St. John Fisher Catholic School

St. John Fisher Catholic School October News 2016
44 Main Street, Forest, Ontario, N0N 1J0 - 519-786-5201 (telephone) 519-786-2839 (fax)
Principal: Mrs. Luana Sfalcin
Secretary: Ms. Jo-Anne Szabo
Director: Mr. Dan Parr
Board Chair: Mr. John Van Heck
Superintendent: Mrs. Laura Callaghan Trustee: Mr. Mat Roop
http://www.st-clair.net
Our Catholic Mission: Walking together in Christ’s light with parish and family, we are called to build a safe and inclusive Catholic learning community and to serve as partners in the formation of life-long learners by: Living our faith,
Promoting educational achievement and innovation and Fostering stewardship, leadership and social justice.
Transportation
In case of inclement weather
we are in ZONE 1. Please
listen to your local radio
station for information on bus
cancellations. Information is
also available at
www.schoolbusinfo.com
Peanut Alert
We have students at our
school with severe,
life-threatening allergies to
peanuts and milk products.
Please keep this in mind when
sending snacks to school with
your child(ren).
School Hours
8:10 a.m. – School Starts
9:50- 10:30 am – Break
12:10 – 12:50 pm - Break
2:30 p.m. – Dismissal
Please note that
supervision on the yard
begins each morning at
7:55 a.m.
St. Patrick Catholic
Secondary School
519-332-3976
Principal:
Mr. Rob Cicchelli
Vice Principals:
Mr. Frank Torti
Mrs. Cynthia Blair
Mrs. Erin Moffat
Principal’s Message:
Thank you to all the parents and students who attended our Meet the Teacher Night with Sara
Westbrook. We had a good response for this event. This presentation gave parents and students an
amazing message for building Respect and Resiliency as well as the tools to focus on developing
Dreams, goals and ambitions through Upower Journaling, Upower Mapping and Upower Asking
for things that will help you achieve your dreams and goals. A special thank you goes to our
School Advisory Council for their pro-grant application to assist us in paying for this UPOWER
concert event.
Fruit of the Spirit for October: Kindness
Kindness goes hand in hand with Patience and Acceptance. As a virtue patience
means you resolve conflicts peacefully, with care and effort. It means showing
mercy, forgiveness and acceptance of others. As a virtue, Acceptance shows us
if one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice
together (1 Cor.12:26-27) - God wants us to make friends with everyone no matter how different they may look or act. One kind word or action can change
someone’s entire day. For this month of October, we will work on ways to show
kindness in our words and actions.
The most beautiful time of the fall season, also brings prayers devoted to Mary as well as the
holiday of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
Happy Thanksgiving on behalf of the Staff of St. John Fisher Catholic School!
Sincerely Mrs. Sfalcin
Spirtual Scene
St. John Fisher Catholic School
Thanksgiving Food Drive
Please help the less fortunate in our community this Thanksgiving. Kindly donate canned
goods and non-perishable items to the
school and we will be sure to get all items to
our local Contact House from Oct. 3-11.
Come and join us for
our Thanksgiving
Liturgy at St.
Christopher Church on
Friday, October 7, 2016 at 9 a.m. led
by Mr. Van Lieshout’ s Grade 8 Class.
Please feel free to touch base with
the school or with the church directly
if you have any questions or concerns
about sacramental preparations or
your child’s faith development.
Curriculum Corner: EQAO Results
One tool that schools use today to assist in improving student learning is EQAO results.
Our school results for the provincial testing done last spring for the Primary and Junior
Divisions are shown on the last pages of this newsletter. To access the entire school report
please go to www.eqao.com and choose School, Board and Provincial Results at the top of
the page. As a school staff, we will be using these results as well as other assessment data
throughout the year to focus our efforts on improving student achievement. Remembering
that these scores are based on our students receiving a level 3 or greater. Our outlier score
this year is Grade 6 Math. However, if you look at our Board and Provincial Results, it is
a consistent trend. Last Friday’s PD Day was focusing on our School Improvement Plan
with Mathematics in the for front. Please continue to check out this section of the Newsletter to read about important initiatives that are currently being pursued within our school.
Classroom teachers will continue to send home newsletters to outline some of the specific
curriculum currently being covered in the class each month. If you have any questions
about your child’s progress, please contact his/her teacher to set up an appointment to discuss the situation. Please note that individual results for students who wrote in the Spring
will be sent home on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Terry Fox Run/Walk :
A special thank you goes out
to the entire school community for your tremendous support towards our Annual Terry Fox Fundraiser. Thank you
to all of the students, parents
and staff for the wonderful
contribution to this very worth
while cause.
Special thanks
goes to Miss Dua and Mrs.
Clark for organizing this very
important event.
Lakers in Sport: Monthly Update
Parents are reminded that it is encouraged that your child have Health Insurance when
playing team sports. Please call the office if you are interested in purchasing insurance. It
is also important that your child has a Team Permission Form complete.
Thank you to all of the parents
who have registered and are
already using the new online
banking system. Please feel
free to contact Ms. Szabo at the
office if you have any questions
or concerns regarding this
method of payment.
Senior Volleyball: Both the Senior Girls and Senior Boys Volleyball teams are well into
their season. Semi-final play occurs near the end of the month with the championships
to follow the following week. Thank you to Mrs. Schoonjans and Mr. Da Silva who are
coaching our teams. Junior Volleyball will begin in November.
Cross Country: Cross Country practices are well under way and we look forward to a
large number of students participating in the Annual Meet which will be held at Canatara
Park in Sarnia on Saturday, October 15th. Thank you to Ms. Shymko, Mrs. Dumond
who are coaching our team.
Uniforms: Students are asked to return the uniforms immediately following their sport
unless they are participating in another sport at the same time. Please contact the
school if you have any questions.
Muskoka Woods Experience Fundraising Events
Our current grade 7 students and their families are working hard to help reduce
the cost of their excursion scheduled for May 2017. Please help support through
the following events:
Sub Days scheduled for Oct. 20, Nov. 3, Nov. 17 and Dec. 8
Muskoka Woods Movie Matinee on October 23rd at our Theatre in town
Halloween Dance: Muskoka Woods Masquerade
More information to follow on these above events.
Next Gr. 7 Parent Meeting is October 26, at 6:00 p.m.
St. John Fisher Catholic School — Safe School Team
Every school in Ontario is required to have a Safe School Team who meets to discuss concerns or issues that may be happening in our school or others in the local area. Our Safe
School Team for this consists of the following individuals:
Mrs. Luana Sfalcin —Principal
Mrs. Mina Morgan—Teacher
Mrs. Diane Robinson—Educational Assistant
Mrs. Stacy Bastiaansen—Parent Representative
Mrs. Sarah Harper—Community Partner
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school.
School Cash Online:
Visit our
Schools
Please be
advised that
all parents
have access
to view current Newsletters and Monthly Calendars by
going to the Main Board Website
and clicking on “Visit our Schools”.
By following the prompts, you will be
able to access information about
our school. It is our goal to reduce
the amount of paper copies of the
Newsletter going home and we hope
that many of our families will choose
this electronic method. Please contact the school if you have any questions.
Best Start Program - St. John
Fisher Site
We are very fortunate to have a
wonderful working relationship
with the Day Care Provider in
our school. For more information, to pick up a registration
package, or if you have any
questions, please feel free to
contact Sara Harper at (519) 786
-6785, or by email: [email protected]
Safety/Health Related Issues
Riding the School Bus: Students who ride the bus to and from school are not permitted to switch buses unless arrangements are
made through the on-line busing system that is now in place. We thank you in advance for your support as we continue to ensure
your child’s safety to and from school. Our Bus Safety Evacuation training for our students will be on October 11th.
Attendance - Safe Arrival and Dismissal from School: This is just a quick reminder to let you know that supervision of the yard
begins at 7:55 am in the morning. Please do not drop your children off (or send them to the school) prior to this point as it poses a
safety concern. Furthermore, please be sure that your children know their dismissal plans before they leave for school each day.
This will help to eliminate last minute changes. We greatly appreciate your cooperation with this important safety matter. Please
let us know if your child will be absent for the day by calling and leaving a message or writing a note. With our Safe Arrival Policy,
we do need a parent contact to advise us of the absence. If we are unsure, a call from the office is mandatory.
Dropping Off and Picking Up from School: There are a couple of locations for drop off. On Main street, we have a walk way that
your child can take to the back of the school yard. Or, on James Street, there is an opening in the fence that you can drop off your
child so that you have a visual of them walking to their yard. Queen Street is to be avoided as it is the bussing loading area. Also, if
the bell has rung, please bring your child to the office for attendance. Due to the congestion at the end of the day, please wait at
our main doors outside as your child will be delivered to you if they are in JK or SK.
Medications: Please be advised that Board Policy prohibits all staff from dispensing non-prescription drugs such as Tylenol or
cough medicine. Medications such as these often are given to students by parents; however it is not appropriate for staff to dispense these drugs without a doctor’s input as to the exact dosage and the times as to when they need to be taken. Asking the
staff to give these medicines to your child puts them in a position whereby they are making a judgment call and I greatly appreciate your cooperation with this matter. Please contact me at the school if you have any questions.
Allergies: Please be reminded that we do have a number of children with life-threatening allergies to peanuts, dairy products as
well as other allergens. Classroom teachers will be sure to inform you if there are specific requests for each room based on the
staff or students in the classroom. Students should not be bringing in any food items to share with their peers. Furthermore, the
exchanging of food items at the school is not recommended. Please review this with your children.
Bike Safety: Bike helmets are mandatory for all students under the age of 18. Please remind your children of the importance of
wearing a properly fitted helmet to school if they are riding their bicycles.
Pediculosis (Lice) Checks: Throughout the year we will have parent volunteers in the school to check staff and students for lice.
If nits or lice are found on your child, parents will be contacted to make them aware.
Campbell Soup Labels:
Please continue to send in your Campbell Soup Labels to the school as we can redeem these for some great educational resources.
Please send the labels in laying out flat (and without staples) as this makes it easier to sort and organize them. We thank parent
volunteer Mrs. L. Gallegos-Vera for tallying the soup labels.
Milk Bags:
The Office is collecting milk bags to give to St. Christopher Church to make sleeping mats for Third World Countries. We kindly ask
that you rinse the bags if milk has leaked inside. Thank you for your continued support!
Labelling of Student Clothing/Items:
Each year countless items end up at the back of classrooms and on the floor - ultimately many of these items are never claimed.
This year we will not be keeping a large storage area of collected items. Any unclaimed items will be donated to various community agencies in need. Labelling your child’s clothing is the BEST way to ensure that “found” items can be returned to the rightful
owner. In the past, all unclaimed items are donated to a local charity at the end of each month, however, this year we will send an
email letting you know that our lost and found is full
Grocery Committee Update
We would like to thank everyone for your continued support! Funds from the sale of grocery certificates will be used to support
the continuing updating of new technology for our school. Please contact the church if you require more certificates. St. Christopher’s Church 519-786-5243
Keeping Our Schools Safe:
Along with the locking of our doors. We do have a sign in book for any visiting parent who will be volunteering in the building. Any parent coming into the school please check into the office with Ms. Szabo first. Thank you!
Just a reminder:
Doors unlocked for before school access
Front doors will be unlocked 15 minutes following start bell (at 7:55 a.m.)
Doors unlocked for first nutrition break and locked afterward (9:50 to 10:30)
Doors unlocked for second nutrition break locked afterward (12:10 to 12:50)
Doors unlocked at dismissal bell (2:30 pm)
NOTE: We kindly ask that you refrain from walking down the hallway to deliver an article of clothing, a missed lunch, or when your
child may have arrived late. We all love to see our children off, however this will help to reduce the number of adults entering the
areas during the instructional blocks.
Meet our new School Advisory Council Executive
School Advisory Council
Thank you to all of the parents who attended our first School Advisory Council Meeting. It was a pleasure meeting this
year’s council members and I really look forward to working with this team. Elections were held for the Executive Positions
and I am pleased to announce that our co-chairs will be Mrs. Shelley Goodhand and Mrs. Beth Vardy. Mrs. Diane O’Rourke
will be our Secretary. Some items addressed at the meeting including safety concerns with respect to food allergies, fund
raising options for this year and our new faith and well-being component in our School Improvement Plan. Please feel free
to come out to any of our meetings to hear first hand of happenings that are supported by our parent volunteers. If you
would like to volunteer to assist with the Hot Lunch Program or the Annual Christmas Dinner, please contact SJF.
Please Join us as our next meeting is Monday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
A Message from the Church …
Many of us remember praying the rosary as family. With October being the month of the Holy Rosary, this could be an opportunity to either reconnect to a family tradition, or start one. There has been many Graces that have been bestowed to
individuals and families that have made the Holy Rosary an important part of their prayer life. Our churches have pamphlets (or it can be found online) to help guide you in this prayerful devotion to the Immaculate heart of Mary.
Brother in Christ
Deacon John Lammers
each one
reach one
Faith and Well-Being
The first edition of the Catholic Curriculum and Chaplaincy
Newsletter for this school year can be found on our Living Our Faith
webpage:
http://www.st-clair.net/parents-and-community-partners.aspx
You will find:
Information about Christian Meditation with children
Information about King’s College Veritas Series
Links to Health and Physical Education parent brochures,
Thanksgiving Prayer links and more!
A message for parents to share with their children:
Mistakes are proof that you are trying. Author Unknown.
Newsletters/Communications Via EMAIL
It is always our goal to send as much written communication via email to our families in order to save paper.
CASL prohibits us from sending you commercial electronic messages (CEMs) without your expressed consent.
In the past , we were able to rely on implied consent which
exists where you have provided your email address to the
school
prior to being asked for explicit consent to
do so. Those of you who have sent in your email please
check to see if you have confirmed with us that you give
us consent to receive our emails by selecting the subscribed button. Ms. Szabo has put a direct link on our school
website for you to subscribe.. Or you can go to:
http://www.st-clair.net/canadian-anti-spamlegislation.aspx
Connections to St. Patrick’s Catholic High School:
Each month I will include information or events that are being fostered with our Catholic
High School in this section of the newsletter.
Red Cross Baby-Sitting Course
Babysitting/Home Alone Course will be held at the Forest Library on October 10th
From 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please contact Sandi Stead—Canadian Red Cross Facilitator at:
519-296– 4244
A Message from the Director...
Being tired is often a common complaint from many people, including our children and youth. Sometimes there are
medical reasons why we feel tired, but most often it is because we do not get enough sleep at night. Children under the
age of ten need 10-12 hours of sleep. Teens need between nine to 10 hours of sleep each night to function at their
best during the day, while adults require about seven hours. Children and youth need more sleep than adults because
their bodies are changing very quickly as they grow and develop.
There are side effects of not getting enough sleep that can impact our wellbeing in many
ways, such as:
Moodiness
Irritability
Decision making abilities are affected
Decreased motivation, concentration and memory
Poor performance at school
Decreased reaction times, which can increase risk of injury
Depression
You can help children and youth get enough sleep:
Schedule activities and programs later in the day
Set rules for bedtimes and adhere to them and this will become a healthy habit later on in life
Focus on the positive when setting a routine for going to sleep and waking up
Turn the TV and computer off one to two hours before bed
Turn cell phones off or set to silent when going to bed- it is best to have all phones plugged in by a certain time of
night and not in the bedroom
Make a joint agreement that there is no technology in their room
Keep the same sleep schedule on the weekends
Avoid products with caffeine
For more information on mental health and wellbeing contact:
Christine Preece, Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead
519-627-6762 ext. 10291