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Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
F e br ua ry 2 0 1 4
Good Shepherd Elementary School
28 Red River Drive
Brampton ON, L6R 2H9
Phone: 905.791.1039
Fax: 905.791.9856
Principal
A. Brunette
Vice Principal
M. Daddabbo
Office Staff
N. Jacques
D. Canal
Superintendent of Schools
L. Storey
(905) 890-0708 ext. 24240
Trustee
S. McLauchlan
Parish
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(905) 792-7497
Prayer for the Winter Season
There is a winter in all of our lives,
a chill and darkness that makes us yearn for days that have gone
or put our hope in days yet to be.
Father God, you created seasons for a purpose.
Winter, cold and bare as nature takes stock
rests, unwinds, sleeps until the time is right.
We need a winter in our lives, a time of rest, a time to stand still,
a time to reacquaint ourselves with the faith in which we live.
It is only then that we can draw strength from the one
in whom we are rooted. Amen.
It has been a cold start to our year. Students have been kept in many times
to avoid the frigid temperatures. We hope that the spring season is in our
sights.
Thank you to all the parents who shared in Family Literacy Day. It was a
great way to share the love of literacy with your child!
We continue to monitor the Kiss and Ride area, and thank those parents
who are parking their cars in a designated space should they need to escort
their children to the yard. We continue to remind parents that the Kiss and
Ride lane is not for parking and tickets can be issued for parked cars as it is
a fire route as well.
Many students are also continuing to arrive late. Please note that we have
a busy drop off area with many parents driving their children to school
because of the cold weather. Supervision is provided from 8:30 so please
arrive earlier to avoid the back up through the driveway.
Many exciting things are happening at Good Shepherd over the next few
months…read through this newsletter to find out all about them!!
Pastor
Father R. Tolentino
February Virtue of the Month – Respect
We all deserve to be shown courtesy,
consideration, sensitivity and thoughtfulness,
which are different ways of saying respect. That
respect should come first and foremost from
ourselves. We have to respect ourselves and then
we will be able to respect others. Through prayer
and concentration we can become better at
respecting ourselves as well as respecting those
around us.
A respectful person…
∙ Treats him/herself and everyone else with equal
consideration and courtesy
∙ Uses a positive tone of voice and body language
∙ Avoids swearing, name-calling, put-downs, and
inappropriate gestures
∙ Says “Excuse me”, “Please”, and “Pardon me”
∙ Avoids gossip
IMPORTANT DATES
 Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26th – Pizza Days
 Feb. 3, 10, 24th – Sub Days
 Feb. 4th – Primary Intramurals begin
 Feb. 4th – Report Cards sent home
 Feb. 4th – “Hoza” – School Presentation
 Feb. 5-19th – Food Drive
 Feb. 6th – Term 1 Interview Evening
 Feb. 10-14th – Olympic Spirit Week
 Feb. 10-28th – A New Daie Dance Clinics
 Feb. 27th – School Council Meeting 7:00 pm
 March 5, 19, 26th – Pizza Days
 March 3rd – Sub Day
 Mar. 5th – Ash Wednesday
 Mar. 7th – PD Day – No school for students
 Mar. 10-14th – March Break
 Mar. 31st – Q-Mack – Parent Night 7:00 pm
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
Term 1 Report Cards
Please be reminded that a Term 1 Report Card will be sent
home on Tuesday, February 4th. Parent / student / teacher
interviews will be scheduled for the evening of Thursday,
February 6th.
Parents will receive an interview confirmation form with
the report card. Please be aware, there will not be report
cards for junior and senior kindergarten students, however
interviews will be available for the parents of kindergarten
students. Please contact the office should you be unable to
make your scheduled appointment.
Sacramental Preparations
Grade 2 Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 10:30 a.m.
First Communion Prayer and Activity Day:
Friday, March 21, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.
First Communion:
Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 10:30 and 5:00
Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 12:30
Saturday, May 10, 2014 at 5:00
Sacrament of Confirmation:
Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Cold Weather Recommendations
As the possibility of cold weather continues, please ensure
that your children are dressed warmly; wearing insulated
boots, winter weight coats, mittens, hats, neck warmers
etc.. Students will have recesses outdoors with the
following exceptions only. Outdoor recess time will be
reduced when the temperature is -20 degrees Celsius or
colder, with or without wind chill and children will be kept
indoors when the temperature is -25 degrees Celsius or
colder, with or with-out wind chill.
Bus Cancellations and/or School Closures
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 stations:
VIRGIN RADIO 99.9
CHUM 1050
CFTR 680
CFNY 102.1
CJCL 590
CHFI 98.1
CFRB 1010
EZ ROCK 97.3
CJBC (FR) 860
Z103.5
93.1 FM
CFTO
CITYPULSE
GLOBAL NEWS
CBC
CHIN100.7
FM/1540 AM
Information is also available on the board website.
Please continue to check www.stopr.ca for cancellations
and delays as needed.
School Council News
Next council meeting is February 27th at 7:00 pm.
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Important notice for Parent(s)/Guardian(s) of
students in SK/Year 2 Kindergarten
The French Immersion Online Application System is
now open for submissions. To apply, go to
www.dpcdsb.org. Applications will be accepted
until February 28, 2014.
Reminder:
• All eligible submissions are accepted and, in the
event that the number of applications is greater than
the number of spaces available at a French Immersion
school, a centralized, computer-generated lottery
will be held at a date yet to be determined.
• Some French Immersion schools offer Grades 1 to 8
and others offer Grades 1 to 4, with Grade 5 to 8
offered at a nearby school. Please refer to the Board
website for more information.
• Parents and guardians of students registered in the
program are responsible for providing transportation
for their child(ren) to and from their registered
French Immersion school. ****Please note that for
students living inside the regular school boundaries of
a French Immersion school, eligibility for student
transportation is based on the policies established by
the school board.*****
• A successful placement in the French Immersion
School does not guarantee placement of younger
siblings in future years.
If more details are required, please review the board
website for up-to-date information. You may also
contact your child's present school, the principal of
the French Immersion school in your area, or the
board's French as a Second Language Consultant at
(905) 890-0708 extension 24307.
Scholastic Book Fair
Mrs. McLoughlin is happy to offer the opportunity to
purchase books from the Scholastic Book Fair during
the week of February 3-7th. Classes will have the
opportunity to browse and to purchase throughout
the week. The book fair will also be open on the
evening of February 6th during parent interviews.
The Return of QMack
QMack will make a return appearance to Good
Shepherd on March 31st to continue his message on
“Increasing the Peace”. That same evening, parents
will be afforded the opportunity to hear QMack speak
and perform in his unique way. We invite you to join
us for this special presentation – March 31st at 7:00
pm. www.qmack.com
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
HOW WILL MY CHILD LEARN MATHEMATICS?
Children learn mathematics best through activities that
encourage them to:
Student Council News
Hey Good Shepherd! The 2014 winter Olympics are
coming up, and Good Shepherd’s student council is
announcing our Olympic Spirit Days in order to bring
the Olympic spirit to our school.
gathered from a
variety of sources to solve problems;
Children learn more easily when they can connect
mathematics concepts and procedures with their own
experience. By using common household objects (such
as measuring cups, bathroom scales, a deck of cards)
and observing everyday events (such as weather trends
over the course of a week), the can “see” the ideas that
are being taught.
An important part of learning mathematics is learning
how to understand and solve problems. Children are
encouraged to use systematic trial and error and a
variety of other strategies to develop their reasoning
and to learn how to go about problem solving. They
learn that there are many ways to solve problems and
there is often more than one solution to any given
problem. They also learn to communicate clearly as
they explain their solutions.
Grade 3 AND 6 Provincial Assessment Of Reading,
Writing and Mathematics
All grade 3 and 6 students in Ontario will again be
participating in the Educational Quality
and
Accountability Office (EQAO) Provincial Assessments
scheduled to take place from May 26 to June 6.
We would ask that if possible, please try to avoid
booking appointments or vacations for your grade 3 and
6 children during this assessment period.
February 10th – Wear a sport jersey
February 11th – Wear 2 different shoes to
support the para-olympics
February 12th – Wear the colours of the country
you are supporting in the Olympics
February 13th – Wear your hat, gloves and
scarves in school for the winter
Olympics
February 14th – Wear white and red to support
our Canadian Athletes participating
in the Olympics
Black History Month
Dufferin-Peel Catholic Schools have a long tradition of
observing Black History Month. Teachers have highlighted
this theme within their curriculum programs as an
opportunity to develop a greater awareness and
understanding of the many significant contributions of
Black Canadians to our nation. To help promote this event
in our school, our students will be engaged in various
activities and discussions about different leaders who
have inspired others, have been role models, and have
made a positive difference during their lives. These
activities will take place in different classrooms, and on
the morning announcements.
Public Speaking
The Public Speaking contest for the grade 7 and 8
students is up and running. Marisa C. and Isabelle C. will
proceed on to the Catholic Women’s League competition
held on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at St. Marguerite
D’Youville. Good luck girls!!
Our Catholic School Heritage:
A Historical
Understanding of Key Issues Related to Catholic Education
Why did Catholics find the non-denominational religious
education of the common school unsatisfactory?
Catholics wanted separate schools where all the beliefs of the
Catholic Church would be taught, where the pupils would live their
faith in a sacramental and community manner in proximity to the
parish church and priest, and where religion would permeate the
reading, literature and history curriculum. Furthermore, as modern
times arrived, the multiculturalism of the public school’s
student body necessitated the eradication of the teaching of
Christianity.
Flex Boundary Requests
Parents who are requesting consideration for flex
boundary are asked to write a letter expressing this
request and submit to the office by March 31st. Flex
boundary for FDK will not be considered until August
2014. As a result you must register at your home school.
FAMILY DAY REMINDER
Monday, February 17th is Family Day
and schools are closed. Hope you
enjoy this special day with your
children!
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Patterning and Algebra
Web Resource:
Primary, Junior and Intermediate:
National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives:
http://nlvm.usu.edu/
Mathematics has been called “the science of patterns”
(Steen, 1988). Young children enjoy working with patterns
and older students enjoy discovering and manipulating
patterns. Patterning activities are introduced in elementary
school so that students can think about relationships between
quantities early in their math education, which is intended to
help them transition to formal algebra in middle and high
school.
Family Math Activity
K – 3:
From Patterns to Algebra,
Dr. R. Beatty and Dr. Catherine Bruce
 Identify patterns everywhere. When speaking with your child, identify patterns in the world.
Colour
patterns in clothing, number patterns on houses and apartments, shape patterns on wrapping paper, daily
routines as patterns, and seasonal patterns in our weather.
 Build patterns. Using toys, bread tags, movement, markers or crayons make patterns with concrete
materials. Try to guess the next item in a series.
 Attend to patterns in music.
Listen for sounds, lyrics and verses that repeat. Create music together,
using clapping, snapping or stopping patterns.
 Ask your child questions about how patterns are the same and different. (e.g., how are the street
numbers on our street similar to counting by 2’s?
How is the red, blue pattern on your shirt the same or
different from the green, white, black pattern your friend is wearing?)
Grades 4-8: Revisit the OERB (Ontario Education Resource Bank)
www.resources.elearningontario.ca (OERB)
Grade 4
ELO1418520
Investigating
Inverse
Relationships
ELO1408740
Repeating,
Growing and
Shrinking Patterns
User ID:
“dpcdsbstudent”
Password: “oerbs”
Grade 5
ELO1411310
Missing Values
and Variables
Grade 6
ELO1413400
Demystifying
Patterns
Grade 7
ELO1412430
Codebreakers
Grade 8
ELO1413880
Rex and Tex –
Zero Pairs
ELO1411130
Perfect Patterns
ELO1413420
Various Varieties
of Variables!
ELO1412100
Harry’s House of
Horrors
ELO1412480
Invasion Force –
Home Guard
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