Victoria Terrace P.S. News
500 Victoria Terrace · Guelph, ON · N1M 2G5
Phone: 519-843-2720
FAX: 519-843-1558
Principal: Mrs. K. Kowch
Office Co-ordinator: Mrs. D. Wilson
SEPTEMBER 2015
Principal’s Message
It is hard to believe that we were saying our summer goodbyes two short months ago -- hopefully you have all
had some quality family time and some fun activities with the great weather that we had. It’s that time
again… to welcome you to the 2015-2016 school year at Victoria Terrace Public School! It is an exciting time of
year for all of us, and especially those who are new to the VT community. Whether you have been in the
neighbourhood for a while, or have just moved in, the start of the school year is “new” for all: NEW teachers,
NEW books, NEW shoes, NEW supplies, NEW clothes, NEW friends, NEW challenges. To have a great school, it
takes a dedicated staff, keen to provide a rich learning environment for the students. It takes informed and
involved parents, sharing the responsibility of their child(ren)’s learning, and it takes a community, celebrating
the accomplishments of the school. We hope you will join your child(ren) in their school experiences -- feel
free to join us at a school event, volunteer and most importantly, listen to and support your child at home. I
look forward to connecting with you in the coming year!
Mrs. K. Kowch
Principal
Sad News in our Community
Our sincerest condolences go out to the George family who lost Diana -- a wonderful mother, wife, sister,
daughter, cousin, aunt and friend, on Tues., August 18th after a courageous battle with cancer. A trust fund
has been set up for Alyssa and Cameron at the TD Canada Trust Bank in Fergus. If you would like to
contribute, we will be accepting donations in the office until Fri., Sept. 18th, or you can make your own
donation to receive a tax receipt, using the following information: 00772-6417441-004.
School Day Schedule
Although our start and end times of the school day are the same, all schools in the Upper Grand D.S.B. have
moved to a balanced day, with break times in the morning and afternoon being the same. The following are
the new scheduled times:
8:45
Entry Bell
8:45-10:25
Instructional Time (100 minutes)
10:20-10:25 O’Canada, Announcements
10:25-10:45 First Nutrition Break (20 minutes)
10:45-11:10 Recess (25 minutes)
11:10-12:50 Instructional Time (100 minutes)
12:50-1:10
Second Nutrition Break (20 minutes)
1:10-1:35
Recess (25 minutes)
1:35-3:15
Instructional Time (100 minutes)
3:15
Dismissal
Please take note to pack only healthy choices for nutrition breaks -- students will be encouraged to eat “fuel
for the brain” foods during the school day, and save snacks that have less nutritional value for after-school
snacks. Thank you for taking the time to ensure the best learning conditions for your child with nutritious
foods.
Teaching Assignments 2015-2016
Our class organization for September is as follows:
KA
Mrs. M. Lake, Ms. K. Kaur, Mrs. K. Robinson
KB
Mrs. S. Thomas, Mrs. C. Lampkin, Ms. K. Battistel
Grade1/2
Mrs. L. Vonk
Grade 1/2
Mrs. B. Caunter
Grade 2/3
Mrs. C. Novosad
Grade 3/4
Ms. A. Mark
Grade 5/6
Mr. S. Pellar
Grade 5/6
Mrs. K. Burns-Pinkney
Core French
Mme. N. Stepien
Developmental Learning
Mrs. D. Murray
Resource
Mrs. F. Oakes-Martin, Mme. N. Stepien, Mrs. K. Kowch
Teacher-Librarian
Mrs. P. Collier
Planning Time
Mrs. P. Collier, Ms. K. Pedersen
CYC
Ms. T. Zappia
Educational Assistants
Mrs. N. Diefenbaker, Mrs. L. Dietrich, Mrs. L. Spadafore,
Ms. M. Witty, Ms. S. Barnes, Ms. W. McCready
Office Co-Ordinator
Mrs. D. Wilson
Custodian
Mr. T. Baker
Principal
Mrs. K. Kowch
Entry and Dismissal
During these times our hallways are very busy places. Outdoor clothing, book bags, footwear, etc. ...fill our
hallways. We ask that all parents drop off/pick up their child(ren) outside the school. Staff are in the hallways
to assist and welcome/send off students. Thank you for your cooperation!
Parking
In order to maintain the safety of all students, staff and community members at Victoria Terrace P.S. during
high traffic times before and after school, it is extremely important that the drop-off, pick-up and parking
areas around the school are strictly adhered to. As per the Centre Wellington signs that are posted, the area
on the east side of Victoria Terrace between the two school driveways is designated as “Student Drop-off and
Pick-up”. Vehicles must be travelling north on Victoria Terrace from Garafraxa St. to access this
option. Parents who are travelling south on Victoria Terrace can turn left onto Forfar St., and can also dropoff/pick-up or park on the south side of Forfar at the back of the school. There is no stopping or parking
anytime on the west side of Victoria Terrace from Garafraxa St. to Forfar St., and there is no parking on the
north side of Forfar. Please do not park in the spot directly past the second VT driveway – our accessible bus
needs to have clearance to pull away after drop-offs and pick-ups.
Additional parking can be accessed on Cameron St. or Victoria Terrace north of Forfar St. There will be no
entrance into the parking lot or the second driveway from 8:30 – 9:00 am and 3:00 – 3:30 pm. Both of the
driveways will be barricaded by pylons and monitored by student safety patrollers as well as school staff.
Please note that these parking and drop-off/pick-up rules will be strictly monitored and reinforced by Centre
Wellington OPP, township personnel and school staff. Thank you so much for your cooperation and
understanding to ensure the safety of our students!
A New Look!
We were very fortunate this summer to get some much needed upgrades to the heating and electrical
systems within the school, and all learning areas have new energy efficient lighting and automatic on/off
switches. We are also continuing plans to create our outdoor classroom behind the school gym with funds
from our very successful spring VT’s Mighty Motors event! Stay tuned for how you can help us with our
outdoor learning enhancements!
Bicycles and Other Modes of Transportation
Students are welcome to ride their bikes to school. Bike racks are provided at the front of the school and at
the fence line of the school yard. Students MUST wear helmets and are strongly encouraged to lock their
bikes to the rack. Students need to walk their bikes upon entering the school grounds, park and
lock, and immediately walk back to the tarmac area behind the school. This year, we will allow
skateboards, roller blades and scooters, but like the bikes, it is mandatory that all riders wear a
helmet and disembark when on school property.
Volunteering or Visiting the School
To ensure the safety of everyone in the school, we are having all visitors/volunteers sign in at the office to
receive a visitor/volunteer badge. Signs have been posted at each entrance reminding everyone to check in at
the office upon entry. If you have an item to drop off to your child, do not take it to the classroom. Please
take it to the office and Mrs. Wilson will buzz the classroom at a time that will cause the least amount of
disturbance to the class. We very much value your presence and support in our school and appreciate your
cooperation ensuring a safe and secure environment for our students.
Our first School Council meeting will be held on Monday, September 14th at 7:00 pm in the library. Please
consider joining this wonderful group of volunteers in order to be involved, informed and help make decisions
about what happens in our school community. We’d love to have you join the VT School Council Team!
Allergy Alert
Please be aware that some staff and students have severe and possible life-threatening allergies to peanuts
and nut products, as well as the scents of perfumes. We ask that you not send any foods containing nuts to
school with your children, and avoid using strong scented perfumes and hairsprays.
Medication at School
If medication must be taken at school, the following applies:
•
All medication is kept in a locked, secure place at the office.
•
If you require a medication form, please contact the office. Along with a completed, signed form, the
medication must be clearly marked on the original container and must include the name of your child and
directions for administering and storing on the pharmaceutical sticker.
Please Help us Save…
•
•
•
Pop can tabs
Canadian Tire money
Old, used markers
Books for Birthdays!
Our school is pleased to be able to continue with our Books for Birthdays
program this year, thanks to the support of School Council. This program helps
recognize and celebrate your child’s birthday with the gift of a book to keep and
cherish. Your child’s birthday will be recognized over the PA during morning
announcements. Your child is invited to come to the office during the day to
choose his/her book from our book cabinet.
Field Trip Forms
Please note that if your child does not have a signed permission form for a field trip involving bus
transportation or other lengthy excursions, verbal permission over the phone will no longer be accepted.
Important Forms to return to the School
You will have received a package of 4 forms home with your child. Please read, complete and/or change and
sign pages 1, 2 and 3 by Friday, September 18th, 2015. Also, please complete the Volunteer form at the end of
the newsletter.
1)
2)
3)
4)
Student Verification Form: Your families’ personal information.
Blanket trip form: Consent for local walking excursions.
Consent to share personal information.
FOI factsheet: Please read carefully and if you have any questions or concerns please call the school.
Student Accident Insurance Application Forms
Student Accident Insurance forms will be sent home the week of September 14th. Please be sure to read the
accompanying information. This coverage is quite inexpensive yet can be of great benefit in the event of a
broken bone or tooth. The student accident insurance policy would most likely cover all treatment expenses
for these types of injuries.
Please read the information and seriously consider completing and mailing in an enrolment form for your
child(ren). Completed enrolment forms are to be mailed directly to Reliable Life Insurance Company. DO NOT
SEND THE ENVELOPE BACK TO SCHOOL, PLEASE. Also, you will find an acknowledgement form to sign and
return to the school.
Physical Education and Footwear
Running shoes are necessary for total participation in physical education. Please do not buy black soled shoes
as they have been found to badly mark the floors. We appreciate your support of our policy that encourages
students to wear indoor running shoes for the classroom and gym. For safety reasons, students who do not
have proper footwear will not be permitted to participate.
Electronic Newsletters
In an effort to maintain our school’s new platinum Eco Status, we are continuing with the electronic
newsletter format. This practice has a significant impact on our environment. The school newsletter is
available on the first of each month on the school’s website. With just a click of your mouse, you can view the
current month’s newsletter as well as each newsletter issued by the school during the current school
year. You can also access the school’s newsletter by going to our website:
http://www.ugdsb.on.ca/VictoriaTerrace/newsletters.html
Reminders of the all postings will be on Aizan (our school’s phone call-out system) as well as Twitter. Please
provide us with your most up-to-date contact information so we can keep you informed. If you require a hard
copy of the newsletter, please send in your request or call Mrs. Wilson in the office.
Environmental Awareness Continues…
As you may be aware, we were the first elementary school in Upper Grand D.S.B. to achieve Gold Eco Status
six years ago, and this past spring, we achieved Platinum status, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Mrs. Collier,
Ms. Mark and the school’s Eco Team. We are extremely proud of this designation and we wish to continue
our efforts as environmentally responsible citizens, with the hope of further reducing that among of garbage
produced through snacks and lunches. To this end, we will be continuing the concept of Boomerang lunches,
i.e., what comes to school will return back home. Students can eat the food, compost or recycle anything they
can here at school and the rest goes home. Students are encouraged to bring foods in reusable containers
and enjoy foods like apples, pears and bananas that don’t need any container at all. Use of reusable drink
bottles will reduce garbage and allow us to further reduce our earth footprints from recyclable and nonrecyclable containers like juice boxes and pouches and plastic water bottles. We even have a special tap for
refilling reusable bottles throughout the day. Your support as you shop and prepare lunches and snacks at
home during the year is very much appreciated.
Safe Arrival Program
Your child's safety is of the utmost importance to us. Your cooperation over the last few years has ensured
the success of the safe arrival program. It is imperative that the following procedure be followed. Please
continue to communicate with your child's teacher, through a note, about your child's absence. If your child
does not have a sibling or a neighbourhood friend who can deliver a note, please phone the school at any
time. After the office coordinator has left for the day, an answering system will record your
message. Similarly, we would appreciate a note or phone call if your child attended in the morning but is to be
absent in the afternoon.
If your child is away for an extended time (e.g. chicken-pox, flu) we would not contact you on a daily basis and
you should advise the school when the student is expected back.
We will make safe arrival phone calls in the following order: home, mother’s work, father’s work, care giver,
emergency contact. Please ensure that we have the current phone numbers for these contacts. If you wish
the calls to be made in a different order or you cannot take calls at work, please advise us.
Crossing Guards
We are pleased to welcome back our crossing guards Karen Fowler (Garafraxa St.) and Peggy Sheehy (Forfar
St.). Karen and Peggy will be on duty from 8:20-8:50 am, and 3:15-3:45 pm.
Karen and Peggy have been taking care of our students for a number of years and they already know many of
the students who cross at their station. If your child is new to VT, please take a moment to introduce yourself
and your student to their crossing guard.
Please stress with your child that no matter what their age, they need to obey the crossing guards.
School Photos
Individual student and class photos will be taken on Tuesday, October 6th, courtesy of Lifetouch Canada.
Milk Program & Pizza/Cookie Days
Please stay tuned for more information about these fund-raising opportunities for our school.
From the UGDSB Curriculum Department...
Do you believe that all children can excel in mathematics?
Do you believe that children are born with the math gene?
Do you believe that children can suffer from math anxiety?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then please take a moment and continue reading.
This year our work in math will continue to focus on helping your children understand that math is about
learning, not performing. Research indicates that every time any one of us makes a mistake in math our brains
grow and connections are made . We need to help our children understand that making mistakes is not a ‘bad’
thing. Making mistakes is how we understand and get better at math.
1
At school, we want to help your children understand that math is about problem solving, reasoning and
proving, making connections, communicating their thinking and persisting when tasks are challenging. We
want to help them adopt an “I Can do Math” attitude.
In order for this to happen, we need to teach math differently than the way many of us were taught. No
longer is the teacher robotically demonstrating mathematical methods that your children don’t understand or
care about.
Sebastian Thru, CEO of Udacity, says that we do not and cannot know what mathematics students will need in
the future. The best preparation we can give them is to teach them to be quantitatively literate, think
flexibility and creatively and pre-solve and use intuition as they develop mathematical ideas . Math is about so
much more than plugging numbers into a formula. Math is about children actively engaging with the
problems, so that they understand how math is used in their own life. We need to teach our children to use
mathematics in the world they will live in now and tomorrow. We’re not sure what that world will look like,
although we do know that it will be different from the world we grew up in. We also know that we want our
students to love math and say with confidence “I can do math”. As parents we think you want that too!
2
For ideas to support your children in math go to www.YouCubed.org
1. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education 7, no.1 , January 2012
2. What’s Math Got to Do With It, Jo Boaler, 2015
Curriculum Update
In September, the new Health and Physical Education curriculum will be fully implemented in Ontario
schools. For elementary schools, the new curriculum has existed for several years, but will now include an
updated portion of its ‘Healthy Living’ component to include Human Development and Sexual Health. The
document as a whole aims to educate children to understand themselves and others, think critically to make
healthy choices, develop and maintain healthy relationships, be safe physically and emotionally, and to be
physically active for life. The curriculum is available on the Ministry of Education’s website.
The Human Development and Sexual Health component of the curriculum had not been updated since
1998. Since then much has changed and kids need to know more to keep themselves healthy and safe. This
education starts with children learning about themselves, their feelings, their bodies and about showing
respect for themselves and others in a reliable and accurate way. This learning is most effective when parents
and schools work together. Parents help their children form values about relationships and their behaviours.
Teachers will endeavour to communicate upcoming topics from the Human Development and Sexual Health
units to families. Open and honest conversations at home about body parts, their functions, physical changes,
healthy relationships and effective living habits help children connect learning and lets them know they have
someone to talk to about questions they might have. Questions about topics can always be directed to the
teacher or school principal.
As mentioned above, Human Development and Sexual Health is one sub-component of the curriculum. The
document also focuses on skills related to Active Living, which involves physical fitness, safety and active
participation; Movement, which teaches specific movement and physical activity skills and tactics; and Healthy
Living, which focuses on understanding health concepts, making healthy choices and making connections to
healthy living.
There are plenty of ways you can support your children’s learning from the Health and Physical Education
curriculum. Consider what you and your child can do together that is fun and healthy. Enjoying physical
activity or making meals together is a great start. Ask your child and their teacher about what is being taught
and have discussions where you provide factual, straightforward answers to your child`s questions. Finally,
learn how to be safe online and use that information to guide your child’s use of any device that connects to
the internet. There are plenty of resources available for parents to support the learning from the HPE
curriculum. The best place to start is the Ministry of Education’s
website: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health.html or
at https://www.ontario.ca/page/sex-education-ontario.
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
September 2015
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
LABOUR DAY
8
Welcome back
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Completed forms
due back to
school
19
Fergus Fall Fair
25
9:00 a.m. Big Kid
Entertainment
“Rapunzel”
26
School Council
Meeting 7 pm in
the Library –
everyone welcome
Smile Cookie Campaign at Tim Hortons.
Please support our Snack Program
20
Fergus Fall Fair
21
22
23
24
27
28
29
30
Terry Fox
National School
Walk Day
October 6 – Photo Day
Please remember to check the school’s website for the latest and greatest VT newsletter at http://www.ugdsb.on.ca/VictoriaTerrace/newsletters.htm.
If you require a hard copy of the newsletter, please send your request in writing to Mrs. Wilson at the office. Thank you for being GREEN!