in the Remembrance Day poster contest are eagerly awaiting the results!

As the weather continues to get colder, please remember to send appropriate clothing for long periods outside.

On days when the buses are cancelled, the school remains open for those who need it unless weather is severe enough to close the building. On those days, should you wish to bring your children to school, please drop off and pick up at the FRONT DOOR. There isn't anyone out on duty at the back of the building on snow days.

8:55 - 9:10 - Supervised Drop Off

9:10 – 10:50 - Instructional Time (100 min.)

10:50 – 11:30 - Nutrition Break and Recess

11:30 – 1:10 - Instructional time (100 min.)

1:10 – 1:50 - Nutrition Break and Recess

1:50 – 3:30 - Instructional time (100 minutes)

3:30 - Dismissal

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