December 2015
An Advent Prayer
Lord God,
We seek You in both the light and the darkness,
The silence and the sounds,
The fullness and the emptiness
of this Advent season.
Fill our hearts with hope for Your coming,
Love for those who are most in need,
and faith in Your promises.
May this time of preparation help us celebrate
the birth of Your Son with deep gratitude and abundant joy.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Light of the World.
Principal’s Message
With the upcoming hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, the house to decorate and presents to wrap, it is
important, as Catholics, to remember that Advent has already begun. It is a difficult season to celebrate because of
the commercialism of the secular world in which we live. According to The General Norms for the Liturgical Year,
Advent has a two-fold nature: It prepares us for Christmas, when we recall Christ’s first coming among us, and it is
also a time when we look forward to His second coming at the end of the ages. Advent is the season of joyful
expectation. Our challenge, as Catholics, is to help our children to look beyond the materialism of Christmas and
focus on the spiritual preparation. As a school community, we will be exploring many avenues during Advent amidst
the frantic energy of preparing for December 25. For example, we will be lighting the candles on our Advent
wreath, and praying and reflecting on the readings of Advent during our morning prayers, just to name a few. How
wonderful it is that as Christians, we do not liturgically celebrate Christmas until December 25 and after, giving us
the opportunity to focus our attention on the true meaning of the season!
Upcoming Events
Our staff and students have been diligently preparing for many wonderful celebrations throughout the
month of December. Please join us for the following upcoming events:
Primary Christmas Concert (Grade 1-3):Wednesday December 16th @ 7:00 p.m.
Advent Mass: Thursday December 17th @ 10:00 a.m. in the Church
Kindergarten Christmas Concert: Thursday December 17th @ 1:30 p.m.
Ways of Christmas Giving at St. John Fisher
As Christmas approaches, we ask that you remember families less fortunate than yourself in your holiday plans.
While preparing for festive Christmas celebrations with your friends and family, it’s important to stop and reflect on
the joy and blessings in your own life while also being aware that not everyone is so fortunate. Please help the St.
John Fisher community by participating in one or more of the following activities:
Mitten Tree: Starting December 1st, please help us keep our students’ hands warm by donating mittens to
the Mitten tree in the front foyer.
Candy Canes: Candy canes will be on sale for 50¢ each during the week of December 7th– 11th. All
money collected will go towards providing families in need in our community with gifts for Christmas.
Fun Fair: On December 9h, our gym will be transformed into a fair where students can play fun games
for only 25¢ each game. Loot bags will sell for $2.00 and entry into candy slide raffle is $1.00.
Good Deed Angels: Students can do good deeds at home to earn money. Students then donate the
money they earned to purchase items for Christmas baskets for families in need in our community. A separate letter will be going home to further explain/participate in this.
Primary Christmas Concert: On Wednesday December 16th, the primary students will be performing a
Christmas concert. In lieu of tickets, we ask that each person in attendance bring a non-perishable food
item to donate to our local food bank.
Food Drive: From December 1st to 16th, students are encouraged to bring in non-perishable food items
which will be donated to our local food bank.
Christmas Holidays
Christmas break is from Monday December 21st to Friday January 1st . The last day of school is
Friday December 18th. The first day of school in the new year will be Monday, January 4th, 2016.
Full Day Kindergarten Registration
Please see below for upcoming dates for Full Day Kindergarten Registration for students starting in the fall of 2016.
Monday, January 25th, 2016 from 7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. Snow date: Tuesday January 26th, from 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.)
Wednesday January 27th, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Thursday January 28th, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Friday January 29th, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Eco School: Electronic Communication
We are pleased to share that we currently have approximately 120 families signed up for electronic newsletters and
communication. However, we still have more than 250 families who still receive paper-based communication from
the school. Please help us to meet our eco-goal of reduced paper consumption by signing the form (Canada’s AntiSpam Legislation Consent Form) on the last page of this newsletter. We thank you for your support in making SJF a
eco-friendly school!!
No Outside Food Brought Into School
Parents, please be advised that we do not allow any outside food brought into the school for birthday
parties or other student celebrations. There are pupils and staff in attendance who suffer from severe
and life threatening allergies to certain foods, such as peanut and nut products. Exposure to even the
smallest quantities can cause severe life threatening reactions. Please make sure that all of your
children’s caregivers are aware of the food restrictions. Please avoid sending food for birthdays or special
occasions. There are many alternatives such as stickers and pencils.
Visitors & Volunteers
For the safety of staff and students, all visitors to our school (including parents) are required to enter the building through the
front doors, report immediately to the office and sign in. Please note that pets are not permitted on school property at any
time. As you are aware, any individual who works as an employee of the Board or volunteers to assist with our programs MUST
have a:
Criminal Reference Check (CRC) completed by the Peel Police.
ALL volunteers MUST have a valid CRC even for one-time events, such as field trip supervision. We
strongly recommend that parents/guardians who are interested in supporting school programs in this
manner, please begin this process ASAP. For all volunteers, CRC are free of charge. Further
information and forms are available through the main office.
Extended French Information Meeting
Grade 4 parents/guardians who wish to enroll their child in a Grade 5 Extended French class for
September, 2016 are invited to attend an information meeting at St. Jean Brébeuf, 63 Glenforest Rd,
Brampton, on Thursday January 14, 2016 @ 7:00 p.m.
Numeracy Night….Success!
A sincere thank you to the parent community for coming out to support Numeracy Night at St. John Fisher School!
The evening was a great success. Parents and guardians had an opportunity to participate in a variety of hands-on
sessions including EQAO math, Math in Full-Day Kindergarten, Online Math, Math in Primary/Junior/Intermediate
and Special Education. A sincere thank you to the teachers for organizing this wonderful evening. A special thank
you to Mastermind Toys (Trinity Common), Scholastic Canada and Spectrum for donating valuable resources to
this event.
EQAO
The Grade 3 and 6, Primary and Junior Division, EQAO assessments measure how well students have met the expectations set out in The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1 - 8. The results of EQAO assessments are important, objective indicators of whether or not students are developing strong literacy and numeracy skills at key stages of their
education.
The assessments test knowledge and application of skills from the Ontario Curriculum in Reading, Writing and
Mathematics. The results of EQAO’s assessments in elementary school are reported according to the province’s
four achievement levels. These are the same levels teachers use in the classroom and on report cards to report student achievement. The provincial standard is Level 3, which corresponds to achievement in the B− to B+ range. Students meeting or exceeding the standard (i.e., achieving Level 3 or 4) on the assessments have demonstrated most
or all of the reading, writing and math knowledge and skills expected at the current stage of their education. The
results for St. John Fisher School stated as the % of students meeting the Provincial standard (Achieving Levels 3 , 4)
are as follows for the 2014-2015 assessment:
Grade 3 Reading:
60%
Grade 6 Reading:
85%
Grade 3 Writing:
60%
Grade 6 Writing:
89%
Grade 3 Math:
57%
Grade 6 Math:
45%
We are pleased to show significant improvement over last year’s results in 4 out the 6 categories: Grade 3 Reading,
Grade 3 Math, Grade 6 Reading and Grade 6 Writing. It is with great pride that we share our Grade 6 Reading and
Writing scores exceed the Board’s average!
We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of both students and staff and will continue to strive towards
continued improvement in student achievement. As a school, we continue to focus on goals for the 2015-2016
school year which support improved student achievement in mathematics.
School/Transportation Cancellation Due to Inclement Weather
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 a.m. and will be
announced on the following radio and television stations:
VIRGIN RADIOFM99.9
CFTR AM680
CJCL AM590
NEWSTALK AM1010
CJBC (FR) AM860
FM93.1
CHIN FM100.7/AM1540
CITYPULSE
CTV
CHUM AM 1050
CFNY FM102.1/AM640
CHFI FM98.1
EZ ROCK FM97.3
FM Z103.5
FM Q107
CBC 99.1
GLOBAL NEWS
CANADA AM
Virtue Corner
This month we are celebrating the virtue of Hope. God has given us this Advent season to focus
our minds and hearts on the good all around us.
Let us pray for the grace and courage to be people of hope - people who can see, participate and
contribute to God’s goodness emerging around us.
Dressing Appropriately for the Weather
Now that the colder weather is upon us we respectfully remind you to ensure that your children come to school
dressed warmly to participate in recess activities. When weather conditions are severe we may
reduce the outdoor play time, or have indoor recess entirely, but fresh air and exercise are vital
components for successful learning, so we will endeavour to have children play outside whenever
possible. Help your children by having them come to school appropriately dressed with scarves,
hats and mittens. For health and safety reasons and to help keep the school clean, we would ask
that students have shoes to be worn indoors that are different from those worn outdoors.
Dufferin-Peel hosts Parent Evening to Support the Transition of Students with Differing Abilities into Kindergarten
There will be an information session for parent(s)/guardian(s) of children with differing abilities including vision,
hearing, autism, physical/medical and/or developmental delays who are transitioning to Kindergarten in September
2016. The information session will be held at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board -- Catholic Education
Centre, Room 301 on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Snow date, Wednesday, January 13,
2016, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are also reminded to register their child at their school.
Official registration dates are Monday, January 25th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Snow Date for the evening registration is Tuesday, January 26th, 2016, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Additional registration dates are January 27th,
28th and 29th, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Pizza Days
Toonie Tuesday Pizza Day : Tuesday December 8th
Parent Council Pizza Day (pre-orders) : Tuesday December 15th
Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)
Just a reminder that our next Parent Council Meeting is on Monday January 11th @ 4:00 p.m.
All are welcome!
DECEMBER
December 2013
2015
Sun
Mon
Sun
Mon
1
2
Tue
Wed
Tue
1
3
Wed
2
4
-Christmas
-Toonie
Angels starts Tuesday Pizza
-Christmas
Food Drive
begins
6
8
7
9
8
10
9
Thu
Thu
35
Fri
Fri
46
Sat
Sat
7
5
-Hydro 1
-Hydro 1
presentations presentations
to Gr. 4& 5
to Gr. 4 & 5
11
Toonie Tuesday Christmas
-4:30pm - Gr. 6
Pizza (on sale in Fun students
Fair to present @ Faith
the morning)
Ambassador’s
1012
11
13
12
14
-Gr. 1-6 Earth -Christmas
Rangers
Fun Fair
presentation
gathering
Candy Canes on Sale All Week !
13
15
14
16
15
17
Parent
Council Pizza
Day (Preordered)
16 18
17
19 -10:00am School Advent
-1:30pm - Kin-Advent
Primary
Mass @Mass
St. John
dergarten
Fisher Parish
Christmas
@ 10:00am
Christmas con-Food Drive colConcert
@Gym Kindergarten
cert in
lections to St.
7pm
John Fisher ParConcert
@
20
18
19
21
-PD Day
Day -of
-Christmas
Last
No SCHOOL Holidays
School!
for students BEGIN
ish
1:30 pm
20
22
21
23
22
24
25
Christmas23 Merry
Eve
27
29
28
30
29
31
26
Christmas!
30
New Years
Eve
27
24Boxing Day 25
31
28
26
CANADA’S ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION (CASL)
CONSENT FORM
Parent(s)/Guardian(s)/Adult Student
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) prohibits the sending of commercial electronic messages, including e-mails
and other forms of digital messaging if the electronic message encourages participation in a commercial activity,
unless the sender has received the recipient’s consent prior to sending the message.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and St. John Fisher School require your consent to send any electronic messages which promote, advertise or offer for sale goods and services. While partaking in commercial
activities is not a core activity of the board or its schools, information about some of the following example activities, included in an e-mail or in an electronic newsletter, may be construed as commercial in nature, or may fall
under an exception:
·
·
·
Promoting the sale of school products, services or other activities, e.g., offering the sale of tickets to a
school play or other event.
Promoting the sale of products or services of third parties, e.g., offering the sale of discounted tickets to a
sporting event, inviting parents/guardians to a seminar where the speaker may promote his/her products/
services.
Providing information about school photos, field trips, sale of yearbooks, team uniforms, fundraising
events, lunch programs, pizza days, prom or dance tickets, athletic events or similar events and offers.
If you consent to receiving electronic communications, which may contain commercial electronic messages,
such as the examples described above, please sign and date this form, and return it to your school. You may
withdraw your consent at any time by notifying the school Principal, or by unsubscribing to any further commercial electronic messages you receive from the board/school.
Student’s Name: _______________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian’s Name: ________________________________________________________________
E-Mail Address: ________________________________________________________________________
Signature: ____________________________________ Date: ___________________________________
MUNICIPAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT:
Personal information on this form is collected under the legal authority of the Education Act, as amended, and will
only be used to administer the Board/School’s electronic newsletter, e-mail communication process, in order to
comply with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, and for no other purpose. Questions may be directed to the School
Principal or to the General Manager, Communications & Community Relations, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School Board, 40 Matheson Blvd. West, Mississauga, Ontario L5R 1C5 (905) 890 – 1221/1-800-387-9501.