Report Cards - Near North District School Board

VINCENT MASSEY PUBLIC SCHOOL
15 Janey Ave., North Bay, Ontario P1C 1N1
Tel: (705) 475-2340
Fax: (705) 472-2917
Near North District School Board
www.nearnorthschools.ca/vincent-massey
Karen Waller
Amanda Silk
Principal
Vice Principal
Tuesday Jan 28
Go Girls/Game On
Wednesday Jan 29
Pizza Day
Friday Jan 31
PD Day
Tuesday Feb 4
Go Girls/Game On
Wednesday Feb 5
Pizza Day
Friday Feb 7
Winter Play Day
Monday Feb 10
Olympic Celebrations begin
Tuesday Feb 11
Go Girls/Game On
Wednesday Feb 12
Pizza Day
Thursday Feb 13
Report cards go home
Friday Feb 14
Valentines Day
Monday Feb 17
FAMILY DAY HOLIDAY
Tuesday Feb 18
Go Girls/Game On
Wednesday Feb 19
Pizza Day
Monday Feb 24
Term 3 pizza notes go home
Tuesday Feb 25
Go Girls/Game On
Wednesday Feb 26
Pizza Day
Friday Feb 28
Term 3 pizza forms due
Report Cards:
Term One report cards for all
students in JK to Grade 6 will be
sent home Thursday February 13th .
Please be sure to read the report and discuss it with your child. Please sign and
return the portion of the report card
which acknowledges receipt, and help
your child complete the section about
their best work and setting goals for improvement.
If you have questions or
concerns about your child’s
progress at school, please
touch base with your child’s
teacher.
Growing our
Vincent Massey Family!
Do you have a child ready for JK in the
fall?
We have registration packages available at the school office beginning
Monday January 27th .
Please let your neighbours know about our
wonderful place for learning.
Vincent Massey students are participating in two of the Forest of
Reading programs initiated and sponsored by the Ontario Library Association. The librarians of Ontario have nominated books
by Canadian Authors and Illustrators.
The kindergarten, grade one and grade two
students are reading ten picture books in the
Blue Spruce program. Students will have the
opportunity to vote for their favourite picture book
and participate in many classroom activities.
The Silver Birch Award program is aimed at students in grades three to six. Students
this year will be reading from The Silver Birch Express list. There are ten books on the
list. The students must read a minimum of five books in order to be eligible to vote on
their favourite book and to participate in the event ending celebration called The
Festival of Trees. We will send home additional information about The Festival of Trees
closer to the date of the event.
The next few months will be very exciting for our students. Many authors have book
trailers, interviews and activities on their web sites to accompany their books.
The staff at Vincent Massey hope that all parents will encourage their children to
take part and enjoy this amazing reading program. You can find more information
and a complete listing of the books, at the Ontario Library Association website.
Organizational Announcements
Vincent Massey wishes to announce the retirement of
Mrs. Carolyn Saini, effective the end of January. Mrs.
Saini has been at Vincent Massey pretty much as long
as we can remember! While we are pleased for Mrs.
Saini, we also know we will miss her very much. We wish
her well as she gets caught up on her reading list and expands on her recording career—watch for her new CD
coming this spring!
We welcome Mr. Jordie Main as the classroom teacher for
the remainder of the school year in our Grade 4 class.
All the VERY BEST Mrs. Saini !
We also extend best wishes to Mrs. Fleming and her family as she
begins her maternity leave at the end of January. Stay tuned for an
update on the newest Fleming,
expected in early February.
We welcome Mrs. Jennifer Dunford as the classroom teacher for the remainder of the school year
in our Grade 3/4 class.
Lost!
Green Roxy snow pants.
Last seen in Vincent
Massey Lost and Found
Box. If these pants have
accidentally made their
way to your home, please
return them to the school.
Thank you.
Winter Play Day—Friday February 7th
Students in JK to Grade 6 will participate in a variety of outdoor active games on Friday Feb 7th. Please ensure your
child is dressed appropriately for the weather. We will be
outdoors for most of the morning.
Thank you to our School Advisory Council for providing hot chocolate during this
event. Parent volunteers are required to man the hot chocolate station. If you are
available to help out please call Jennifer Matthews at 705-474-8686 or email her at
tjar@bell.net.
In December, Mrs. Katsuno's Grade 2 class and Mrs. Ringler’s Grade 2/3 class worked very
hard to help a world community. The students earned money by doing chores in and
around their homes. They helped by, taking out the garbage, shovelling
snow, sorting the recycling, setting the table, making beds, doing the dishes
and many other chores. Together they raised $187.00!
With the money raised the students were able to purchase, through Plan Canada—
Gifts of Hope, two goats, a baby chick and two bed nets.
The boys and girls were very enthusiastic and proud of their efforts. Good work!
Brick By Brick update
In December, the Take Action team and Vincent Massey
students participated in the Brick By Brick initiative, which
worked to raise money to build a school in a developing
country. With your help in Candy Gram sales and donations, our school raised nearly $800.00! This money will be
sent to Free the Children, and will begin the process of
building a school! Go Vikings!
Rafiki Friendship Chains
Give the gift of a better world with a Rafiki Friendship Chain. With each Rafiki you buy,
you empower a child or family in a developing country. Every chain is unique and handmade by a Maasai mama in Kenya.
By purchasing a Rafiki chain, you are empowering others by:

Water Rafiki Chain (blue) gives one year of clean water to one person

Health Rafiki Chain (red) gives one year of health care to one child

Education Rafiki Chain (multi) gives one year of school supplies to a child

Food Rafiki Chain (green) gives one month of healthy
meals to one child

Income Rafiki Chain (black/white) gives sustainable
financial tools to empower women
Bracelets will be available by order in February and will
be sold for $10 each.
Please watch for more information and order forms in
the very near future.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
Please remember that the driveway running along the sidewalk on our upper
playground is for bus loading and unloading only.
If you are dropping off your child in the morning please be mindful of the busses that are unloading. Pulling in front or beside the busses creates safety concerns for our students.
If you are picking up your child at the end of the day, it is critical that you park your car in the
parking lot, retrieve your child from the pick- up area and supervise your child’s safe walk to
your vehicle.
This also applies to bus cancellation days and indoor dismissals. For the safety of
our walkers trying to access the sidewalk, we need you to
please park in the parking lot.
Thank you for working together for the safety of all of our children.
Safe and Accepting Schools
Safe Telling
One of the biggest obstacles to ending bullying – and all forms of aggression – is secrecy. Those who bully
others try to force those they target, along with children who might be witnessing the bullying, to keep the
bullying a secret and maintain the code of silence. There are often explicit threats of retaliation should the
code be broken, though sometimes it is simply understood. This allows bullying to become further entrenched, and for feelings of fear, shame and guilt to flourish.
As such, it is important to acknowledge and honour the risk children take when they do tell us about a bullying situation. Respecting your child’s confidentiality and wishes as much as possible is also pivotal to creating a safe environment for telling, challenging the culture of secrecy that enables bullying to take root
and grow.
It may be necessary to consult others and to get support from the teacher or principal at your child’s
school - even if your child asks you not to. There are respectful ways of doing this, by ensuring that your
child has as much say in dealing with the situation as possible.
For example, whenever possible, we can:

Inform our child before hand, when it becomes necessary to get help

Involve our child in choosing whom to tell or consult

Involve our child in the timing of telling others

Offer to be there with our child when they are getting help of some kind – with older youth this
might include the police, or a crisis line
Bullying Prevention Guide: A Resource for Parents and Schools (COPA)
Thank you to our SAC for recent purchases in support of our technology needs.
As a result of fundraising efforts such as pizza days and magazine sales, SAC
has been able to buy ten new iPad airs , as well as the protective coverings for
the ten new iPad minis that the school is purchasing. We are thrilled to
announce that we now have a minimum of four iPads
available for student use in every classroom!
Our SAC has been busy making plans to continue fundraising and
to support events which will enhance parent involvement.
Watch for more information on:


Spring Baskets
Parent Technology Information Night
Next meeting date is Monday, February 10th @ 6:30 in the Library.
All are welcome to attend.
Follow Vincent Massey SAC on Twitter at @VinMasseySAC.
Comments and Suggestions for improving student achievement through parent
engagement are always appreciated!
Vincent Massey is pleased to be hosting mentors from our local Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. Beginning on Tuesday January 28th, interested Grade six boys and girls will have the opportunity to participate in “Go Girls” and “Game on”.
Go Girls! is a group mentoring program for girls, that focuses on physical activity,
balanced eating and self-esteem. The single, most important goal of the program
is to positively shape the lives of young women and girls by helping them build a
positive self-image – setting them on a path to reach their full potential in life.
The sessions are
loosely structured around themes of physical activity, healthy eating, self-esteem, and communication skills.
Game On! is a group mentoring program for boys, with information and support to make informed choices about a range of healthy lifestyle practices.
Through non-traditional physical activities, complemented with healthy eating
support, participants are engaged in life skills, communication, and emotional
health discussions designed to engage participants in the pursuit of healthy lifestyles.
Please contact Ms. Silk for more information about the programme.
A reminder that Friday January 31 is a PD Day. There are no
classes. Teachers will be involved in assessment activities.
Monday February 17th is Family Day in Ontario.
The school will be closed. Enjoy your long weekend!
Coming in March…

PD Day March 7
 March Break 10-14
 Term 3 pizza days begin March 12 ( forms will be sent home at the end of February)
A look ahead…
EQAO testing May 26—June 4 (Grades 3 & 6)