St. Aidan Catholic Elementary School
34 Buick Boulevard
Brampton, Ontario
L7A 3B9
Phone: 905-840-3042
Principal
D. Clifford
Vice-Principal
M. Moncur
Head Secretary
C. Moore
Assistant Secretary
T. Gout
Superintendent
S. Steer
Trustees
D. B. D’Souza
F. Di Cosola
Parish
Guardian Angels
Pastor
Fr. Jan Gogolewski
Mass Times
Sat.:
5:00 p.m.
Sun.:
9:00 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
12:00 p.m.
Masses are held at:
St. Edmund Campion
275 Brisdale Drive
Brampton, Ontario
L7A 3C7
Fax: 905-840-0820
February 2015
February is . . .
Black History Month
Every year, Canadians are invited to
participate in Black History Month
festivities and events that honour the
legacy of black Canadians, past and present.
We take this time to celebrate the many
achievements and contributions of black
Canadians who, throughout history, have
done so much to make Canada the
culturally diverse, compassionate and
prosperous nation we are today. During
Black History Month, Canadians can gain
insight into the experiences of black
Canadians and the vital role this community
has played throughout our shared history.
(Source: Citizenship and Immigration
Canada)
This year in celebration of Black History
Month:
*The library will have on display a host of
books related to Black History.
*Daily announcements will include quotes
and historical facts relating to Black History.
*Students will participate in a variety of
activities in their respective classrooms.
Dear God,
You have done such a marvelous
job of creating us and the world
around us.
Among your greatest gifts are our
friends and acquaintances. They
are the yeast in the dough of life –
they make life lively and
interesting.
We come to you now asking for
the grace and strength to keep a
sense of respect.
We hope that by recognizing and
honouring the shared Spirit in
everyone we meet, we can
contribute to making our school a
safer, more caring, and more
inclusive community.
Amen
St. Aidan
Catholic School
Council
Bus Cancellations/School Closing Due to Bad
Weather
presents
Brain Gym
A parent engagement evening
Wednesday,
February 11, 2015
Interactive Workshop
at 6:30 pm
Light Refreshments will be provided
Join us in an interactive evening of fun and
learning with registered Brain Gym® consultant
Leah Dilley. Leah’s passion is working with children
and teens to engage them in a fun and easy way to
strengthen and create neural connections within
the brain allowing them to integrate and access
the whole brain. These movements can benefit
people of all ages! Brain Gym® also assists in
reducing triggers for stress in the body. Once the
child/teen recognizes their stress and can
incorporate Brain Gym® the results are a calm,
confident, stress free and empowered learner.
Students will be engaged in workshops during the
day at school. Please join us with your child in the
evening to support your child’s new learning!
Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday,
February 11, 2015.
Please be advised that during the winter months,
inclement weather may cause disruption of bus
transportation and regular school operations. A
decision to cancel school transportation and/or to
close schools is usually made by 6:00 am and will be
announced on the radio and television stations
identified below.
VIRGIN RADIO FM99.9
CJCL AM590
CHFI FM98.1
CFTR AM680
FM Z103.5
CFNY FM102.1/AM640
CHIN FM100.7/AM1540
CITYPULSE
CANADA AM
CHUM AM1050
CJBC (FR) AM860
EZ ROCK FM97.3
CFRB AM1010
FM93.1
CBC FM99.1
CTV
GLOBAL NEWS
You will hear one of four standard messages:
1.”Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board buses
serving St. Andrew, St. Benedict and St. Peter
elementary schools and R.F. Hall secondary schools
are cancelled for today”
This message does not affect St. Aidan School
2.”The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
buses and the Peel District School Board buses in the
town of Caledon and the County of Dufferin are
cancelled”.
This message does not affect St. Aidan
3.”The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
and the Peel District School Board Buses are
cancelled”.
ALL transportation services provided by the
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board have
been cancelled for the entire day.
4.”The schools and offices of both the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board and the Peel District
School Board are closed”
ALL schools are closed to students and staff.
Sports Corner
Our Junior Girls and Boys Basketball
teams have been hard at work preparing
for their upcoming tournaments this month.
The Junior Boys tournament will be held on
February 17, 2015 and the Junior Girls
tournament will be held on February 19, 2015.
Report Cards and Interview Evening
Students will receive their report cards on
Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Interviews will be
held on Thursday, February 5, 2015 and the
morning of Friday, February 6, 2015.
National Flag of Canada Day
February 15th was declared National Flag
of Canada Day in 1996. It marks the day in
1965 when our red and white maple leaf flag
was first raised over Parliament Hill in Ottawa,
and indeed, hundreds of communities across
Canada. Red and white were designated as
Canada’s official colours in 1921 by His Majesty
King George V. Our flag is a sign of freedom,
democracy and human rights, and it reminds us
of how truly fortunate we are as Canadians to
live in this vast and beautiful land. February
15th is a perfect opportunity to celebrate our
flag and what it stands for: a Dominion that is
the envy of the world. Please visit
http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca for more
information.
Homework Tip of the Month
This month’s tip: Develop a
positive attitude. It is important
that family members come to an agreement on
the positive value of homework. Gaining this
consensus sets the stage for a successful
learning environment within the home.
Remember…the attitude you express about
homework will be the attitude your child
acquires.
Our Catholic School Heritage Continued
10. Exactly what separate school rights does section 93(1)
guarantee?
Section 93(1) protects all the provisions of the last separate
school legislation passed before Confederation, the
Separate School (Scott) Act of 1863. Among others, the Act
provided the following rights:
(a) to form a separate school board with five or more
Catholic heads of family resident in a public school
jurisdiction;
(b) to receive government grants equitable with those
of the public school system;
(c) to receive equitable funding;
(d) to have separate school boundaries enlarged;
(e) to elect separate school trustees with all the
powers of public school trustees.
11. Once section 93(1) was enacted, why did Ontario’s
separate school supporters continue to suffer financial
hardship?
The Separate School (Scott) Act of 1863 did not anticipate
the creation and/or growth of corporations and public
utilities in Ontario, or the creation of public high schools.
These two omissions caused over 100 years of financial
hardship and inequity for separate school supporters.
12. Why did Catholic parents and students have to pay
tuition to attend a Catholic high school after grade ten?
In 1871 the Ontario government passed an Act to Improve
the Common Schools and Grammar Schools of Ontario.
This Act abolished common and grammar schools and
created public schools for grades one to ten and high
schools for grades nine to thirteen. The highest official
with the Department of Education, Egerton Ryerson,
commented that the 1871 Act did not affect separate
schools. The separate school boards operating secondary
school classes carried on, receiving funding from grants
and taxes. However, early in the twentieth century the
government passed legislation which forbade a separate
school board from offering education beyond grade ten if
its boundaries fell partially or fully within the boundaries
of a high school district. Thus, all but one separate school
board (in Dublin) lost their ability to receive tax or
government grant financing beyond grade ten.
Furthermore, if a separate school board chose to continue
operating grades nine and ten, it received only elementary
school grants for them.
Dear Students & Families of St. Aidan,
On Friday March the 6th, 2015, students,
family and friends are all invited to watch the St.
Aidan choir perform the National Anthems at a
Brampton Beast hockey game!
The game will begin at 7:30PM at the
Powerade Centre (7575 Kennedy road), with the
choir singing right before puck drop! Singers will
need to arrive by 6:00 at the Kennedy Entrance
in order to perform a sound-check on the
microphones prior to their performance. Gates will
open at 6:30PM for others coming to the game who
are not singing.
Tickets can be purchased for a special
discounted price of $16.00 per ticket from Mrs.
Moore prior to the game. This is a 40% discount
from regularly priced tickets! Singers themselves
will be offered tickets for an even more discounted
rate of insert cost here.
There are plenty of prizes being raffled off
for those who buy tickets so get your orders in
today! The Beast will be hosting a Star Wars
theme that night so there will be plenty of
characters from the movie in the concourse for
what is sure to be a fun night out.
We look forward to seeing St. Aidan out at
the game on March the 6th to cheer on your school
choir and support your local pro hockey team, the
Brampton Beast!
-Brampton Beast
www.BRAMPTONBEAST.com
1.
The St. Aidan Catholic School Council is
proud to announce that this years “Main
Fundraising Event” will be a Lamontagne
Belgium Chocolate Fundraiser.
Our kick off day is January 26, 2015 and
will run through to February 17, 2015.
If you sell a full box of chocolates you will
automatically win a prize.
If you sell 2 full boxes of chocolates you will
automatically win the first prize from selling
one box plus a second prize for selling a
second box and so on.
In addition to selling boxes of these great
tasting chocolates, we will have draws for
gift cards and our top sellers will have a
chance to win one of the three grand prizes.
All proceeds raised by this fundraiser
campaign will benefit the St. Aidan students
and school in the following ways:




Development of a Stained Glass
Window in entrance of school
$5.00 per Student Subsidy for Field
Trips for the 2015 school year
Bibles for classrooms
Literacy Resources – Atlas,
French/English Dictionaries,
classroom libraries
So please join us in this fundraising
campaign.
The Online Reporting Tool
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School board
has developed a new way to help nurture a
safe, caring and inclusive school environment.
The Online Reporting Tool is intended for
students in grades 3 – 8 who become aware of
bullying incidents and negative behaviours. The
student can simply ‘click’ on the link found on
our school’s website to fill out the report. The
report will then be directly emailed to the
principal and/or vice principal and will be dealt
with accordingly.
It is important to recognize that the Online
Reporting Tool is an alternate reporting option.
It is best practice to speak directly with a
responsible adult at home and/or in the
school.
Board-wide Observance of National Sweater
Day – February 5, 2015
“As stewards, human beings recognize that the
environment does not belong to them, but is a
gift entrusted to them which demands
responsibility in action. Human beings discern
the role granted to them by God by exercising
their intelligence and ethical judgement.”
(Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2013)
Student Accident Insurance
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
annually provides parents with information
regarding cost-effective student accident
insurance coverage. Although enrolment is
voluntary, the Board encourages parents to take
advantage of this inexpensive insurance coverage,
especially if your child(ren) participate in sports,
excursions/field trips, other extra-curricular
activities and/or if parents do not have dental
insurance coverage. Further information regarding
this insurance can be obtained by contacting
Reliable Life Insurance at 1-800-463-KIDS (5437)
or visiting www.insuremykids.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
School Start Time and Student Supervision
We have seen a growing number of children being
dropped off early at school in recent weeks and
entering the school prior to the school start time.
Please note that supervision in the school yard
begins at 8:05 AM. Please do not leave your
children unattended on the school grounds before
teacher supervision begins.
Students are expected to gather in the school yard
near their assigned entry doors from 8:05 until entry
at 8:20 AM. Students should not be entering the
school through the front doors or entering the
school prior to 8:20 AM. The front doors will be
locked. The only exception to this is when we are
experiencing inclement weather (e.g. rain or
temperature/wind chill below minus 20 degrees), in
which case the school bell will ring at 8:05 AM and
students will go to their designated supervised area
inside the school.
Once again, for the safety of the children, please do
not leave students unattended prior to teacher
supervision beginning at 8:05 AM, and please
ensure they are dropped off in the school yard
unless the bell rings early because of inclement
weather conditions.
Also, please note the school day ends at 2:50 PM. If
you require extended care for either the morning or
afternoon, please contact the YMCA Before and
After School program at the school to inquire if
space is available.
IMPORTANT DATES
February 2:
February 3:
February 4:
February 5:
February 5:
February 6:
February 11:
February 9-13:
February 17:
February 18:
February 19:
February 13:
February 16:
February 25:
February 26:
Groundhog Day
Report Cards go home
Virtue Assembly 12:45pm
Interview Evening
National Sweater Day
PA Day/Interview Morning
CSC Parent Engagement Evening
Brain Gym at 6:30pm
Share Life Spirit Week
Junior Boys Basketball Tournament
Ash Wednesday Liturgy 9:00am
Junior Girls Basketball Tournament
Valentine’s Day Dance
Family Day
Jr. Boys Indoor Soccer Tournament
Gr. 8 Girls Immunization Clinic