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 #3
November 1, 2013
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
October was a busy month here at Palmerston P.S. Individual student and class pictures have been
taken and there will be a picture re-take day announced later this fall. Our students have enjoyed
participating in intramural sports and many have signed up for the Glee Club that will run at P.P.S. Some
Primary families have enjoyed participating in Time2Read with our teachers Mrs. Harwood and Mrs.Bastedo. I
also want to thank the volunteers who have helped our teachers working with our very eager learners on
Tuesday nights.
Many of our students participated in cross country running and soccer. We are delighted to let you
know that they demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and athletic ability and represented Palmerston P.S.
extremely well. Some classes have enjoyed trips to the Wawanosh Nature Centre and all Kindergarten classes
visited the Mapleton Organic Farm. Our grade 8 students attended the Career Pathways in Orangeville to learn
about educational pathways and jobs in the trades. Our grade 8 girls attended the Girls’ Conference at
Bingeman’s in Kitchener. We appreciate the extra effort that staff put forth to organize and supervise these
trips and athletic opportunities for our students. We also appreciate the support from parents and
community organizations, including the Palmerston Lions’ Club, for these learning experiences outside the
classroom.
Staff have also been busy learning at Palmerston P.S. Our school has a focus on improving students’
learning and achievement this year by engaging students in rich learning tasks that challenge their thinking.
We also want our students to improve their ability to show, tell and write about their thinking and
understanding. Our professional development on October 11th was devoted to looking closely at our EQAO
results and planning how our school could work together to improve our results.
The Palmerston School Council met on October 28th. Many of our families have enjoyed a movie night
at the Norgan Theatre and they are planning another P.P.S, movie night in the near future. Our School Council
parents organized the October 31st Hallowe’en Dance-a-thon and our students really enjoyed the dances and
treats. We truly appreciate all of the support from our parents. School Council meetings are held on the last
Monday of each month at 6:30 and parents are welcome. The next School Council night will be held on
November 25th from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. There will be a pre-meeting information session from 6:00 – 6:30 on the
topic of three-part Mathematics lessons with a problem-solving focus. You will also learn about how
important it is to have math manipulatives for hands-on learning. All parents are welcomed and encouraged to
attend the education information session, even if you are not able to stay for the School Council meeting. Mr.
Cameron and I would love to see you there!
Looking ahead to November, our school’s Remembrance Day Service at the school will be held at 2:00
p.m. Our grade 7 and 8 students will attend the Legion Cenotaph service at 11:00 a.m. and lay a wreath on
behalf of the school. Parents will be receiving Progress Reports from their child’s teacher on November 13th.
Parent-Teacher interviews will be organized as they were last year with the main interview date on the
November 22nd P.A. Day.
Thank you so much to our students’ families and friends who have ordered magazines online through
QSP. Prizes for participating students will be distributed later in November. QSP magazines are available
throughout the year and make wonderful gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Please visit www.QSP.ca and fill in
the school number – 7846. Thank you and Merci!
Wilma Shannon
Sean Cameron
BUS STUDENTS
If your child rides a bus please send a note or phone the office if he/she is not going home on the bus.
If we do not have a note or phone call he/she will have to get on the bus.
SNACK BIN DONATIONS!
We are always accepting in-kind donations at our school to contribute to the snack bin program! Our
program costs thousands of dollars to run for over 400 students, 5 days a week. Making monetary donations
or donations in the form of nutritious food is always accepted! Here are some foods that are welcome for our
snack bins:
*Yogurt Tubes
*Cheese Strings
*Baby Carrots
*Whole Grain Cereals & Crackers
*Raisins/Dried Fruit
BILLETS FOR BUS STUDENTS
Buses will not run early when weather deteriorates during the day. In situations where buses could
not safely bring children home at the end of the day, the school needs to have an alternate plan for bus
students. All parents are asked to complete the sheet sent home earlier this month to indicate your wishes
regarding the billeting of your child(ren). Parents of students who walk to school are asked to indicate if they
are willing to billet one or two bus students.
HEAD LICE
Please check your children at home on a very regular basis. We will continue to notify all parents of
students in classes where cases of head lice are reported.
HEALTHY SCHOOLS, HEALTHY KIDS!
Good health is important for learning. Palmerston Public School is interested in partnering with the
community to start a healthy schools initiative. We want to promote and support healthy choices in the
school, at home and in the community.
This approach focuses on health issues that are specific to the needs of our community. It can
promote opportunities for not only students but staff and parents to learn positive health attitudes and
behaviours. The whole school community is involved in achieving this goal and a public health nurse from
Wellington- Dufferin- Guelph Public Health will support us along the way. It is a great opportunity to continue
to improve the health of our school and community!
We will be sending out a brief survey in December. We would love to hear any ideas you may have regarding
the health issues you feel are important to address.
Why should we be concerned?
•
A youth survey that was done in our county reported that only 52% of youth between 14-18 years of
age eat breakfast everyday.
•
In the 2013 Active Healthy Kids Canada survey only 7% of 5-11 year olds and 4% of 12-17 year olds
meet the Canadian Physical Activity guidelines which recommend at least 60 minutes of moderatevigorous activity daily.
•
Almost 80% of 10-16 year olds are in front of screens for two or more hours per day.
•
In another survey, almost one third of youth ages 12-17 were classified as overweight or obese.
Further, health professionals are seeing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease in younger people. It has
been said that this might be the first generation of kids that will not live as long as their parents.
•
53% or fewer say they eat fruit and vegetables at least once per day (once a day is well below the
recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide!).
MESSAGES DURING THE DAY
During the day messages are received at the office from parents to alert children regarding a change of
arrangements at the end of the day.
If at all possible, please make arrangements in the morning and communicate the expectations with
the children. Of course, if there is an emergency Mrs. Richenback will assist with getting a message to the
children.
Our goal is to have children go home to a safe and supervised environment.
“LET US KNOW...” ATTENDANCE
Reminder to call: for illness or any other reason your son or daughter will be away from school, please
let us know.
The school voice mail is available for leaving a message at all times. Feel free to leave a message
stating student’s name, reason and date(s) of absence.
If we do not hear from you, we will call in order:
home
work
babysitter
emergency contact
police (if necessary)
It is important to let the school office know this information. For the safety of your children, it is
important for us and you to know where they are.
HELP US MAKE OUR SCHOOL SAFER AND MORE INCLUSIVE FOR EVERYONE!
Parents are encouraged to fill in our voluntary school climate survey by the end of November. Our
students in grades 4 to 8 will be taking the survey over the next few weeks at school. The information we
collect will help us find out how safe our children feel at school, develop programs to prevent bullying and
promote safe and inclusive schools, and decide if our current programs are working. We’ll use the results to
make our school better than ever. All our staff will be asked to take the survey too.
To complete the survey (parents):
• Go to http://edu-climate-surveys.ca/
• Choose a language by clicking either the “English” or “Français” button
• Enter our school’s survey code 2-HHM-007-Q and click the “Submit Code” button
• Follow the instructions on the survey
Remember – this is your school. Let’s make it safe and inclusive for everyone. Please fill in your survey by
November 15. If you want the survey in another language, ask us for a copy. If you have any questions,
contact the school. Thanks for your help.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
Day 2
Day
8
Day 2
14
Day
15
Day 2
21
Day
22
Random Act of Kindness
Day
4
3
11
3
Day
5
Time2Read 6:00 pm
Day 4
6
Grilled Cheese
Day 5
18
25
2
1
Pita Lunch
Day
12
Day 4
13
Day 5
19
Day 4
20
Day 5
Progress Reports go home
Remembrance Day Service
2:00 p.m.
Formal Day
3
7
Day
Day
Mrs. Fairbrother/Mr.
Woolfrey trip to Waterloo
Region Museum
Parent Council Meeting
6:30 p.m.
26
Day 3
Grilled Cheese
27
Day 4
1
1
28
5
P.A. DAY
Day
29
Day 1
Jr. Volleyball Tournament
Panda Pride Assembly
A PARENT’S HOW-TO GUIDE FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD IN MATH
Math education looks different than it did even ten years ago. Employers today cite that the essential
21st century skills of problem solving, collaboration, logical reasoning and the ability to think critically are the
most important ‘look-fors’ when interviewing candidates. In schools today, students are asked to solve
challenging mathematical problems that put more importance on conceptual knowledge instead of procedural
knowledge. This leaves parents sometimes at a loss about their role and how to best support their child. As a
parent, you are an invaluable partner in your child’s mathematics education; you are the first educator in your
child’s life. Research shows that when there is a high level of family involvement, students do better in school.
Below are some tips to support your role as a mathematics parent.
Tips for Parents:
(adapted from Doing Mathematics with Your Child - A Parent’s Guide
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentGuideNum2012.pdf)
- find real-life experiences that encourage and engage your child to think and talk about mathematics
(shopping, sorting, construction, managing time and money, understand patterns and trends, make
predictions based on patterns, analyze data)
- encourage and provide manipulatives to explore mathematical concepts (toothpicks, popsicle sticks, money,
chocolate chips, etc…)
- be mindful of your attitude towards mathematics; strong, positive attitudes about math increase a child’s
ability to feel successful and to persevere with challenging math tasks
- encourage risk taking
- provide a supportive, relaxing environment
- build your child’s confidence by engaging them in math activities that will allow them to feel successful
- engage in math activities or math talk in the language you are most comfortable with
- a math problem is not necessarily a word problem; don’t allow language to be the barrier to the
mathematical concept presented
- build on memorization of math facts by ensuring the understanding of the concept (What does
multiplication/division mean? When would we use it? Why would we use it? How did you figure out that fact?
How can you use one fact to help you figure out another?)
- familiarize yourself with the Ontario Math Curriculum
(http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf) in order to understand what your
child is learning and what is expected of him/her
Resources:
Homework Help (Gr. 7-10)
https://homeworkhelp.ilc.org
Math Activity Sites
*there are many more sites in the Doing Mathematics with Your Child - A Parent’s Guide referenced above
http://www.mathstories.com
http://www.hoodamath.com/games/
http://www.mathplayground.com
http://www.aplusmath.com
http://www.funbrain.com/teachers/subj_math.html
http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/main.shtml