Kortright Hills Public School
23 Ptarmigan DriveGuelph, OntarioN1C 1B5(519)827-1601Fax (519)827-9251
Kirk Runciman, Principal
Anne Bonnar, Office Co-Ordinator
Julie Young, Vice Principal
Rosemary Coghlin, Administrative Assistant
Newsletter for January 2014
From the Principal’s Desk
Reflecting On the Year that Was
The holiday season is typically a time for people to
reflect on the year that was, and look ahead to the
year that will be. As I look back on the calendar
year of 2013, I think of the outstanding teaching
and commitment from the talented Kortright
teaching staff, and the rich learning opportunities
they provided for our students, your children, during
the year. I think of the energy, care and patience
exhibited by our incredibly skilled educational
assistants. I think of the organization, dedication
and flexibility demonstrated by Mrs. Bonnar and
Mrs. Coghlin in the office. I think of the
outstanding efforts of Mr. Beaumont, Mrs. Astins
and Mrs. Collins who have made our school a clean
environment for student learning to occur. I know
each of you join me in congratulating and thanking
each Kortright staff member for their dedication
during the 2013 calendar year. Have a safe and
happy new year and all the best in 2014.
K. Runciman
Principal
Use the Six E’s to Teach About Responsibility
You can help your child develop the trait of
responsibility by using the six E’s:
Explain it. Talk about what responsibility
means. Give some examples
2. Examine it. Look for examples of
responsibility. Did a character on a TV show
take responsibility for his actions? Point it
out. Talk about it with your child.
3. Exhibit it. Your personal example is still
the strongest way you teach.
1.
4. Encourage it. Help your child think about
ways he/she can be responsible. He might
start to clean up his/her room everyday.
When he/she does, be sure you notice what
he/she’s done and give praise.
5. Expect it. Set rules and consequences. Now
that your child knows what you expect, make
sure he/she follows through. It’s not enough
to pick up after your child two days a week.
Expect your child to do it every day and
invoke appropriate consequences if he/she
does not.
6. Evaluate it. How is your child doing? After
a few weeks talk again. Communication is
imperative!
Is It Bullying Or Conflict?
Is conflict the same as bullying? People may
sometimes confuse conflict with bullying, but they
are different. Conflict occurs between two or more
people who have a disagreement, a difference of
opinion or different views. Conflict between
students does not always mean it’s bullying. Children
learn at a young age to understand that others can
have a different perspective than their own, but
developing the ability to gain perspective takes time
and the process continues into early adulthood. In
conflict, each person feels comfortable expressing
his or her views, and there is no power imbalance.
Each person feels able to state his or her point of
view. How people deal with conflict can make it
positive or negative. Conflict becomes negative when
an individual behaves aggressively by saying or doing
hurtful things. Then the conflict is an aggressive
interaction. Conflict only becomes bullying when it is
repeated over and over again and there is a power
imbalance. Over time, a pattern
A Warm Welcome from the Library
Thank you to everyone for supporting our book fair
in December. I hope you all enjoyed reading your
new books over the holidays. Thanks to your
generosity, we earned $1800 to purchase books and
resources for our library!
The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently
published Canadian children's picture books to
children between the ages of 4 and 7 (Junior
Kindergarten to Grade two). This program promotes
reading for enjoyment and begins to develop a child’s
skill in evaluating a picture book based on story, text
and pictures.
The Silver Birch® Award
(Grades 3-6 fiction, non-fiction)
Forest of Reading programs will begin this month.
We will run five programs this year and all students
are invited to participate. Below is information
from the Ontario Library Association website about
each program, as well as links to the lists of books
that we will be reading. As students read each book
they will be encouraged to participate in book club
discussions as well as to blog on our KHPS Forest of
Reading site.
Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students will
participate in the Blue Spruce program as part of
their library visits. We will begin reading the
nominated books in January and will vote for our
favourite during Blue Spruce parties in late March.
Grade 3 - 8 students who have read at least 5/10
books in their program will be invited to a reading
celebration in April where we will vote for our
favourite books. Students will also be invited to go
to Harbourfront to attend the "Festival of Trees"
where they will participate in a variety of literacy
activities and have the opportunity to meet several
authors. Please encourage your child(ren) to listen
to announcements and attend the Silver Birch & Red
Maple meetings in January!
Welcome to Forest of Reading®
The Forest of Reading® is Canada's largest
recreational reading program! This initiative of the
Ontario Library Association (OLA) offers eight
reading programs to encourage a love of reading in
people of all ages. The Forest® helps celebrate
Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators.
More than 250,000 readers participate annually
from their School and/or Public Library. All
Ontarians/Canadians are invited to participate via
their local public library, school
library, or individually.
The Blue Spruce™ Award
(JK - Grade 2 picture books)
http://bit.ly/BlueSpruce
The Silver Birch® Award is comprised of three
separate lists: Fiction, Non-fiction and Express. This
program aims to get readers engaging in conversation
around the books and encourages
them to use critical thinking while
reading.
Silver Birch Express ~ Grade 3 & 4
Our Express list is made up of both Fiction and NonFiction titles.
http://bit.ly/SBExpress
Silver Birch Fiction ~ Grade 5 & 6
http://bit.ly/SBFiction
Silver Birch Non-fiction ~ Grade 5 & 6
http://bit.ly/SBNonFiction
The Red Maple™ Award
(Grades 7-8 fiction) http://bit.ly/RedMaple
The Red Maple™ Award reading
program is offered for the
enjoyment of student’s ages 12 to
13, in Grades 7 and 8. This program
includes a Fiction list every year
and every other year Red Maple also offers a NonFiction list. This program aims to get readers
engaging in conversation around the books and
encourages them to use critical thinking while reading.
The OLA’s Forest of Reading® and the Festival of
Trees™ occupy major places of prominence in
Canada’s literary landscape. The Festival of Trees™
culminates in a 2-day awards celebration for the
school-aged programs. The Festival is Canada’s
largest literary event for young readers and is
continuing to grow. More than 8,000 people attend
this event, which is co-presented by IFOA, at
Harbour front Centre. In addition to the award
presentations featuring the nominated
authors/illustrators, the days are packed with fun
and engaging activities, including workshops put the
authors/illustrators themselves.
"Festival of Trees" dates:
Red Maple ~ May 14th
Silver Birch ~ May 15th
Thank you for your continued
support of our library programs.
Sheila Morgan
Teacher Librarian
sheila.morgan@ugdsb.on.ca
http://bit.ly/KHPSLibrary
School Stuff
Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten registration will take place the week of
February 3rd – 7th, 2014. To register for Junior
Kindergarten your child must be four
years old on or before December
31st, 2014.
To register for Senior Kindergarten
(if your child is new to our school)
he/she must be five years old on or
before December 31st, 2014. If you can’t register
during this week, please call the school office at
519-827-1601 to arrange an alternate time. You
must bring your child’s birth verification and his/her
immunization record to register.
Inclement Weather
It is the parents’ responsibility to
determine whether or not it is safe
for his or her child to leave for school in inclement
or severe 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.
Listen for messages on your local radio station for
the City of Guelph - Yellow Card.
Bus/Taxi Cancellations
During times of inclement weather, please listen to
our local radio stations: 1460 AM CJOY, 106.1 Magic
FM or 900 AM CHML, 107.9 FM CJXY, Oldies 1090
AM, 105.3 FM CHYM, 1150 AM CKOC, 102.9 FM
CKLH, 820 AM CHAM, CKCO-TV for school
transportation cancellations. Information on
bus/taxi cancellations and school closures are also
posted on the Upper Grand
District School Board’s website:
www.ugdsb.on.ca.
If your child(ren) regularly travel(s) by bus, parents
do not need to inform the school when the buses are
cancelled. If, however, your child(ren) regularly
walk to school, you are asked to leave a message on
the 24 hr attendance line (519 827-1601 ext. 200)
for any absence or late arrival.
PLEASE NOTE: On days when buses/taxis are
cancelled, unless otherwise informed, the school will
be open and a regular school program will be offered.
Also, if parents of bus students drive their
child(ren) in the morning, they must also pick them
up at 3:20 p.m.
Christmas Food Drive
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our
Christmas Food Drive. We didn’t have a total by
printing time, but if the amount of food in the hall is
any indication, then Kortright Hills families were
wonderfully helpful and giving.
Indoor Shoes
Parents are asked to ensure that all students have
indoor shoes (or running shoes). With the
wet weather outside, it is inevitable
that the floors will occasionally be
wet.
Not only is it unhealthy and dangerous for students
to walk around the floors of the school in socks,
students will not have a chance to change into their
footwear if there is a fire alarm or a drill.
Extra Clothes
Now that our weather is turning
considerably colder, it is a good idea to
send along some extra clothes with your
child. An extra pair of dry socks and an
extra pair of mittens are always good
things to have tucked into the backpack
Head Lice Watch
students and families who attended these events and
lent their support so enthusiastically.
Our next council meeting is scheduled for:
Monday, January 20th, at 7:00pm in the school
library.
Babysitting Course Ages 11+
Red Cross, certificate course. Learn basic skills in
order to care for infants and children up to school
age. Babysitting Certificate on completion.
Winter is the time of year when head lice is most
common in our school. To try to keep it under
control, we ask parents to periodically check their
children’s hair and inform the school if head lice are
found.
WHEN:
Friday, January 17, 2014
9:00 - 4:30pm
1 Day
Reading Tip - Encourage Questioning
WHERE:
Wellington Centre
For Continuing Education
1428 Gordon St.
Guelph, ON N1L 1C8
Fee: $60
Questioning makes reading fun. But to know how to
question, your child needs to hear your questions
first. This is not about asking your child questions,
instead, it’s about modeling what it means to be
curious by sharing questions you have while you read.
Don’t rush to the answers right away; let the
questions hang in the air. Pose several questions and
then let your child take a turn asking questions that
come to his/her mind. You’re showing your child how
to be an active player in the world of reading.
From School Council
The School Council would like to thank everyone who
came to the Family Fun Day on Saturday, December
7th and helped make it a great success. From the
Book Fair to Gingerbread Lane; from the raffle table
to the craft table; from the Bake Sale to the food
sales, to the many volunteers who came out and
donated their time. We are pleased to announce
that $1,165.00 was raised at the Raffle Table and
this amount was donated to Guelph’s Meals on
Wheels. The remaining net proceeds of $650.29
were donated to families in our community who
needed a little extra help this past holiday season.
Both were very worthwhile causes.
The School Council had a busy start to the year with
our Fall Fundraiser, and the Family Fun Day. All of
these events were fun and successful, and that is in
large part because of the fantastic Kortright Hills
community. The Fall Fundraiser raises funds to help
improve the education and well-being of the students
of Kortright. The Family Fun Day is Kortright’s way
to give back to our community. We thank the
To Register Call: 519-836-7280
Or Visit our website at: www.ugdsb.on.ca/coned
Post-Dated Cheques for the Food
Programs
Please be advised that the
second installment of
cheques for the
food programs
will be cashed on or around
January, 10th, 2014.
January 2014
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
1
5
Day 1
6
Day 2
7
8
THURSDAY
2
Day 3
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
3
Day 4
9
4
10
Day 5
11
“The Safe Side”
presentation Primary
Grades
12
13
Day 1
14
Day 2
7:30 am Up & Over
math gr. 7 & 8
15
Day 3
Gr. 3&4 to River Run
16
Day 4
College Heights Course
Selections
Grade 6 VIP – Internet
Safety & cyber bullying
17
18
P.A. Day
Gr. 7 VIP – Drugs and
Criminal Activity
19
20
Day 5
21
Day 1
22
Day 2
23
Day 3
24
Day 4
30
Day 3
31
Day 4
7:30 am Up & Over
math gr. 7 & 8
Gr. 7&8 Vaccinations
26
27
Day 5
Centennial Options
Presentation
28
Day 1
7:30 am Up & Over
math gr. 7 & 8
29
Day 2
12:40 Mad Science
9:00 Int. Boys & Girls
Basketball Tournament
Grade 8 Grad Pictures
25