HYLAND HEIGHTS E.S. HAWK TALK NOVEMBER NEWS, 2014 Principal: Mitch Zuk 519-925-3745, Attendance: Ext. 100 * Press ‘0’ to connect directly with the office Dear Parents & Guardians, It’s hard to believe that November is here. Hyland Heights Reads has just finished! After three weeks of students reading and undertaking literacy activities on the following books: the Hyland Heights students voted for their favourite selection: Voting Procedure The Ballot Polling Clerks: Dean and Karly Ballot Boxes At an assembly on Friday, November 7th, Exclamation was announced as the favourite book as voted upon by our students and staff. I was most fortunate to read Exclamation to the entire school and celebrate all the books during the assembly. The book, Exclamation, focused on a non-confident exclamation mark learning about the important role exclamation marks’ have on ideas, words and phrases. The exclamation mark’s story is really everyone’s story. It’s about fitting in, standing out, and finding your way with the help of others. Thanks to our teacher-librarian, Mrs. Bannon for organizing an amazing, authentic learning experience that increased our understanding. On Tuesday, November 4th, Chris D’Souza, the Race and Equity Relations Officer for the Peel District School Board presented to our students in grades 5-8. Chris delivered a sincere, clear, and purposeful message about inclusion, tolerance, equity and justice. Our students enjoyed the presentation and thought Chris has a strong message that we all need to appreciate our individuality while respecting the various cultures and practices of all peoples. Here are some of the comments our students made to their teachers after the assembly: “he was exciting,” it’s important to talk about your identity,” it’s important to be yourself and not someone else,” being different is nothing to be ashamed of,” you have to respect identities because they are not changeable,” and “a certain country may not have a certain look.” We are now working on a JK to 3 presentation. We are getting ready for our annual Remembrance Day assembly, Student Progress Report Interviews, AntiBullying Awareness Week (November 17th-21) and Parent Council’s Holiday celebration Night on November 27th. Mitch Zuk, Principal Remembrance Day HHES remembers those that have fought and given much for our country. On November 11th, all classes will attend an assembly @ 9:30 am. A number of classes will present poems, songs, and a media presentation in honour of our veterans. Parents and Caregivers are welcome to attend. Parenting Workshops – Fall 2014 Anger, Parenting and You November 11 from 7:00–9:00 PM—2 nights Parkinson Centennial Public School– 120 Lawrence Ave We all strive for healthy communication between parents and children. This workshop will help you recognize your anger triggers and how to release anger safely, and help you teach your children how to manage their emotional responses. Participants will examine coping strategies for anger and stress management for both parents and children. Parenting Siblings November 18 from 7:00–9:00 PM — 1 night at Island Lake Public School—50 Oak Ridge Drive Being a parent of one child is a challenge. But when a child turns into a sibling, new problems and possibilities arise. Through the use of a DVD and group discussion, learn how to help kids solve conflicts on their own and deal with their siblings in age-appropriate ways. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen Refresher Session November 25 from 7:00–9:00 PM—1 night Parkinson Centennial Public School–120 Lawrence Ave This one-evening workshop is for people who have previously attended the six-week "How to talk so Kids Will Listen" program. Bring your success stories as well as your challenges, and we will talk as a group about how the strategies are working (or not...) Skills for Single Parents December 2 from 7:00– 9:00 PM—1 night at Island Lake Public School—50 Oak Ridge Drive This workshop is in a “video-and-discussion” format. It touches on the following issues: feelings, co- parenting, managing single-parent life, dating, and single parenting. Positive Discipline for Effective Parenting Nov. 12, 19, 26 and Dec. 3 from 7:00–9:00 PM—4 nights Princess Margaret Public School—51 Wellington This workshop uses theories and information from a combination of parenting experts to provide you with practical information and ideas to help you along your everyday journey as a parent. We will look at discipline as a teaching tool, working together as a couple to parent consistently, parenting styles, and practical tools to help both you and your child be successful within your family. Positive Parenting from Separate Homes November 13 from 6:30–9:30 PM—2 nights Dufferin Child & Family Services—655 Riddell Rd Are you worried about the effects of separation, divorce and parenting from two homes on your children? Learn how to manage these changes to ensure that your children do not get caught in the middle of parental conflict. You will learn to understand your feelings, your children's needs and develop a business-like relationship with the other parent. You will not be asked to talk about your individual situation as the program is for general information. A Parent’s How-To Guide for Helping Your Child in Math By: Gina Betts & Rylan Pranger (Upper Grand Curriculum Leaders) Math education looks different than it did even ten years ago. Employers today cite that the essential 21st century skills of problem solving, collaboration, logical reasoning and the ability to think critically are the most important ‘look-fors’ when interviewing candidates. In schools today, students are asked to solve challenging mathematical problems that put more importance on conceptual knowledge instead of procedural knowledge. This leaves parents sometimes at a loss about their role and how to best support their child. As a parent, you are an invaluable partner in your child’s mathematics education; you are the first educator in your child’s life. Research shows that when there is a high level of family involvement, students do better in school. Below are some tips to support your role as a mathematics parent. Tips for Parents:(adapted from Doing Mathematics with Your Child - A Parent’s Guide http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynume racy/ • Real-life experiences that encourage and engage your child to think and talk about mathematics (shopping, sorting, construction, managing time and money, understand patterns and trends, make predictions based on patterns, analyze data) • encourage and provide manipulatives to explore mathematical concepts (toothpicks, popsicle sticks, money, chocolate chips, etc…) • be mindful of your attitude towards mathematics; strong, positive attitudes about math increase a child’s ability to feel successful and to persevere with challenging math tasks • encourage risk taking • provide a supportive, relaxing environment • build your child’s confidence by engaging them in math activities that will allow them to feel successful • engage in math activities or math talk in the language you are most comfortable with • a math problem is not necessarily a word problem; don’t allow language to be the barrier to the mathematical concept presented • build on memorization of math facts by ensuring the understanding of the concept (What does multiplication/division mean? When would we use it? Why would we use it? How did you figure out that fact? How can you use one fact to help you figure out another?) • familiarize yourself with the Ontario Math Curriculum (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/ele mentary/math18curr.pdf) in order to understand what your child is learning and what is expected of him/her Resources: • Homework Help (Gr. 7-10) https://homeworkhelp.ilc.org • Math Activity Sites - there are many more sites in the Doing Mathematics with Your Child (links) http://www.mathstories.com http://www.hoodamath.com/games/ http://www.mathplayground.com http://www.funbrain.com/teachers/subj_math.htm l http://www.aplusmath.com http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/main.sh tml Environmental Education and Awareness Saving energy and reducing the use of electricity is necessary to help our planet. Electricity is a type of energy that was discovered over 100 years ago. One of the most common ways to make electricity is by converting other energy sources, such as coal, natural gas, and oil or solar, wind and falling water. Right now we get most of our energy from nonrenewable energy sources, which include the fossil fuels — oil, natural gas, and coal. Unfortunately the burning of fossil fuels to produce power causes air pollution an is linked to global warming and climate change, which is the gradual, harmful, increasing temperature on our planet. But the good news is that recently Ontario became the first province in Canada to no longer make electricity using coal-fired power plants! And we as individuals can also help solve this problem by learning more about it and making energy conservation one of our goals at school and home. Did you know? Turning off the lights in one classroom for one hour keeps over two pounds of pollutants out of the environment. Let’s remember to turn the switch off whenever we leave an empty room. We all can make a difference in helping the environment. Demonstrate your courage in making a difference and conserving energy by enforcing the following tips at home. Set your home’s thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter or a few degrees higher in the summer. Your family will save money and reduce greenhouse emissions. Turn off lights and all electronics (like computers, televisions, stereos, and video-games) when you leave a room. Use machines like washers, dryers, and dishwashers only when there is a full load and after 8pm when energy consumption is lower. Open your blinds or curtains on sunny winter days to let the sun shine into and warm your home. In the summer remember to close them and keep the hot sun out. It takes courage to make changes to your own habits and help others to do the same. But you have what it takes to be an environmental leader! On-line Bully Reporting Tool Did you know that in the majority of cases, bullying stops within 10 seconds when peers intervene or don’t support the bullying behavior? The Upper Grand District School Board takes all incidents of bullying seriously. That’s why we developed an online bullying reporting tool. Stop a Bully gives students and parents 24/7 access for reporting bullying. You don’t have to identify yourself – just your school – and your message gets sent directly to your school principal for follow-up. We will follow up on your report. You’ll find the Stop a Bully button on our school’s website and the board’s website (www.udsb.opn.ca/stop-a-bully). If your child is the victim of bullying or sees bullying behavior at school, please encourage him/her to speak with someone at school or use the Stop a Bully tool. For more information, contact the school. Library News Once again, our Fall Book Fair, which was held from October 21-24, was very successful, thanks in part to our terrific group of volunteers. Thank you to all students, teachers and families who supported the Book Fair and to Mrs. Bannon who worked so hard to organize the event. Because of the large number of books purchased at the book fair, Scholastics has awarded our school close to $1600.00 in credit to purchase new books for the Hyland Heights library. Your support is very much appreciated! Playground Climbers are Closed As days grow colder and snowflakes start to fly a time of change comes to our playgrounds. Metal playground parts can become very slippery, particularly against winter coats. Please note that, for safety reasons, our playground climbers are now shut down for the winter season. We look forward to using them once again sometime in April. We also ask that you take a moment to discuss this with your child. Students are not to be using the climbers before or after school. Thank you for your help with this to keep kids safe. Student Progress Reports The focus of progress reports is to share progress related to learning skills and work habits, and explains how your child is doing in subjects using the words: “progressing very well”, “progressing well” or “progressing with difficulty”. Progress reports will go home with the students from Gr.1 to 8 on November 13th. Parent-teacher interviews take place on the evening of Nov 20st and all day on Nov 21nd. This is your opportunity to find out early in the school year how your child is progressing, what the school will do to help and what you can do at home to support his/her learning. Please note that while these are the only scheduled interviews for the year, we encourage parents and teachers to communicate helpful information or concerns, at any point during the school year, where this supports student learning. February and June report cards will follow a more traditional format with marks for all subjects Winter-Like Weather has Arrived! Please help your child dress appropriately for the weather by pulling out those warm hats, mitts, and snow pants. Students are outside for two 25 minute blocks each day and being dressed in warm clothing allows children to enjoy their break time and be more comfortable while outside. An extra pair of dry socks is also a good idea! Winter Weather & Bus Cancellations Decisions to cancel transportation is made by 6:30 a.m. and this is based on a number of factors including, weather and road conditions, checked first-hand by designated • • • bus operators in each area, weather predictions made by Environment Canada, and information on road conditions from the local Road Superintendent. During times of inclement weather, please check the transportation website for updates: http://www.stwdsts.ca/ You can also listen to: 1460 AM CJOY,106.1 Magic FM, 99.1 FM CBC, NewsTalk 570 AM, 96.7 FM CHYM, 98.1 FM CHFI, 680 AM CFTR, 92.5 KISS FM or watch the A Channel News or CKCOTV television news for school transportation cancellations. A message will also be left on the school’s Bus Cancellation/School Closure line as soon as we are informed. (519-925-3745 Ext. 501.) If bus students are driven to school on a “no-bus day”, please ensure they are picked up promptly at 3:15 p.m. allowing our staff to travel home safely during daylight hours. No Bus Day Attendance Hyland Heights remains an open school to all students when the buses are not running and is only closed when a rare School Board system closure occurs. Non-bussed students are expected to attend school unless parents decide it is unsafe for their child to travel to and from school. Final decisions about your child’s attendance rest with each individual family. Leaving a message about your child’s absence provides us with valuable time to ensure that all students are accounted for and are either safe at school or safe at home/daycare. We have only three telephone lines so please keep trying until you are able to leave a message. Cold & Flu Season With cold and flu season approaching it’s that time of year again to get your flu shot. The flu is a respiratory illness that spreads quickly from person to person. Common flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle pain, joint pain, and weakness. The flu is more serious for the very young and elderly. They can get the flu from schoolaged children who don’t seem sick but may have a mild case. Get your free flu shot. It protects everyone. If you don’t like needles, there's an alternative called FluMist®. FluMist is a nasal spray available for children and adults ages 2 to 59. FluMist® is not available at drop-in clinics and should you choose this option you will have to call to make an appointment. The Wellington-DufferinGuelph Public Health Unit offers free flu shots with no appointment necessary and drop-ins are welcome. Feel free to call 1-800-265-7293 or visit the following website at www.wdgpublichealth.ca for more information. Grade Eight Graduation: An Early Update Calling all Grade 8 parents!! New this year - there will be a parent grad committee. If you would like to be involved please email your information to: [email protected] SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS what help us achieve our goals. We are pleased to be offering MacMillan’s products as our major fundraiser for the current school year. Our fundraising campaign will generate funds for our new junior playground. We have a current goal of $40,000 and fundraisers such as these are MacMillan’s offers an array of many delicious products including Cookie Dough, Muffin Batter, Gourmet Deserts, Pizzas, Peanut Free and Kosher items. There are lots of wonderful products perfect for entertaining this holiday season! All order forms with payment are due no later then: Tuesday, November 18th 2014. Cheques can be made payable to: Hyland Heights Elementary School. We thank you for your support in helping us achieve our fundraising goal! Next Meeting Dates Meetings are located in the library. These meetings are a great way to find out what’s happening in the school and to get involved. All parents are welcome and as always there is free babysitting. Pick up on Tuesday December 2th between 3:15-6:30pm in the gymnasium. Our next meetings are scheduled for the first Monday of the month: November 24th at 6:00pm - Hyland Heights Parent Council Did you hear? The Holiday Celebration Night is coming up! Join us on Thursday, November 27th between 6-8pm for a night of Holiday fun. There will be free crafts for the kids, a raffle room, cookie decorating, carol singing plus LOTS more! Our Silent Auction will be opening soon for bids. Come into the school lobby for your chance to bid on some AMAZING prizes: Watch for a School Council Flyer to follow! Don’t forget to come and pick-up your MacMillians order in the gym on Tuesday, December 2nd at 3:15 – 6:30 p.m. HYLAND HEIGHTS E.S. - NOVEMBER NEWS MONDAY 3 Pita Day TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 11 Remembrance Day Assembly @9:30am (Red & White Day) 12 Pizza Day 13 Progress Reports Go Home 14 19 Pizza Day 20 Hands-On Catering lunch 4 5 Pizza Day 6 Parent Council Meeting @ 6pm (in library – babysitting provided) 10 Smoothie Day Moment of Silence at 11:00am 17 Pita Day BULLY PREVENTION WEEK! 24 Smoothie Day DEC 18 Anti-Bully Awareness Day – WEAR PINK! - Thunbs Up Day (catch someone doing something good) MacMillan’s Orders due into the office today 25 2 *MacMillan Orders to be Picked Up between 3:15 and 6:30 in the Gym. Gr.7 Hep B#1 Gr.8 Girls HPV #1 Parent-Teacher Interview Evening 3:30-8:00 (It is helpful for students to attend with Parents) Flouride Varnishing for students who were missed Parent Council Meeting @ 6:00pm 1 It’s OK to be Different Lesson for all classes (Equity and Inclusion event) - all week 9;30 - KB walking to library. 7 Hyland Heights Reads Assembly at 9am 21 PA DAY (no regular classes) Interview Day for Parent/Teachers 9:00-3:00 (It is helpful for students to attend with Parents) 26 Pizza Day 27 HOLIDAY CELEBRATION EVENT @ 6-8pm 28 3 Pizza 4 Peter Pan trip for 6/7A, 7/8B & 8A 5 Peter Pan trip for Gr. 1-6
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