St. Mary Catholic School NOVEMBER 2014 Principal’s Message

Reaching Out to Make a Difference!
St. Mary Catholic School
NOVEMBER 2014
613-448-2158
w w w. s t m a r y c h e s t e r v i l l e . c a
Principal’s Message
We have entered the month of
November and this means that
our first term is drawing to a
close. It also means that your
child will receive their first report
of the 2014-2015 school year.
This report card will be an elementary progress report card
that has been, “designated to
show a student’s development of
the learning skills and work habits
during the fall of the school year,
as well as a student’s general
progress in working towards the
achievement of the curriculum
expectations.” (Growing Success—Ministry document page
50).
The Elementary Provincial Report
Card will be distributed in February and June. It is important to
remember that the primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Please read your child’s
report card with this in mind.
Interviews this reporting period
will be held the evening of Thurs.
November 27, 2014, starting at
4:00 p.m. Please return all inter-
view forms, indicating your preference for a time to meet with
your child’s teacher(s). It is important to focus on ways in which
we can work together to support
your child by celebrating their
success and constructively address
areas of improvement.
If you require additional time to
discuss a concern with staff
please schedule an additional
interview in person or over the
phone at another time.
Many thanks to families in our
community for supporting our
school walk-a-thon. We have
started to use some money to
support recess programs and we
have started the process of
choosing new jerseys for our
school teams.
On November 6th Lynn Campanella from Lettuce Make Thyme
Company will join our school to
deliver the L.E.A.D. recess program.
She will train 14 junior students to
use various equipment and learn
activities/play with students in
grades 4-6. This equipment can
 Nov. 1—All Saints Day
also be used by the junior grades
for Daily Physical Activity in their
classrooms.
Lynn will also deliver workshops
to our staff focusing on Physical
Literacy and the meaning of Play.
For more information please
browse the lettucemakethyme.com
site.
Thank you once again for your
continued support and participation in all aspects of your child’s
Catholic Education.
Karen Carriere
Chapter’s Fundraiser!!
Chapters South Keys
2210 Bank St. Ottawa
Saturday, November 29th
12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Please visit the St. Mary table
set up in the store to receive
your notice informing the cash.
Our school will receive 20% of
your purchase! Each buyer
must identify to the cashier
that they are supporting
St. Mary Catholic School.
 Nov. 2-All Souls Day
 Nov. 2-Daylight Savings Time Ends
 Nov. 6-Leads Recess Program
Workshops
 Nov. 11-Remembrance Day
 Nov. 14-School Mass 9:30 a.m.
 Nov. 17-Nov.21– Anti-Bullying Week
 Nov. 20-School Council Mtg.
6:30 p.m.
 Nov. 25-Report Cards Go Home!
 Nov. 26-SEAC Mtg. Kemptville
 Nov. 27-Gr. 6 go to Upper Canada
Playhouse
 Nov. 27-Parent/Teacher Interviews
4:00-5:00 p.m. & 5:45-8:30 p.m.
 Nov. 29-Chapters South Keys school
fundraiser 12:00—3:00 p.m.
Tell your family and friends
 Nov. 30-First Sunday in Advent
 Dec. 1-Advent Liturgy
 Dec. 3-Christmas Wrap!!!
 Dec. 10-Christmas Concert!
JK/SK –Miss Acr es, Miss Per ley & Mme. Chisholm, Mme. Kinga
Well, we’re in November already, it’s hard to believe! The
students are feeling very “at
home” at school and are having
lots of fun learning. It’s amazing
to see how far they’ve come in
just two months.
We will continue to practice recognizing and writing our names
and the names of our friends
(using an uppercase letter at the
beginning followed by lowercase
letters). We have begun the Jolly
Phonics program and are making
words using the sounds we are
learning/reviewing—s a t i p n.
A “Jolly Green” duotang containing these sounds & actions will be
coming home soon for you to use
to help practice at home! Also
keep an eye out for a blue “Read
With Me” duotang containing
prayers, poems and songs that
we have read at school that you
can read with your child (or they
can read to you)! Patterns are
everywhere and the students
have been finding them as well
as practicing extending and creating them. We are going to
have a Pattern Day on Friday,
Nov. 14th where the students are
invited to wear or bring an item
with a pattern. We plan to take
lots of pictures and make a class
book. Thank you to everyone
who has sent in a family photo.
No worries if you haven’t sent one
in yet, it’s not too late!
In Science, we will continue to
look at changes that occur during
Fall, including hibernation, and
experiment with sinking and floating! As the weather gets colder
(ugh!), coats are changing...please
help your child learn how to do
up the new zippers & buttons on
their own, and we will do the
same here at school! Putting
names on hats, waterproof mittens, scarves would also be appreciated—it really helps us to
make sure that everyone goes
home with their own “stuff”!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”
Page 2
St. Mary Catholic School
Grade One —Mrs. Acr es
As November is now upon us and the colder
weather approaches, it is important that the
children have extra mittens and socks in their
book bags. Please ensure that their names are
on their clothing and boots. It is also important
that the students English Ziploc bags be returned daily. If anyone has any war memorabilia and would like to share it, please discuss
it with your child or write a brief description of
it and send it in on or before November 11 for
our Remembrance Day activities. This certainly
helps to make Remembrance Day a much more
personal experience for our children.
An important note concerning the recording of
Love-A-Books: if each book is read up to three
times as recommended, it may be recorded IN
THEIR Love-A-Book folder on a separate line
three times. The columns across the Love-ABook sheets, “Read by Parents, Read with Help
and Read by Myself” are for informational
purposes and not to be confused with record-
ing three times. Also, only books sent from
school may be recorded. I do not have the
time to look through each child’s green reading
folder daily, so please remind your child that
each time they reach another ten, to give me
their folder for their stamp, sticker, and the
chance to move their car further down the road
on our reading journey. Please continue practicing the sounds and reading the books sent
home nightly as well as the yellow reading
duotangs on weekends. I will be sending home
a phonemic awareness calendar provided by
our speech and language department. For
each day there is an activity to do with your
child. Have fun with them! When your child is
completing printing in their sound sheet books
please make sure that they are printing only
the letter that is stamped. They are being
taught how to make the letters using a special
program. I will also send you a copy of the
terminology used for each letter. You may go
ahead in looking at and practicing upcoming
sounds, just not the printing of the letters.
As well, continue working with your child on the
activities that have been suggested through the
math and language letters sent home.
Thank you for your continued assistance in your
child’s learning.
J. Acres
Grade One and Two Fr ench Immersion —Mr. Adam Fisher
What a crazy month. I am very excited to be
spending the rest of the year with this wonderful group of students. We are finally getting
settled in and everything is running smoothly.
During French class we have started a reading
session where I read them a book in French
and ask questions to verify comprehension and
understanding. We are also currently working
on our French phonics. This week we have five
sounds to learn and master. Science class is by
far the busiest, the grade 1’s are learning the
difference between things that are, were and
aren’t alive, along with the various needs for
creatures that are alive. The grade 2’s are
learning to spot the differences and similarities
between various living creatures, and their
respective life cycles.
During social studies we will be looking at our
families, our communities and the various traditions that we have that makes Canada such a
wonderful place to live.
EASTERN ONTARIO HEALTH UNIT
TRIPLE P: Single parents often think it’s
tougher to discipline a child without the help
of another person. In this case, just like if
you were parenting with someone else,
planning and consistency is key.
Children thrive and get used to routines quite
quickly. Putting positive and predictable
routines in place, for things such as bedtime
or homework, can make things much easier.
Including other family members in your routines can also be useful. Grandparents,
aunts and uncles, or trusted family friends
can set great examples for children throughout their lives.
There is no one right way to be a parent, but
Triple P offers information, support and practical answers for your everyday parenting
concerns. You can start your Triple P experience today by registering for our upcoming
events and information sessions at
www.MYtrpileP.ca, or by calling
1-844-362-8593.
Grade Two/Three French Immersion -Melissa Roy
During the month of October the students got
to present a descriptive text on another friend
in class. They also learned 3 sounds in French:
I, a and o. In physical education students
learned techniques to ensure their safety and
others safety while participating in physical
activities. In addition, the students got to express their ideas on different types of music
and explore different 2d and 3d art work.
Below is a quick glance of the materials being
covered over the month of November:
French: In French we will be working on participation in interactions on familiar topics, identifying strategies they found helpful before,
during and after reading to understand texts
and we will be working on the writing process.
Science: We will be starting our unit in science
on properties of liquids and solids as well as
forces causing movement.
Arts: In arts we will be completing our unit on
communicating feelings and ideas on a variety
of music.
Physical Education/Health: In Health we will
be copleting our unit on safety practices at
home and outside of the classroom. In Physical
Education we will be starting our unit on applying tactics to increase their chances of success
during physical activities.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at
school anytime.
For as long as the moon rises
For as long as the grass
grows green
For as long as the rivers flow
We will be friends
We will live in peace.
Page 3
Grade Four -Mrs. Veinotte
As that October heat wave turns into weather
that’s more November-like, I’m hoping that we
all maintain our willingness to spend our extra
hour outside each week! Please encourage
your kids to dress appropriately for any
weather that these autumn days might bring.
This month we’ll be celebrating all the hard
work we’ve done in the classroom in recent
weeks, with progress reports and parent
teacher interviews coming up. I look forward
to meeting with you to discuss some next steps
and at-home support as we work together on
your child’s learning journey. It looks like early
November will see us celebrating our “Popcorn
Moments”, as well, with a reward for students’
showing kindness and respect for one another.
In language this month we’ll be working on
visualizing to help us better understand what
we read, and on voice to add some personality and “oomph” to our written work. We’ll be
looking at poetry as a text form, and we’ll
spend some time this month composing pieces
for the Canadian Legion and Habitat for Humanity writing competitions, which are open to
grade 4-6 students. In math, we’re managing
data in our unit on graphing, and we’ll begin
addition and subtraction of large numbers
later in the month. I’m looking forward to seeing students’ presentations of their “Animal
Habitats” projects, and to beginning a whole
new unit in science on Light and Sound. Our
class did a wonderful job leading at the October mass at St. Mary, and I’m sure that some
were even inspired to become members of the
parish Youth Group, which is responsible for
jobs at Mass on the last Sunday of each month.
We will also spend some important time commemorating those who serve our country at
Remembrance Day and, I can’t believe I’m
writing this, but our journey towards Christmas
will begin in just a few weeks, as we begin the
season of Advent at the end of November.
Grade Thr ee and Five —Ms. Stanley
We have had an excellent first two months at
school and I am sure that November will be
fantastic. The Walk-a-Thon was a lot of fun
and we were lucky that the weather held off
for us. All of the students had a lot of fun. I
was very impressed with all of our dancing
skills during our Luv2Groove workshop. It was
a great day and the school raised a lot of
money. We finished our place value unit and
started a patterning unit in math. We will
continue with patterning and move on to geometry during the second half of November. I am
very pleased with the work that the class is
putting into their math. We continue to practice visualizing when we read. In our writing
we are focusing on adding more juicy details
YE OLD BARGAIN SHOPPE
DONATES TO SCHOOL!
Many thanks to the generous $1000.00 donation from Ye Old Bargain Shoppe!
The Shoppe is located on 30 Mill Street (St.
Andrew’s Church Basement) in Chesterville.
Please support this second hand store by dropping off clothing and goods in their large white
bin outside the church. You can also purchase
household items from the shop.
Shop Hours: Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursdays:
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays:
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Each month they hold “Bag Sales” the last
week of the month. As a customer you can fill
a garbage bag of clothing for $15.00. The
shop advertises weekly in the Chesterville Record and the Winchester Press advertising their
events. Our school community will use this donation towards the cost of purchasing the
L.E.A.D. recess program.
and descriptive vocabulary. The Grade 3
class will be responsible for the school mass on
November 14th at 9:30 a.m. Thanks for your
continued support and help with homework.
The Grade 5’s have been working very hard
and I am looking forward to another great
month. During the month of November we will
continue to work on visualizing when we read.
We are working on adding more details and
descriptive language in our writing. We will
move on to organizing our writing and writing
narratives this month. The Walk-a-Thon was a
great success and the whole class had a great
time. We had a lot of fun dancing during the
Luv2Groove workshop. A congratulations to
all of the students who participated in the cross
-country and soccer tournaments. You all made
St. Mary’s very proud.
Thanks for all of your continued support.
other adolescent challenges. Constable Lauzon
will be making class visits every second
Wednesday. The Grade 6 studens will be
attending aplay at the Upper Canada Playhouse on Thursday, November 27th called
Lights, Camera, Christmas. Many thanks to
Mrs. Veinotte for organizing this outing.
As there have been a number of students who
have been late in submitting their assignments
and homework, please encourage your child to
complete his/her work on time and to return
his/her Agenda daily. It can be very difficult
for students to “catch up” once they have fallen
behind. As always, we encourage all students
to make an effort to read for 20 minutes each
night before bed. This is particularly important
for our struggling readers as it greatly improves fluency.
Have a great month!
Miss Ganter
M. Stanley
Grade Six-Miss Ganter
Thanks to the parents who volunteered at the
Cross Country Run at Iona Academy. Our students were amazing—in both ability and behaviour. We are so proud of them!
In Reading, we are working on visualizing
where students use words and phrases to create pictures in their minds. Students are asked
to explain how this Reading Power helps them
to better understand the text. Summarizing
will be the next area of focus. We have begun the VIP (“Values, Influences and Peers”)
program with Constable Theresa Lauzon, our
Community Police Officer. This program includes a range of topics such as alcohol and
drug awareness, peer influences, bullying and
NEXT SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING—THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH, 2014 AT 6:30 P.M.
Eco Team
HEALTHY CORNER:
“We have not inherited the earth from our ancestors;
rather we are borrowing it form our children.”
native proverb
In October, Miss Acres and Mrs. Veinotte had the opportunity to attend an Eco Schools workshop in Ottawa, where
we learned about a province wide initiative to make our
schools a whole lot greener. We’ll be starting an Eco
Team here at St. Mary to get students involved in being
“Stewards of the Earth” through more careful attention to
the three R’s, and a more mindful approach to our role in
preserving our planet. We made the first step with our
“Take Me Outside Day” on October 29, when students and
teachers took learning out to the yard, and explored traditional subjects through the world outside our classroom
walls. Watch our newsletter and school mail for further
details about how St. Mary is going green!
Just a reminder that we are a PEANUT/
NUT FREE SCHOOL. Below are some
peanut/nut free recipes you may like to
try at home which your child may
bring to school for their snack.
Homemade Applesauce
6 pounds Apples, Peeled, Cored, And Cut Into 8 Slices
1 cup Apple Juice Or Apple Cider
Juice Of 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, More Or Less To Taste
Optional Ingredients: Nutmeg, Maple Syrup, Allspice, Butter
Preparation Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes.
Carefully puree in a food processor or blender (don't fill too full; split
into two portions if needed) until smooth.
Store in the fridge and serve by itself, over pork chops, over ice cream,
over pancakes...or any place where applesauce is needed!
SCHOOL COUNCIL CHRISTMAS WRAP!!!
The School Council will be holding the 12th annual Christmas
Wrap on Wednesday, December 3rd for our St. Mary students.
The Christmas Wrap allows each student to bring home a gift
for each member of his/her immediate family and live-in
members.
This is a great opportunity for parents and family to go
through some of your “unwanted treasures” and wrapping
materials and put them to excellent use!
All of the items are put on display and each child will have
the opportunity to browse and select the items they would
like to give. The items are wrapped and tagged by our volunteers and given to your child to take home.
Parents may drop off their unused or gently used items from
your home and should include suitable gifts for members of
your family. Any extra wrapping paper, gift bags and especially gift tags is always helpful.
Volunteers will be needed as well, so please watch for the
letter coming home soon with your child.
NEXT SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING:
Thursday, November 20th at 6:30 p.m.
EXTRA CLOTHES
Please make sure your JK/SK child has an extra
set of clothes at school. (Socks, shirt, underwear,
pants) Children often get wet and muddy playing
outside or need them during the school day.
With the cooler weather approaching, please make
sure your child is dressed appropriately.
Best Blueberry Muffins
This blueberry muffins recipe will be a hit with the whole family!
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1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 egg
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and the blueberries. In a
small bowl combine the melted butter, milk and egg. Add wet ingredients
to dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. As a rule you
should never beat muffin batter so you will have light and fluffy muffins.
Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins.
Sandwich Alternatives for Lunchboxes
Veggies and Dip: A favour ite way of getting lots of lovely veggies
into your child is to serve up veggies with dip on the side. Finger food
can be a lot more fun than sandwiches, and it is also particularly good for
tempting younger children to eat a variety of foods.
A Leafy Salad: A leafy salad with some tasty additions can make a
great, healthy, low fat lunch. Try adding shredded chicken, tuna, ham,
boiled egg, chunks of cheese or croutons, as well as a selection of crunch
raw vegetables like chopped cucumber, pepper, or grated carrot. A little
tub of salad dressing to drizzle over, and you’ve got yourself a really
tasty lunch.
Crackers: Cr acker s with cheese/and or ham. It’s an extremely quick
and easy lunch to throw together and makes a nice change from sandwiches.