April 2014
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:
It seems that winter will not let up—but hopefully
spring will be here soon to stay. Thinking about
spring and melting snow, it would be helpful if students (especially our younger ones) kept a change
of clothing in their backpacks in case the melting
snow becomes wet and messy at recess times.
Earlier in the month of March, Mrs. Horan and our
Student Council sponsored a terrific winter carnival.
It was a fun day of many outdoor cooperative
games, followed by some hot chocolate to warm
everyone up. It was a beautiful sunny day with lots
of smiling faces! Thank you to Mrs. Horan, our Student Council, and the parents who helped with the
hot chocolate.
Our fourth annual Boogie-a-thon took place in March
and it was a huge hit this year with our students. We
had a multi-cultural theme, where classes were challenged to find music and dances from around the
world. They did a fantastic job of this and many students reported that it was the best Boogie-a-thon
ever! In total we raised just over $5300.00—plus our
local Scotiabank on First Street has agreed to contribute another $5000.00 to our Boogie-a-thon fundraiser initiative. This money will go toward supporting our many Arts Days that are currently being
planned, as well as supporting other great things at
Credit Meadows such as the purchase of additional
chromebooks, iPads, more levelled classroom reading materials, and sports equipment for our students
to use. Thank you to all families who supported this
initiative—your contributions are greatly appreciated.
Immediately following our Boogie-a-thon, our Intermediate Badminton team did an excellent job of representing Credit Meadows at the annual Badminton
tournament. Thank you to our Cobras for a job well
done, and to Mr. VanMaren for coaching our team
this year.
Sincerely,
Vicky Crandall
Principal
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
April 2
April 28
Pizza Day
Sideline Basketball Tournament 4:30pm @ MAPS
Popcorn Day
JK Eye Screening
Pasta Day
Curriculum Night Event for Parents
Primary Arts Day (gr. 1-3)
Cookie Day
School Council Meeting
ROM Trip—
Mrs. Hollran-Thompson’s class
KidsFest Trip—Grade 6 students
Pita Pit Day
Intermediate Arts Day (gr. 7-8)
Smoothie Day
Hot Dog Day
Junior Arts Day (gr. 4-6)
Poem in Your Pocket Day
Cookie Day
Eva Olsson presentations (gr. 6-8)
April 30
Pizza Day
April 4
April 8
April 9
April 10
April 11
April 14
April 16
April 17
April 23
April 24
April 25
Late Arrivals:
While we’ve noticed some improvement, we continue to have a
few too many students arriving
late in the mornings. This is often
disruptive to the learning environment and can delay the start of classes if all students are
not ready to begin. It is best if students can arrive to
school between 8:15am and 8:25am. This will allow them
a little time on the yard with their peers—but more importantly it also allows them to enter and settle with their
class when the bell rings at 8:30am.
Thank you for your support with this.
Page 2
Boogie-a-thon
Prize Winners:
World Autism Awareness Day
Congratulations to the
following students:
Posters
Posters
Posters
Special Books
Ukelele Lesson
Ukelele Lesson
Knitting Lessons
Art Lesson
Ice Cream Party
Sports Equipment
Sports Equipment
Pizza Party in a Tent
Gym Time
Police Car Ride
Galaxy Movie gift card
Cineplex Gift Card
EB Games gift card
Lego Book
Baking at School
Dairy Queen Lunch
Dress Up a Teacher
Sports Utility Bag
Acer Tablet
Nintendo 3DS XL
Librarian for the Day
Principal for the Day
Gordon
Jackson
Jade
Wesley
Victoria
Victoria
Nicholas
Michael
Lucas
Mackenzie
Ryan
Nicholas
Conor
Trent
Landen
Kelsie
Jaden
Gavin
Connor
Evan
Madison
Alex
Aven
Michael
Abbey gr. 2
Kaelan gr. 7
JK
gr. 1
gr. 2
JK
SK
gr. 4
gr. 1
gr. 2
gr. 2
SK
SK
SK
gr. 1
JK
gr. 2
gr. 8
gr. 2
SK
SK
gr. 2
SK
JK
gr. 6
gr. 7
Thank you to everyone for your participation in
this fund-raiser!
LOST and FOUND
Now that spring is here and the
weather is starting to get
warmer, this would be an excellent time to have your child check
the Lost and Found bins for winter wear (i.e. hats, mitts, boots,
etc…).
Our lost and found pile
is always growing. Unclaimed items will eventually be
bagged and donated to charity.
The seventh annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2014. Every year autism
organizations around the world celebrate the
day with unique fundraising and awareness
raising events. By bringing together autism
organizations all around the world, we will
give a voice to the millions of individuals
worldwide who are undiagnosed, misunderstood and looking for help. Please join Upper Grand District School Board in our effort to inspire compassion, empowerment
and hope by wearing BLUE on Tuesday
April 2nd 2014.
Special Education Survey
Does your child have an IEP? If so the Special
Education Department would like your feedback
about special education supports and services.
A survey for parents will be posted on the Upper Grand District School Board website from
April 14- April 30th. This survey is for parents
who have children at the Upper Grand District
School Board with Individual Education Plans
(IEPs). The information from the survey will be
used to help in the planning of special education supports and services.
Responses will be kept as confidential and
used in summary reports. Thank you for watching for this.
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Earth Day 2014
Connie Bender
Elementary Curriculum Leader
Earth Day is just around the corner! April 22nd has been recognized as Earth Day since the early
1970’s and was originally created to highlight the need for all of us to be involved with environmental protection.
Although many of our communities organize neighbourhood clean-ups and earth friendly activities
for us to participate in on Earth Day, more and more schools are trying to make the environment a
focus in the day to day lives of students and staff. One way is through the participation in Ontario
EcoSchools.
Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education and certification program for grades K-12 that
helps school communities nurture environmentally responsible citizens while reducing the environmental footprint of schools. Schools that have opted to participate in this rigorous program create a “Green Team” consisting of students and teachers. In some cases, parents, principals and
custodians also participate to create a team that truly reflects the entire school community. This
Green Team takes a leadership role in the school. Students are empowered to take a close look
at how the school is conserving energy, minimizing waste, greening up the school grounds, engaging in environmental stewardship and environmental leadership. The purpose of this program
is to engage students throughout the year by having them collect data about their own school,
create action plans, educate others about how to make some change, and then follow up and report the results back to the school community. The goal is to create environmentally conscious
citizens who think about their impact on the environment as they walk through their day to day life
at school, at home and in the community.
Whether your school is involved in EcoSchools or not, many schools are working with students to
actively engage them in things like litterless lunches, re-useable water bottle campaigns and reducing landfill waste. Parents can help by supporting students in their participation in these initiatives and by modelling environmentally conscious actions at home. Having conversations with
your children about your choices and actions are a great opportunity for them to understand how
important we are to the environment. By supporting our children to grow up green, we are helping
to create a more sustainable future.
For additional information about Ontario EcoSchools, please check out their website at:
http://www.ontarioecoschools.org/
.
Page 4
Talking About Mental Health
Helping Your Family Deal with Stress and Anxiety
Everyone experiences stress during their daily lives and there are times in our lives when we feel anxious. This is normal. It happens to all of us. However, some of us and some of our children/youth are anxious more of the time and to a greater degree and
this can be challenging for the children, youth and their families.
The good news is that there a lot of positive things that you can do as parents to help reduce the stress and anxiety that you and
your child/youth feel. Here are some tips!
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Listen: Take time to listen to your child/youth’s thoughts and feelings. Being heard is very important and can make someone
feel less distressed by talking about it.
Talk: Let your child/youth know that they are not alone. Lots of people feel stressed and anxious. It is normal, harmless and
temporary.
Share: You as a parent experience fear, stress and anxiety. Model how you cope with stressful situations with positive coping
strategies.
Support: Let your child/youth know that you care and support them as they struggle with stress and anxiety.
Practice: Practice calming strategies with your child/youth when they are calm. Practice every day so calming becomes a
habit.
Encourage: When stress arises, encourage your child/youth to use their calming strategies. Praise your child/youth for using
their calming strategies.
Model: Be a good role model for your child/youth. Create a positive, predictable environment at home. Use your own coping
strategies. Allow your children to observe how you face and deal with stress in a positive way. You are the single most important influence in your child’s life.
Here are a couple of calming techniques that you can practice with your child/youth:
Calm Breaths. When we are anxious we breathe faster, which actually makes us more anxious. By calming our breath we are
sending signals to our brains and bodies that things are going to be OK.
Take slow deep breaths.
Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
For younger children they can blow bubbles or pretend to.
For older children/youth guide, they can imagine breathing in calm and breathing out worries or tension.
Keep taking calm breaths until the breath is smooth, deep and calm.
Have the child/youth notice what it feels like to be calm.
Muscle relaxation. When we are anxious, our bodies become tense. By relaxing our bodies, we are sending signals to our bodies
and our brains that it is going to be OK.
Sit or lie down.
Tighten up one part of your body (e.g. your legs).
Hold the tension for 10 seconds.
Relax your body.
Allow the tension and tightness to drain away.
Repeat tightening and releasing different parts of the body.
Tighten your whole body, hold for 10 seconds then release.
Lie or sit for a moment allowing your body to be totally relaxed.
Have your child/youth notice what it feels like when their body is relaxed.
Hope these tips are helpful. The best thing that you can do is practice relaxation techniques every day with your family to build
coping skills and to have calmer, happier children, youth and families. Enjoy!
Page 5
Talking About Mental Health (Continued)
Helping Your Family Deal with Stress and Anxiety
For more information:
http://anxietybc.com/parent/index.php
http://www.mindyourmind.ca/wellness
For children and youth:
KidsHelpPhone.ca 1 800 668 6868
24 hour phone line and website for children and youth.
If you are concerned that your child/youth is experiencing excessive anxiety, you can talk with your school or community mental
health provider:
CMHA WWD: 1 844 HERE 24 7 (1 844 437 3247) - For Guelph/Wellington Children and Youth Services and Guelph/Welllington/
Dufferin Adult Services
DCAFS: 519-941-1530 for Dufferin Children and Youth Services
May 4-11, 2014 is Child and Youth Mental Health Week. Next time I will share some information and activities that are coming
to your schools and communities.
Dr. Lynn Woodford, Psychologist, is the Mental Health and Addiction Lead for the Upper Grand District School Board.
Health
What a good feeling!
April 2014
Two for Two is What You Do!
Brushing your teeth two times a day for two minutes each time helps prevent cavities.
If you don’t have dental insurance and can’t afford care, we have free dental services for your children at Public Health. At our dental clinics, we provide free cleanings for children. We can help
children with cavities and other urgent problems get the treatment they need. For more information
about our dental services, call our Dental Line at 1-800-265-7293 ext. 2661 or visit
www.wdgpublichealth.ca