The Westie - École Westhaven School

The Westie
Madame Fatou’s Grade Two
French Immersion (FRIM)
September was a fast and busy month for my Grade
two French Immersion, but we have learned a lot
about classroom’s rules and routines in order to
grow in a safe environment. In Social studies, we are
developing skills of geographic thinking and still
learning about urban and rural Communities to introduce Edson (Alberta), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Meteghan ( Nouvelle Écosse / Nova Scotia) and Iqaluit
(Nunavut). In math, our class is working hard on writing numbers in words and we
are just incorporating fun activities to keep students interest and meet all their
needs. We are also making every effort to
express our thought in French in every theme
that we develop in class and we have different
positive ways to encourage those skills. Also in
Science, experimenting with magnets has resulted in increased excitement in room 120.
The upcoming months promise to be busy also
because our reading comprehension will be
started.
Mrs. Cave Grade 2/3 and
Mrs. Keating Grade 2
The grade 2 and 2/3 classes are in full swing. We have
been busy working in our journals and learning about patterns in math. We enjoy learning by doing special activities such as cooking. These activities enrich our language, develop our math skills, and enhance science concepts. The children learn to work with
others, as they learn about respect and safety.
We would like to thank our parents and look
forward to working with them in the future.
February 29, 2012
November 2015
Ecole Westhaven School
1205 Westhaven Drive
Edson, Alberta
T7E 1S6
Phone 780-723-3397
Fax 780-723-4039
e-mail:
stacmcgo@gypsd.ca
We believe all
students can achieve
within a safe, caring,
inclusive and
collaborative
community.
Book Fair
Rachel Pasek of Netball Alberta joined Westhaven in the first week of
October and taught all our students the game of Netball.
Rachel spent 3 days teaching our students and at the end she left all
the equipment so we could continue to play.
We were so happy and thankful to learn all about netball and where it is
played. One thing we learned is that Netball was invented in Canada.
However it is mainly played in England, Australia, New Zealand and
south Africa.
News from the Office
Dear Parents,
We have had an excellent start up to the 2015-16 school year, thanks to all the wonderful efforts of the parents and school staff! We have lots of activities and events planned to keep everyone interested and learning
all year! We hope you will be able to enjoy these special days with your child, and with the school community. A
few of the special events in the month of October are: book fair, parent/ teacher interviews and Halloween
party and family dance. Remember to check out your child’s agenda and classroom newsletters for more details on these and other special days.
We had a successful walkathon fundraiser. We raised a total of $6,798.50 on this event. We donated
$680.00 towards Terry Fox Cancer Foundation and the remainder goes towards our fieldtrips, guest speakers, plays, and presenters that we have over the school year. Last year we spent over $10,374.00 on all of
these activities. The PAC supplements this fund with their fundraiser money. Some of the things we did
through this budget were: HRH play, Pine Grove play, Camp Warwa, Alberta Opera, Telus World of Science,
Pembina Historical Society, Switzer Park, Camp WoChoAs, Ukrainian Village, and any bussing to events
(swimming, plays, etc.). The largest cost for most of our field trips is in the bussing fees.
Thank you to the Rotary Club for providing dictionaries to all of our grade three students. This initiative is
appreciated and assists in teaching vocabulary development and spelling to our students.
Sincerely,
Stacy McGowan
Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)
The year is off to a great start! We hope everyone is settled in and enjoying being back. We would like to take
this time and invite you to attend out PAC meetings. We meet the first Monday of every month at 7pm in the
school library.
October is a busy month. The book fair will be held October 19-21. This is a great opportunity to expand your
home library, support the school, and maybe get some Christmas shopping done! We are also very excited about
our Halloween dance which will be held on October 30 from 6-8. Lots of fun is in store for the whole family!
The cost of this event is $5.00 per family.
Our Next meeting will be on November 2nd, we look forward to seeing you there.
Student Teacher
My name is Emily Birkenhagen. I am a student teacher in Mrs.
Spreen's grade 3 class.
I will be here for 9
weeks working with both
Mrs. Spreen and Ms.
Minhas. In the next couple of weeks, I will be
teaching the grade 3
children so that I can gain more experience
before graduating in April 2016.
I grew up on a farm in Carrot Creek. I
went to a rural school from kindergarten to
grade 9 and came to Edson for my high school.
I am a fourth year student at the University
of Alberta and have had experience teaching
children. I have completed one session of student teaching in grade 5 at Vanier Community
Catholic School and I have also worked as a
teaching assistant in a grade 1 class at Vanier.
I am excited to work with and teach
the children of Westhaven for the next couple of months. I look forward to meeting you
and to helping your children to learn.
Sincerely,
Miss Birkenhagen
Upcoming Events
October 30– Halloween Celebration PM
October 30– Halloween Dance 6:00-8:00 pm
November 2– School Council (PAC) Meeting 7:00
November 10– Remembrance Day Ceremony–
Dress in Red/White/Black
November 11– Non Student Day
November 16– 20– Anti-Bully Week
November19– No Kindergarten
November 25– CN- Railway Safety Presentation
December 4– Report Cards Go Home
December 7– School council (PAC) Meeting 7:00
December 8– Christmas Concert Dress Rehearsal
December 9– Afternoon Christmas Concert @
1:15
December 10– Afternoon Christmas Concert @
1:15
December 18– PJ Day
December 19– January 3– Christmas Break
January 4– School Resumes
Ecole Westhaven Health Champion’s

“Eating habits are learned behaviors; they’re not intuitive. So what your children
learn to eat at home early in life sticks with them well into adulthood.” Ann Cooper
and Lisa M. Holmes
The students have been enjoying our “school wide” walking routine in the mornings. During the month of
November, we will continue to do our morning exercise routine inside or outside depending on the weather. Also
in November, we will start the “Healthy Rainbow Snack” program where students will be encouraged to bring a
variety of fruits and vegetables that are the colors from the rainbow.
Each classroom will have SMART board rainbow to complete in their
classrooms. Once a color is completed, that class will add a piece of colored construction paper to the school-wide rainbow! Once our school wide
rainbow is complete, we will have a healthy surprise for all students.