Howick Central Public School Julie Holmes – Principal Marie Mitchell – Vice-Principal 45010 Harriston Rd RR1 Gorrie ON N0G 1X0 Tel: (519) 335-.3566 Fax: (519)335-6567 Web: howickcentral.amdsb.ca OCTOBER 2014 Principal’s Message I would like to say we are all back in the routine of school, but it seems that school is never “routine”. We have lots of interesting activities going on all the time! We hope that the weather is cooperative for our cross country runners and our soccer teams. Let’s just be happy that we don’t have snow ; yet. At our PA Day in September, our staff reviewed our student achievement data from the past year to set some goals for student achievement, especially in mathematics. We also have a Healthy Schools Committee that will be looking at our School Climate Survey data, and setting some goals to make our school an even better positive, inclusive learning environment and strengthen our school community. We are very proud of many aspects of Howick Central Public School, but there is always room for improvement. We are determined to listen to our students’ voices and provide lots of opportunities for our students to develop leadership skills. School Council Our first meeting of the year is on Tuesday, September 30th at 7:00pm in the library. All parents of our students are welcome! The agendas and minutes for School Council are posted on our school website. We encourage all parents to provide input through current School Council members, or attend the meetings in person. They generally last only one hour, and take place a minimum of four times per school year. See the last page of the newsletter for specific Kindergarten registration information. Volunteer Response Great! Thanks to all of the parents who responded to our instructions to send in a Volunteer Declaration form or get a Vulnerable Sector Check completed in order to be able to volunteer at school activities. Those of you who sent in a police check form will receive the form directly to your home mail. Bring or send it to school so that we can make a copy to keep on file. We look forward to working with you! EQAO RESULTS 2013-2014 School Grade 3 Reading 77 Writing 77 Mathematics 60 Board Province 65 72 63 70 78 67 Grade 6 Reading Writing Mathematics 77 72 49 79 78 54 81 84 62 Before and After Childcare Program for Next Year Each year the Board does a survey of families to determine whether there is sufficient interest to have a before and after school care program for our schools with full day kindergarten. For the past three years we have tried to have a program at Howick, but we didn’t have enough children to run one. Please make sure you do this survey if you would like our school to have a program. As part of an on-going commitment to make the school day as seamless as possible for our families, each family will be receiving an information sheet in mid-October regarding before and after school care. Families interested in before or after school programs for their four and five year olds, and possibly older children in the upcoming school year, should complete an on-line survey by November 30. The link to the survey will be found on the Board website starting mid-October. We appreciate your assistance as we determine the feasibility of offering such programs. Should you require a paper copy, please contact the school after October 15. Universal Snack Program Our snack program is up and running and hopefully you are hearing about some of the nutritious snacks students are offered each day. In order to keep this going, we do need some funding. If you are able to donate $5.00 per month, per child, we would appreciate it, so we can sustain this program. Donations can be sent in with your child’s teacher. We do have a sign up process, just so we don’t waste food. We need to know how many students to plan for. If you would like to sign your child up for the program, please put a note in your child’s planner and they will be added to the class list. Fundraising Plans for 2013 – 2014 Our school will be involved in several fundraising initiatives throughout the year. These extra funds help us to enrich our programs for our students; however, it is voluntary to participate in any fundraising and you can pick and choose which ones you want to participate in. This year we will be doing our annual basket fundraiser at the Family Fun Night in June, selling Magazines in February and School Council will decide on one other venture. In addition, we also get profits from milk and pizza sales. A portion of our Book Fair profits goes into purchasing new books for the library. School Council will be holding hotdog lunches occasionally. Our grade 8 class goes to Bark Lake every year, and since this trip is over $400 per student, they will be doing some fundraising as well. If you would like to order some meat, and need a form, contact the office or Mr. Hammer and we will send one home. Howick School Council invites you to our next meeting Tues. Sept. 30 7pm School Library All parents of our students are welcome! Agendas and minutes are posted on the school website for your convenience. Character Trait of the Month The character trait we will be focusing on for October, is Empathy: understanding how someone else feels. “Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other - it doesn't matter who it is - and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.” Mother Teresa No aerosol or pump sprays at school or on the bus please. Some staff and students suffer from sensitivities to scents, and some of those deodorants and body sprays are pretty strongly scented! There are roll-ons or sticks that work just as well. Thanks for your cooperation! Visitors To The School/ Picking Up Students In the interest of school safety, we ask that everyone use the north doors by the office to enter the school, and inform the office of your visit. The doors to the primary wing are locked after students unload buses, and remain locked for the day. If you are bringing your child to school before bus time, please go to the office. Also, do not pick students up on the yard during recess or walk through the halls during class time. Come to the office and we’ll get your child for you or take your child to class. Please understand that we are not being unwelcoming - we have custody situations where access to students is denied, so we need to enforce these rules and control access in our building. Thank you for your help in ensuring the safety of our students. Cell Phones, iPods, Electronic Games We allow students to bring personal devices, such as iPods, or handheld electronic games, to use while riding the school bus. Use of personal electronic devices in the classroom is left to the discretion of the teacher, and must serve an educational purpose. Personal texting and phone use is never appropriate in the classroom. Teachers in the higher grades encourage students to bring their own laptops, iPods or netbooks for learning in the classroom. However, students bringing in any electronic equipment to the school do so at their own risk. We cannot guarantee the security of such equipment and the school is not responsible for lost or stolen items. Students are expected to be physically active outside during recesses, and this equipment is not allowed on the playground. “Power Of One” Bully Prevention Program Do you remember when students in the school participated in an Anti-Bullying presentation for the past two school years? This excellent program helped students understand that bullying is an imbalance of power between two or more people, where someone is being hurt physically, mentally and/or emotionally, and this is happening repeatedly, not just a one-time event. Students will be reminded this year to use their own “Power of One” to tell the bully to stop, to intervene when someone else is bullying and not be a bystander, and most importantly, tell a trusted adult and follow up with the adult to make sure something is being done. If each of us uses our “Power of One,” we can eliminate bullying together. New students and members of our school community are encouraged to join us in standing up against bullies and bullying. Howick-Turnberry Fall Fair Friday – October 3rd Classes will be going over to the fair in supervised groups. Lots of parent volunteers will be needed! Each student will receive a free ticket for a ride at the midway. The food booths and games booths will not be open. Students will not be allowed in the arena, as judging will be taking place. This adventure is weather permitting of course, and currently the forecast does not look good Good luck to our lamb racers: Gr. 1 Thunderball Gr. 2 Lucky Gr. 3 Clementine Gr. 4 Lambchop Gr. 5 Oreo Gr. 6 Bill Sign up your Child for Kindergarten 2015 Kindergarten registration for September 2015 will be taking place here at Howick on Tuesday, November 18, 2014. We ask that you pick up a kindergarten registration package at the office or send back the tear off, for registrations to be sent home. Completed forms should be sent back to the School before the registration date. This registration morning is a great opportunity for 3 and 4 year olds and parents to be introduced to school before September. Please call for an appointment. Calling all Three and Four Year Olds who wish to register for Kindergarten in September 2015. This is for students born in 2010 and 2011 who have never attended Howick School. I would like a Kindergarten Registration Package for: Child’s Name _________________________________ Birthdate (dd/mm/yyyy) _________________________ Parent’s Name ________________________________ Phone # _________________________ Please spread the word in our community to families who don’t yet have a child at Howick Central P.S., and who will not receive this newsletter. Thank you. REMINDER: School Photo Day – October 10