March 2015 Newsletter
Sacramental Dates
Grade 2 students who have registered at St.
Jerome’s Parish will receive the sacrament
of First Holy Communion on Sunday April
19, at 12:00 pm at the church. Our students
are asked to arrive at the church at 11:30am.
Pauline Vanier
Catholic School
56 Oaklea Blvd,
Brampton, Ontario, L6Y
4W7
Phone:
905-455-1001
Fax: 905-455-3406
Website:
http://www.dpcdsb.org//p
vani
Principal:
I. Maas
Superintendent
L. Papaloni
Trustee
A. daSilva
D. D’Souza
905-890-0708
Head Secretary:
T. Winckler
St. Jerome’s Parish
8530 Chinguacousy Rd.
Brampton
Phone:905-455-4260
Fax: 905-450-6326
Website:
http//www.stjeromeparis
h.ca
Pastor: Fr. Jan
Kolodynski
School Council Chair
K. LaNave
A Prayer for Lent
Dear God.
In love for us you sent Jesus
To save us from our sins.
Have mercy on your people today
And help us to begin this time of Lent.
Forgive us our sins and help us
To turn back to your love.
We ask this through
Jesus Christ your son.
Amen
Grade 8 students who have registered at St.
Jerome’s Parish will receive the sacrament
of Confirmation on Wednesday, May 27th,
2015 at 7:00 pm at the church. Our students
and their sponsors are asked to be at the
church by 6:30 pm.
EQAO Primary and Junior Assessments
Each student in Grades 3 and 6 in Ontario
will be assessed in Reading, Writing and
Math for a period of days beginning Monday May 25th through Friday, June 5th,
2015. Kindly avoid booking dental, doctor
Ash Wednesday
and other appointments during this period.
If you have a child in either grade 3 or 6 you
The penitential season began on Ash will receive specific communication and
Wednesday, which was Wednesday, Febru- information regarding the Provincial Asary 18, 2015. Our students received ashes sessment just prior to the start of the testing.
after a short liturgy on that day. Ashes
have been a symbol, since early Biblical
times, as repentance for sin or a sign of grief Important Immunization Message from
in mourning. Ashes are from the charred
Peel Public Health
remains on Palm Sunday the previous year
and are used to make the sign of the cross Peel Public Health will be reviewing imon the forehead for the believer. The con- munization records of all students at our
nection of Palm Sunday and Ash Wednes- school.
day is appropriate since Jesus’ triumphant Peel Public Health must have proof that
entry into Jerusalem led him quickly to his your child has been fully vaccinated
death.
(immunized) according to the Ontario imThe season of Lent lasts for 40 days (not munization schedule. During the record
counting Sundays) and the Church calls us review, you will receive a letter from Peel
all to alms giving, prayer and fasting.
Public Health if your child’s record is inThrough our religion classes, the teachers complete. It will tell you what vaccinations
are encouraging the children to practice our your child needs to meet the requirements
commitment in a number of ways.
for Ontario.
Learning and Growing Together with God
Immunization records are considered incomplete if:



Peel Public Health has not received your child’s
vaccination record or
Your child’s record does not show that he/she has
had all the required doses of vaccine (e.g. infant
and booster doses) or
You do not have a valid exemption from immunization for your child
Are You Moving?
School organization for next year is in the planning stages.
Timelines for making decisions about the number of classes
and teacher assignments will be tentatively determined by
the end of June. To help us with our planning for September 2015, it would be appreciated if you could let us know
now if you will be moving out of our school area in the
near future or over the summer.
If you receive a letter, please be sure your child has received the required vaccination(s), then give the date(s) to
Peel Public Health immediately to update your child’s recFlexible Boundary Procedure
ord.
For more information please call Peel Public Health at 905- A reminder to parents/guardians of students currently in
799-7700 or visit www.immunizepeel.ca
grades SK to grade 8 and are at Pauline Vanier School unTranslation services are available.
der Flexible Boundary.
This procedure is reviewed annually.
Think Papers/ Conduct Reports
Permission is granted under the following conditions:
i) Transportation is your responsibility. The Board will not
At Pauline Vanier we use a variety of techniques to deal provide either transportation or additional supervision for
with misbehaviour. One technique that some staff use is a students admitted under this procedure.
Think Paper. The think paper is a tool that requires your ii) This permission for attendance will be reviewed by the
child(ren) to reflect on what they have done and what they Principal, annually, no later than the end of March.
should/would do the next time a similar situation were to iii) The student admitted under this procedure does not
occur. The think paper is then brought home to parents to automatically become eligible for the secondary school
share and be returned the next day signed. It is our hope serving this school. If it is not the secondary school he/she
that you would discuss the situation with your child. If a would normally attend, application for Flexible Boundary
child receives three or more think papers a staff member consideration will have to be made to the secondary school
would then complete a Conduct Report. If your child re- principal at the appropriate time.
ceives a conduct report they have a conversation with the
principal of the school. They will then be given an appro- If you would like to continue to be granted permission unpriate consequence and you would be notified. Teachers der this procedure for the 2015-2016 school year, please put
can also complete a conduct report / safe school report if your request in writing to Ms. Maas by Friday March 27,
the behaviour is very serious and needs parental involve- 2015. Confirmations for Flex Boundary will be sent out in
ment and attention right away.
May for grade 1 to 8.
Personal Electronic Devices
Safe School Departure
Parents who are picking up children at the end of the day
are strongly encouraged to use the Kiss “N” Ride. If you
are meeting your child(ren) you are asked to meet them
outside the exit that your child(ren) use at recess times.
The front foyer has a great number of students exiting at
dismissal time and parents and other adults waiting to pick
up children causes congestion and sometimes an unsafe
situation.
We would like to remind parents and students of the
Dufferin-Peel Personal Electronic Devices policy which
states
To promote respect for the dignity of all members of our school
community and to enhance student achievement and safety, the
use of a PED is strictly prohibited in the school (including portables) or during school related activities (such as retreats, field
trips, sports events, etc.).
Failure to comply with this policy may result in the confiscation
of the PED and/or disciplinary action as outlined in the Catholic
Code of Conduct 2001. The school and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board assume no responsibility for the loss, recovery, repair or replacement for any PED brought unto school
property.
It is the policy of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
that PEDs are to be kept out-of-sight, turned off and not used
within school premises or during school sanctioned events. To
prevent the loss or damage of PEDs, the school encourages students to leave their PEDs at home.

Take time with your child to make an appropriate and
safe plan for how you want them to deal with situations
Online Bullying Prevention Reporting Tool
Soon our students can simply “click’ on the “Online Reporting Tool” link found on the Pauline Vanier Website to
report bullying situations. It is best practice to speak directly with a responsible and trusted adult at the school
about bullying situations, however , this tool will ensure
that the school is aware of incidents when students may
March Virtue of the Month is KINDNESS
not have had an opportunity to speak face to face to an
During the month of March, we celebrate the virtue of adult.
“KINDNESS”. God has given us the gifts of friends and
Book Fair
companions to keep us company and to help us get along.
Every person in our lives carries the Spirit of God and so
every person is our brother and sister through Jesus Christ. Mrs. Henry would like to thank everyone who attended the
As brothers and sisters who share one Holy Spirit, we are Scholastic Book Fair on Thursday, February 5 and Friday,
all valuable to God. We all deserve to be shown concern February 6. It was fabulous to see the enthusiasm for
for our welfare and our feelings. We have all been given books and reading by students and parents. During the
the Spirit called kindness. Kindness can only be seen week leading up to the Book Fair students had to put their
through actions. It’s not enough to say I will be kind or I detective skills to work. Listening to the clues announced
every morning on the announcements, students tried to
am kind.
figure out where the invisible GOLDEN TICKET was hidA Kind person
 Says nice things about others so they feel good about den. It was found in the attendance basket in the office by
many students. After putting all the names into a hat, our
themselves
winner of a $20 gift certificate to spend at the fair
 Sticks up for people who are picked on or need help
 Refuses to join others who are insulting, intimidating, was Omare E. in Mrs. Santoro's class. Students also had a
chance to GUESS THE NUMBER OF PAGES in a stack of
mean or harmful
books. Jazzlyn V. in Mr. Connelly’s class guessed within 8
 Watches and looks for ways to help those in need
pages to win $20 in books from the fair.
Finally, through random ballot draws, congratulations go
Bullying Prevention Corner– Bullying Can Be Stopped to Davis W. in Miss. DeLuca's class and Adam C. in Mrs.
Bagley’s class who won book fair gift certificates. The
This month we look at safe strategies students can use teacher winner of $25 worth of books for her classroom
when faced with a bullying situation. Students will have went to Miss. DeLuca. A very special thanks goes out to the
the opportunity to learn how to deal with bullying using many volunteers who assisted with running the fair: Mrs.
the ‘3 R’s’ - Recognize bullying behaviour; Refuse to be Brandon, Mrs. Brohart, Clarissa F., and Mrs. Muzzatti.
bullied; Report bullying behaviour. There is no set for- Mrs. Henry looks forward to seeing you all again at next
mula that works with every bullying situation. Students years book fair.
need to learn a variety of strategies and the skill to deterMilk Bags
mine when and how to apply them safely. Key strategies
that will be addressed during morning announcements
include: avoiding, playing with others, staying calm, ignor- Pauline Vanier School is once again collecting milk bags .
ing, walking away, walking away with an explanation, say- We will be using the milk bags to create seating for our
outdoor teaching garden and we will be donating the extra
ing ‘stop’. Being assertive and telling an adult.
bags to groups that make mats to send to developing counTips for Parents:
tries and areas. It is very important that the outer milk bags
 Review strategies with your child
 Help your child practice speaking assertively (role are thoroughly cleaned before sending them to the school.
Just turn the colourful outer bag inside out, thoroughly
play)
wash with soap and water, and let it air dry.
Science Olympics Bronze Medal Winners
On Friday February 27th, five Pauline Vanier students participated in the Mississauga Brampton Central Family of
Schools Junior Science Olympics competition held at St.
Matthew School in Mississauga.
Our students demonstrated excellent problem solving
skills, teamwork and creativity as they solved three different scientific challenges. The first challenge was to build a
vehicle that would safely transport five marbles down a
ramp and ultimately go the farthest distance. The second
challenge was to create a catapult that would launch a
block into the air the greatest distance. The last challenge
of the day involved building the tallest, free-standing tower using only newspaper and masking tape.
Congratulations to Ryan R. in Grade 4, Sydney W.L. in
Grade 5, Julia D., Julia W. and Precious A. in Grade 6 who
all worked diligently to successfully complete all these
challenges. The team had a great day at the event and they
also managed to receive a bronze medal for their overall
performance.
March Break
Parents are reminded that the March Break is from Monday, March 16th until Friday, March 20th (inclusive).
There will be no school for students during this week.
Classes for students will resume on Monday, March 23,
2015.
Dates to Remember
-Daylight Savings begins
-Ban the Bottle Monday
-The Big Gulp
Tuesday, March 10
-Pizza Day
Wednesday, March 11 -Wasteless Wednesday
Thursday March 12
-The Big Crunch
-Snowshoeing Day Gr. 5-8
Monday, March 16
-March Break begins
Friday, March 20
-March Break ends
Monday, March 23
-Ban the Bottle Monday
Tuesday, March 24
-Pizza Lunch
Wednesday,
March
25
-Wasteless Wednesday
Eco-News Update
Thursday, March 26
-Hot Lunch
-Mrs. Bagley’s class to Silvercreek
Our school Eco Team have been very busy monitoring each Friday, March 27
-Flex Boundary Requests due to
class every day during our Eco Challenge. They are
the Main Office
pleased to report that the students have been working real-Earth Hour at Pauline Vanier
ly hard to conserve energy and reduce the amount of waste
-Intermediate Math Mania at Our
produced every day at our school.
Lady of Peace
On Monday, March 9th, coinciding with Ban the Bottle
Sunday
March
29
-Palm Sunday
Mondays, we will be participating in The Great Gulp! The
Monday,
March
30
-Holy Week begins
Region of Peel is sponsoring this event to create awareness
-Ban the Bottle Monday
about the importance of Peel drinking water in our
-Club, Team and Group Picture
lives. We will be asking all the students to fill up their reDay
usable water bottle or cups and we will simultaneously sip,
Tuesday, March 31
-Pizza Day
drink and gulp in celebration of tap water! We have a
Wednesday,
April
1
-Rosary Apostolate
chance to win a tap water refill station in our school.
-Wasteless Wednesday
Also, on Thursday, March 12th, Pauline Vanier along with
Thursday,
April
2
-Stations of the Cross
several schools and communities across Canada, will be
Friday,
April
3
-Good Friday (no school)
participating in The Great Big Crunch. It is a speSunday, April 5
-Easter Sunday
cial day of promoting good nutrition ending with a masMonday,
April
6
-Easter Monday (no school)
sive, synchronized bite into a crunchy apple. If you do not
want your child to participate in the BIG CRUNCH
please notify the teacher and/or main office by March 11,
Inserts
2015.
Eco Challenge Reminders:
Ban the Bottle Mondays
Wasteless Wednesdays
Sunday, March 8
Monday, March 9
Math @ Home
Online Bullying Reporting Information Sheet