ALBION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Telephone: 604-463-4848 Fax: 604-463-4689
Principal: Mrs. L. Lawrance Vice-Principal: Mrs. J. Beveridge
Website: http://albion.sd42.ca Newsletter #7
March 27, 2015
Principal’s Message
Well, it seems like only yesterday that we were sending home last month’s newsletter. This is
the time of the year when the days seem to move in double time. March was an extremely
busy month, so we hope that you and your families had a wonderful Spring Break filled with
some time to slow down and relax. We are already heading into the last three months of the
school year. Wow! Time flies, doesn’t it?
Throughout the month of March, several classes took part in a variety of field trips and some
interesting guest speakers presented information to many classes as well. Other focal points
for March were the World Cup Soccer Finals, PALS, Science Fair, Reading Link Challenge,
and Coins for Kids Drive. We just started a gymnastics program for all of the classes and are
beginning to practice for cross country. As in previous years, we will be having a school-wide
cross country event.
It is wonderful to see such dedication from our Albion staff and students!
forward to an active and eventful April!
We’re looking
Mrs. L. Lawrance, Principal
Upcoming Events
Wed., Apr. 1
Fri., Apr. 3
Sun., Apr. 5
Mon., Apr. 6
Tues., Apr. 7
Wed., Apr. 8
Thurs., Apr. 9
Mon., Apr. 13
Tues., Apr. 14
Wed., Apr. 15
Thurs., Apr. 16
6:30 – 8:00 pm Saleema Noon Sexual Health Educators Parent
Workshop (Library)
Good Friday – No School
Happy Easter!
Easter Monday – No School
RCMP – DARE Workshops for Grade 5s – morning
12:00 noon PAC Hot Lunch (through Lunch Lady)
International Day of Pink!
Saleema Noon Body Science Workshops – all day
Photo Express Artwork/Orders due to the Office
Saleema Noon Body Science Workshops – all day
8:45 am Assembly (Monthly Theme: Be Powerful!)
RCMP – DARE Workshops for Grade 5s – morning
Fruit & Vegetable Delivery – tomatoes
11:30 am Early Dismissal
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Three Way Conferences
(attend scheduled appointment with student)
Tues., Apr. 21
Wed., Apr. 22
Tues., Apr. 28
Thurs., Apr. 30
RCMP – DARE Workshops for Grade 5s – morning
Earth Day!
Grades 4 to 7 Albion Public Speaking – morning (MPR)
RCMP – DARE Workshops for Grade 5s – morning
Fruit & Vegetable Delivery – apples
BC Children’s Hospital Jeans Day!
Grade 6 Immunizations – morning
2:30 pm Albion Cross Country Race (TO BE CONFIRMED)
Upcoming Field Trips
Wed., Apr. 1
Tues., Apr. 7
Wed., Apr. 8
Thurs., Apr. 9
Apr. 13 – 14
Tues., Apr. 14
Tues., Apr. 21
Thurs., Apr. 23
Fri., Apr. 24
Tues., Apr. 28
Wed., Apr. 29
Thurs., Apr. 30
SD42 Grade 4 & 5 Reading Link Finale´ – morning
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 5 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
10:00 – 11:00 am Division 6 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 4 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
Divisions 1, 2, 3 to Britannia Mines and Evans Lake Retreat
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 5 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 5 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 4 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
Division 12 to The ACT – afternoon
Divisions 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 to Science World – all day
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 5 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
12:30 – 2:00 pm DSAC Meeting for Leadership Students
1:00 – 2:00 pm Division 4 Swimming at the Leisure Centre
Saleema Noon Sexual Health Educators Parent Workshop
Not all parents are comfortable talking to their children about sex, but all parents can learn to
be comfortable. During this open and informational session, parents will come to terms with
sexual health, and understand how it fits into the lives of their children at this stage of life.
Attendees will discover how to easily overcome
embarrassment when talking about sexual health, learn
words and concepts that are easy to use, and leave well
equipped to clearly answer the questions children ask.
The workshop is light hearted, but delivers straight and
current facts on how parents and children can work together to promote good sexual decisions
for a lifetime. Many thanks to the PAC for supporting and arranging these presentations for
parents and students. Please join us in the Library on Wednesday, April 1st from 6:30 – 8:00
pm for this invaluable parent session.
Lost Patrol Running Club
We are starting our “Lost Patrol” running club this week for Grade 4 – 7
students. Every Wednesday and Friday at 7:45 am, but please arrive no
earlier than 7:30 am. Meet in the front entrance. Mr. Graham and other staff
members will accompany student runners each day, and will slowly increase
the distance as we get closer to the Cross Country and Track and Field events.
Created By Kids – Student Art (Photo Express) Fundraiser
During the first week of April your child(ren) will be bringing home a colourful piece of artwork.
Attached to your child’s art is a Photo Express order form. You can
order a variety of items all personalized with your child’s artwork.
You can order items such as cards, mugs, iPhone covers, canvas
prints, puzzles, metal bookmarks, calendars and more! Refer to the
order envelope for all the details and prices. It is never too early to
start thinking about gifts for Easter, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.
All proceeds go towards our new playground! The completed
order form and artwork must be returned to the school with
payment by Wednesday, April 8th.
School Assemblies
Each month our school has an assembly usually on the first Monday at 8:45 am. The purpose
of these assemblies is to build school pride, celebrate student successes, and ensure we
maintain clear communication and expectations with the students. Parents are always
welcome to join us for assemblies in the gym. Our next school assembly is on Monday,
April 13th at 8:45 a.m. in the gym. This month’s theme is Be Powerful! Check your child’s
Planner for related information and activities.
Report Cards and Three Way Conferences
Our next Early Dismissal for reporting is Wednesday, April 15th and
our Three Way Conferences are on Thursday, April 16th. Your child
only attends with a parent for the scheduled conference time. Please
mark your calendars!
Scholastic Book Orders
Please remember to make your cheques payable to Albion School
(not Scholastic Books as indicated on their order form). Albion
writes one cheque to cover the whole order. Also, if you wish to
purchase books as a gift, simply write "gift" on the order form and
we will call you when it arrives.
P.A.L.S.
P.A.L.S. stands for Parents as Literacy Supporters. Our last P.A.L.S. session is on
Wednesday, May 6th from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. If you are the parent of a
Kindergarten or preschool aged child (3—4 years of age), please plan to
attend this event with your child. These sessions offer fun, interactive
experiences to help you with ways to promote literacy and numeracy
skill development at home. You can register by calling the school office at 604-463-4848.
Albion is on Twitter!
For quick reminders and updates, follow us on Twitter @AlbionSD42. World Cup Soccer Finals Update
Albion's own version of World Cup
Soccer concluded on March 5th.
Congratulations to Team Fiji for wining
the coveted gold match. On behalf of
the students, "thank you" to Mr. Graham
and all of the other teachers who
assisted with supervision.
Albion Parent Advisory Council (PAC)
Our next PAC Meeting will be held on Monday, March 30th at 7:00 pm in the school library.
Haney Bottle Depot Fundraiser: Albion Elementary School has an account at Haney Bottle
Depot (#2-22935 Lougheed Hwy). Tell them the school’s account number (572) and bring in
your receipt to the office.
The Albion PAC is on Facebook! Simply visit our group page (Albion Elementary PAC) and
ask to join our group. We will keep you up-to-date on the latest PAC events.
New Albion Playground Fundraiser
For the past year, the PAC has been planning, fundraising, and saving for a new playground.
Currently, we have raised $50,000! Please help us raise the final $15,000 in order to make
this dream a reality by the end of the school year. Check out the plans on the bulletin board in
the front entrance! By now, you will have received a letter from the PAC asking for financial
help from any individual/family/organization that is able to offer it. Donations of $25 or more
will receive a tax refundable receipt, with cheques made payable to “SD42”or "Youth
Education Support Fund" along with the completed YES Foundation Donation form (on the
back of the PAC letter or at http://www1.sd42.ca/how-donate-our-schools). No donation is too
small and every single dollar makes a difference! Please return your cash or cheque
donation and the form by Friday, March 27th. Please help us reach this goal – we are
working so hard to provide your children and generations of future Albion All Stars with more
opportunities to play, be active, and have fun and we can’t do it without your help!
Aboriginal Education
For the most recent edition of the ‘Talking Stick’ newsletter, from the
Aboriginal Education Department, please check on-line at:
http://schools.sd42.ca/abed/newsletters
Moving?
If you know you will not be attending Albion Elementary next year, we would
appreciate it if you let us know. During the next couple of months, we will
be working very hard to accommodate all of the requests to transfer to
Albion, and it is very helpful to our planning if we know who will or will not be
attending next year. Thanks for your help with this request.
Guidelines for Transferring Schools
These guidelines apply to students who want to:
• Transfer to Albion from another school in Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows
• Transfer out of Albion to another school in Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows
Parents need to go to their current school to request a student transfer form.
The current school will keep this form. There will be a series of three
meetings to decide on transfer requests, as follows:
• Thursday, April 16th
• Thursday, June 18th
• Thursday, August 27th
Once decisions have been made at these meetings, parents will be phoned to let them know.
Families who move into a school catchment need to go to that school to register. If they are
hoping to attend a different school, they can indicate this on their registration form.
In general, acceptance criteria for prioritizing new registrations are:
• Students who live in catchment
• Students who live out of catchment with siblings already in the school
• Out of catchment without siblings
• Out of District with siblings
• Out of District without siblings
At Albion, we generally can only take students who live in our catchment. Sometimes, we
can take students who live out of catchment, but who already have siblings in our school.
Given how full we are, we are not accepting students from out of catchment if they do not have
siblings in our school.
As always, if you have questions, please give us a call!
Dogs on School Grounds
This is a continuing dilemma. Please remember to keep your dogs at the
edge of the school grounds and on a leash at all times. Most important,
please remember to pick up after your dog. Sometimes we are left with
quite a mess on our field. Many adults and children are either allergic
to dogs or uncomfortable when dogs are present. Let’s work together to
ensure the safety and comfort of all the adults and children on our school
grounds throughout the day, especially before and after school. Your
cooperation is very much appreciated.
Ministry of Education Satisfaction Surveys
MESSAGE TO PARENTS OF GRADE 4 AND 7 STUDENTS
If you have a student in grade 4 or 7, he/she will soon bring
home a letter outlining this year’s School Satisfaction Survey
for parents. This year, we must complete all surveys online,
so we would ask you to please take 15 minutes of your time to
fill this out. The letter we send home will include a password
to sign on with, as well as directions to help you. If, at any time, you have questions please do
not hesitate to call us. As well, we are more than willing to let you complete your Satisfaction
Survey using one of our school computers. The more parents who complete these surveys,
the higher quality of feedback we will receive. Your input is appreciated! All surveys must be
completed online by April 30th. As well as completing this survey, please feel free to come and
see us anytime with questions or feedback!
F.S.A.’s for Grade 4 and 7 Parents
F.S.A. booklets and scores have been sent home with all students who
participated. Score sheets have been stapled into the front cover of each
book. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask us.
Kindergarten Orientation
This year, Albion has been assigned approximately 55 new Kindergarten students! It should be
another exciting year for our Kindergarten program. Kindergarten Orientation Session is
scheduled for Friday, May 29th at 1:00 pm. This is an important information session for new
Kindergarten parents, so please plan to attend if at all possible.
Peanut Allergies
We would once again like to remind you that we have some students at
Albion who are allergic to foods containing nuts or nut products. Ideally,
we ask that you not send food to school containing these ingredients.
Realistically, we know this is not always possible or convenient, so we do
ask you to remind the teacher if your child has food containing nut
products. We will often ask students to eat in an alternate place, and will
ask them to wash their hands well after eating, to help minimize the risk of
nut oils being spread around the school. Your help with these requests is
appreciated as we continue to try and keep Albion Elementary as safe as
possible for all students.
Leadership Club News
Our DSAC representatives and
Leadership Club students have worked
hard this year to help out our community
as well as the world around us. Our “We
Create Change” coin drive and bake sale
fundraisers were very successful. At the
last assembly, the students handed out
$500 cheques to both the Friends in
Need Food Bank and the Albion PAC
(playground donation). Thank you for all
of your support. Stay tuned for future
projects organized by our
DSAC/Leadership students! Many
thanks to Mr. Henderson for guiding
these young leaders.
Class Placement for 2015/2016
It is not yet time for parents to submit requests for class placement – this is done in our April
newsletter, and forms will be available on our school web site. It is appropriate, however, to put
some advance reminders in this newsletter. Please remember the following things as we begin
to think about constructing next year’s classes:
We do not accept requests for specific teachers. We do accept
information about your child’s learning styles that might help us make
stronger placements; however, please remember that our teachers have a
rich amount of information about your child. We feel very comfortable
making strong class placements for our students based on our year-long
experience with them.
We cannot make placements based solely on friendships, and in many
cases we feel it is advantageous to break up groups of friends, especially
if the social energy of the group is interfering with the classroom learning
conditions.
Teachers cannot make any guarantees about next year’s class placement.
If your current teacher does suggest a teacher for next year, please
remember this is only a suggestion. It cannot be taken as a guarantee.
Parent requests are only one piece of information we consider. We have many other factors to
think about. Often, our class placements become complex puzzles as we try to juggle many
conflicting needs. In the end, we make the best decisions we can, based on the many variables
we need to consider. Our ultimate goal is to create balanced classrooms and, in general, we
do a very good job of this.
It is not appropriate for parents to “lobby” teachers about requests for next year. In some
situations, anxious parents can make teachers feel “pressured”, and this is an uncomfortable
position to be in. It is okay to reinforce concerns you may have about learning conditions for
your child, however, so a class placement request can serve as a good reminder for us.
We will remind you in the April newsletter that these forms are available on our website.
The Benefits of Play for Children’s Intellectual Development
Play contributes to children’s learning and development in many ways. Play contributes to
healthy cognitive growth, the development of imagination and creative thinking, logical
reasoning and problem solving skills, and memory.
Ø In dramatic play, children learn to use objects and actions symbolically, which is essential
for language, literacy, and numeracy.
Ø Play and language both involve symbolic representation: language uses
words to represent objects, actions, and situations, and in play children
use language and objects to represent other things, such as a cardboard
box for a tent. Socio-dramatic play fosters children’s language
development by nudging them to make intentional use of talk to identify
and elaborate on play themes.
Ø Play lays a foundation for future success in writing, reading, and developing abstract
scientific and mathematical concepts.
Recent research documents the many benefits of a play-based environment and it has even
been shown that these benefits can create success throughout life. Of course, reading with and
to your child is very important and so is counting and talking about your child’s interests.
Parents can encourage play through giving children lots of choice and large chunks of time to
play. Providing good hands-on materials, such as puppets, dress up clothes, cars, dolls,
household items, blocks and manipulative materials is also important. There is no need to buy
the latest toys, as garage sales and second hand stores can have many great toys. Children
want your time more than fancy gadgets. Playing with your child and talking, pretending and
having fun is enjoyable and nurturing, it also increases their likelihood of success both now and
in the future.
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How Can You Help to Improve Your Child’s Reading?
At school children practice reading every day but research shows that what
happens at home after they leave school is critical to a child’s reading
development. Some things you can do to help your child to develop strong
reading skills are:
Read yourself – Your actions really do speak louder than your words. When your kids see
you reading the newspaper or curling up with a book they will follow your example.
Make sure your children read every day- Reading is a skill just like playing a sport or the
piano. Like other skills it gets better with practice. Researchers have found that children
who spend at least 30 minutes a day reading for fun develop the skills to be better readers.
Get the library habit- Visit the public library regularly with your family and while you are
there check out a book yourself!
Read aloud to the children- Set aside some time each day for reading aloud. Even 10
minutes a day can have a big impact!
Give books as gifts- Then find a special place for your children to keep their own library.
Make reading a privilege. Say, “You can stay up 15 minutes later tonight if you read in
bed.” Or you might say, “Because you helped with the dishes, I have time to read you an
extra story.”