NOV
Principal’s Message
2015
The month of November calls us to reflect and
“remember”.
98 Wanita Road
Mississauga ON,
L5G 1B8
Phone 905.891.7619
Fax 905.278.6539
In Flanders Fields
Trustees
Mario Pascucci,
Bruno Iannicca,
Sharon Hobin,
Esther O'Toole,
Luz del Rosario,
Anna Abbruscato,
Anna Da Silva,
Thomas Thomas,
Darryl D’Souza,
Frank Di Cosola,
Shawn Xaviour
Superintendent
T. Lariviere
Principal
Brian Diogo
by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Amen
Secretary
A. Litster
School Council
Co-Chairs
D. Rookwood
J. Richards
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Living Our Faith
2
PYP
2/3/4
MYP
4&5
School Council
6
Jayhawk News
7/8/9
Take Note & Upcoming Dates
10
We are blessed to live in a country where freedom is a
way of life. Many Canadians have made sacrifices so that
we can enjoy this freedom. Soldiers continue to work
today to help keep the peace in countries around the
world, and to fight for those people who do not enjoy the
privileges that we do as Canadians.
A special thank you to the school community for your
continuous acts of kindness in assisting with our many
“outreach and fundraising” initiatives. At times it can be
overwhelming as so much happens during the first few
months of school. Please know that through all our
events, we teach the children to care for others and to
support those that are in true need of our ‘wealth’ not
only the materialistic items, but our spiritual wealth that
lies deep within all of us!
At St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre, we continue to “Serve in the love of Christ” on a daily basis.
We will begin our major fundraising efforts this
month, helping the school to purchase materials and provide presentations for the students that would otherwise
not be able to be purchased. These funds, generated
through our Catholic School Council’s efforts, tremendously aid the school and go directly back to the students,
enriching their educational experience. Thank you all for
all your continued efforts.
May God Bless You,
B. Diogo
Principal
REMEMBRANCE DAY LITURGY
Please join us for our
Remembrance Day Liturgy
to be held in the gym on
November 11th at 10:30 a.m.
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2
Living Our Faith
PYP
Virtue Corner
NOVEMBER ~ CONSCIENCE
This month we will celebrate the virtue of CONSCIENCE.
A person with conscience…
Chooses to do the ‘right thing’ and feels
good about it
 Can see how his/her wrong-doing affects others and feels badly
 Says ‘sorry’ and tries to make up for
mistakes

God has given us the ability to know the right and
decent way to act and then to act that way. We
trust that the common Spirit we share inspires us
and guides us to make good decisions if we allow
our conscience to be well-formed.
A person of conscience allows prayer and scripture
to influence him/her.
ADVENT MASS
As Advent begins Sunday November 29th, 2015 we
will be celebrating our Advent Mass on Wednesday
December 2nd, 2015 with Fr. Neil McMillan at
9:30 a.m. in the gym. Parents
and families are invited to join
us in this special celebration as
we give thanks to God for our
many blessings.
IB Verification Visit at St. James
On Thursday, October 15 and Friday, October 16, St. James staff and students welcomed the
visiting team of IB educators to the school. The purpose of their verification visit was to verify that the
IB’s educational principles and required standards
and practices were in place. During their visit, the
team met with the Principal, Mr. Diogo; the PYP
coordinator, Miss Webster; two Superintendents
from the board, Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Lariviere;
parents; students and teachers.
We discussed the implementation of the Primary Years Programme at St. James, our inquiry
approach to teaching and learning, assessment and
differentiation practices as well as the integration of
the PYP essential elements into our teaching programs. The visit went very well as the staff and students demonstrated how well the St. James community has embraced the PYP. We look forward to
hearing our official feedback after the team completes their report and forwards it to the appropriate
offices.
If the school’s application meets IB requirements and there are no matters to be addressed, the
Director General will grant the school authorization
to teach the relevant IB programme. With that authorization, the school will officially become an IB
World School for the programme. We expect to hear
feedback by spring 2016.
Thank you to everyone, staff, students, and the
community, for their ongoing support, hard work
and dedication to the implementation of the Primary
Years Programme. We have a lot to be proud of!
http://www.ibo.org/en/become-an-ib-school/timelineand-stages/request-for-authorization/
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
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PYP
As a Catholic school we encourage our students to live out the Gospel values by
demonstrating a respect and concern for the
well-being of all. The Virtues program supports the development of responsible, equitable and faithful individuals. This month we are celebrating the virtue of Conscience. Here at St. James,
we encourage our students to recognize that God
helps us to choose to be good people.
Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people. (Acts 24:16)
The Learner Attribute for this month is Thinker. Students will be encouraged to strive to use their critical
and creative thinking skills to analyze and
take responsible action on complex problems.
Thinkers make good decisions and solve problems.
3
PYP
The Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations
Vision of the Learner:
The graduate is expected to be a reflective, creative and
holistic creature who solves pr oblems and makes
responsible decisions with an informed moral conscience for the common good.
A REFLECTIVE AND CREATIVE THINKER is someone who:




Recognizes there is more grace in our world than
sin and that hope is essential in facing all challenges
Creates, adapts, evaluates new ideas in light of the
common good
Thinks reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems
Makes decisions in light of gospel values
Grade 4 Unit of Inquiry – Inspiring One
Another
The Attitude for this month is Confidence. Students
will be encouraged to strive to be confident in their
ability as learners, having the courage to take risks,
apply what they have learned and make appropriate
decisions.
Last month Mrs. Oteiza’s grade 4 class used the
transdisciplinary theme of W ho W e A re to lead their
inquiry into how understanding our strengths and
weaknesses encourage personal growth. The lines of
inquiry that were used to focus the students’ learning
and deepen their understanding of this central idea included:



Setting goals will help build a strong successful
foundation to our learning
Acknowledging our weaknesses will help us improve our learning
Accepting one another for our differences promotes
acceptance and diversity
The students engaged in a variety of activities encouraging them to demonstrate their understanding of
their own strengths and weaknesses and how to set purposeful goals. They participated in a variety of collaborative activities to demonstrate their prior knowledge of
this topic.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
PAGE
PYP
The class was asked to think about others who
have inspired them and how their personal achievements have inspired change in others. Some of the
inspirational people the students inquired about included: Terry Fox, Malala, Jesus, Nelson Mandela,
Mother Teresa, Ryan Hreljac and The Earth Rangers. The students engaged in the inquiry process as
they posed real questions about the topic, located
resources to support their wonderings, interpreted
the information found and reported their findings to
each other.
4
PYP - MYP
The students were invited to share some of their
strengths and weaknesses as individuals and the
initiatives they feel strongly for. They engaged in a
creative art activity where they outlined their
hands and wrote about the topics that are important
to them. Students wrote and drew about the importance of a variety of topics including: girls’ education, eco-friendly environments and the acceptance of others. At the end of the session, the
students collaborated on a table mural to reflect
upon the kind of change they can inspire by using
their strengths and abilities to motivate others.
Please click on the following link for an article
written about Studio 89 in The Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/10/08/
studio-89-serving-more-than-just-coffee.html
The class took a trip to Studio 89, a fair trade
café in Mississauga, to see how the owner’s passion
for inspiring change resulted its opening. It is the
first of its kind in the nation and it serves as a hub
for community growth. The café serves organic,
rainforest certified coffee; fair trade organic baked
good and promotes conscious consumerism. Studio
89 is a free space for community events that also
offers free workshops and resources as well as empowerment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
http://www.studio89.org/
Studio 89’s goal is to inspire global and local
change. They encouraged the students to fight for
social justice issues and the employees shared some
of the initiatives they are passionate about. They
talked about how the profits from their café help to
support causes like the fight against child labour.
Another project they participate in is called Carols
for Cans. This event involves young people and
adults alike participating in door-to-door caroling,
collecting non-perishable goods for the Salvation
Army.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
Middle Years Programme:
November Feature: Arts
The IB-MYP classifies the Arts as, “A form of human expression and a unique way of knowing.”
Holistic opportunities are at the centre of student
experience and opportunities to develop social,
emotional, intellectual and personal intelligences
are equally balanced.
As such, students learn and communicate through
creating, performing and presenting. They are
asked to convey feelings, experiences, ideas and
reactions. This is accomplished through visual
works and performing arts (dance, drama and music). Recognition that the creative process is not
linear and that success in any one art form may
stem from initial failed attempts is honoured.
Children are encouraged to work through the creative process with both a creative and critical lens,
attempting possible pathways and solutions before
deciding on one that best suits their skill set.
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5
MYP
In each form, students are led through a cycle of
learning, focused on four equally important objectives (see Arts Cycle diagram). These categories
honour curiosity, imagination, courage and determination as necessities of any Ar ts inquir y.
MYP
Take a look at MYP-1 work in progress:
Year 2 & 3 / Grade 7 & 8:
Our MYP students are currently focused in on both
a Visual Arts and Music Inquiry. This month we
highlight the Visual strand.
Year 1 / Grade 6:
Our Year 1 students are focusing on the work of
Victor Vasarely, an artist regarded as the father of
Op-Art (i.e., Optical Illusion Art). His wor k became popular in the 1960’s and 70’s. It influenced
industries such as architecture, computer science
and fashion. It also created a new sense of how to
view art, transforming what might be seen as flat 2dimensional works into something quite different.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
The learning goal for this group is investigating 1
and 2 Point Perspective. Gaining understanding on
how drawing an object face on versus on an angle,
can create visual effect has been at the forefront of
the learning. Creating depth in the perspective piece
is also a component of the inquiry.
Take a look at MYP-2/3 work in progress:
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6
School Council
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Please join us for the Catholic School Council meetings.
The meetings are always lively, informative, and very
productive! Meetings start at 6:30 p.m. and childcare
is provided
Tuesday Nov 10 - next meeting
Tuesday Jan 12
Tuesday Feb 9
Tuesday April 12
Tuesday May 10
MONSTER MASH DANCE:
The Catholic School Council was pleased to host this
year’s Hallowe’en Monster Mash Dance. Students enjoyed sharing their costumes, showing off their dance
moves, and having refreshments. It was lot of fun for
everyone and a wonderful way to foster community spirit. Once again, parent volunteers stepped up to coordinate this event and transformed the gym into something truly ‘spook’-erific ! Thank you to all the amazing
volunteers for putting this event together.
UNIFORM INTEREST SURVEY:
We are asking all families to please complete a short
survey to determine if there is enough parent interest in
implementing a uniform policy at St. James. If you
haven't had a chance to fill out the survey, the link is
below. We need all families to respond so that we have
an accurate assessment of interest.
*Please cast 1 vote per family*
*voting is anonymous*
School Council
FUNDRAISING:
Based on your feedback to the Catholic School Council
Survey, our major fundraising effort for this year will be
in the form of a voluntary donation to the School Council. The funds raised will support faith development,
workshops and activities for students and parents, supplies and equipment, capital improvements to the school,
spiritual education, and global awareness. Using survey
results and the school’s wish-list, we have compiled a list
of priorities for the 2015/16 school year that we plan to
support with your donated funds. The survey results can
be found on the parent section of the school website
(http://www.dpcdsb.org/JAMEE/Parents/
Forms+and+Attachments.htm). A letter will be sent
home at the beginning of November outlining more details about our list of priorities.
Aside from this ‘Voluntary Donation Request’, St. James
will continue to run some other traditional initiatives such
as Scholastic Books, Terry Fox Run, ‘Give change to
make a change’, etc., many of which directly involve the
students. These projects are separate from the CSC activities.
We are asking for donations to be submitted by November 30, while post-dated cheques can be made up to December 11th. Thank you for any support you can offer.
Your gifts will help us enrich our children’s learning both
inside and outside the classroom, and to continue to build
a strong community here at St. James.
JOIN IN:
Please fill in the survey here: https://
www.surveymonkey.com/r/F8QPWPW
Stay in touch with Council news… join our e-mail list!
Send an e-mail to stjamesCGLCcouncil@gmail.com with
‘subscribe’ in the subject heading. Thank you to those
who have already signed up.
SCHOOL LUNCH OPTIONS:
For meeting minutes and other council information, visit
us at www.dpcdsb.org/JAMEE/Parents/
We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions.
Please e-mail us at stjamesCGLCcouncil@gmail.com.
For meeting minutes and other council information, visit
us at www.dpcdsb.org/JAMEE/Parents/
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
PAGE
Jayhawk News
2016 Registration For Extended French
Any student who is eligible to attend a Dufferin Peel
Catholic school and who is presently a Grade 4 student is eligible to enroll in the Extended French program for Grade 5 in September, 2016. Transportation is provided for eligible students in the program
if they attend the centre designated for their region.
(Both transportation and Extended French Centre
locations are subject to board annual review and
therefore subject to change.) More detailed information will be available at parents/guardians meetings to be held at all Extended French locations.
Tuesday January 12, 2016 7:00 p.m.
San Lorenzo Ruiz 100 Barondale Drive, Mississauga
St. Rose of Lima 4590 The Gallops, Mississauga
Wednesday January 13, 2016 7:00 p.m.
St. Anne 124 Vodden Street, Brampton
St. Christopher 1195 Clarkson Rd North, Mississauga
Thursday January 14, 2016 7:00 p.m.
7
Jayhawk News
French Immersion Info Meeting
Year 2 Kindergarten parent(s)/guardian(s), who wish to
enroll their child in a Grade 1 French Immersion class
for September, 2016 are invited to attend one of the
information meetings listed below. The information
sessions are intended to provide parents and guardians
with an overview of our French Immersion Program,
the criteria for admittance, and changes that can be expected from the regular program.
Online registration will begin following the French Immersion parent information sessions with the deadline
for submissions to be announced. Should the number
of applications exceed the number of spaces available,
a centralized, computer-generated lottery will be held
following the deadline.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
4765 Huron Heights Drive, Mississauga
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 7:00 p.m.
(for St Gertrude, St. Pio of Pietrelcina locations)
St. Angela Merici
83 Edenbrook Hill Drive, Brampton
Wednesday, November 11th, 2015 7:00 p.m.
(for Our Lady of Providence, St. Angela Merici, St.
Joachim locations)
Holy Family 61 Allan Drive, Bolton
St. Andrew 50 Meadow Drive, Orangeville
St. Jean Brébeuf 63 Glenforest Road, Brampton
St. Monica 60 Sterritt Drive, Brampton
St. Philip School 345 Fairview Rd West, Mississauga
St. Therese of the Child Jesus 6930 Forest Pk Dr,
St Margaret of Scotland
2266 Council Ring Road, Mississauga
Thursday, November 12th, 2015 7:00 p.m.
(for Divine Mercy, St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Margaret
of Scotland locations)
Mississauga
Youth Faith Ambassadors (YFA)
St. Thomas More 3270 Tomken Road, Mississauga
The St. James Youth Faith Ambassadors are organizing a Halloween Candy Drive by collecting
treats in the front foyer from November 2nd to November 13th. Please be gener ous and br ing
some of your hard candy "loot" to school (no chocolate please as it will melt). All
the candy that is collected will
be taken to Dr. Simone's Warehouse. It will be shipped around
the world, free of charge, to the
poor children.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
PAGE
Jayhawk News
8
Jayhawk News
Going On Vacation
Changing Weather
We ask that you please take a moment and send a
note to the office informing us of the dates your
son/daughter will be away. This
will help to cut down on the phone
calls needed to track down the
missing student(s). We thank you
for your help in this matter.
Students are asked to ensure that they have a pair
of indoor shoes at school. We ask that children
change their footwear when they come inside in an
effort to keep our classroom floors clean.
Sub Lunch Day
We have started sub lunch day that takes place every Wednesday. We would like to thank the community for their support in this new program.
Winterland of Gingerbread
Children are expected to participate in recess activities and are reminded to dress for the weather.
Children may also wish to have a change of clothing at school in the event that they get wet while
playing outdoors.
Winter Wear
Please ensure that the snowpants and gloves/
mittens that your child is wearing are water resistant as many students are coming back into class
with wet clothing. In some cases the items do not
have an opportunity to dry before the student goes
back out for recess. Leaving an extra pair of
gloves/mittens is advisable at this time of year.
We look forward to seeing all the families that are
taking part in our gingerbread decorating event on
Wednesday December 9th, 2015 at 1:30 p.m.. It will
be an enjoyable family event shared by all.
Cold Weather Temperatures
Thanksgiving Food Drive
A Thanksgiving Food Drive was held here at St.
James School. We would like to thank all the families that donated to support
needy families within the
community this Thanksgiving.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
The main risks of exposure to extremely cold
weather for relatively short periods (recess or
lunch periods) is that of frostbite. Someone who is
protected by clothing or is physically active may
be able to withstand exposure to colder temperatures. Therefore, it is recommended that consideration be given to reducing the amount of time outdoors for children (grade 8 and under) when the
temperature is -20 degrees Celsius or colder.
When the temperature or equivalent wind chill temperature is - 25
degrees Celsius or lower children
will be kept indoors.
PAGE
Jayhawk News
9
Jayhawk News
Eco News
Trip Permission Forms
As you may be aware, we here at St James have
been working hard to "Go Green" by participating in
a variety of Eco-friendly initiatives. We have already
begun implementing a "Lights Out Lunch Hour" initiative to help reduce energy consumption. Our next
environmental initiative to help reduce waste is to
continue with our Litterless Lunch Mondays.
For your convenience, we are now providing backup copies of our school event/field trip permission
forms on our website. If your son/daughter has
misplaced a form please proceed to http://
dpcdsb.org/jamee to print and sign a copy to be
submitted.
The purpose of Litterless Lunch Mondays is to raise
awareness around the importance of minimizing the
waste that is produced via our lunches. Lessening,
and ideally eliminating the production of garbage
from our lunches is an important step in "greening"
our ecological footprint and becoming more responsible Catholic citizens. It is hoped that activities like
the Litterless Lunch Mondays will help St. James
students see how important (and how easy!) it can be
to bring waste-free lunches to school. Litterless
Lunch Mondays commenced on Monday, October
19th and will occur every Monday for the remainder of the year.
Your support with our environmental initiatives in
honouring and protecting the gifts given to us from
God is greatly appreciated.
You will find the copies kept under Quick Links –
Trip Permission Forms.
School Access Protocol
We would like to remind you that our school uses a
front door speaker/buzzer/video monitoring system.
This access to our school requires a protocol that applies to all visitors, including parents and guardians.
Under the system, visitors may gain entrance by pressing a buzzer mounted on the wall outside the building,
beside the front door. All visitors, including parents/
guardians must check into the office. Please do not
go to the classroom. Access during lunch time may
be delayed depending on the availability of staff who
are required to monitor the system, please be patient.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to:

Terry Fox Walk-A-Thon
Students and staff participated in the annual Terry
Fox Walk-a-Thon on Friday October 2nd, 2015 during the afternoon. A special thank you to the community for your monetary donations. Thank you also
to our parent volunteers that assisted by walking the
route with our students.


Arrive at school on time to allow children to
enter with their classmates to avoid front
entry lates.
Send lunch with your child in the morning to
limit traffic in through the front door at lunch
time as office supervision is limited at this
time.
We respectfully request that you limit your visits to the school during the daytime as much as
possible in order to protect the instructional
time and reduce interruptions.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we continue to implement the access
protocol.
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
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10
Take Note
Take Note
Parents In The Yard
Visitors
For your child’s safety we request that he/she not be on
school property until supervision begins at 8:45 a.m.
Please do not drop your child off at the school prior to
8:45 a.m.
We would also like to remind you that parents should
drop off/pick up their children outside the school gates.
Parents are not permitted to be in the school yard at any
time. Although you may be known to your own child
you are a stranger to the other students in the yard.
Anyone entering the school must come to the office
right away. The school is a very busy place and we
have many visitors/parents dropping in for a variety
of reasons. To ensure we maintain the integrity of
the classroom program by avoiding interruptions, and
for the safety of our students, all visitors must come
to the office. We ask that you also convey this
information to older brothers and sisters of our
students. This way we know that anyone in the halls
or in the school yard an authorized visitor. All
students leaving the school early will be released
through the front office as they must sign out. If
Kiss and Ride
The safety of our students and parents is of great
concern to us here at the school.
Please drive SLOWLY through the Kiss and Ride lane
as well as the drive through lane.
Please do not block the Kiss and Ride zone and areas
that would hinder the movement of cars.
Cars cannot be left in the lanes at any time.
Student Absences/Lates
Please use our 24 hour answering service to inform the
school of late or absent students. We must hear
from a PARENT or GUARDIAN if a
student will be absent, arriving late or
leaving early. Phone 905-891-7619
If a pattern of unexcused lateness or absents
becomes apparent, parents will be contacted by
the school.
UPCOMING DATES
Nov
4 - Gr. 3 Scientists In School
Nov
6 - Gr. 3 Riverwood Trip
Nov 11 -
Remembrance Day Liturgy 10:30 a.m. in gym
Nov 12 & 13 -
Gr. 7 & 8 Mount Alverno Trip
Nov 12 - Gr. 2 Scientists In School
Nov 19 -
Parent/Teacher Interview Evening
NOVEMBER
2015 NEWSLE TTER
your child arrives late we ask you to
NOT accompany them to class.
Snack and Treats for Students
We are asking that all parents please refrain from
bringing in eatable snacks and treats to the
classrooms. Several students in our school suffer
from a severe food allergy to all nuts, peanuts and all
nut products. There is also a Ministry PPM where
the purpose of this memorandum is to set out
nutrition standards for food and beverages in publicly
funded elementary schools in Ontario. For more
information about the new PPM please visit, http://
www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/150.html. If
you would still like to do something special for the
classroom, a small non-eatable gift for each student
or perhaps a classroom gift, i.e. board game for
inclement recess, may be a great alternative. Again,
we thank you for your co-operation.
Be sure to visit our school website. All newsletters
and other pertinent information are always updated.
http://dpcdsb.org/jamee
St. James is now on Twitter! For the latest news
and information, follow us @StJamesDPCDSB