Paisley Road Public School Newsletter
September
2013
Volume 1, Issue 2
Principal, Andrew Creighton
Vice-Principal, Jane Bibby
Principal’s News
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),
Welcome back to a new and exciting school year! The staff at Paisley
Road have been working hard to ensure our year is a successful growing
and learning experience for all of our students!
Contents
Principal’s News
1
Library Volunteers
1
Library Notes
2
Walk To School Day
2
Parent Involvement
3
Popcorn Frenzy
3
Terry Fox Run
3
School Year Calendar
4
½ Day PD Days
4
I would like to welcome Mlle Carr, Mme Work, Mme Lehoux, Mrs.
Donovan, Mrs. Kirby, Mr. McPhie, and Mr. Kingshott to our school staff.
We have been lucky to hire some excellent teachers and a new head
custodian! You will recognize many familiar returning faces as well!
As always, we value and welcome your input. We truly believe that a
child is best raised in a community of caring adults. Please feel free to
use the student agendas to communicate with your child’s(ren) teacher
or to use our phone mailbox system. Mrs. Bibby and I also welcome
your thoughts and suggestions; our doors are always open!
I would like to thank you, in advance, for all of the hard work that you
have done and continue to do, to support our educational efforts. We
look forward to another exciting and positive school year!
Yours truly,
Andrew Creighton
Upcoming
Events
Open House
September 26th
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers in the library are a vital part
of our school community. We have
been very fortunate to have parents and
community members join together to
help manage our library collection and
work with students in the library. If
you, or someone you know, is
interested in volunteering as part our
Library team please contact Ms.
Richer for more information.
Page 2 of 4
School Newsletter
Library Notes
I hope everyone had a great summer
and time to snuggle up with some great
books. Our school Library will be reopening for student book exchange the
week of September 16th.
A truly special
teacher is very
wise, and sees
tomorrow in every
child's eyes.
~Author Unknown
Welcome to the library!
There are lots of opportunities to come to
the library and exchange books. Our
library is open for Grade 2-6 students on
a Pass System everyday from 1:403:15pm. Kindergarten and Grade 1
classes have weekly exchanges in the
library. Students can have 2 books out
from the library at a time and are
encouraged to return or renew them
each week. Our French Immersion
students are encouraged to take at least
one French book each week. New
books are constantly being added to our
collection throughout the year.
Encourage your child/children to put
requests for books we don’t have in our
collection into our School Wish List
located in the Library. We do our best to
add these titles to our library and give the
student wisher the first chance to borrow
it.
Telling Tales Festival September 15th
The 5th Annual Award Winning Literary
Festival takes place on Sunday,
September 15th, 2013 at Westfield
Heritage Village in Rockton Ontario.
This is an amazing free event located
just 30 minutes drive from Guelph.
Every year popular Canadian authors
attend the festival and do book talks,
readings, book signing and entertain
audiences in the setting of a Pioneer
Village. I highly recommend this festival
for students and families. This year
Kenneth Oppel, Louise-Marie Gay, Kevin
Sylvester and Eric Walters will be just a
few of the authors attending. For more
information go to http://tellingtales.org/
September Library Contest
Our first library contest this year will be
the Shelf Marker design challenge.
Students will be invited later this month
to pick up a blank shelf marker from the
Library and create an art piece that will
be used in our library for years to come.
Students in French Immersion should
include French on their shelf markers
and all students are encouraged to
create something that inspires reading. I
am always amazed with what the
students create! All entries are due
September 30th. May the force be with
you!
Opportunities for Junior Student
Leadership
During the first week of school,
applications for a variety of leadership
positions will be available to our students
in Grade 4-6. We will be looking for
Morning Announcers, Library Pages,
Tech Team members and Paisley
Ambassadors. Students will hear
announcements this week for meetings
dates and times. All Applications will
be due to Ms. Richer September 9th.
Interview times, trainings and meetings
for each of these groups will follow so we
can get our students started in these
important roles. Thank you to all our
wonderful students who apply for these
important positions.
Celebrate International Walk to School Day
I WALK is Wednesday, October 9th, 2013
Did you know that most children can walk 1 kilometer in only 11 minutes! There
are many good reasons to walk or bike to school. It is good exercise, improves
concentration, builds neighbourhood awareness, protects the environment, and
promotes independence.
Being outdoors and walking with family and friends is fun.
For lots of great information and ideas visit www.saferoutestoschool.ca
Wellington-Duffern-Guelph Public Health * 1-800-265-7293
www.wdgpublichealth.ca
Page 3 of 4
School Newsletter
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Parent Involvement at School
There is a great deal of information and
research out there that talks about Parent
Involvement in Schools. There are Parent
Involvement Committees, Parent Advocacy
Groups, Parents for Education and Parent
Councils. There is also the 24 hour a day, 7 days
a week, parent responsibilities of work, home
and outside activities that require our
attention. In today’s world - parents are
pressed for time.
So what do you say when you get that request
from us, your children’s school to volunteer?
How can you fit it all in this school year? How
do you stay involved in your child’s education,
manage all of your other responsibilities and
carve out even a minute for yourself?
The good news is that the research about
Parent Involvement has shifted. While we used
to talk about parents being in the schools
(which we’d still love to see happen), it now
talks about ways that we can work together to
support your children’s well being and learning.
John Hattie (2009) suggests that you can best
support your children’s learning by talking with
them. When you do this, he suggests that
children will be more successful at school. As
the start of the 2013-2014 school year begins,
make it a daily habit to talk with your children
about their day at school. Other than the
traditional, “what did you do at school today”,
try these questions to get more than the typical
“nothing” response.
What helped you learn today?
What was hard for you today?
What are you going to try to do differently
tomorrow?
What questions did you ask today?
What questions could you have asked?
What are you interested in learning more about?
As your children’s teachers, educational
assistants, principals, vice principals and office
and custodial staff we value and want your
support. Support however comes in many
shapes and sizes. Being involved includes more
than attending Open House, Parent-Teacher
interviews and meetings, reading the school and
classroom newsletters and volunteering. Being
involved means being a partner in your
children’s education. It means talking and
working with your children’s teacher to ensure
your children are coming to school each and every day this
school year ready to learn. Support means being a listener,
asking questions, mentoring, being a coach, talking about
school and being a co-learner. (Building Parent Engagement
2011)
Parent involvement means holding high aspirations and
expectations for our children. (Hung & Ho, 2005) Expect the
best from your children, hold the bar high and this school year
when you ask, “What did you do at school today?” don’t
accept “nothing” as a response. There’s a lot going on in
school and as partners in your children’s education, we want
you to know about our day at school!
POPCORN FRENZY
Every Friday, beginning September 20, Paisley Road will be
fundraising to help subsidize upcoming field trips for the
junior students. It is exciting that we will be partnering with
Crown Dairy/Dairy Depot who are offering "From Farm to
Table" premium popcorn products.
We are going to start our POPCORN FRENZY with Butter Salt
and White Cheddar flavours. The cost will be $1 for each 23 g
bag. Popcorn will be on sale for the primary students during
first nutrition break, and for the junior students at the second
nutrition break.
Once a month we will be offering frozen yogurt cups in
addition to the popcorn for the same low price of $1.
Terry Fox Run
In 1980, Terry Fox faced considerable challenges while running
the equivalent of a marathon a day for 143 days during his
3,339 mile Marathon of Hope. It was all about effort for
Terry. He challenged himself every day with one goal in mind:
raise the most money he could to end cancer. Now it's our
turn!
On September 26th, the staff and students of Paisley Road
Public School will be walking to support the Terry Fox
Foundation. Please help us with our pledge to carry on where
Terry could not. Our students are being asked to bring in a
"Toonie for Terry" on walk day. Together we can all make a
difference!
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