Lord Tennyson Elementary School
1936 W 10th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6J 2B2
(604) 713-5426 (604) 713-5428
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Principal: Jacquie Lavoie
Vice Principal: Victoria Lorieau
Admin Assistant: Siaw Wong
Director of Instruction : Mark Pearmain
School Liaison Trustee: Patti Bacchus
PAC Chair: Fiona Davis-Brown
Friday, November 1, 2013
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Last week was an extremely busy week with many activities. These activities for our students would not
have been possible without the dedication and support of many people, including staff and parents and
for this we need to thank them all.
Thank you to staff, students and parents for participating in our conferences last week. We hope that
you found the time and the format productive and helpful in supporting your child’s academic
achievements. Your child’s progress will be reported on formally in the first term report card which will be
issued on Friday, December 6th.
Thank you to the Quebec 2015 group for organizing our third annual pumpkin patch the morning of
October 23rd. It was an extraordinary sight seeing 400 pumpkins on our field. The students absolutely
loved walking through the soccer field admiring and selecting their favourite pumpkin. A huge thank you
to Carla Iacobelli, Veronica Ross, Chris Ansley, Jennifer Lindsay and all the other parents who helped
out on that day.
Speaking of pumpkins. Bravo to all of our students who entered the pumpkin carving contest the
morning of October 24th. Our judges, Muriel, Yvette and Carla, our Supervision Aides, had a very difficult
time selecting the winners. We are so proud of all of our very creative and talented students.
And last but not least, a HUGE thank you to our community for making our 27 th annual Halloween Howl
a huge success. We are certain that no other school in Vancouver had 800 people out for a school
event! A true testament to Tennyson’s amazing school spirit. But we all know that events such as the
Howl, would not occur without the dedication, time and commitment from many, many parents. Thank
you to parents and students who helped out in many ways- too many to name in this space, but all forms
of help were appreciated in ensuring a wonderful event. With any event as huge as the Howl, it takes a
champion or two to ensure everything goes smoothly. Our very big thank you’s and gratitude go out to
Borja Fisher Brown and Ward Stirrat, who spent many, many hours ensuring a safe and successful
event. We truly appreciate your time away from your other commitments, and cannot thank you enough!
Merci!
We thank you for your on-going support in ensuring that no Halloween candy comes to school.
Your feedback on any of our events is always welcome. Feel free to contact me at any time.
Regards,
Jacquie Lavoie
Principal
Volleyball
Our volleyball teams are up and running with many students participating. We have two girls teams in
place, junior girls and senior girls. A big thank you to Mme Janesse who is coaching the senior girls and
and thank you to Alex Vitkovic who is coaching the junior girls. Also, thank you to parents for driving our
students to the games. Our students are most fortunate to have this experience.
Destination Conservation
On Wednesday, October 2nd, five members from our Conseil d’étudiants (Student Council) attended a
Destination Conservation workshop at the Vancouver School Board, which was aimed at creating
greater awareness about the type and the amount of waste created at Vancouver schools on a daily
basis. Max Botham, Julia Ionica, Mila Djurkovic, Samantha Porter and Jasper Schaller showed great
leadership and enthusiasm in their participation throughout the session. We hope that they will be able
to share some of their findings with the rest of the school sometime soon!
We Day and the Global Group
On Friday, October 18th twenty-five Lord Tennyson students (now a part of the Groupe Globale) were
able to participate in We Day celebrations at Rogers Arena. It was a very exciting and inspiring day, and
our students came away with a wealth of new and fresh ideas to help raise funds for and raise
awareness about children in need around the world. Stay tuned for coming initiatives from the Groupe
Globale to support the Free the Children Foundation.
Remembrance Day Assembly
We invite you to attend our Remembrance Day assembly on Friday, November 8th. As you know, we
must hold two assemblies due to gym capacity. The assemblies will be at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. The
Grade 1 students will be presenting at both assemblies. This assembly is being organized and hosted by
our new students leaders.
Student Leaders are Grade 7 students who have put their name forward to help with initiatives around
the school. These students are expected to be exemplary role models for all students and to help in
many capacities. Interested students were asked to put their nomination forward in written form. Final
selected was made by their classroom teacher and administration.
MindUp
Finding #2- Children who participated in MindUp demonstrated improvements in social-emotion
competence and decreases in aggression and antisocial behaviours. 87% of the participants were more
accepting of other perspectives.
French Book Fair
It's time for the Tennyson French Scholastic Book Fair - Festival du Livres.
Tuesday Nov. 5th - Friday Nov. 8th, open from 8:30 AM -1:00 PM and again after school.
This is a great opportunity to earn book credits for your child's classroom and the library, at the same
time as building your French library at home. Picture books, dictionaries, non-fiction - we have it all! All
of the books will be in French this fall (the English Book Fair will take place in the Spring).
This year we are keeping the focus on books and reading, thus we will not be selling the school supplies
that we have in the past. There will be many books under $10, so your children can still have fun
shopping on their own.
Volunteering at the Book Fair is a great way to meet lots of Tennyson students and have plenty of time
to browse the shelves yourself. If you are able to help out for an hour or two next Tues-Fri. please email
Shauna Farrell at sfarrell@telus.net with the days/times you are available. See you there!
After School Programs. Register Now!
Looking for a few more fun things for your Tennyson student(s) to do this fall? The West 2 Community
Schools Team has opened registration for the November/December 2013 Tennyson After School
Programs! The offerings include:
Yoga for Kids (Grades K-3)
Mandarin (Grades 3-7) Drama (Grades 3-7)
Sportball (Grades 1-3)
Glee (Grades 4-7)
As classes are commencing next week, please register ASAP for courses of interest!
Detailed program information and hard copies of registration forms are available outside the school's
main office -OR- you may go to our website homepage (under "Current Activities"):
http://www.lordtennyson.ca
New After School Program Offering..
In addition to the School Program offerings noted above, the following new program has been added to
the line-up:
LEGO Robotics WeDo 1.1! Students will be learning how to design and develop models using
Lego, pulleys, motors and gears. As students progress in their learning, they will be challenged
with more creative and intricate designs. Students will also have exposure to entry level
programming as they explore LEGO Education WeDo software.
Dates: Wednesdays from 3:05 to 4:35 pm; Nov. 7 to Dec. 12, 2013
Cost: $117 for 6 classes
For more information email: info@gatewayslearning.com
For registration: www.gatewayslearning.com. Select "Vancouver" from the city list to find this program.
If you have questions regarding After School Programs, including the newly added LEGO Robotics
WeDo 1.1, please contact: The West 2 Community Team Office (tel: 604.713.5610) or the Community
School Coordinator, Les Smith (email: lsmith@vsb.bc.ca).
Bullying or Peer Conflict?
Attached you will find a short video, as well as some literature on the difference between bullying and
peer conflict. These resources have been provided to us by our Manager of Social Responsibility and
Diversity at the VSB.
Clothing Drive – Quebec 2015 and Big Brothers
EXTENDED to November 15th due to Popular Demand!
We continue to do great. We have gathered about a half a garage full of clothes. Due to the popularity
of this fund raiser, we will continue it until mid-November. Please keep bringing clothes you no longer
wish to have to the school. Put them in garbage bags; tape a piece of paper on them that says, “BB” or
Big Brothers and then put them on the stage in the Tennyson gym. We will take it from there. Thanks
for your support which is helping so many people.
T.O.S.S Waitlist registration
TOSS registration begins Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 7:30 AM through February 8, 2014.
Registration will be IN PERSON ONLY. You may register over the phone beginning Monday February
10, 2014.
Please be reminded this is a waitlist registration ONLY. Once you are on the waitlist you will remain on
the waitlist until a space becomes available, but there is no guarantee you will get a spot at TOSS in
September 2014. Please call Kathy of Mary at 604-733-5111.
Kindergarten Registration
Will you be registering a child for French Immersion Kindergarten in September 2014?
Your child will receive sibling priority for a space in French Immersion Kindergarten, but you still need to
register your child and VSB registration procedures have changed this year. In previous years,
parents of French Immersion kindergarten siblings simply registered their child at their French
Immersion school.
New procedures:
 You must now register your child at your regular English program neighbourhood/incatchment school. Even if your child will not attend there, your child must first be registered at
their regular neighborhood school. If you do not know which school this is, you can ask at the
office, or go to the school locator at www.vsb.bc.ca. Registration opens on November 1, 2013.
 After January 6, 2014, you will receive a Personal Education Number (PEN) for your kindergarten
child. You will need this for the next step.
o Please note: You will also need the PEN for your child who already attends Secord—if you
need it, please call the office.
 You will then need to register your child on-line for French Immersion at Secord. This will
give your child sibling priority for a space in French Immersion kindergarten. On-line registration
is from January 10-31.
 Deadlines are firm. Failure to follow these steps will result in your child losing sibling
priority and likely not getting into French Immersion at all.
Summary of steps/dates:
November 1 – Registration opens. Register at your neighbourhood English program school.
After January 6 – You should receive a PEN for your child. (If not, call the school office.)
January 10-31 – Online registration for French Immersion. Make sure you have the PEN as well for
your older child who already attends Secord.
Questions? Don’t hesitate to call the school: 604-713-5426.
IMPORTANT DATES

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4 - PHOTO RETAKES – 1:00 PM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – FRENCH BOOK FAIR

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – CODE RED PRACTICE – 1:15 PM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – PAC MEETING 7:00 PM- ALL WELCOME

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7 – PRESENTATION BY UBC AND CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY
FOR GRADES 3-5

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – REMEMBRANCE DAY ASSEMBLY- 9:30 AM AND 11:00 AM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – NO SCOOL- REMEMBRANCE DAY

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 - CROSS COUNTRY PIZZA LUNCH TO CELEBRATE THE GREAT
SEASON