ST. URSULA SCHOOL
January 2015 Newsletter
“Where Wisdom Begins In Faith and Wonder”
The mission of St. Ursula school community is to ensure that home, Church and school are collaborative partners in
the building of an environment that reflects Catholic faith and values by celebrating each person as a member
of the Body of Christ and by challenging all to achieve excellence spiritually, socially and academically.
St. Ursula
11 Dwellers Road
Brampton, Ontario
L6X 5C1
Telephone:
905-454-5213
Fax:
905-454-7843
K. DaCosta
Principal
M.Miller
Vice-Principal
G. Galati
Head Secretary
C. Tavares
Assistant Secretary
e
S. Steer
Superintendent
905-890-1221
D.D’Souza
Trustee
905-840-2707
St. Anne Parish
905-453-1303
Pastor
Fr. J. Cherickal
Prayer for a New Year
Dear God, in this New Year, we pray:
To love deeply, with purpose,
To live freely, with detachment,
To love wisely, with humility;
To live justly, with compassion,
To love lovingly, with fidelity,
To live mindfully, with awareness,
To love gratefully, with generosity,
To live fully, with enthusiasm.
Help us to hold this vision and to daily renew it in our hearts.
HEADLINES
As we look back on the past year, we remember each experience for the good that has
come of it and the knowledge we have gained, and take those memories into the year
ahead. A new year brings with it many new beginnings – we look forward to it with
hope, love and peace!
As we begin again, we’re quickly falling back into the daily routines of waking up
early, curriculum studies, packed lunches and homework. We are fortunate at St. Ursula
School to have staff so willing to give of their time to extracurricular activities, and as a
result, your children are the beneficiaries of a very active school, certainly making it a
great place to return to. Please remember the positive factors that enhance student
learning – plenty of sleep, healthy eating, daily physical activity, regular completion of
homework, punctuality in arriving at school, nightly reading, and open communication to
maintain a close partnership in your child’s success.
We are looking forward to a wonderful winter and spring season at St. Ursula School
with many wonderful new activities and initiatives planned. From our Eco Team, to our
Ursalites, to our Sports Teams and Dance Team, this School is continuing to prove to be a
very busy place and the children love to get involved with all of the various activities. As
Administrators we wish you all a very Happy New Year and we are excited for the more
wonderful things to come.
K. DaCosta, M. Miller
SCHOOL OPERATIONS
Winter Weather/Recess
During the winter months students will
be expected to go outside during recess
breaks. Students must come to school prepared for
varying weather conditions. Board Policy states that if
the temperature is –25 degrees Celsius or lower with
the wind chill factor, students will remain indoors.
Therefore, it is very important that your children have
appropriate clothing such as boots, a hat, scarf, warm
gloves etc.
With the winter weather comes snow and ice. While
throwing snowballs can be an enjoyable activity, they
can also be extremely dangerous. In order to keep our
school safe, we must enforce the school rule that snow
stays on the ground. Students are constantly reminded
that there is no snowball throwing, kicking of snow or
any other activity with snow/ice that could be harmful.
All students will be expected to go outside during
recess breaks, unless a medical certificate indicates
otherwise.
Student Punctuality
It is an expectation that all students arrive on time and
be prepared for class. Late arrival is a disruption to the
class and your child is missing valuable instruction
time. Please encourage your child (ren) in developing
this important life skill. Arriving at school on time will
allow them to be present to join their class for entry.
Personal Electronic Devices/Cell Phones
As part of our efforts to promote and
maintain a positive Catholic climate in our
schools, the Board maintains a policy regarding
Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) on school
property. In this regard, all PEDs must be kept out of
sight, turned off and not used within school premises or
during school sanctioned activities, unless specific
permission for use is granted by the classroom teacher.
This policy applies to field trips, retreats, sports events,
etc. as well as daily classroom activities. Personal
Electronic Devices (PEDs) include, but are not limited
to cell phones, iPods, cameras etc. To prevent the loss
or damage of PEDs, we ask students to leave electronic
devices and games at home as the school cannot be
responsible for their safe keeping. Parental support is
requested and greatly appreciated.
Office Information
Please remember to inform the office if you change
your home, work or emergency contact numbers. If
you are moving, please notify the office of the change
of address. It is imperative that we have accurate
information in the event we must contact you.
P.A. Day & Family Day Reminder
Monday January 19th is scheduled as a
Professional Activity Day, dedicated to Assessment,
Evaluation and Reporting.
Monday February 16th is Family Day.
There will be no classes for students on these days.
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
Virtue of Self-Control, Respect
The month of January will focus on the
virtue of Self-Control. God has given us the ability to
choose how we react to what happens around us. Selfcontrol helps us to resist the temptation to do something that we will regret or that will harm ourselves or
others. Self-control is one of the marks of a spiritually
mature person. With self-control, one demonstrates
patience, knowing how to wait one's turn and avoiding
aggression. We work to calm ourselves down and think
before reacting to a situation, being able to think things
through and do what is best for everyone.
The month of February will focus in the virtue of
Respect.
Christmas Social Outreach
We extend a special thank you to staff, families and
School Council for generously donating gifts and gift
cards to helping families at Christmas. With your
generosity and the generosity from School Council, we
were able to help several families within the Parish
community. Families were very appreciative of the
caring community of St. Ursula School.
Memorial Mass
Ms. Palmer and Mrs. Cheaney are working very hard
with the choir for Ms.Bryce’s memorial mass on
February 20th, Ms.Bryce was our former and beloved
Principal who passed away February 20th 2014. Mass
will be at 9:30 in the Gym.Please keep Ms. Bryce and
her family in her prayers.Parents and guardians are all
welcome to attend.
PROGRAM & CURRICULUM
Full-Day Kindergarten Registration for 2015-2016
Registration for Full-Day Kindergarten will take place
at St. Ursula on the following days:
Monday January 26th 7:00-9:00 p.m.
In the event of a storm, the snow date for registration
will take place on Tuesday January 28th in the evening.
Wednesday January 28th
9:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Thursday January 29th
9:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Friday January 30th
9:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Report Cards
With the Ministry of Education changes in reporting,
Term 1 reports will be sent home on February 3rd. As
this is the first formal report card of the year, staff will be
scheduling parent/teacher/student interviews for all
students in their class on the evening of Feb 5th and the
daytime of Feb 6th (P. A. Day –no classes for students).
Please watch for the letter coming home soon regarding
the scheduling of the interviews. We ask that you return
the forms promptly in order that we can make every
effort to arrange interviews that are at common times for
your children. Every effort will be made to
accommodate your requests, recognizing that each
teacher is scheduling interviews for all students.
To register your child, please bring the following:
• proof of child’s birth and age
• original Catholic baptismal certificate for
child/parent
• immunization records for your child
• Landed immigrant papers if not a Canadian citizen
• proof of home address
• proof of English Separate School Support (may be
done at time of registration)
Kinder Parent Chat Session
There will be an online information chat session for
parents of children who are entering into JK or SK in
September 2015. This session will take place on
January 19th and 20th @ 7:00 p.m. Parents are
encouraged to access this session with any questions
they may have. Please visit www.dpcsb.org and click
on Kindergarten Registration 2015-2016 for more
information.
Dufferin Peel’s Catholic Global Learning CentreSt. James Registration Night
Registrations for St. James School will occur on
February 2nd, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Feb 3rd (snow
date), February 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00
p.m. The St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre is
located at 98 Wanita Road, Mississauga. St. James is a
regional elementary school with diverse and
specialized learning opportunities modelled after an
internationally recognized program. The St. James
Catholic Global Learning Centre teaches the Ontario
Curriculum via an integrated, inquiry-based approach
with a global focus, aligned with the Ontario Catholic
School Graduate Expectations. Visit www.dpcdsb.org
for more information.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Footwear
Students are reminded that during the
winter season, students are expected to change into a pair
of indoor shoes, helping to keep the floors clean, dry and
safer for everyone. Please remember that students must
wear shoes at all times while inside the building in the
event of an emergency evacuation.
Hand Washing is Important
Hand washing, when done correctly is the single most
effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases
such as the flu. Please help us reinforce
the proper techniques with your children.
Follow these four simple rules:
• Wet your hands with warm running water
• Add soap and rub your hands together, making a soapy
lather. Do this away from the running water for at least
15 seconds. Wash the front and back of your hands,
between your fingers and under your nails.
• Rinse your hands well under warm running water. Let
the water run back down into the sink, not down the
elbows. Turn the water off with a paper towel and
place it in the garbage.
• Dry your hands thoroughly with a clean towel.
Using good hand washing techniques helps to reduce the
spread of infectious diseases. In the event your child
does get sick, please use discretion in keeping them at
home to recover and reduce the potential for them to
spread the infection/illness to others.
TRAFFIC SAFETY
AROUND THE HALLS
St. Ursula School Choir
Achieving joy through music has been
witnessed so many times throughout the Christmas
season. The choir performed at Cassie Campbell for
the “winter lights” event, and at our primary Christmas
Concert. The choir directors and students rehearse
every week, resulting in beautiful voices. It is a gift to
share music with others, and this was so evident by the
appreciative audiences at their presentations. A special
thank you is extended to: Mrs. Cheaney, and Ms.
Palmer.
Eco Schools Royal Tree Huggers
Mr. Iantorno is in the process of putting our Eco Team
together. Teams will be visiting classrooms to promote
the various events that will be taking place in our
school and how we can preserve and keep our
environment safe. First all students will be viewing the
Movie-The Lorax, to learn about the importance of not
cutting down our trees. From now until the end of the
year we will have Trash less Tuesdays for lunch where
students are encouraged to bring their lunches in reusable containers. We will also have Lights out Fridays
to reserve out electricity. At the end of January we will
have our waste audit to see how much of a difference
we have made. We also continue to re-cycle with our
re-cycle teams who pick up daily. Way to go ECO
Team!
Junior and Intermediate Basketball Teams
Mr. Atkinson, Ms. Laughlin and Mr. Iatorno are busy
coaching the boys and girls junior and intermediate
basketball teams. They are working hard with the
teams for the upcoming tournaments and we wish them
all the best of luck. Go Royals Go!
Intramural Sports
Once again we will be having Intramural sports at
lunch recess for our Primary classes once the
basketball season has finished. Mr. Atkinson has
graciously offered his time to do this and we expect
this to occur in March. We will keep you posted!
Grade 4 Girls Club
Mrs. Boyle and the grade 4 girls have started meeting
once a week for their “Girls Club”. Girls club is an
environment where girls can feel comfortable
discussing such topics as self-esteem, media images,
peer pressure and managing stress.
With the winter weather, it is important
To emphasize that extreme caution must
be taken when driving through the school
parking lot and the Kiss and Ride area.
Therefore, we remind you of the following:
√
Drive slowly at all times in the driveway!
√
Don’t leave your car unattended in the Kiss &
Ride! If you would like to exit your car and walk
or stand by the fence, please park your car in a
parking spot.
√
Please do not let students out of the car in the
drive-thru lane. This poses a serious safety hazard.
√
Only let students open doors by the curb, and not
into the drive-thru lane, as cars are driving by and
potentially creating a possible accident.
Please keep in mind the safety of everyone!!
NO DOGS ALLOWED
Please be reminded that as per Board policy dogs are
not permitted on school property. Many signs are
posted reflecting this. Please adhere to this policy.
COUNCIL’S CORNER
Next School Council Meeting
Please join us on Wednesday February 11th
at 7:00 p.m. in the school library for our next Council
meeting! Come out and learn about what is happening
at St. Ursula School.
St. Ursula Lunch Days
Thanks to all parents who submitted all their money
and forms for our various lunch days in a timely
manner. This is a huge task and done by two parent
volunteers. Thanks to Mrs. Kelloway and Mrs.
Sakitkovski for their time and thanks for the
opportunity to have different lunches for the children.
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