The Cat`s Tale - Westdale Public School

The Cat’s Tale
SCHOOL
NUMBER
M A R C H
(905)682-9284
Principal:
Poppy Gilliam
Vice-Principal:
Jane Brown
Secretary:
Dawn Holderney
Superintendent:
Kelly Pisek
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Early Learn- 2
ing Registration
Fundraising
2
Math
3
Pink shirt day 4
Award winners
5
Tae Kwon Do 6
Listening
Skills
10
2 0 1 5
From the Principal’s Desk
February has held many adventures for us at Westdale. Junior and intermediate students
performed their first musical, ―Dig It!‖ in over a decade under the direction of Mrs.
Philip. We were pleased to welcome our new trustee, Dr. Adjandi, to our performance
and thank her for coming and supporting Westdale. Our Grade 6’s went snowshoeing,
students have been working hard with new math initiatives, we had a Mad Science presentation for the entire school, we saw staff and students playing a game of European
handball and Tchoukball against each other, our juniors and intermediates enjoyed a
Black history month presentation and we have kicked off our School Council chocolate
bar fundraiser. Proceeds from the chocolate bar fundraiser will go towards improving our school and will help fund
student initiatives, such as paying for the
Black History month presentation our
students just saw, leaving no cost to parents.
Students and staff continue to work hard
at their learning. A partnership between
home and school is so important. Please
continue to read with your child(ren) at
home daily and ask them about what they
are learning.
Finally, we can’t believe it is still so cold
outside. Please dress your child very
warmly with the intent that they will be
outside. We make every possible effort
to find them some time to play outside.
As always, if you have any questions or
concerns, please give me a call.
Mrs. Poppy Gilliam
Mrs. Gilliam & Mrs. Holderney
celebrating wear pink for
anti-bullying day
PAGE
2
Early Learning (ELP) Registration Continues
February was Kindergarten Registration Month.
I know it seems awfully
early to be thinking about
the fall but early registration helps our School
Board with planning for
staffing and classroom
allocations. All new Junior and Senior Kindergarten-aged students need
to be registered starting
in February for our September 2015 classes.
(Students currently in our
Have you
registered yet?
JK classes do not need
to re-register.) If your
son or daughter will be 4
or 5 years of age by December 31st, 2015,
please call the school for
information or come in
and speak with our secretary, Mrs. Holderney.
When you come in to
register, we require proof
of age documentation.
We will also need to
make a copy of your
child’s yellow Proof of
Immunization card. If
you know of neighbouring children who are eligible to begin school,
please pass this information on to them.
Rankin Run
Calling all Wildcats....The 10th Annual Rankin Cancer Run is happening on
Saturday, May 23rd and we are encouraging Westdale students and their
families to be part of this wonderful community event. Last year, $725,000.00
was raised by over 60 schools and 8000 participants! The event includes a
1km and 5km route, a t-shirt and a free barbeque after the event. Watch for
further details, sign ups and pledge sheets in the coming months! Walk, run,
be healthy and join the fun!
School Council: Chocolate Bar
Fundraising Campaign
Thank you so much for supporting Westdale School and our School Council by
purchasing chocolate bars.
All money is due back in by Monday, March 2nd.
THE
CAT’S
TALE
PAGE
3
WORKING WITH A DSBN MATH COACH
Our primary division teachers have been working very hard implementing new math strategies, under the guidance of Kim Barton, our itinerant coach and math expert. We have been learning together and co-teaching in our primary classes, watching children in action mathematically and analyzing our teaching strategies to create best practices. Our Math School Improvement Plan at Westdale is to have teachers incorporate problem solving as well as Fosnot units and/or strings in their
mathematics instruction, with the use of computer programs (i.e., Dreambox), so that all students will
deepen their mathematical understanding and computational fluency (as measured by their achievement on teacher-prepared diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments as well as EQAO).
PINK SHIRT DAY PICS!
Westdale supported an anti-bullying pink shirt day on Monday, March 2nd.
Teachers spent time discussing issues and strategies with students. Thanks
to everyone who participated!
WESTDALE SCHOOL’S
“HONOURED” STUDENTS FOR THE
MONTH OF FEBRUARY
Character Trait Award - Perseverance
Grade 1 Mrs. Kornelsen - Aiden W. & Marcus L.
Grade 1/2 Mrs. Guitard- Steven S. & Mateo M.
Grade 2/3 Mrs. Hildebrandt - Delsin D. , Shonaci H.,
Julianna L.
Grade 3 Mrs. Petro - Nevaeh W. & Shaylene Y.
Grade 4 Ms. Marshall - Austin C. & Austin S.
Grade 5 Mrs. Shapiro - Owen H. & Hailey J.
Grade 6 Ms. McClay - Josh R., Alexien E., Jordyn C.
Grade 6/7 Ms. Patten - Haven M. & Reem M.
Grade 7/8 Mr. Wall - Aziz B., Semir K.
Grade 8 Mr. Nelson - Skyler W. & Anastasia T.
Grade 5/6/7/8 Mr. Strickland - Jahvon E.
“DIG IT” PLAY PICTURES
We thank Mrs. Philip who directed an amazing performance of ―Dig It!‖ with our junior and intermediate
students, and the countless hours she dedicated to the students and the play. We thank Mrs. Duncan for
leading our choir and Ms. McClay who was instrumental in helping with the enormous amount of props
for the play. The students did a phenomenal job in the first musical Westdale has performed in over a decade. Congrats to all the students on a job well done! (Thank you also to the many other staff who gave
their time to help the play in various ways — Mr. Nelson for setting up the sound system, Mrs. Kornelsen
for painting sets on the weekend, Ms. Marshall and Mrs. Cabaj for doing makeup, Mrs. Plue for orchestrating props between scenes and Mrs. Shapiro for helping to watch our students at night.)
THANK YOU MASTER JEONG!
Thank you Master Jeong and
your team for showcasing
your amazing skills and message to all of our Westdale
students! Master Jeong and
his team spent 2 days at Westdale teaching Tae Kwon Do
during gym classes to every
class in the school. Staff and
students loved the presentation!
For more information if interested in pursuing this for your
child call: 905-322-2000. A
two week trial is $19.95.
Located at: 210 Glendale
Ave., St. Catharines, ON
(behind Pendale Plaza across
Immunizations
Immunization begins in early infancy and continues throughout life. Your child will receive the majority of his or her immunizations between the ages of two months and six years of age.
Please take a moment to check your child’s Immunization Record (yellow card) to be sure his or her immunizations are up-todate. Immunizations work best when given on time.
For more information on childhood immunization, including the
immunization schedule, speak with your doctor or visit
www.health.gov.on.ca.
If you have further questions, please call the Vaccine Preventable Disease Program at Niagara Region Public Health at 905688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7425 to speak to a public
health nurse.
March - Nutrition Month
Your kitchen doubles as a classroom that equips kids with life skills galore.
Cooking with kids is a great way to teach important life skills. Learning to cook now prepares them to cook for themselves when they grow up. It’s also a fun hands-on activity that teaches
literacy, science and math. It doesn’t have to be complicated – start simply and build skills. Younger
kids can help measure ingredients and stir. Older kids can help peel and chop vegetables. Once
they’re confident, they can help bake, broil or sauté. It might be messy. That’s okay! Your kids can
also help clean up.
Cooking with kids can take a little more time, but it’s worth it! Learning how to cook helps
kids develop healthy eating habits, increases self-confidence and teaches life skills. Here are a few
tips to keep cooking with kids relaxed:

Give kids easy tasks, such as stirring, when you’re in a hurry

Cook on weekends, when you can take more time to teach skills

Choose easy-to-follow recipes with lots of tasks kids can help with
Staff / Student European Handball & Tchoukball Games
We have been having some weekly
staff/student games for either European Handball or Tchoukball. The
kids have been loving it (and so have
the staff!).
THE
CAT’S
TALE
Grade 6’s Snowshoeing at St. John’s Outdoor Ed Centre
Qty.
Description
The Grade 6’s enjoyed a
fabulous day of snowshoeing on a cold winter afternoon at St. John’s outdoor
education centre. The class
learned about animal tracks
and how animals hibernate,
as well as what different
trees and fungi were. All
the students did a fantastic
job on their snowshoes.
Thanks Ms. McClay for organizing this for our students!
Order total:
Tax:
Shipping:
Total:
Address
Phone
Exp. date
THE
CAT’S
TALE
Recess fun at Westdale!
Mad Science
Students were treated to a Mad Science presentation on Friday, February 27th. They watched ―Lava‖ do a
number of intriguing experiments which made the gym burst into applause and laughter on several occasions. If you are interested in signing your child up for mad science classes, please fill out the form that
was sent home and/or get another one at the office. The program runs at lunch time from March 23 until
May 4. The cost is $66 for the 6 weeks.
PAGE
12
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