December Newsletter
Principal’s Message
Thank
you to all the parents who joined us for the parent-teacher interviews. Please remember to reach out to the teachers
if you have any questions. Thank you
also to all the families who purchased items from the book fair. Money raised from the book fair will be used
by Mrs. Newton to purchase new books for the library.
We
hope everyone has a wonderful Winter Holiday with their family and
friends. We will see all of our students
back on January 8, 2024.
Happy Retirement
Exciting
news for Ms. Finlay as she will retire at the end of December. We want to thank her for everything that she
has done at the school to support the James Keating families. Enjoy your retirement, Ms. Finlay!!
December Fun Activities
We
have a variety of activities planned for December including:
Candy
Cane sales: December 13-15
Winter
Bingo: December 4-8
Music
Trivia: December 11-15
Hot
Chocolate Day: December 21
Primary
Craft Day: December 20
Red
and Green Day: December 22
James
Keating School Colours (green, black and white): December 18
School Council
There will be a school council meeting on December 11 at
5:00pm. For further information, please
contact the office.
Parent Engagement Night
Our
next Parent Engagement Night will be December 13. As always it will be held in the gym. Please send back the form if you are planning
on attending so we have a general idea of how many people will be
attending. We will be selling bags of
popcorn for $2.00 and raffle tickets for $2.00.
Candy Cane Sales
We
will be selling candy canes again this year.
Students will be able to buy candy canes for 50 cents to send to their friends. Sales will take place on December 13-15
Primary Craft Day
Our
primary students will be involved in a craft day on December 20. We hope they enjoy their morning making a
variety of crafts to bring home to share with their family.
Primary Ball Hockey
Primary
ball hockey has been taking place once a week at lunch time. Thank you to Mr. Halicki for organizing this
opportunity for our primary students.
Kiss and Ride
We
would like to thank all the families for following continuing to use the Kiss
and Ride properly. Thank you to Mrs.
Calvert for being out to greet all of our students at the Kiss and Ride each
day.
Girls Volleyball Skills Club
Grade
7 and 8 Girls Volleyball Skill Club started at the end of November. This club will run for most of December,
until the last week, when the JKES team is decided. Coaches Kennedy and Nolan looked forward to
further developing some great skills and teamwork this month, so we can get
ready to play games in the New Year against other local schools.
Boys Volleyball
We
had a great season full of determination, perseverance, skill development, and
camaraderie with our Senior boys. As we
ended this season at the North Simcoe Tier 2 Tournament on November 29th, the
boys were facing three seasoned teams at St. Theresa’s. Coaches Kennedy and
Nolan have always been entertained and surprised by this group of individual
athletes who have come together as a team many times this season like their
comeback from 18-2 deficit against Lady of Lourdes to win this set and their
resounding win against Burkevale in two sets!
It has never been a dull moment boys!
Holiday Season
We
would like to wish all of our families a Happy Holiday Season as they
celebrate:
Chanukah
Kwanzaa
Christmas
Diwali
Newsletter Template items for SCDSB Schools
December 2023
The below information is for SCDSB families for the
month of December.
Communication to families regarding inclement weather days
Please note that APM A3020 – Inclement Weather, 3.1.2
states that “parents/guardians are to be reminded, in writing at appropriate
times (October and January) each school year, that it is their responsibility
to decide whether or not it is safe for their child(ren) to leave for school
under severe weather conditions.”
Inclement weather and bus cancellation information
reminder
All information regarding cancelled buses in Simcoe
County is posted on the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium
(SCSTC)’s bus information website at www.simcoecountyschoolbus.ca. Our school
is in the North zone. When buses are cancelled, schools remain open for student
learning, unless otherwise noted. School staff are expected to plan for such
emergencies in order to transition students who are unable to attend due to
inclement weather, to their online platforms (Google Classroom and/or SCDSBhub
[Brightspace by D2L]) and continue with academic programming. It is always a
family decision whether or not it is safe for their child(ren) to leave for
school under severe weather conditions.
The Consortium and bus operators try to make the
decision to cancel school buses before 6 a.m. and make every effort to post
announcements before 7 a.m. Inclement weather cancellations are effective for
the whole day and buses cancelled in the morning will not run at the end of the
day. You can follow the Consortium on Twitter @SCSTC_SchoolBus for bus
cancellations and other information. You can also subscribe to receive bus
delay notifications here: https://scstc.ca/Subscriptions/Login.aspx.
High school information events for Grade 8 students
Is your child starting Grade 9 next year? High school
information events will take place in person this winter! Student leaders
and staff at the school will give an overview of what’s new and what to expect.
Learn about courses offered, as well as information about teams and
clubs. Please visit the SCDSB website at www.scdsb.on.ca/secondary/planning_for_high_school to find details on your high school’s info night, and contact the
school directly for more information.
Grade 1 French Immersion information
The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) offers French Immersion
(FI) at select schools throughout Simcoe County beginning in Grade 1. The goal
of the FI program is to enable students to communicate in French with a high
level of proficiency, enabling them to function with ease in both French and
English. Upon graduation from the program, students will communicate in French
with confidence in a wide variety of real-life situations.
The SCDSB board-wide electronic applications for the
Grade 1 FI program for all sites will open Friday, Dec. 1 at 9 a.m. and close
at 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15. Entry into the FI
program is determined through a digitally randomized lottery system. To learn
more, visit the SCDSB website: https://www.scdsb.on.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=210982&pageId=12587752.
Join
us! A learning series for parents/guardians with Pine River Institute
Mental
health and well-being continues to be a key strategic priority within the
SCDSB. We are pleased to continue our partnership with the Centre for
Family Initiatives at Pine River Institute (CFI@PRI) to provide several curated
learning sessions focused on student mental health and well-being to SCDSB
families.
These webinars are specifically planned for parents/guardians and other
caregivers during this school year.
Jan.
11, 2024 Sleep hygiene
Feb.
8, 2024 Self regulation for kids
Feb. 22, 2024 Self regulation for teens
March 28, 2024 Building parents' resiliency
April 18, 2024 Vaping, weed, and alcohol
We
hope you save these dates in your calendar and join us for these learning
opportunities. For more information and to register, please visit the SCDSB
website: https://bit.ly/3jGaC74.
Pine River Institute is a live-in treatment centre and
outdoor leadership experience for youth aged 13 to 19 struggling with addictive
behaviours and often other mental health issues. Combining therapy with a
fully-accredited education program, PRI reinforces the healthy life skills
required for a successful future. CFI@PRI extends PRI’s knowledge, experience
and evidence-informed treatment approach to families and care providers in the
community to support youth mental wellness and prevent the need for more
intensive interventions. Learn more about PRI by visiting their website
at www.pineriverinstitute.com.
Parents’ Guide to Assessment,
Evaluation and Reporting
Learn to navigate the world of assessment, evaluation,
and reporting with this new guide for parents/guardians. Created to support
parents’/guardians’ understanding of assessment, this guide was designed to
effectively empower you to actively engage in your child's educational journey.
The guide has been posted to the Simcoe County District School Board’s website
and can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/2urcm2tm.
Subscribe to Community Connects!
The
Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) is excited to launch Community
Connects, a new bimonthly newsletter for the SCDSB community. Our shared goal
with this new tool is to keep our community partners and stakeholders informed
while nurturing relationships that are built on accountability, trust, and
transparency.
To
learn more and subscribe, visit the Community Connects page on the SCDSB
website: https://www.scdsb.on.ca/community/community_connects.
Subscribe to Kindergarten Connections!
Will
your child be turning four in 2024? If so, the SCDSB invites you to Kindergarten Connections! This is a monthly enewsletter informing
families of everything they need to know about preparing their child for
school, as well as registering them for Kindergarten in the SCDSB. To learn
more and subscribe, visit the Kindergarten page on the SCDSB website: www.scdsb.on.ca/elementary/planning_for_school/kindergarten.
EarlyON Child and Family Centres
The foundation for lifelong learning and health is
built in the early years. EarlyON Child and Family Centres across Simcoe County
offer programs for children prenatal to six years of age and their
parents/guardians and caregivers. They offer access to play- and inquiry-based
learning supported by How Does
Learning Happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the
early years, information on child development and developmental screening
including Early Referral Identification Kits (ERIKs), parent/guardian
education, referrals to community resources, nutrition information, and
post-natal resources. Check with your local EarlyON provider: https://linktr.ee/earlyonsimcoe.
How is your infant, toddler,
or preschool child developing?
Is your child meeting their milestones?
Age-appropriate speech and language skills are critical to your child’s ability
to read, write, and be successful in school as well as to their ability to
engage with their peers. Free services are available to support you with your
child’s development. Preschool speech and language programs are located across
the County of Simcoe. Call 705-739-5696 or 1-800-675-1979 to complete a
developmental screen. The earlier we work together the better!
Licensed Winter Break
school-age child care programs
Child care programs for children in
Kindergarten to Grade 6 are provided by independent, third-party child
care operators in some SCDSB schools. To support your child care needs, some
operators offer child care on PA days and holidays including over the Winter
Break. Registration in advance is required.
Please contact the child care operator directly to
discuss fees and to register. More information and contact numbers can be found
by visiting: www.scdsb.on.ca/elementary/planning_for_school/childcare_before_after.
Feedback, recovery, and improvement days (for
secondary only)
At the end of each semester, all secondary schools
will run feedback, recovery, and improvement days for students. Culminating
assessments such as portfolios, essays, examinations, and interviews will take
place during instructional days and will be returned to students with
feedback.
The last day of regular instruction for students in
semester one is Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. The period from Tuesday, Jan. 30 to
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 is reserved for students who require an opportunity to
receive feedback from an assessment, to rescue or recover a credit, or to
improve on an area of missed expectations. Teachers and support staff will
communicate with students who will benefit most from attending this
opportunity; however, all students will be invited to attend. There will be no
new instruction these days. Feedback, recovery, and improvement days are an
opportunity for students to work closely with their teacher if they require
feedback, credit recovery, or an opportunity to improve on an area of missed
expectations.
Programs available through the SCDSB’s Adult and Continuing Education
Learning Centres
The Simcoe County District School Board’s Adult and
Continuing Education department offers a variety of programming including day
school, night school, summer school, correspondence, and co-op. Courses
may be online, hybrid, or in-person and are based on sufficient
enrollment. For current high school students, we offer travel for credit,
summer school, and night school programs. For adults, we offer credit courses
towards completion of an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) including credits granted for prior learning and
experiences (PLAR). In support of many of the adult learners in our communities, we also
offer non-credit classes in English as a second language (ESL) and literacy and
essential skills (LES) both of which can support learners towards paths of
employment, continued education, and citizenship. Please visit us at www.thelearningcentres.com to learn more.
School playground
structures are closed for the winter
Every winter, school playground structures are closed. Students are made
aware of this during school hours through announcements and staff reminders
during breaks. This may not be well known throughout the community, despite
signs indicating that playground structures are a winter hazard and are closed.
The Canadian Standards Association regulations make recommendations for the
depth of ground cover required to minimize injuries (e.g., sand, pea gravel or
wood chips). These surfaces cannot be maintained when the ground freezes.
Injuries from falling would be more significant on frozen ground. We
strongly recommend that you do not allow your children to play on any
structures while the ground is frozen.
Mental
health strategy of the month - Emotion Charades
Well-being is a Strategic Priority in the Simcoe County District School Board,
and our mental health and well-being department provides monthly strategies to
support student and family well-being.
This
month’s strategy is Emotion Charades. This practice helps students
practice expressing emotions with their whole body and recognize body language
and facial expressions in others. To practice Emotion Charades at home,
on slips of paper, write or draw different feelings depending on the age of
your child. For instance, happy, sad, angry, scared, worried, sleepy,
frustrated, etc. Place the papers in a bowl/container.
Then:
- Decide
who will go first. Have that person pick a piece of paper from the bowl.
- Have
them read the feeling to themselves, or, if needed, help your child read
the feeling.
- Now
they will act out the feeling without words while the other players try to
guess what it is.
- Once
someone gets the right answer, it’s the next person’s turn to pick a piece
of paper and act out the feeling.
This
is a fun activity that everyone in the family can play!
Emotion Charades link to School
Mental Health Ontario parent sheet: https://smho-smso.ca/online-resources/easy-and-fun-mental-health-activities-for-home/
Find
more information to support your child's mental health here: https://smho-smso.ca/parents-and-caregivers/
Emotion
Charades:
Elementary - https://smho-smso.ca/emhc/identification-and-management-of-emotions/recognizing/emotion-charades/
Secondary - https://smho-smso.ca/emhcsecondary/identification-and-management-of-emotions/recognizing/emotional-awareness/
Follow
the Mental Health and Well-being social media accounts (@SCDSB_MHWB) to see how
well-being is being supported in our schools.
Math @Home parent and caregiver series
It’s back! The SCDSB math team is pleased to offer three virtual sessions for
parents and caregivers of SCDSB students. These sessions will focus on
practical and fun ways to support children with their mathematics learning and
engagement at home. The first 200 registrants will receive a Math @Home kit of
resources to use at home. Participants must pre-register for each of the
sessions.
Exploring
the new SCDSB family math resources
Tuesday, Feb. 6,
2024, 7 to 8 p.m.
This session is for parents and caregivers. Join members of the SCDSB math team
for a guided exploration of the new SCDSB family math resources. Participants
will have the opportunity to explore the resources that are available to
support their child’s math learning at home. The guided portion of the session
will be 45 minutes in length. During the final 15 minutes, the math team will
be available to answer questions about the resources available.
Tips for
engaging in math conversations with your child @Home
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, 7 to 8 p.m.
This session is for parents and caregivers and will explore opportunities to
discuss math with their child(ren) at home. Participants will learn about how
events such as shopping, preparing food, engaging in a building project, or
going for a walk can be used as a starting point for math conversations, and
will receive prompts to get the discussion rolling. The guided portion of the
session will be 45 minutes in length. During the final 15 minutes, the math
team will be available to answer questions about the session.
Games to
support your child’s math learning @Home
Thursday, April 4, 2024, 7 to 8 p.m.
This session is for parents, caregivers, and their children. Playing games at
home is a great way to support child(ren)’s math development. In this session,
several games will be explored, and participants will have the opportunity to
try the games with their children during the session. The guided portion of the
session will be 45 minutes in length followed by 15 additional minutes for
further game play or to ask questions of our math facilitators. Bring your
child(ren) and your math kit to this session!
Participants must
pre-register for the sessions they wish to attend. Registered participants will
receive a kit of hands-on resources that will be sent to the school indicated
on the registration form. Use this link to register: https://bit.ly/24MathAtHome.
Head lice treatment and prevention
Anyone
can get head lice. Having head lice does not mean a person is unclean or lives
in a dirty home. While they are a nuisance, head lice do not spread disease or
cause illness. Head lice spreads easily, especially where people are in close
contact and are very common among school-aged children or children in
childcare.
Head
lice spreads through direct hair-to-hair contact or indirectly by sharing hats,
combs, hairbrushes, and headphones. To help prevent the spread of head lice,
it’s important to educate students about avoiding head-to-head contact and
discourage sharing combs, hairbrushes, tuques, hats, or hair accessories.
Parents/guardians,
caregivers, and families can visit https://www.simcoemuskokahealth.org/Topics/PP2B/RaisingChildren/YourGrowingChild/HeadLice for more
information about head lice treatment and prevention. Or call Health
Connection at 1-877-721-7520 to speak to a public health nurse.
Information provided by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
Is bedtime stressing you out? (Elementary)
Kids need 10-12 hours of sleep every night but sometimes getting them to
bed can be challenging. You can help create a regular sleep schedule for your
child by setting a clear bedtime and sticking to the same time every night.
Start getting ready an hour before bed; turn off the TV,
computers, and phones. Spend quality time talking or reading stories to help
them unwind. Agree on how many you’ll read before you start! Keep their room
dark, cool, and quiet - a nightlight is fine. Remember, making sure your child
gets enough rest will help improve their mood, behaviour,
and ability to learn.
For more bedtime tips, contact Health Connection at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520 to speak with
a public health nurse. Visit www.simcoemuskokahealth.org for more
information.
Information provided by the Simcoe Muskoka District
Health Unit
Did you know it’s illegal to vape or smoke anywhere on school
property, inside the school or outside within 20m of school property, 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year?
The law applies to everyone on school property, students, staff, and
visitors. It also means it is illegal to vape or smoke on school athletic
fields during afterhours activities or vape or smoke in school washrooms. There
is a fine of $305for vaping or smoking on school property.
But why do youth vape at
school? Vapes contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug. Nicotine
addiction is extremely powerful, develops quickly, and youth may not realize
they are addicted. Once addicted, they need nicotine regularly or they will
experience withdrawal, making it hard to get through the school day. Help them
take back control – there are supports to help youth quit! Talk to your child about vaping, they listen more than you think. Learn
more at NotAnExperiment.ca/parents.
Information provided by the Simcoe Muskoka District
Health Unit
Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions is seeking compassionate
and skilled professionals with specialized experience to apply to
become foster care providers
The
goal of this program is to meet the needs of youth through a therapeutically
supported parenting approach within a structured environment, where they are
supported and guided by a multi-disciplinary treatment team. The youth will
remain, or become connected to, their family/kin/community whenever
possible. Treatment services will be individualized based on the needs of
the youth, and the knowledge of those who know the youth best in collaboration
with community partners. This will allow youth to reside in a family-based
setting and remain in their home community of Simcoe Muskoka, staying connected
to important relationships and supports that may already be in place.
The
homes approved under this strategy are designed to create clinically informed
care plans that will support the youth directly, in addition to the continued
support of their care providers. Youth will be supported by a
multi-disciplinary team and will be available to implement and design parenting
and support to address the needs of the youth.
Compensation
packages will be offered to experienced foster care providers, as well as
clinical support to both care providers and youth.
If
you or someone you know is looking for more information or would like to apply,
contact Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions by email at [email protected] or
call 705-716.4664.
Information provided by Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions