1. education
2. school

 FERRIS FLYER
Respect Ourselves, Respect Others, Respect Our ENVIRONMENT
Home of the Falcons April 2015
Ongoing Events
Dear Parents/Guardians:
It is hard to believe that we are into our final
term of the 2014/2015 school year! It has
been a terrific year so far, and we are
anticipating that our next few weeks will
continue in the same manner.
The staff
continues to concentrate strongly on the final
terms of academics and several classes are
engaged in seasonal activities such as growing
plants and vegetables, and track and field. As
our Grade 7 students begin their orientation
sessions at Richmond Secondary, our new
Kindergarten students and their parents
prepare for transition to the beginning of their
school days! The term has begun in a busy and
positive way and will continue until the end of
the school year!
With the warm spring weather arriving, this is
a good opportunity to continue to encourage
children to walk to school both for the exercise
and fresh air, as well as reducing pollution and
protecting our environment!
PAC News
The PAC group continues to work hard to
support the students and staff at Ferris School.
All parents are welcome to attend PAC meetings
to meet other parents and share their ideas of
how to make Ferris a better place.
Please plan on coming to the meeting even if
you are learning to speak English. We have
parents attending the meeting who speak
Chinese and Spanish who would be more than
willing to help new families to Canada
understand what topics are being discussed.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The
27
th
Ferris Family Fair
on
from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm will be a great
event. Lots of games for the kids, prizes, food
and great fun! We hope your family can make
this Ferris community event! Food and game
tickets can be preordered – information will be
sent home next week regarding these preorders.
The next PAC meeting is Tuesday,
May 12th at 6:30 pm.
Sean Harrington
Principal
Benita Bahd
Vice-Principal
Ferris Elementary School 7520 Sunnymede Crescent Richmond, B.C. V6Y 2V8
Tel: 604 668-6538 Fax: 604 668-6546
Early Warning Answering Machine: 604 668-6546
Mr. S. Harrington, Principal
Ms. W. Lim, Area Superintendent
May
Ms. B. Bahd, Vice Principal
Mr. J. Ho, School Liaison Trustee
School web page: http://ferris.sd38.bc.ca/ Ongoing Events
from April 29th to May 8th for this worthy
cause.
Please do your part and bring in any
spare change that you would be willing
to donate. Of course we would accept
dollar bills in any denomination you
would like to donate as well.
Welcome To Kindergarten Orientation
This month, students who are registered to
begin Kindergarten at Ferris in September, are
invited to attend the Welcome To Kindergarten
orientation on May 26th. This is a great way to
introduce the Ferris community to new
students, and for the students to meet the
wonderful Kindergarten teachers: Ms. Black,
Ms. Brown, and Ms. Young. Invitations were
mailed out recently to new Kindergarten
families for this event and if you have not
already replied about attending this event,
please call the school office to do so.
Friday, May 15th Professional Development Day School is not in session From the FISH Tank… Thank you for your support. As a fun
way to celebrate our efforts to help
others, we will be holding a spirit day
and dance on Friday, May 8th.
TWIN DAY – Friday, May 8th…. Dress up
like a friend, or be a “Ferris Twin” by
wearing school spirit wear or by wearing
blue and black and white! (our school
colours!)
Ferris Celebrates the Arts! Wednesday, May 6th We hope can join us from 2:50 to 4:00 pm
and tour the school. Enjoy and help us
celebrate the amazing Art displays around
the school and have fun watching our
students perform their musical talents in
many locations throughout the school.
And then… from 5:30 to 7:00 pm – Join us
in the gym for our celebration of our Ferris
Bands and other musical presentations.
From the F.I.S.H. Tank
Do Your Part and Show Your HEART for
Nepal
The recent earthquake tragedy in Nepal
has impacted many children and families
in our world.
The Ferris Inspirational School Helpers
would like to make a difference for the
people of Nepal. Our goal is to raise more
than $250 to help the relief effort in Nepal.
We will be holding a coin and money drive
Class Placement Requests
Each year at this time, we begin to make
school organization plans for September based
upon the number of students we know are
returning and new registrations that we have
received. Before school ends in June, your
child’s current classroom teacher, resource
staff, educational assistants and administrators
will work together to place students for the
upcoming school year. These plans are
tentative until the first week in September
when final student numbers are known. In the
first few days of September, all staff meet to
confirm teaching assignments and review
student placements.
In the organizational meetings, many factors
are considered when placing students. These
considerations include:
•learning styles and strengths
•work habits
•social/personal characteristics
•male/female balance
•special needs
•friendship groups
•ELL levels
•contractual obligations
•age and physical maturity
As you can see, this is a complicated process,
and this list is by no means exclusive as there
are many factors unique to a situation that
must and will be taken into account.
If you would like the opportunity to provide the
school with information about your child’s
placement for next year, you are welcome to
complete a Class Placement form available at
the school office by June 5, 2015. The
information you provide should not include a
request for a specific teacher but rather
some important personal or educational
information that will assist us in our decision.
All information provided will be shared with the
teacher(s) and taken into consideration. Please
be aware the final decision regarding
placement needs to be a school based
decision.
Happy Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10th Understanding Combined Classes
It’s the time of year when the Ferris staff
begins to look at building classes for next
year. The staff work very hard to ensure
that all students are successful. Part of
student success depends on the class that
they are in.
There are many factors that we consider
when placing a student in a particular
classroom.
There
are
academic
considerations
which
involve
student
learning styles and needs. In addition,
there are the different teaching styles of
each teacher. We try very hard to meld
these two considerations together.
Social considerations are also extremely
important. We strive to have each child
with at least one of their friends to ease the
transition into a new year. Many hours of
discussion with classroom and resource
teachers and administration are involved in
each class placement.
Often, the philosophy behind combined
classes is misunderstood by parents.
Children who are placed in the upper grade
of a combined class are not placed there
because they struggle in school.
In a
combined grade 4 and 5 class, we do our
very best to ensure that for each grade, we
have students who encompass a range of
learning styles and abilities. We do not
place all of our strongest grade 5
learners into a grade 5/6 when a grade
4/5 classroom is also available.
Teachers are trained to provide instruction
to diverse classes of students, looking at
children as individuals, and providing individual
educational plans where warranted for
students who are slower or faster to develop.
Combined classes offer enhanced opportunities
for all students to demonstrate confidence,
positive self-concept, and a strong sense of
belonging.
Combined classes can help
students form broader and more varied
friendships as older students provide role
models for younger students. Sometimes the
teacher/student relationship can be enhanced
if the same teacher teaches a student for more
than one year, leading to increased feelings of
security for returning students and a smoother
transition in September because the teacher
already knows their learning styles and needs
well. Teachers in combined classes, like those
in straight grades, follow the curriculum
requirements defined by the Ministry in
curriculum guides (Integrated Resource
Packages, IRPs).
Unlock Richmond’s heritage, arts and culture during the FREE Doors Open weekend on June 6th and 7th from 10:00 am to 4:00pm. Choose from 43 sites including museums, national historic sites, heritage buildings, art galleries, artist studios, places of worship and local organizations. A FREE opening celebration for Doors Open Richmond 2015 will be held at the Steveston Museum in the heart of Steveston Village on Friday June 5th, 4:30 pm-­‐ 8:30 pm. Immerse yourself in local Japanese Canadian history with the opening of the Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society Building on site. Enjoy refreshments, live performances, and Japanese themed activities For more information, please visit www.richmond.ca/doorsopen Facebook: www.facebook.com/doorsopenrichmond Twitter: @Richmond_BC #DORichmond Important Dates Dates to Remember
May 1 –Movie night Paddington (Start time 6
pm)!
May 6 – Celebration of the ARTS
May 8 – Ferris spirit day (Twin Day)
May 12 – 6:30 pm PAC meeting
May 12 – 6/7 Lunch hour Band performance
Gateway
May 15 – Pro-D Day (no school for students)
May 18 – Victoria Day holiday
May 19 – Early Dismissal (2:00 pm)
(Richmond
Teachers
Annual
Meeting)
May 26 – Kindergarten Orientation
May 27 – Ferris Family Fair (3 to 6 pm)
May 28 – Zone track and field
meet (gr. 4-7)
June 5 – Sports Day
Thursday, May 28th – Minoru Track and Field Meet. (for some of our grade 4 to 7 students) Friday June 5th – Ferris Sports Day (for all Kindergarten to Gr. 7 students) (Rain out day – Friday, June 12th) Stay tuned for a family pizza order! First come, first
served!
Space is limited!
Ferris Movie Night!
Date:
Price:
Friday, MAY 1st
Time: Doors open at 5:30pm
Movie begins at 6:00pm
$5.00/person at the door ($15 family rate – Mom/Dad/sons/daughters)
This includes a popcorn and drink!