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.