BRANT AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL
MairGault, Principal
64 Brant Avenue, Guelph, Ontario. N1E 1G2
519-824-2671
Fax: 519-824-6159
Renate Smith, Office Co-ordinator
MARCH 2014
Hello Parents and Guardians: Annually I try to provide a list of tips from the Ministry of Education Website for parents to
help support their children’s learning at home. Often parents of students in the older grades are unsure of how to
support their older child with their reading comprehension skills. Below are tips specifically for older students. If you
would like more details you can go to the link below.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/tips/read4to6.html
10 Tips to help your child in grade four to six with reading:
1. Keep reading with your child. Kids are never too old to be read to–or let your kids read to you. Read a variety of
material – magazines, newspapers, books, poems and comic books. Try cutting out or printing interesting or funny
articles to share with them.
2. Public libraries today are worlds to explore so try and go regularly. Your library has great resources – books,
computer games, DVDs, CDs, magazines, newspapers and Internet access. There are also terrific in-house programs
such as reading circles for little ones and homework clubs for older children. If you have access to a public library,
talk to the librarian about what is available.
3. Read some of the same books as your child. There are many books that are loved by people of all ages. Ask your
librarian or child's teacher for suggestions. You can share your thoughts and ideas, and have great conversations
about the characters, stories or topics.
4. Ask your children what they're reading. Ask what it's about and what is most enjoyable about the book. Ask your
child to describe it to you.
5. Tap into interests and hobbies. Kids are more likely to read about what they find really interesting, like sports or
crafts. Don't worry if it's a comic book, magazine or an illustrated novel, just remember all reading is good and tastes
will change as they get older. When you go to the library, let them choose their own books.
6. Find books that relate to TV shows. Let's face it, TV and video games are part of life now and our kids benefit when
we help them learn how to think about these messages too. We also know that some kids find TV and video games
fascinating. You can use this to your advantage–introduce them to books or magazines that relate to their favourite
shows, movies or games.
7. Encourage your older kids to read to younger kids. The older child will practice reading out loud and the younger
child will enjoy being read to. Best of all, they get to enjoy spending time together.
8. Play games together. Trivia games and board games such as Junior Trivial Pursuit® or Junior Scrabble® can be a fun
way to learn about words and reading. Children have such a good time playing they don't realize they are learning.
9. Computers can be reading zones too! Though we all feel that kids may spend too much time on the computer, there
are some great games that help kids with reading and allow them to create their own stories and books. Look for
"parent approved" on the box in stores and in the library.
10. Give praise. The best motivation comes from your positive feedback. Whenever your child finishes a reading or
writing assignment, ask about what was read and praise your child's effort.
Time to snuggle up and read!
Sincerely,
Mair Ann Gault
Principal, Brant Ave. Public School
1A AND ROOTS OF EMPATHY!
Every three weeks the students in 1A welcome
Baby Brynn into the classroom. Baby Brynn,
along with her mother, grandmother, and our
Roots of Empathy facilitator, Mrs. Berry, are
teaching students about feelings, infant
development, safety, and empathy. Mrs. Berry
also comes each week to help us prepare for
Baby Brynn’s visit. We listen to stories, share
our experiences, sing songs, draw and write.
Students are fascinated to see how Baby Brynn
is growing and developing with each visit.
THE NEW ONTARIO CURRICULUM
Ontario’s newly revised French As a Second
Language Curriculum (Core French, Extended
French, and French Immersion), to be
implemented in September 2014, strives to
foster “Lifelong Language Learning”. It’s vision is
as follows:
Students will communicate and interact with
growing confidence in French, one of
Canada’s official languages, while developing
the knowledge, skills, and perspectives they
need to participate fully as citizens in Canada
and in the world. (The Ontario Curriculum:
French As A Second Language, 2013) In order
to help all students meet their full
potential during and after their academic
career, the curriculum advocates teaching
language that is meaningful and relevant to
students’ real-life experiences and interests.
It promotes twenty-first century learning
skills such as effective communication,
critical and creative thinking, and
intercultural awareness.
The Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR), a tool for
defining, tracking and recognizing progress in
learning a language, is integrated across the
new curriculum. It encourages French As A
Second Language (FSL) learners to describe
their level of proficiency using “I can”
statements and FSL teachers to assess the
proficiency of their students. Upper Grand
District School Board continually strives to
promote high quality education. In doing so,
Core French and French Immersion teachers
have been invited to attend professional
development sessions to raise awareness about
the CEFR and to share best practices in the
classroom. An FSL committee made up of the
Principal of Program, both Elementary and
Secondary Curriculum leaders , as well as School
Administrators attended a Ministry of Education
session in February to further deepen its
understanding of the new curriculum. The
Board’s official rollout to its FSL teachers will
take place this coming spring.
Available Resources
1. The Ontario Curriculum: French As A Second
Language http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/ele
mentary/fsl
2. CEFR: Common European Framework http://www.hdsb.ca/Downloads/CEFR_For%20
Web_Dec%202010.pdf
3. Canadian Parents for French - http://cpf.ca/
4. FSL Homework Toolbox http://www.fslhomeworktoolbox.ca/
The Program Department
STUDENT SAFETY
Please note that the staff parking
lot is not to be used for parents
either dropping off or picking up
children at the beginning and
end of the school day. Thank
you for keeping our children
safe. PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE
TO READ THE ATTACHED INFORMATION
PROVIDED BY THE GUELPH POLICE
DEPARTMENT. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
NEIGHBOURHOOD GROUP SNACK PROGRAM
The Neighbourhood Group is offering extra
school snacks . Additional information is in
their attached newsletter.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
If your child will be
new to the school and
you have not had a
chance to register for
junior or senior
kindergarten as of yet,
please do so as soon as possible. In addition, if
you have a new neighbour, please pass on this
message to them so that they register quickly.
LOST AND FOUND
The clothing and sundry items
in the overflowing lost and
found boxes located in both
the primary and junior
cloakroom will be cleaned out before March
Break. If you know of missing items belonging
to your child(ren), please come and check
through the lost and found boxes before March
7th. Any unclaimed articles will be donated to a
local charity at the end of the month.
MOVING
Planning for the 2014-2015 school year is
already underway. If you will be moving this
summer, or know of someone moving into the
school area, please notify the office as soon as
possible. This will help with the organization of
teachers and classrooms at Brant Avenue.
COUGHS, COLDS, SORE STOMACHS AND MORE!
Children who do not feel well
do not learn well. If your child
is feeling sick, please keep
him/her at home for the day.
We do not have the facilities or
staff available to supervise
children too ill to go outdoors at recess times. If
your child becomes sick at school, we will make
every attempt to contact you at home or work.
Please keep us informed if your contact phone
numbers change.
EXTRA SOCKS, DRY PANTS AND SHOES
Students are reminded to bring
extra socks, pants or rain pants to
the school at this time of year as
the snow melts and the
playground becomes muddy. A
pair of indoor shoes is also a must
for all students, as the floors are often wet
following recess.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
March is almost upon us
and should bring on very
changeable weather, which
could include snow, ice
and/or fog.
It is the parent’s
responsibility to determine
whether or not it is safe for his or her child to
leave for school in inclement weather. A parent
must be aware of the following:
• When a bus does not travel a route in the
morning due to fog, ice or snow conditions,
it will not travel that route in the afternoon.
• While we have an excellent transportation
system, buses may be delayed in the
morning due to traffic, poor road
conditions, mechanical breakdowns, etc. To
ensure your child is not stranded at his/her
pick up point, please make sure they know
what to do and where to go if their bus is
more than 15 minutes late.
• Remember to listen to CJOY 1460 AM or
Magic 106.1 FM in the event of inclement
weather.
• They will broadcast bus cancellations or
school closures.
• You can also check the Board website:
www.ugdsb.on.ca by 6:30 AM each day.
SCHOOL COUNCIL
We would like to invite you to attend our next
school council meeting scheduled for Thursday,
March 6th from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Please come
out and join us.
REMINDER
Please remember to call
the school if your child
will be absent or late for
school. Our answering
machine is on 24/7. It can
take many phone calls to ensure that 1 child is
at home sick. We are required to make contact
with the parents of each child that we have not
heard from. Your support in assisting in
reducing the number of calls that are necessary
would be greatly appreciated.
VISITOR REMINDER
If you are visiting Brant Ave. P.S. please enter
through the front doors only and go directly to
the office to sign the visitor book and obtain a
visitor’s badge while you are here. Even if you
are only in the school for a moment, your tag
must be clearly visible. A major goal for staff
and students is to minimize class disruptions
during the school day. If you need to give your
child the rare, forgotten lunch or binder, please
drop it off at the office and we would be happy
to make sure they receive it. We appreciate
your help in keeping our school safe!
DROPPING STUDENTS AT SCHOOL
Recently, a number of parents have been taking
their students to their classroom after the
morning bell has run. This is a reminder that
parents need to drop late students at the office
to report in and get a late slip from the office.
This assists us greatly with our Safe Arrival
Program.
MANDATORY DAY AND MARCH BREAK
Friday, March 7th is a Ministry Mandated Day at
the Upper Grand District School Board – no
school for children. March break will run from
March 10th – March 14th. Students will return to
school on Monday, March 17th.
If you are withdrawing your child(ren) before or
after the March Break for an extended family
vacation, please be sure to inform the school.
Have a wonderful March Break with your
family!
MATH GAMES TO PLAY AT HOME
Do you read with your child every night? Is
it a positive experience that creates a love of
reading between you and your child?
Do you play a fun math game with your child
every night? Is it a positive experience that
creates a love of math between you and your
child?
Does your child bring home a library book from
school? Does your child bring home a math
game from school?
Did you answer these questions differently? Do
you view reading differently than math? Are
you looking for a way to make practicing math
skills at home more fun and exciting for your
child? There are lots of online computer games
and apps that make practicing math skills more
engaging for your child.
Beginning this month, and from now until June
we will be including some math games in our
newsletter that you can play at home with your
children. Math continues to be a focus at our
school and within our board and we hope it will
be a focus for you at home as well.
1. Go to
https://www.prodigygame.com/Canada
/ for a free online Math game that
supports Mental Math abilities and
builds confidence with problem solving
questions.
2. “Race to 10, 50 or 100” Roll the dice
and add up each turn. First one to 10,
50 or 100 wins. Multiply the numbers
for older students.
3. “Guess my number” Place a sticky note
on your child’s back and have them
guess the number by asking only yes/no
questions (Is it bigger than 500, is it
odd/even, etc.)
4. Play dominos, cribbage or yahtzee
Send us an email with your favourite math
game, so that we can share the word with all
our families and send a message to our
students, that learning math happens every day
all around us.
Grade 1 and 1/2 Robot Convention
At the end of January, Mrs. Anderson
and Mrs. Pye-Clifford’s students hosted
a Robot Convention. Many classes and
families visited our classrooms to see
the 3D robots students built using
recyclable materials. This was part of
our Science study of Materials and
Structures. Students were proud to tell
about the different shapes and materials
they used to make their robots as well
as the special jobs their robots could do.
Some robots were designed to pick up
garbage, make cars, serve water, clean
up and more!
TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH!
Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Lynn
Woodford, Psychologist, the Mental Health and
Addiction Lead with the Upper Grand District
School Board and I like to talk about Mental
Health! It is an exciting time in our schools and
communities where we can all make a
difference in our children and youth’s mental
well being, as well as understanding and
supporting mental health concerns.
Mental well-being and mental health concerns
are closely linked to academic and social
outcomes. Students who experience mental
health and/or addiction concerns often struggle
academically and may not be able to
demonstrate their full academic potential
unless provided with appropriate understanding
and support. At Upper Grand District School
Board we are talking about mental health,
promoting positive mental health and
supporting students with mental health
concerns.
As part of Ontario’s plan to enhance children’s
mental health and wellness (“Open Minds,
Healthy Minds”), the Upper Grand District
School Board has developed its own Mental
Health and Addiction Strategy. I am thrilled to
be the lead on this project.
The UGDSB Mental Health and Addiction
Strategy guides the schools to promote
awareness of mental health needs, supports
and services; to build capacity among students,
staff and parents; and to collaborate with
community partners to provide support for
students and their families. We are promoting
positive mental health, creating a culture of
caring and empathy regarding mental health
and addictions, and enabling all to collaborate
with community partners in a coordinated,
responsive and effective manner. Students need
support and guidance from caring adults in their
families, at schools and in their communities.
These include ongoing secure relationships with
parents as well as formal and informal
relationships with teachers, mentors, coaches,
peers, youth volunteers and community
members. Ensuring positive student mental
health is a shared responsibility of students,
parents, community partners and all staff. The
Upper Grand District School Board is working to
de-stigmatize mental health issues and promote
positive mental health.
Each month I will be writing a column about
mental health and well-being in the hope of
providing parents with information to increase
awareness of mental health issues and promote
well being in our children and youth and within
our schools, families and communities. I hope
you find these columns interesting and useful.
Look forward to Talking About Mental Health
with you each month!
MONTH of MARCH
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
2
3
4
5
6
Yoga/PJ Day
7
MINISTRY
MANDATED
DAY – NO
SCHOOL
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
MARCH BREAK
16
17
Welcome back
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
River Run Gr.
5/6
26
27
28
29
30
31
11:35 Patrol
Review and
Bicycle Safety
Presentations
1
Green Legacy
Gr. 1 - 6