530 Prospect Street, Box 430, Palmerston, ON, N0G 2P0
519-343-3520
“Be The BEST That You Can Be”
“Fais De Ton Mieux”
2013-2014
Newsletter #10
June 1, 2014
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
June will be a busy month. Our School Council is working with staff and students to
organize the annual “School BBQ on Thursday, June 5th.” Teachers are working on reports and
students will be participating in the North Wellington track and field meets and in baseball
tournaments. Our Grade 8 students look forward to their Graduation. Some special class trips
are planned and we will be asking for parent supervisors.
REPORT CARDS
Report cards will be going home on Monday, June 23rd. Please take the time to review the report,
celebrate your child’s successes and reflect on their needs. Please fill in the third and fourth page and return it
to the school promptly so that it can be filed with your child’s Ontario Student Record.
BIKE SAFETY
A number of students are now riding bikes to school. Please ensure that you have reviewed
the appropriate safety rules with your child and provided him or her with a helmet and lock.
Please remind your child to walk their bike on school property.
YEAR END BBQ AND FUN NIGHT
On Thursday, June 5th, the School Council is planning an evening with food and fun for everyone. The
BBQ and bake sale will be held at the Lions’ Park Pavilion from 5:30 to 6:45. The family movie starts at the
Norgan Theatre at 7:00 p.m. The support of our Palmerston families is amazing and we look forward to seeing
many of you at this event. Thanks to everyone who is contributing their time and energy to help us raise funds
that will be used to support all of our students’ learning and enrich everyone’s school experiences. This is an
enjoyable community event for our families to meet or renew friendships. Please join us if possible.
GRADE 8 GRADUATION
Grade 8 Graduation is on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. in the Palmerston P.S. gym. There is
a reception following.
PLAYGROUND UPDATE
It is great to see our students participating in activities and being active at recess. You could help by
sending your child with his/her own ball, skipping rope or game. Please ensure the equipment is safe and
clearly marked with your child’s name. Soft playground balls, soccer balls, and basketballs are all popular.
Please remember that students are not permitted to bring skateboards or scooters to school.
LOST AND FOUND
Our Lost and Found items in the box in the centre foyer is full and the end of the school year is fast
approaching. Students and parents are urged to check for lost items regularly. At the end of June, the
remaining items will be packed for donation to charity. If you or your children find any school materials or
library books while cleaning up rooms or backpacks this summer, please return them on the first day of school
in September.
P.A. DAY
There will be a Professional Activity half-day on Friday, June 6th in the afternoon only. In the morning
buses will run and classes will run as usual. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon to walk home or to go
home on the bus. In the afternoon teachers will be involved in assessment and evaluation activities.
NOTE FROM THE OFFICE
If your child has medication that is stored at the Office, please arrange to pick it up by 4:00 p.m. on
Friday, June 27th.
DOG VISITORS
Please remember to “Stoop and Scoop” and remind your friends with dogs who use our
playground to do the same. Thanks for helping to keep our playground a safe and enjoyable place for
our students to play.
A THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
The staff and students would like to thank all the hard-working volunteers who give up their own time
to help us at Palmerston Public School. Parents and community members come to our school to help with grill
cheese, hotdogs, breakfast program, reading, in class activities, class trips, and classroom jobs. Without these
people many of our special activities would not be able to happen. Thank you so much for being part of the
Palmerston Team.
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
As an added security measure, please note that video surveillance cameras will be installed in several
areas in our school. These areas will be clearly marked with signage and video cameras will not be used in
areas where students, staff and authorized visitors have a high expectation of privacy including change rooms,
washrooms and staff rooms. Information obtained through video surveillance provides us with an additional
way to enhance the protection of students, staff, the public and property. Should you have any questions
please refer to the Upper Grand School Board’s Video Surveillance Policy #203 or contact the school office.
YEAR END CLASS TRIPS
Teachers have been busy arranging class trips for their students:
May 26th, 27th, 28th
May 29th
June 11th
June 12th
June 13th
June 17th
June 19th
June 26th
Grade 6 & 7 students went to Camp Wanakita
Grade 8 students went to the Guelph Grotto and LaserQuest
Grade 8 students are going to the Roger’s Centre for a Blue Jays game
Grade 5 students are going to Luther Marsh for tree planting
Grade 6 students are going to Luther Marsh for tree planting
JK/SK trip to Wings of Paradise and KidZone
Grade 3/4/5 are going to Crawford Lake
Mrs. Pratt’s and Mrs. Bastedo’s classes are going to Wawanosh
IT'S THAT TIME...PLEASE RETURN ALL THINGS BELONGING TO PALMERSTON P.S.
With the end of the school year quickly approaching, it is important to get all books and equipment
back so we can have a fresh start in September 2014. It takes a few weeks to get all books and equipment
back, so any assistance you can give your child in helping them find items belonging to Palmerston Public
School would be appreciated.
All library books must be returned to the Library by June 13th. If your child brings home an overdue
note, please help him/her locate and return the book(s) in question. If she/he has lost or misplace a library
book, the replacement fee is $5.00 and up for a paperback, $10.00 and up for a hardcover. Library notices will
soon be sent home at the beginning of June.
If you find any schoolbooks or equipment at home over the summer holiday, please have your child
return them to the school. The replacement of textbooks is quite expensive and we are happy to have items
returned, even late.
Thank you!
2014-15 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Attached is the School Calendar for the 2014-15 school year.
CLASSES FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015
As the school year draws to a close, you are no doubt thinking about your child’s class placement for
next year. Here at school, we are also thinking about class organization, and we wanted to share some
information with you about how these decisions are made.
The first step is to establish what the classes will look like for the following school year. This year our
numbers were submitted to the Ministry of Education and we were given the class sizes ensuring that only
10% of our Primary class sizes across the board exceeded the 20 students in Primary classes and meeting both
Junior and Intermediate class sizes requirements. With this process in place, it appears that we will have
many ‘split’ or ‘blended’ classes that contain more than one grade.
While it is often easier to have only one grade in a classroom, there are nevertheless some advantages
to blended classes. For the younger half of the split, there is the opportunity to extend their learning by
observing what the older students are doing. For the older children, there are many opportunities to
consolidate their learning as they observe what the younger students are learning. Often the older students
develop confidence and leadership skills by being the ‘senior’ member of the class. When we look at the
curriculum for each grade, there are many areas of overlap from year to year, and each new unit generally
begins with a review of the previous year’s learning. Therefore, it is frequently possible for the teacher to
begin a new topic with both grades, and then have the older students progress to the next, more difficult
level. Students in a split grade get to know other students who are younger or older than they are, and they
can learn to be more tolerant of a wider range of academic levels because of the two grades.
When we select which students will be placed in any class, teachers and the principal look at several
issues: academic skills, work habits, emotional maturity, the boy/girl balance, and social concerns. We spend
a long time thinking about and discussing which students would be best in each class, and we try to make the
best decision for each individual. We appreciate your support and understanding of this process, and your
trust that we will make the right choice for your child.
Unfortunately, due to the “Freedom of Information” policy of the Upper Grand District School Board
we are unable to post the names of the students at our school in the end of August. Please do not call the
school requesting this information.
SPIRIT DAYS
Friday, June 13th is Jersey Day and Friday, June 27th is Twin Day.
PARENT RESOURCE WEBSITES
Did you want to find information about simple steps to your child’s success? Did you know that there
are many simple things you can do at home to support your child’s education?
You can view the text form for “abc123 reach every student” website by logging in on the following site
in English http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/index.html and in French
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/fre/index.html
READ, READ, READ
Take time this summer to encourage your child to read a book. Take them to the public library, buy a
book or borrow a book from a friend.
Reading Books
I like to read all kinds of books
To entertain myself,
And so I’m glad when I can take
A book down from the shelf.
I like the picture books of planes,
Of flowers, birds, and ships
From which I can imagine that
I’m taking wonderful trips.
I like the books with stories in
And also books of rhymes;
I often try to learn a few
And say them lots of times.
I like to read all kinds of books
I find upon the shelf Particularly now that I
Can read all by myself!
Vivian C. Gouled
Reading Together Can Develop Thinking Skills: Take time this summer to read with your child.
Reading together can help your child become a better reader and a better thinker. Choose a book your
child will enjoy reading - fiction, nonfiction, fantasy or biography. It should be harder than anything he could
read on his own. As his teacher for suggestions.
Read the book together. You may read a sentence and then have your child read the next sentence.
Later, you can read longer passages before you switch.
Stop often to ask questions. Before you start to read, you might ask questions like these:
► What do the book cover, the title and the introduction tell you about the book?
► What do you think the book is going to be about?
► Have you read anything like this before?
While you’re reading, ask questions that will encourage your child to think more deeply:
► Do you think the author has really known places and people like those in the book?
► If not, what sort of time and place did the author come from?
► Does this remind you of any feelings you/ve had? Of any other book you’ve read or TV shows you’ve
seen?
ENCOURAGING WRITING
The long, lazy days of summer can actually be a great time for kids to practice writing. Children can
carve out the time they need to think and dream, to choose just the right words and to make revisions.
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To promote writing this summer, encourage your child to:
Keep a journal. Look for a book that will make your child want to write. He/she can spend time each
day writing down his/her thoughts.
Record observations. What could be the story of the old woman at he bank who brought in bag after
bag of pennies? Perhaps she could be the main character in a mystery.
Write for a purpose. Are you visiting another town this summer? Write to the Chamber of Commerce
to learn about things to do.
Publish what your child writes. Send stories to family members and friends. Or help make a collection
of the poems, stories that you could give to grandparents.
Read. The best advice to any writer: “Read, read, read and write, write, write.”
PLAYING AND HAVING FUN IN THE SUMMER SUN
The summer holidays are almost here and children will have more time to play inside and outside your
home.
Play helps children of all ages build social skills, be more creative, and solve problems. Children who
play often are happier and healthier.
Children need free time every day to play. It is important for children to choose how they would like to
play and what they would like to play with. Younger children may choose to build with blocks, play chasing or
tag games, paint, draw, make a puzzle or play with dolls, cars or trucks. Older children might like building a
fort, riding a bike, playing ball, building with a construction set, or playing a board game.
Encourage your child to play actively more often than they play video games and watch T.V. Children
enjoy playing with water or sand, playing games like hide and seek, or with bean bags, balls, skipping ropes or
bikes.
Many children enjoy putting things together and taking things apart. Children also like to play games in
which they can pretend such as dress-up, puppets and role playing. What did you like to do when you were a
child?
Play is good for adults too. Adults who take time to “play” and relax are less stressed and happier.
Have some fun this summer!
For ideas about toys and play at different ages go to:
http://www.parents.com/baby/development/growth/how-they-play/
For information on pretend play go to:
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/The-Land-of-Make-Believe.aspx
For ideas for outdoor play go to:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/travel/play-outside-47060105#slide-29
TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH MAY 2014
THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP
As the days get longer and the light lingers into the night, all of us tend to stay up later. Unfortunately,
we still have to get up at the same time to go to school or work, which means we may not be getting enough
sleep. For some of us, this lack of sleep is an ongoing concern. Going to bed late, not being able to fall asleep
or waking up in the night all disrupt our ability to get a good night’s sleep.
A good night’s sleep is very important for our mental and physical well being. For children and youth, it is
extremely important to get enough sleep. Sleep is the foundation on which we build all of our well being.
Sleep allows our bodies to rest, re-charge, consolidate learned information and be ready to take on another
day’s challenges. Good sleep contributes to feeling well, doing well in school and to positive mood and
behavior. Getting enough sleep leads to better concentration, less hyperactivity, less depression or anxiety
and less aggression.
Each person needs a different amount of sleep, with children and youth needing more sleep than
adults. You know you are getting enough sleep when you don’t feel drowsy or tired during the day. Sleep
problems are very common. You are more likely to experience sleep problems if you are experiencing
significant stress in your life. Simple changes in your child or youth’s daily routine can make a big difference to
their ability to sleep well and feel rested.
Do:
1. Go to bed at the same time each day.
2. Get up from bed at the same time each day.
3. Get regular exercise each day, preferably in the morning. There is good evidence that
regular exercise improves restful sleep. This includes stretching and aerobic exercise.
4. Get regular exposure to outdoor or bright lights, especially in the late afternoon.
5. Keep the temperature in your bedroom comfortable.
6. Keep the bedroom quiet when sleeping.
7. Keep the bedroom dark enough to facilitate sleep.
8. Use your bed only for sleeping.
9. Use a relaxation exercise just before going to sleep such as muscle relaxation, imagery, massage, warm
bath, etc.
If you lie in bed awake for more than 20-30 minutes, get up, go to a different room (or different
part of the bedroom), participate in a quiet activity (e.g. non-excitable reading or television),
Don't:
1. Exercise just before going to bed.
2. Engage in stimulating activity just before bed, such as playing a competitive game,watching an exciting
program on television or movie, or having an important discussion with a loved one.
3. Have caffeine in the evening (coffee, many teas, chocolate, sodas, etc.) .
4. Read or watch television in bed.
5. Use alcohol to help you sleep.
6. Go to bed too hungry or too full.
7. Take daytime naps.
8.. Command yourself to go to sleep. This only makes your mind and body more alert.
If you or your child/youth continue to have sleep problems, talk with your doctor or mental health
professional.
Here are some helpful websites with information and activities to help with good sleep.
http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/wellness-module/wellness-module-6-getting-a-good-nights-sleep
http://sleepfoundation.org/
MATH AND READING THIS SUMMER
This summer don’t forget about math and reading! On a rainy, cool summer day (I know after the
winter we’ve had, hopefully they will be few and far between) check out these websites.
Parents of Elementary Students:
Find tips on helping your child with reading, writing and math, as well as tips on homework, talking to teachers
and more. Tips are available in multiple languages at Ontario.ca/abc123
Parents of Secondary Students
Ontario schools are offering expanded programs to help meet students’ individual learning styles and
interests, which will better prepare them for graduation and beyond. Find out more about the Student
Success program at Ontario.ca/studentsuccess.
Information obtained from Parent Matters Ontario.ca/EDUparents
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT HEARING? ASK
AN AUDIOLOGIST!
Often taken for granted, the ability to hear plays a
crucial role in the way we interact with each other and our
surroundings. Yet, for more than one million Ontarians,
hearing loss can have serious consequences, negatively
affecting daily living. Untreated or mismanaged hearing loss
has a profound impact at any age. For example, hearing loss
can result in difficulty with speech, language and social
development in toddlers, poor academic performance in
children, and sometimes behavioural issues as well. Hearing
loss can lead to isolation, reduced independence, reduced cognitive function, and depression in adults.
Knowing where to turn for help is an important first step – your audiologist can help.
What is an Audiologist?
There are a variety of providers of hearing healthcare and many people are unsure about their distinct
roles. For example, hearing aid dispensers (or hearing aid practitioners/"specialists") are qualified to sell
hearing aids, but audiologists differ in many ways, including:
 Audiologists hold Master's or Doctorate degrees in audiology
 Audiologists are recognized under the Regulated Health Professions Act
 Audiologists belong to a regulatory college that protects the public interest
 Audiologists are legally entitled to prescribe hearing aids
It is important to be informed and to trust your hearing concerns to a professional who is qualified to
provide comprehensive evaluations and treatments. This is especially important for children.
To locate an audiologist in Ontario, call the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and
Audiologists (OSLA) Tel: 416-920-3676 or visit their website at www.osla.on.ca
***************************************************************************
If you have questions about Hearing or Communication, Language and Speech Services
in the Upper Grand District School Board, please contact
Trudy Counter,
Coordinator of Communication, Language and Speech Services
519-941-6191 (Toll free: 1-888-535-5528) Extension 248
MONDAY
2
TUESDAY
Day 5
3
WEDNESDAY
Day 1
Pizza
9
Day 5
Talent Show
16
23
Day 5
Day 5
Primary Play Day
Report Cards go home
Intermediate 3-Pitch
tournament
10
4
Day 2
THURSDAY
5
Day 3
6
Day 3
P.A. DAY
12:05 P.M. DISMISSAL
13
Day 4
Grilled Cheese
North Wellington
Intermediate Track & Field
Day 1
11
Day 2
12
FRIDAY
Day 4
Pizza
North Wellington Junior
Track & Field
Gr. 8 trip to Blue Jays
game
Gr. 5 trip to Luther Marsh
Gr. 6 trip to Luther Marsh
Jersey Day
17
18
19
20
Day 4
27
Day 4
Day 1
Pizza
Gr. 8 trip to Toronto Zoo
JK/SK trip to Wings of
Paradise and KidZone
Hot Dogs
24
25
Pizza
Junior Girls 3-Pitch
tournament
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Gr. 3/4/5 trip to Crawford
Lake
Gr. 8 trip to Wonderland
Day 2
Junior Boys 3-Pitch
tournament
Gr. 8 Graduation 6:00 p.m.
26
Day 3
Mrs. Bastedo & Mrs. Pratt
trip to Wawanosh
Twin Day