Solving the math-phobia problem – for both parents and kids

ERIN ANDERSSEN The Globe and Mail Published Thursday, Jan. 23 2014, 5:00 PM EST To read about Christopher Danielson’s math chats with his six-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son, is to immediately feel inferior as a parent. While grocery shopping with his daughter, a discussion about whether she can carry four cans of pumpkin to the cart becomes a lesson in two plus two. “What did we learn?” he writes of that exercise. “Decomposing numbers is fun.” A debate about how old his son will be when he can stay up to midnight on New Year’s Eve, turns into an algebraic algorithm based on the calculation that his bedtime gets later by half an hour each year. One morning, they guess the temperature, and then calculate how far they were off – presto, integers 101! In my home, the last thing that bedtime negotiations afford is an algebraic math conversation. (Although, it might put them to sleep.) “Decomposing” numbers, for many math-phobic parents, will raise the spectre of a gone-but-not forgotten nightmare, otherwise known as high-school calculus. Clearly, Danielson has an edge. He is a Minnesota college math teacher and curriculum developer with a PhD, whose online blog (talkingmathwithkids.com) is aimed at helping parents bring math into everyday conversations. For those less-credentialed, algorithms are often best consigned to class, or, only when necessary, the kitchen table, where the “new math” textbooks baffle parents who never really got the “old math” the first time around. (One late-night homework session at my house led to a humbling dispute with my 13-year-old about how to multiply mixed fractions; he was right.) Is it any wonder, under such duress, that so many families dread the subject? But while the half-dozen math experts interviewed for this article were sympathetic, they also make a logical point: Our math-phobic culture is a factor in our children’s falling scores in international tests. Parents worry about math marks – and are even petitioning for a return to basic skills and rote memorization – because, as research shows, knowing your numbers is linked not only to success in school, but also to good jobs in a high-tech age. A 2007 study, for example, based on U.S. longitudinal data, found that early math skills were a stronger predictor of future academic success than reading. Parents who would never trash talk reading, freely diss math, as a subject they either loathed or flunked. “If you are afraid of a spider and you run around talking about your fears of spiders,” says Jo-Anne LeFevre, a psychology professor who specializes in math research at Carleton University in Ottawa, “should you be surprised that your kid is afraid of spiders?” Starting even before their kids can speak, parents buy into the public education campaign that reading is an essential foundation for learning. But, she asks, how often does math enter into everyday life? “Some families even turn off the TV, and say, ‘Now we are going to have reading time.’ But do we do it with math?” Besides inadvertently passing down their own anxieties, parents also overemphasize the pencil and paper work, the root of so much tension at home. “We have trained rule followers, and some us become good at memorizing the rules, and some of us don’t,” says Danielson. “But that’s not what we want. That’s the equivalent of someone who can read words, but can’t understand the story.” A key to math success is what researchers call fluency – being able to work out calculations in your head, think critically about problems, make reasonable estimates, and assess whether the results on a calculator actually make sense. Surprisingly, perhaps, fostering that kind of thinking at home looks a lot more interesting – and easier – than trying to jam those seven times tables into an eight-year-old’s brain. Scrabble isn’t just a word game, it also involves adding and multiplying scores, and mental math. Your son builds a Lego house. Can he guess how many pieces he will need to build a fence – “a perimeter” – around it? Your daughter needs to get to a 7 a.m. hockey practice; what time does she estimate she’ll have to get up? A 2012 study published in the journal Psychological Science linked student success in high-school algebra to how well they understood fractions and division in elementary school – skills that can be developed by teaching your kids to cook . “Our job [as parents] can really be about talking about number relationships and the shapes we see in the world,” Danielson says. Thankfully, that doesn’t require always finding the answer – that’s where school comes in. Sometimes it simply means asking the questions. If you are already racing to hockey, or playing Lego, there’s a math story (time estimations, spatial reasoning) in there somewhere, waiting to be told. What four Globe writers learn when they try doing their kids’ homework for a week After being pushed to the limit herself, this author examines why moms get maxed out

French Immersion Survey

The Renfrew County District School Board French program is under review. Parents of current and potential French Immersion students are being asked to share our thoughts of the current program. Please take a moment to complete a short survey. You can access it from the link at the bottom of this page or by accessing the board website, clicking on “Programs”, then click on “French Immersion” and then click the link for the survey. It is a short survey and shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes to complete. The survey will only be available until February 15, 2014. Survey Link: http://www.rcdsb.on.ca/en/programs/frenchimmersion.asp

Sunday Night Update January 26, 2014

Good evening. Deb Legault here with your Sunday night update from General Lake. An exciting week at General Lake beginning with our school wide pyjama day on Monday. Monday, Day 1, is Family Literacy day and General Lake will be having a book swap. Students can still bring in there books at 9:00 am. At 10:00am students who have brought in books will come down to choose a book from the donations to bring home. Individual classes will have a chance later in the day and into Tuesday to visit the swap and 'buy' a book. All donations will go to our Breakfast for Learning Snack Fund. We also have an exciting raffle taking place for a Brainy smurf and books. Tickets will be on sale at lunch in the front entrance 1 ticket for $1.00; 3 for $2.00; or 5 for $3.00 until Thursday. The Petawawa public library will also be on hand to talk about an exciting reading opportunity called the 'Forest of Reading' Program. More details are posted on the blog. Throughout the week classes will take a break at noon for 15 minutes of school-wide reading. Monday and Wednesday we have basketball for our intermediate boys Tuesday and Thursday we have basketball for our intermediate girls. Thursday General Lake celebrates the Chinese New Year by wearing red or traditional Chinese inspired clothing. Students are also encouraged to bring fans, paper lanterns and noisemakers for our annual dragon parade through the school. We will also have our monthly character assembly beginning at 12:30. Friday is a PA Day as the staff will be working on assessment. Thanks to the wonderful group of parents that joined us for our School Council Meeting. Plans are underway for a big birthday bash for General Lake on February 27. More details to come. Please contact a School Council Member if you are interested in assisting with this party. Thanks and have a Happy Literacy Monday. We encourage all our families to spend 15 minutes of reading fun together.

January 2014 Principal REport

Principal's report January 2014 General Lake Public School Happy New Year to all of our General Lake community and welcome back. Our school is extremely excited to be back as we plan exciting school wide events and move forward with our academic, character and healthy school goals for 2014. Among some of the up and coming events planned we have our Literacy Day book swap and pyjama day next week on Monday, January 27th. We are also raffling off a Brainy Smurf stuffed toy and some books. Tickets will go on sale for $1.00 each or 5 tickets for $3.00. All funds raised will go toward our ‘Breakfast for Learning’ program. On Thursday, January 30 we will be having our Chinese New Year Parade where students will parade through the school with noisemakers. In February we are looking forward to our Public Speaking events and in March we anticipate our extremely popular Science Fair. We have also identified February 27 as the official General Lake Day as it coincides with our namesake’s birthday. We hope to have a fun filled activity on this day. Valour plans are coming along and Mr Baird has reported we are still anticipating a September 2014 opening. Next Friday, Lake staff has been invited over to General Panet for lunch and to preview plans for classrooms. The PA day has been designated for assessment purposes, with our TERM 1 report cards going home on February 19. New Junior Kindergarten Registration begins on January 27 and a survey went home looking for parental input regarding an extended day program. Surveys are due to the office by February 10 and are available online on the Board website www.rcdsb.on.ca under programs. Mr. Baird has sent over Valour hats for us to distribute randomly at our character assembly, as well as at various special events. Another survey also will be going home asking for feedback into the French Immersion programs and is also available under programs on the Board website. We have experienced several more staff changes since the beginning of the school year. Mme Bessette joins us in our JK/SK immersion kindergarten until Mme Yakabuskie returns and Mr. Blimkie joins us in the English junior senior kindergarten. Mme Butler has accepted a position in Renfrew and we are hoping to have her position filled shortly. We have added two new positions including .5 library and .4 special education resource which has been filled by Ms Conway and we have two more Educational Assistants working with our kindergartens Ms Moreau and Ms Charboneau. General Lake continues to make student safety its number one priority. We are happy to report people have got used to the locked doors and the front bell to ring in. Parents are signing in and wearing their passes when visiting the classes. We have had a couple of lockdown drills (November 8, 2013 , January 17, 2014) with the help of Constable Darcy Nicol from the OPP and MP Karen Renaud. Everything went smoothly. The police were impressed with how quickly the staff and students responded and how well protocol was followed. Our EQAO for our grade 3 and grade 6 students occurs this year from May 26 until June 6. The Education Quality and Accountability Office annually tests reading, writing and mathematics skills throughout the province and allows student achievement to be assessed in relation to a province-wide standard. Our new SERT teacher, Mrs Conway has begun working with our level 2 students at the grade 3 and grade 6 level to give them extra remediation to ensure their success. More information about the testing is available on the EQAO website at www.eqao.com. As part of our Champlain Healthy Schools initiative action plan, students were trained in December for the PALS playground leader program. Valour Principal Baird participated in the learning day with the students. Students have been scheduled for their duties and we are extremely pleased at the progress of the program. We look forward to expanding this training to Pinecrest and bringing this initiative to Valour. Fitness continues throughout the school to be a number one priority with Grade 3 students participating in swimming programs; junior students participating in skating; dancefit continues for students in grade 5-8 and a school wide 30 day fitness challenge for k-8. Intermediates are now involved in basketball practices. Mrs Green, Mrs Robillard and Ms Hansen have been providing intramurals to our grade 2-8 students. We are currently expanding this program to every day as we have seen a marked decrease in office referrals from playground issues on days the intramurals are taking place. Staff have also taken up the challenge and they are organizing staff walks, runs and dance fit after school hours. We are pleased to announce that the number of Kindergarten office referrals have decreased significantly, as we have adopted a number of strategies from the Calm, Alert and Learning book by Stuart Shanker. The school has purchased four more walkie talkies to ensure our Educational Assistants can be contacted and can respond immediately to an issue. We are using strategies including quiet areas in the classrooms as well as a large box to be carried to the office to give students a body break. As part of the Board wide plan to increase technology in our schools we are happy to announce we have 67 new IPADs in the school. Teachers can sign-out a class set of IPADS or they can sign out on an individual basis . We continue to train our staff in its use and find creative ways to use within the classroom. We have been doing a lot of work on triangulation of evidence when assessing our students. That is using conversations, observations and product to assess our students. The IPAD is proving to be beneficial when documenting the work of our students, particularly the conversations. Our Anti-bullying plan has been updated for the 2013-2014 school year and is available from the office or online. Our focus is on promoting positive behaviours, rather than focusing on the negative. We continue to be part of the Stop-A Bully online reporting system and we look forward to rewarding five of our students in February for their positive contributions as part of the True Colours initiative. We continue to have our monthly character assemblies and daily quotes promoting the character virtues of the month. Our overall theme for the year is RESPECT and we promote respect daily in our interactions with all. A focus for our up and coming anti-bullying week will be on respect and using online respectfully. During our work with the Stuart Shanker book we focused on the Indicators to Distinguish Play fighting from Bullying which we now have included in our anti-bullying plan, as well as in our conversations with students to determine if bullying is taking place: Play Fighting: Positive facial expressions (smiling); Voluntary participation; Alternated roles (being chased, then being the chaser); Tempered force; Children stay together after playing Bullying: Negative facial expressions (angry looks); Involuntary participation; Fixed roles (being either the aggressor or the victim); Aggressive force; Children separate after an encounter Finally we had tremendous support for our holiday concert as it was standing room only as parents delighted in the performances of our students. Plans are underway for another couple of school-wide performance based events including a Mini ‘WE’ day to occur during Education week in May and our Talent show in June, which we will be inviting our parents to attend. As always we welcome our parents into our school and we look forward to keeping everyone up to date with our blog, weekly synervoice and now our new Twitter Feed @debbielegault. Thank you Deb Legault

Link for Extended day program

Here is the correct link for the extended day program survey in pdf form (for Valour). http://www.rcdsb.on.ca/en/programs/resources/Extended_Day_Program_Family_Survey_-_Valour.pdf The link to the extended day website is here. http://www.rcdsb.on.ca/en/programs/ExtendedDayProgram.asp

Principal Report November 2013

Principal's report November 2013 General Lake Public School We have had a wonderful event-filled first term leading up to our Progress Reports that went home on November 12, 2013 A few changes in staff Mme Yakabuskie is on a Leave of Absence. Mrs Gratton is replacing Mme Yakabuskie and Mrs Martinell has been temporarily replacing Ms McKay. We also welcome Mrs Van Hoof as an Educational Assistant working in the English Sk-1 class. After looking closely at our school data using a variety of sources including triangulation of evidence (observations; conversations; product; EQAO data; our reading assessment data (PM Benchmarks K-3; Casi 4-8; and our mathematics assessments: Prime) we have developed our School Improvement plan. The plan focuses on oral language development at the kindergarten level; reading and writing development in the primary grades and math at the junior intermediate level. Team divisions have been involved in Professional Learning meetings and workshops to look closely at their student profiles and to explore strategies to inform their practice and improve student achievement. Using the ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey, the ‘Champlain Healthy School’ survey, our Learning Skills data from the report cards, and data from our behavioural reports we are focusing on increasing physical fitness levels of our students by providing a range of activities. We have met several times with the representatives from the Healthy Schools initiative to develop an action plan. This plan includes training in a Peer Mediation plan Grade 4/5 students (PALS program); increased physical fitness activities swimming, dance fit, and DPA challenges. We also look forward to participating in the Jump rope for Heart Challenge. Ms Robillard and Ms Green have begun an intramural program for students in all grades. Intermediate students have been practicing for the up and coming volleyball tournaments with Mme Malette and Ms Green. Finally one area of need reflected in our office referrals data is self-regulation in our kindergarten students. Students are presenting challenges including engaging in aggressive play; difficulty during transition periods or unstructured play; or adapting to changes in personnel. We are exploring ways to better prepare the students for Kindergarten; strategies to address some of the playground issues and finally strategies to assist parents at home. One change we are implementing is a change in the lunch and recess time for some of the classes to cut down on the number of students in out kindergarten yard. Therefore three classes will be eating lunch in classrooms while others are outside for recess. A new Concussion protocol has been introduced by the Board. In a case of a suspected concussion, parents will be called and instructed to pick up their child and bring immediately to hospital. We have a new tool to help us assess the likelihood of a concussion and a copy will be given to the parent in all suspected cases. We continue to have our friendly spirit days designed to create student engagement. We have had four motivational speakers Power of One Anti-bullying Speaker; We day Speaker; Right to Play Olympic Athlete and Ned show motivational speaker and yo yo performer. Craig Keilburger, founder of Free the Children, was the keynote speaker at the recent Parent Involvement Committee symposium. Some General Lake students were in attendance. General Lake continues to be inspired by the work of Free the Children as we participated in the We Starve Hunger collecting over 500 cans for St. Joseph’s Food Bank. One student, Grade 8 Kamrie Lavoie is looking to go on a humanitarian trip next year so she will be putting together a plan to fundraise for her cause. We will be supporting a raffle for a gingerbread house she will bring to General Lake beginning in December. Ms Hansen’s WE club have begun the We Make Change initiative designed to raise money to help build schools. As always, we continue to take bullying seriously documenting and investigating all reports and trying to find ways to address this issue. Parents, Staff and students are invited to meet next week Tuesday Nov 26 at 8:30 to examine our current plan and update. Jer’s vision came to the school today and addressed the classes. Jer’s vision is an organization designed to educate students on the issues of bullying and discrimination. We have also formed a partnership with Kelsey’s restaurant. They have given us 5 certificates to award to students for demonstrating both a positive attitude and making a positive difference in our school. Students who receive the award will receive a t-shirt and a free meal from Kelseys. Students will be able to nominate their peers for this award. Nominations will continue until January. Valour planning is on schedule. During the Joint Staff meeting September 21st the new mascot was unveiled. (‘Valour Voyageurs’) We also participated in planning activities as well as creating a common vision for the school. Many Committees have been formed and the excitement is building as we assist with the selection process of uniforms. Our celebration of General Lake is coming together as we plan a yearbook. We continue to look for other ways to honour the closing of the school. Finally thanks to our Parents and staff, the Scholastic Book fair was a great success. Fifty percent of all the proceeds go back to the school in product for the classrooms. Thanks to Educational Assistant Robin Van Hoof, Jen Gerroir, Lorrie Lavoie, Lindsay Allen, Angela MacKay, Molly Dempsey and Andrea Robb for their work and dedication bringing this to our school. We look forward to another sale in the Spring.

Principal Report September 2013

Principal's report September 2013 Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year. Welcome back to our families who are joining us again and a warm welcome to our new families at General Lake Public School. We had a wonderful opening with our enrolment numbers just over 400. We have 141 students in our Kindergarten with four JK/SK Immersion classes; one JK/SK English; one SK/1 immersion and 1 SK/1 English. We have 164 students enrolled in our English program, and the remainder of the students are in our French Immersion. Our average class size is 20.74, and we continue to be committed to keeping our Kindergarten to Grade 3 classes under 20. We welcome several new teachers to our team Ms Martinat at Grade 3-4; Mrs Bennett in the Core English; Ms Angela Stone Butterworth in the Kindergarten and Ms Macphee in the 4/5 Immersion. We welcome several new EA's to our team: Mrs Armstrong in Ms Mackay’s Kindergarten and Ms Dominey in Grade 3/4 with Ms Martinat. In the office we welcome Mrs Bouden and to our custodial staff we welcome Ms Wendy Heans. Finally, we also welcome our new Vice Principal Ms Robillard. During this month we have already had several spirit days designed to create a positive school climate and student engagement in school. Our school wide theme for the year is RESPECT. We have divided the students into one of six spirit colour teams and throughout the year we will award points to students who take part in the activities. One of our initiatives is supporting the ‘Free the Children’ Organization begun by Craig and Marc Keilburger. This initiative is designed to inspire leadership in students, as well as inspire students to take action to make a change in the world both locally and globally. We have applied for ‘We day’ tickets and two teachers, Ms Marquardt and Ms Hansen, have committed to taking on this ‘Free the Children’ initiative with the Grade 7/8 students. Last June we had our own Mini ‘WE day’ which I hope to build on for the coming year. In October we will begin our Food Drive initiative called ‘We Starve Hunger’, where for the month we will collect food for the St Joseph Food Bank. Students can also sign up to trick or treat for canned goods. Another new initiative we are taking part in is the Champlain Healthy Food initiative. Last year students in grade 4-6 took part in a survey about their healthy lifestyle. We will get the results of this survey shortly. I have already begun talking about focusing our efforts on increasing physical activity. I would like to have a meeting with a Committee to include a parent representative, student representative, staff and the Champlain School Program Representative on September 26th at 10:00 am to look at our results and come up with an Action Plan. As part of our commitment to physical fitness, we have two different running clubs this year. Mme Cathy and Mme Rattray report over 40 students are taking part in her competitive running club. They would like to take all students to the run therefore imposing a $5.00 cost to reserve a bus. I have about 15 students registered for my Fun Run. Ms Robillard and Ms Green will be beginning intramural program for students in all grades shortly. Our Annual Terry Fox Run will take place Sept 26th. We are asking all students to bring in a Toonie for Terry. Our goal is to raise $800.00 for Cancer Research Foundation. Last June our grade 4-7 students took part in ‘The Tell Them From Me’ climate survey. Results are available. I am looking to put together a committee to include teachers, students and parents to look closely at the results and develop an action plan for our next steps on Tuesday, September 24 at 11:20. Our Current plan is also posted on the blog and on the Bulletin Board outside the computer lab. We continue to work on anti-bullying and at our Mini we-day we launched an on-line reporting system ‘stop-a -bully-ca’. For this year we have booked ‘Jer's Vision’ to come to the school in November during anti-bullying week which coincides with our Scholastic Book Fair. Our GLPS Volunteer brochure has been created to help make General Lake volunteering role easier. We have a number of opportunities for our parents including organizing the volunteer forms and making contact with parents; library coordinator, and bookfair coordinator. A box of supplies for our volunteers is located by office, as well as some information package including staff list ,map and other important information. Today our EQAO results were officially released and I am extremely proud of our results. EQAO stands for Education Quality and Accountability office which develops and oversees standardized testing at the Grade 3, 6, 9, and 10 levels across the province. The percentage of students at General Lake in grade 3 achieving at or above the Provincial standard in reading was 78% , in writing 86%, and in Mathematics 89%. The percentage of students at General Lake in Grade 6 achieving at or above the Provincial standard in reading was 95%, in Writing 85% and in Mathematics was 70%. We are above both the Board percentage, as well as the Province. Teachers will be looking at the data as we prepare our 2013-2014 School Improvement Plan which I will share at an up coming meeting Construction of Valour is coming along nicely and currently is on time for our opening in September 2014. As many know this is our last year at General Lake as we anticipate the opening of our new K-12 school. Last year General Lake students participated in the naming and choosing the colours of green and white. This year students from General Lake are encouraged to enter the Mascot contest introduced at the beginning of the school year. Entries are due Sept 20th and the winning entry may have their artwork used on Valour merchandise. I am anticipating many more activities to engage the students as we prepare for the Opening. Finally, as a tribute to General Lake, staff member Ms Priebe is looking into developing a yearbook. She is has been collecting photos and she is looking into the details from different sources. We will report back to the School Council next month ways parents can be involved, as well as funds she may request to support this venture. In closing it has been a wonderful beginning to the 2013-2014 school year. I am extremely proud of the work students, staff and our families do every day to make this school a warm, welcoming and safe place to be. I am happy to be part of this great school and I look forward to a wonderful partnership with our School Council, as together we guide and support our children. We have achieved so much together in the past for our children, and I look forward to a wonderful year filled with exciting activities, informative meetings and wonderful educational experiences for our children.

Family Photo Session

Family Photo Shoot Session Please register at the South Side Community Centre 1578 Wolfe Ave., or our North Side location at 10-16 Regalbuto Ave., no later than Friday, March 21st. For more information please contact Holly at 613-687-2104 ext. 222 or psip4@pmfrc.org A professional photographer will be taking 2 family photos of you and your spouse/family. A CD with your pictures will be given to you with the rights to print them. Register quickly, limited space available! *Cost is $10/family

Five Love Languages for Parents of Teenagers

Five Love Languages for Parents of Teenagers Teens and parents often speak different languages - but the challenge goes beyond jargon and teen slang. Teens also develop strong love languages too, often without the ability to control or express their feelings. Dr. Chapman’s trusted Love Languages approach will assist you in guiding today’s teen to effective emotional communication. Join us because communicating with your teenager is easier when they feel loved. Tuesdays 6:30pm – 8pm from March 18th to April 22nd at the Employment Services, 3025 Petawawa Blvd Unit D, Petawawa *Cost is $5 and you will get a copy of the book at the end of the program.* Please register at the South Side Community Centre 1578 Wolfe Ave., or our North Side location at 10-16 Regalbuto Ave., no later than Friday, March 14th. For more information please contact Holly at 613-687-2104 ext. 222 or psip4@pmfrc.org

PMFRC Information Meetings for Parents of Students with Exceptional Needs

Information Meetings for Parents of Exceptional Needs Children This is a monthly information meeting for parents of children with LD, ADHD, Asperger’s, Anxiety, OCD, Depression, Sensory, Integration issues, etc. with guest speakers talking on various topics. This is also a place to share information, connect with other parents and provide encouragement and support to each other. January 23rd from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Guest Speakers: Erin Nicholson; a Speech Pathologist from Sprouting Speech and Soha Mir; a school-based Speech Pathologist. Erin and Soha will discuss what services and supports are available for your child. They will share language strategies for parents, what to look for if you have concerns with your child’s speech, the referral process and more. February 27th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Guest Speaker: Jeff Ilse; an Abilities Counsellor for Algonquin College. Jeff will be speaking about the IEP process and how it can impact a child’s education, how parents’ can support that process, and how the IEP process will change over the next few years. March 27th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Guest Speaker: TBD To register or for more information, please contact Lindy at 613-687-2104 ext. 223 or psip3@pmfrc.org Pour de plus amples information ou pour s’inscrire, contacter Lindy au 613-687-2104 223 ou psip3@pmfrc.org psip3@pmfrc.org

Extended Day Survey DUe February 10 to General Lake Public School

Here is the link to copy and paste in the server for the survey http://www.rcdsb.on.ca/en/programs/resources/Extended_Day_Program_Family_Survey_-_Valour.pdf The Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) and Valour school may be offering an Extended Day Program for students (from JK up to age 12) starting September 2014. This Extended Day Program will operate within the school by an Early Childhood Educator before and after school and is meant to compliment the regular day program. The Extended Day Program is contingent on sufficient enrolment and is funded by revenue from parent fees. There may be subsidies available for some families from the County of Renfrew based on financial need. Information:  Hours - 7 a.m. until school starts and end of school until 6 p.m. on school days  Nutritional snacks are provided  Parents are required to provide transportation (drop off & pick up)  Activities compliment the regular school day program  Fees range between $25 - $32 depending on the various locations  Parents can select before or after or both day programs  Minimum numbers are required to offer the program Please complete the attached Extended Day Program Family Survey form and return it to your school no later than February 10, 2014. If you have indicated your intention to enrol your child in the Extended Day Program, you will be notified in April as to whether there is sufficient interest to provide a program. The Extended Day Program Survey form is also available at www.rcdsb.on.ca/extendeddayprogramfamilysurvey. If you would like to provide feedback on any of the information provided please email levasseurk@rcdsb.on.ca. Cathy McCann-Kyte Assistant Superintendent of Early Learning and Operations  Reminder to return bottom portion to the school office by February 10, 2014 Extended Day Program Family Survey I am interested in enrolling my child(ren) in an Extended Day Program based on the information provided. School: Student Name AM / PM Both Grade Next Year Age Date of Birth Contact Number The Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) and Valour school may be offering an Extended Day Program for students (from JK up to age 12) starting September 2014. This Extended Day Program will operate within the school by an Early Childhood Educator before and after school and is meant to compliment the regular day program. The Extended Day Program is contingent on sufficient enrolment and is funded by revenue from parent fees. There may be subsidies available for some families from the County of Renfrew based on financial need. Information:  Hours - 7 a.m. until school starts and end of school until 6 p.m. on school days  Nutritional snacks are provided  Parents are required to provide transportation (drop off & pick up)  Activities compliment the regular school day program  Fees range between $25 - $32 depending on the various locations  Parents can select before or after or both day programs  Minimum numbers are required to offer the program Please complete the attached Extended Day Program Family Survey form and return it to your school no later than February 10, 2014. If you have indicated your intention to enrol your child in the Extended Day Program, you will be notified in April as to whether there is sufficient interest to provide a program. The Extended Day Program Survey form is also available at www.rcdsb.on.ca/extendeddayprogramfamilysurvey. If you would like to provide feedback on any of the information provided please email levasseurk@rcdsb.on.ca. Cathy McCann-Kyte Assistant Superintendent of Early Learning and Operations  Reminder to return bottom portion to the school office by February 10, 2014 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extended Day Program Family Survey I am interested in enrolling my child(ren) in an Extended Day Program based on the information provided. School: Valour Student Name _______________________________________ AM / PM Both Grade Next Year _________ Age __________ Date of Birth ___________________________ Student Name _______________________________________ AM / PM Both Grade Next Year _________ Age __________ Date of Birth ___________________________ Student Name _______________________________________ AM / PM Both Grade Next Year _________ Age __________ Date of Birth ___________________________ Student Name _______________________________________ AM / PM Both Grade Next Year _________ Age __________ Date of Birth ___________________________ Contact Number _________________________________ Parent/Guardian Name (print) Date Please return to your school no later than February 10, 2014

Sunday Night Message January 19, 2014

Good evening Deb Legault here with your Sunday Night update from General Lake Public School. One more week until our big literacy day event on January 27th. Students are asked to send in any new or gently used books for our Book Swap. Students swapping books will be able to trade their books for their choice of books. Other students can purchase books with a small donation. All donated funds will be go back to the school to help fund our daily 'Breakfast for Learning' program which provides healthy snacks for our students throughout the day. The Petawawa library will be on hand to talk with classes about their Silver Birch reading event and we will be having a school wide pyjama day. This week we start the week on Monday Day 1. Boys intermediate basketball will meet in the gym at 8:15 on Monday and Wednesday. Girls basketball will meet at 8:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday is our school Council meeting starting at 6:00pm. On Friday we have our hot lunch pita. Don't forget to return the extended school day survey due February 10 and mark your calendar for our new junior kindergarten registrations starting January 27th. Thanks and have a great week.

Family Literacy Day coming January 27th -Bring books for our BOOK SWAP

15 Minutes of Fun! ABC Life Literacy Canada is encouraging Canadian families to have "15 Minutes of Fun" learning together. Learning can happen at any time. Practicing literacy together every day has tremendous benefits for both children and parents. Here are some great ways to get started: Write a joke book with your family. Read a bedtime story to the grown-up putting you to bed. Make up a new recipe together and post it online. Tell knock-knock jokes together while doing the dishes. Organize a book swap at your school. Make up riddles and tell them to your friends. Create a family book club. Build a drum with your family. Surf the Internet and learn about your favourite animal. Make up a song about your day to sing to your family at dinnertime. Write messages to your family on sticky notes and post them around the house. Create a story about what you’ll be doing for Family Literacy Day. Play a board game together. Build an acrostic poem using your hero’s name. Make an origami boat and see if it will float.

Link to extended day program survey not working

Sorry for the inconvenience, but it has come to my attention the link is not working for the survey for Extended Day program. I have notified the Board and hopefully we will get it up and running shortly.

January Newsletter

Learn, succeed … etudier, grandir General Lake Public School January 2014 www.generallakenews.blogspot.com Principal : Ms. D Legault Vice Principal : Mme M Robillard legaultd@rcdsb.on.ca robillardm@rcdsb.on.ca HAPPY NEW YEAR **** IMPORTANT DATES **** Jan 6 Day 1 School is back Jan 14 Grade 8 Info Night at Panet 6:00pm Jan 22 School Council Meeting 6:00pm Jan 27 Family Literacy Day Book Swap Kindergarten Registration begins Jan 30 Character Assembly Chinese New Year Jan 31 PA DAY Feb 11 Primary Public Speaking Feb 13 Junior/Intermediate Public Speaking Feb 14 Jump rope for Heart (Tentative) Feb 16 Petawawa Legion Public Speaking 12:30 Feb 17 Family Day Feb 19 School Council Feb 27 General Gerard Lake's Birthday Feb 28 Character Assembly March 7 PA Day March 10-March 14 March Break Wishing all parents and guardians of General Lake Public School students the happiest and healthiest 2014. Excellence in Teaching and Learning FAMILY LITERACY DAY Every year in January, families and communities across Canada celebrate Family Literacy Day. Family literacy refers to the many ways families develop and use literacy skills, from enjoying a story book together at bedtime and during the day, to playing with word games, singing, writing to a relative or friend, sharing day-to-day tasks such as making a shopping list or using a recipe, and surfing the Internet. For more information visit: http://abclifeliteracy.ca/ To celebrate Family Literacy Day General Lake Public School will be having a book swap during the day of January 27, 2013. Students are encouraged to bring in a gently used book which will entitle them to a voucher for a free book at our Book Swap. Classes will visit the ‘Book Store’ throughout the day and give students an opportunity to swap their books. Books will also be available for purchase for a nominal fee. Public Speaking at General Lake Public School Primary, Junior and Intermediate students from General Lake Public School are invited to take part in our annual Public Speaking competition. Primary students selected by teachers will speak in the gym at 12:10 on Feb 11, 2014. Junior/ intermediate students (grade 4-8) selected by teachers will speak in the gym on Feb 13, 2014 at 12:10. The speakers may choose their own topics. Participants in the Primary category may select their own topic or story. Speeches are to be the original work of the speaker. If the primary speaker is retelling a published story or work, this speaker must provide a copy of the original work at the time of the Competition. Complete rules and regulations are available at the school or on the blog. Contestants that win at the school level are invited to attend the Royal Canadian Legion contest at Branch 517 on February 16 at 12:30. Extended Day The Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) and your school may be offering an Extended Day Program for students (from JK up to age 12) starting September 2014. This Extended Day Program will operate within the school by an Early Childhood Educator before and after school and is meant to compliment the regular day program. The Extended Day Program is contingent on sufficient enrolment and is funded by revenue from parent fees. There may be some subsidies available for families based on financial need provided by the County of Renfrew. The Extended Day Program Family Survey form is available from your elementary school and also at www.rcdsb.on.ca/extendeddayprogramfamilysurvey. JK/SK Registration The Renfrew County District School Board is pleased to welcome new JK and SK students to its schools for 2014-2015. For Junior Kindergarten, children who will be 4 years of age by December 31 of their current school year. For Senior Kindergarten, children who will be 5 years of age by December 31 of their current school year. Please note that students presently in Junior Kindergarten are not required to re-register for Senior Kindergarten. Registration will take place Monday, January 27-Friday, January 31 and Monday, February 3 to Friday, February 7th from 9:30 to 3 p.m. at each school. Please bring the following documents to register your child:  Proof of age (birth certificate/birth registration/baptism)  Immunization records  Ontario Health Card  Lot and Concession Number/Civic Street Address  Proof of Ontario residency (Ontario Driver’s License, utility bill) Safe, caring and Respectful Environment Habit of mind for January is Respect Respect is behaving in a way that shows one cares about one self and others. Some of the ways one demonstrates respect include dressing and behaving in a way that show self respect; using manners, being polite and treating others how one expects to be treated; and putting trash and garbage where it belongs. These are a few of the ways we can all demonstrate respect. At school everyone is expected to be respectful and to behave in a way that demonstrates respect for each other. It seems simple but it is not always easy to do—especially when one feels angry or frustrated. It is through modeling, learning to identify words for our feelings and developing respectful and acceptable ways to express our feelings. Kamrie For Kenya Congratulations to Kalee Granter, for winning the Gingerbread House in the Kamrie for Kenya Free The Children Event in December. Congratulations to Nick Spence and Faith MacKay for both winning gingerbread cookies also donated for the fundraiser. Kamrie is fundraising toward her humanitarian trip to Kenya to help build schools this summer. Kamrie was inspired through our Free the Children Me to We program to take action. We look forward to hearing more about her plans and assisting to make her dream a possibility. Holiday Spirit Alive and Well at GLPS It was standing room only as staff, students, and parents gathered for our holiday concert at General Lake Public School on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 at 12:15. Classes delighted the audience with a variety of holiday songs in both French and English. Special Thanks to Mrs Calver and to Mme Butler for organizing this exciting event for our school. Thanks to our parents for the tremendous show of support for our school. Wise Use Of Resources Welcome Back Winter Staff on recess supervision always monitor the cold temperatures and the comfort and safety of students. Please dress your children for the weather-hats, mittens, scarves, snow pants and BOOTS! We would encourage you to mark items with your child’s name so we can identify lost items of clothing. General Lake Public School Council www.generallakeschoolcouncil.blogspot.ca . Welcome back! Now that the holidays are over, General Lake School Council has lots of activities on the go. We are planning a family dinner and activity night in February as well as our spring fundraiser. We are also looking for a few new ideas, so suggestions are always welcome. The Council is in need of volunteers to assist with our Friday Hot Lunch program. In order for our activities to be successful we need your help. Please contact a member of School Council by phoning the school at (613) 687-2404 or emailing generallakeschoolcouncil@gmail.com if interested in helping with any of the above activities. The next meeting is scheduled for January 22nd at 6:00pm in the school library. As always, everyone is invited to attend and children are welcome as well. Volley Ball at General Lake Congratulations to our boys and girls volleyball teams for their tremendous efforts and positive attitude. Both teams gave it their all at the 2 tournaments November 20 with the girls and on Friday November 29 the boys made us proud. On the Boys team congrats to Alvaro Real-Escoto, Dante Hoffman, Sam Mahinpoor, Aiden Baird, Colby Gilby, Jaden Prigione, Ridge Chartrand, Charles Osborne and Zac Reid. On the girls team congrats to Remi Lavoie, Sarah Stacey, Abigail Jupp, Emma Campbell, Skylar Reed, Caitlyn Leblanc, Fiona MacPherson, Shannon Turner and Gabrielle McKenna. Special thanks to Coach Malette and Coach Green for giving their time to train the students. PALS program at General Lake P.A.L.S is a playground leadership program offered through the Champlain Healthy School Initiative that encourages all children to participate in activities regardless of gender, size or ability. On December 9 Champlain Healthy School Facilitator Natalie Martin, Lake School Support Counsellor Ms. Green, and Teacher Mme MacPhee helped train approximately 70 Grade four,five and six students to plan and lead fun and safe activities on the playground. Valour Principal Mr Baird was also on hand to help facilitate the program. The objectives of the program are to increase physical activity; decrease conflict and reduce the incidence of playground bullying; and provide leadership opportunity for students. General Lake students will begin implementing this program learning in the New Year on the playground.

Sunday Night Update JAnuary 12, 2014

Good evening, Deb Legault here with your Sunday Night update from General Lake. We begin the week January 13 on Day 1. On Tuesday at 6:00pm General Panet is hosting a parent and student information night for the grade 8 students. More info on the blog. All Grade 8 parents and students should plan to attend. On Monday and Wednesday morning at 8:15 Intermediate boys have basketball. On Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00am intermediate Girls have basketball On Friday we have hot lunch pizza. We will also be having another lockdown safety practice Mark your calendar for Jan 22 School Council Meeting January 27 Kindergarten registration begins We will be having our annual bookswap on Family Literacy Day on January 27th. Students are encouraged to bring in their gently used books to swap for another book. Students who bring in a book will receive a voucher to be used to claim another book at our Literacy Event on January 27. Finally a survey is being sent home or is available on the blog or in the office related to our extended day program which may be available next year. If you are interested in having your child participate please complete survey right away. We would like to be able to bring this opportunity to the new school if there is enough interest. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

January 14 Information Night at Panet

General Panet is hosting a parent and student information night on January 14th at 6:00pm.  Students and parents will be given their course selection cards, handbook and verification sheets at the evening meeting.  Over the next week students will work with their parent and teacher to select their courses for grade 9.  Staff from General Panet will visit each school on either January 24th or 27th and the grade eights, with the help of Panet staff will go on line and input their course selections for next year.  It is important for all parents and students to attend the evening session so that they can make informed decisions prior to online selections later in the month.  Thank you and see you on January 14th at General Panet.

Sunday Night Update from General Lake , January 5, 2014

Happy New Year to our General Lake Community.  Thanks to everyone for attending our wonderful Holiday concert. Pictures will be on display on our front bulletin board.

We are back to school on Monday, January 6 and it is Day 1. Our character trait for the month is RESPECT and we will be taking the opportunity to review rules and routines during these first weeks back.

We are getting back into focusing on one of our school goals of promoting physical fitness.  This week, Mme Robillard will be leading various intramurals for the different grade levels and our girls basketball will be starting on Tuesday at 8:00am for our intermediate students.   We will also be starting a fit challenge for all our classes.

Friday is our hot lunch pizza. 

Extended Day Information
The Renfrew County District School Board and our school may be offering an extended Day Program for students from JK up to age 12 starting September 2014 at Valour. This Extended Day Program will operate within the school by an Early Childhood Educator before and after school and is meant to compliment the regular day program.
The Extended Day Program is contingent on sufficient enrolment and is funded by revenue from parent fees. There may be some subsidies available for families based on financial need provided by the County of Renfrew. The Extended  Day Program Family Survey form is available from General Lake and also at www.rcdsb.on.ca/extendeddayprogramfamilysurvey.

JK/SK Registration
The Renfrew County District School Board is pleased to welcome new JK and SK students to its schools for 2014-2015. For Junior Kindergarten, children who are 4 years of age as of December 31 of their current year. For Senior Kindergarten, children who are 5 years of age as of December 31 of their current year. Please note that students presently in Junior Kindergarten are not required to re-register for Senior Kindergarten.
Registration will take place Monday January 27 -Friday, January 31 and Monday February 3 to  Friday February 7th from 9:30 to 3pm at General Lake.  Please bring the following documents to register your child:
*proof of age (birth certificate/birth registration/baptism
*immunization records
*Ontario Health Card
*Lot and Concession Number/Civic Street Address
*Proof of Ontario residency (Ontario Driver's Licence, utility bill)

We check the temperature daily. If it dips below -20 with the wind chill we remain indoors, as is Board policy to prevent any chance of frost bite

As a final thought let me leave you with words from the Dalia Lama "Let us determine to be more sincere, compassionate, warm-hearted human beings, trying to make our world a more equal place." Again welcome back!