March 2014
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:
February was definitely a month of “sports” at Credit
Meadows. We had the start of Junior and Intermediate floor hockey, as well as, the start of Intermediate
Badminton. Furthermore, We had volleyball finals
and hockey finals. Thank you to all of our Cobra athletes who continue to represent our school so well.
Congratulations to our boys’ Volleyball team for winning the county championships this year, and our
Hockey team for coming in second. Also, thank you
to Mr. Gallant, Mr. Quinlan, and Mr. VanMaren for
coaching our hockey team; Mrs. Dampier and Mrs.
Neal for coaching our girls’ volleyball team; and Mrs.
Horan and Mrs. Hollran-Thompson for coaching our
boys’ volleyball team.
February also offered us an opportunity to follow and
celebrate the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
Credit Meadows was filled great Olympic spirit during this time—especially during the women’s and
men’s hockey games. We were also very fortunate
to have Brian Price, a former Olympic medalists,
share his inspirational journey with our students and
staff during our own CMES Olympic closing ceremony. Brian won a gold and silver medal from the
Beijing and London summer Olympic games, respectively, as the coxswain on an 8 man rowing
team. Thank you Brian for inspiring all of us!
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
March 4
Cross Country Skiing
(Ms. Roberts’, Mrs. Dampier’s, Mrs.
Hollran-Thompson’s & Mrs. Horan’s classes)
March 5
March 6
Boogie-a-thon
Badminton Tournament
Pizza Day
Cross Country Skiing
(Mr. VanMaren’s, Mrs. Langman’s &
Mr. Barron’s classes)
March 7
March 19
March
March
March
March
March
21
25
26
27
28
Popcorn Day
NO SCHOOL—March Break begins
Sugar Bush trip—grade 1s
Pita Pit Day
Smoothie Day
Grad Photos
Hot Dog Day
ROM Trip—Ms. Roberts’ class
Cookie Day
REMINDER:
It is hard to believe that March has arrived and
spring is just around the corner with the continued
cold weather that we are having. This month we are
looking forward to our CMES winter carnival (that
was postponed due to the cold), our annual Boogie-a
-thon, the county Intermediate Badminton tournament, and the Chess tournament.
Friday, March 7th is the beginning of March Break. Students do
not come to school on Friday,
March 7th.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy March Break!
Handicapped Parking Spaces:
Sincerely,
Vicky Crandall
Principal
This is a gentle reminder to our community to please remember that our handicapped parking spaces are to be used
only by those who truly need them. The
township has been, and will continue to,
monitor these spaces and apply fines
when they deem necessary. Thank you
for your consideration in this matter.
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Credit Meadows has been invited to take
part in a unique opportunity. Our school
will host 5 or 6 Columbian students in
Grades 4 and 5 from May 20th to June 17th.
These students will range from 9 to 11 years
of age. Their purpose in coming to Canada
is to experience our Canadian Culture and to
improve their English speaking skills. This
will be an amazing opportunity for our students to meet and learn about Columbian
culture.
Not only will these students be attending
classes at our school, but we are hoping that
some families with students in Grades 4 and
5 might be interested in hosting the students in their homes for the month that
they are visiting our school.
If you are interested in hosting one of the
students please contact Mrs. Crandall at the
school.
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.
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.
“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.
Pink Shirt Day:
Wednesday, February 26th
was Pink Shirt Day at Credit
Meadows. Everyone was encouraged to wear pink to
show that they do, and will,
stand up against bullying!
Our Student Council also gave out pink bracelets to everyone as a symbol to stand up
against bullying.
“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.)
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.
Page 3
Digital Saturday Open House - March 22, 2014
The Upper Grand District School Board is hosting an open house featuring displays and brief workshops on
how students are using technology to learn. “Digital Saturday” takes place on March 22, 2014 from 9 am to
12:30 pm at King George PS, 72 Lemon Street in Guelph.
Doors will open at 9:00am for displays. Brief workshops will start at 10:00am and be repeated until noon.
The open house will close at 12:30 pm.
Digital Saturday will be an opportunity to explore and learn about:

new technologies in the classroom like Chromebooks, UGCloud and iPads

assistive technologies to support all learners including Kurzweil and Read&Write for Google

online digital resources for assisting student learning such as UG2GO, UGCloud and Homework Help

parent engagement strategies for home use of technology

appropriate use of technology, digital citizenship and personal technologies in our classrooms
There will be a variety of short workshops repeated throughout the morning as well as displays highlighting
the use of technology as a student learning tool in the Upper Grand District School Board.
There will be lots of opportunities for interaction and co-learning. Older children (8 and up) may find the display tables and workshops informative and engaging.
Childcare for children ages 3-7 is available during the event. Please pre-register for childcare online at:
http://bit.ly/digitalsaturday
We hope to see you there as partners in education!
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!
Page 4
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’ reallife 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/elementary/fsl
2. CEFR: Common European Framework http://www.hdsb.ca/Downloads/CEFR_For%20Web_Dec%202010.pdf
3. Canadian Parents for French - http://cpf.ca/
4. FSL Homework Toolbox—http://www.fslhomeworktoolbox.ca/
The Program Department