Paisley Road Public School Newsletter October 2014 Principal, Andrew Creighton Vice-Principal, Marina Harrison Principal’s News Dear Parents/Guardians: How quickly time flies! We have had a very good transition from summer into fall and our students are now into a good school routine. Contents Principals News 1 Halloween Celebrations 2 Paisley Soccer Team 2 Down’s Syndrome 2 Talking Mental Health 3 Library News 4 We have four nursing students from McMaster University that are involved in a community placement with our school. They are at the school to support our community and to gain experience in working with a community group. This year, we have asked them to provide us with support in reducing the amount of screen time students experience and providing healthy alternatives to screen time (screen time being time spent watching tv, playing video games, playing on Ipads/ tablets). Over the next few weeks, they will be conducting research and then will be communicating with our students and families. We look forward to providing you with further information shortly! On behalf of our staff, I would like to thank you for your support of our Terry Fox run. Our students were eager and enthusiastic participants! Through your donations, we were able to raise over $700 for cancer research. Well done Paisley Road! Thank you to Mrs. Berezuk and Mr. Martin for organizing our assembly and the fundraising. Our milk and pizza programs will be up and running shortly. Thank you to our parent volunteers for organizing these programs! Upcoming Events *PA Day October 24, 2014 *School Council Meeting October 21 6:30 p.m. *Picture Day October 28, 2014 I want to thank you for your support with our school-wide (grade 1 to 6) use of agendas. Students are developing very good organizational skills and our staff have appreciated the notes and comments you have made in the agendas. Thank you for your on-going support with this initiative! Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend! Yours truly, Andrew Creighton Page 2 School Newsletter Halloween Celebration In order to respect a diverse range of beliefs and practices, the Paisley Road staff have worked to create a range of experiences for our students, as part of our Halloween celebrations. Students that wish to participate in Halloween have the option of wearing orange and black or wearing a costume. Costumes need to be appropriate for a Kindergarten to grade 6 school. Therefore, we ask that costumes are not inappropriately bloody or violent. For students not wishing to participate in Halloween activities, alternative activities will be provided in the school library. Please note: students will be putting their costumes on for the final 100 minutes of the school day. Please only send costumes that can be put on over regular clothing. Kindergarten to grade 3 students will be on parade inside our school, going from junior classroom to classroom. There will not be an outdoor parade. Students will spend time engaged in activities in their classroom. Please be aware that students will not have time to change out of their costumes before returning home. Please consider this, when sending the costume, as all students, including those that ride buses, will be going home in their costumes. Paisley School Soccer Team On September 30th, our junior Paisley Panthers participated in a soccer tournament held at Margaret Green Park. Our team played teams from Victory PS, Central PS, June Avenue PS, and FA Hamilton PS. I was very proud of the athletic effort and positive attitude displayed by all of our team members. Great job, team!!!! Team members were: Shyann, Joanne, Nate, Mahin, Dustin, Lexi, Tye, Anastasia, Kaven, Matthew, Chase, Jimmy, Zarak, Jamie, Shane, and Hailie. Coach Creighton DOWN’S SYNDROME AWARENESS October is Down’s Syndrome Awareness month. A whole month dedicated to celebrating, advocating and bringing awareness to Down’s syndrome. Down’s Syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial copy of chromosome 21. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down’s Syndrome (NDSS) People with Down’s syndrome attend school, work, participate in decisions that affect them and contribute to society in many ways. While there may be a cognitive delay, the effect is usually mild to moderate and is not indicative of the many strengths and talents that each individual possesses. Quality educational programs, a stimulating home environment, good health care and positive support from family, friends and the community enable people with Down’s syndrome to develop to their full potential and live fulfilling lives. Get involved! October offers multiple ways to participate in activities, events, and to help in raising awareness. Participate in a local Buddy Walk; educate those around you using NDSS’s Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/NDSSorg. The Canadian Down’s Syndrome Society offers educator resources that include videos parents can view with their children about children with Down Syndrome. School Newsletter Page 3 Talking About Mental Health! One Month into School Some students love to go back to school and are happy to go every day. Other students start each fall with a positive attitude about school, but after the honeymoon period of the first few weeks are over, things begin to slide. One parent recently commented to me: “I am walking home from school with a child crying the whole way” “My kids are acting irrationally and freaking out” She wanted me to share with you that if you are in this situation, you are not alone. For some students, this is a normal pattern. For some of our children and youth, school is stressful. After relaxing, having fun or at least being school free for the summer, they had built up the energy to take on school every day, but after a few weeks back they are starting to get drained and strained. You may notice more: talk of headaches and stomach aches, tiredness, irritability, crying, and refusals. We all do the best that we can. If we are not doing well then we are lacking the skills or resources to do better. So what to do? Start with recognizing this is normal and it too will change. Just like the honeymoon phase of the first weeks, this phase will come to pass as well. Begin with the basics: good sleep, good food, outdoor activities. This is the strong base that we all need to function well. Keep a consistent routine with regular times for waking up, eating meals, school work, and bedtime routines. Put some down time into every day. Quiet time with the kids: reading a book, listening to music, going for a walk, playing a quiet game, doing relaxation activities. We all need to opportunity to de-stress. Acknowledge that you notice how hard it is for your child and ask “What is up?”. Perhaps they can tell you what is going and perhaps they can’t. That is OK. Just acknowledging that you see it is hard for them is a good start. Talk to your child’s teacher about how they are feeling. Make a plan to make the student feels welcome in the class. Look at ways of working break times into the day at school. Set up a buddy system to pair students who are less comfortable with more comfortable students. Get your child or youth to school every day. Students who are finding school hard may want to stay home. The best way to increase anxiety related to school is to keep your child or youth at home. The more they stay away, the harder it will be for them to go to school. Make sure your child knows that you feel good about their school and classroom that you are comfortable with them being there. Talk to the teacher to discuss how to support your child at school. Set a positive, optimistic tone about school. Find something positive that your child likes about school and build from there. Build on their strengths or connections. Notice what they are doing well and praise them for their coping skills. Children and youth (and adults) pick up on what is going on in their environment so if the environment is stressful then we will pick up that stress but if the environment is positive and optimistic, then they will pick that up. Creating a positive attitude toward school is contagious! And, as always, don’t forget to breathe. Right now, take three deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. With each out breath, release the tension and tightness. Every time you walk through a doorway take three deep breaths. Encourage your kids to do this too. The stress that you and your kids release throughout the day will mean less stress at the end of the day and a happier trip home! October News from the Library Library news: Paisley Road P.S. 406 Paisley Raod Guelph, ON N1H2R3 Phone: (519) 822-0675 Fax: (519) 822-7767 Proud, Responsible, Striving for Excellence We’re on the Web! www.paisley September has been an exciting month in the library! Our book fair raised $1442 in books from Scholastic. Thank you to all the families for their support of our library. Congratulations to Carter and Mlle Clarke's class winning $25 in free books as well as $25 in free books for the classroom. Our shelf marker design contest was a big hit with students. We had 100 shelf markers designed by students and the art was awesome! Congratulations to Graeme, whose shelf marker was drawn as the winner of the September library contest. All of the entries are being laminated and will be used in our library beginning next week. Book exchange is in full swing! Students in grade one to six have already been enjoying book exchange in the library. Please encourage our students to keep their library books in a safe place at home. Also remind them to use their plastic library bag to bring the books back and forth to school to protect them from water damage. This simple step really protects our library collection. The library is open to all students from 1:45-3:20pm each day. Students visit the library using library passes kept in each classroom. Kindergartens and some primary classes also have a scheduled library time with their teacher once per week. Students should bring back books each week although they are welcome to bring them in to renew them. French immersion students are encouraged to speak French while in the Library and choose at least one French book each visit. Do you want to be involved? Library volunteers are an important part of our school community. If you are interested in making a weekly commitment in the library please contact Ms. Richer. Help is always appreciated. October Library Contest - Laugh out loud! This month students can enter to win a joke book prize pack just by submitting a favourite good clean joke. Some of these jokes will be read on Friday's over the morning announcements. Come to the library to pick up the Laugh Out Loud entry ballot. You have until Halloween to scare up a good joke. Ha! Ha! Student Wish List- please encourage students to talk to Ms. Richer about books they wish were in the library. We have a student wish list where we record these wishes. If you would like to make a wish come true come see the Wish list in the Library. Kids get so excited when their wishes come true and they can borrow a book purchased on their request. INFORMATION HOME Student Leadership- Thank you to our Student Safety Patrols, Ambassadors, ITEM Library Pages, Student Tech, Lunch Helpers and students who are helping make DATE ACTION Paisley so great! You are really helping to start our year off right! REQUIRED Sunday 5 M onday 6 Tuesday 7 W ednesda y Thursday Friday Saturda y 1 2 3 4 8 9 10 11 Popcorn sale starts 12 19 13 Thanksgivin g Day NO SCHOOL 20 14 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 PA DAY 25 Popcorn sale NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS 30 31 School Council Mtg 6:30 26 27 28 29