Selkirk Montessori School E

NOVEMBER 2015
From the Academic Head, Erin Hayes
Make the Minutes Count
Selkirk Montessori
School E-Newsletter
By now you may have heard
that Finland is consistently a
world leader in education. But
do you know why?
They have high graduation
rates, high student engagement and globally outperform
everyone in academic
achievement (Program for International School Assessment). While most countries
have a broad range of
achievement, with their highest achievers carrying their
scores and the lowest achievers dropping out, Finland has
a narrow range of achievement and all learners persist in
their pursuit of an education.
All types of learners perform
extremely well! About a third
of their student population receive Special Education services at some point in their
education and then go on to
perform as well as their peers
who have not. Their remedial
and accelerated learning supports are generally in class because they have low student
to teacher ratios
(approximately 12:1) and the
Inside this issue:
Outdoor Education—Photo Gallery
4
Staff babies are here!
6
Selkirk Parent Group (SPG) Update
7
Health & Safety—Linda Dombrowski
8
Sponsor a Syrian Family to come to Victoria!
9
WE Day & Hummingbird Party Reports
Book Fair Photos/Bear’s Den Report
10
11-12
classroom teachers can provide direction, instruction and
feedback. This allows teachers
to expertly monitor responses
and growth in context. More
here: http://neomam.com/blog//wpcontent/uploads/2013/03/2Djp3WN.jpg
As we reflect on the Finnish
education system, it is easy to
see the similarities between
what they do and what Selkirk
Montessori does. Some examples are excellent ratios, learning through exploration and
practise, integrated supports,
and high success rates across
demographics.
There is one more similarity to
consider. Finnish students
rarely have homework until
their teens. This has an impact
on their progress – in such a
positive way. Finnish schools
assume that mastery will be
attained in the classroom setting with guidance and opportunities to make and correct
mistakes. Students learn best
when materials are successive, methodical and in context.
(cont’d on Page 2)
Make the Minutes Count (cont’d)
Finally, it is assumed that when students work
hard all day on their core academics, it is also
important that they have an opportunity to explore their own passions outside of school.
For all of these reasons, we continue to have a
“No Homework Programs” practice here at
Selkirk Montessori, which is different from a
“No Homework” practice. Homework should
be meaningful and interesting. This starts right
away in preschool with a routine we expect
parents to continue right through the Middle
Years with your child – yes middle years –
reading! Reading should be imbedded in your
interactions with your child and also during set
aside times. Ensure your child is reading or
being read to at least 30 minutes a day, even
as they get older.

Being patient enough to let your child
read parts of a manual as you assemble
something new

Reading and exchanging letters or postcards with someone

Reading the funnies

Re-reading a familiar book

Reading the advertisements for an event
your child might enjoy

Reading a website about a topic of high
interest or of study in class

Exploring different genres each month

Finding a high interest magazine –
horses, science, art, technology
Page 2

Create or become part
of a parent-child book
club (with community
or a membership of
two)

The classic: Snuggling
up with a new book
Beyond reading, you will notice elements of
your child’s school learning coming home. In
kindergarten/preschool, it might be a fun little
project you can do together that compliments
the season or theme. In elementary, students
often bring home spelling lists and math facts,
factual knowledge that can be worked on in
isolation.
From time to time, students will also be working on special projects,
like Historical Halloween, that allow you to
catch a glimpse of their
thought process, interests, and work habits. If you have added
strings to your morning
routines, you will also
see that your child is
busy practising each and every night. For a
school without “homework for homework’s
sake”, we sure have busy kids!
In the Middle Years, we work on a “flipped system” where students will do reading and research outside of class, with an opportunity for
guided inquiry or study in the classroom. This
means that their evening reading may be a bit
more prescribed or done digitally, but it is still
enhanced by the same interest from and conversation with a parent. In addition, students
will be practising an instrument every evening,
important for developing a sense of mastery
and for its other brain benefits.
(Cont’d on Page 3)
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Invitation to our Annual Ceremony
You are invited to attend the Selkirk Montessori School
Assembly of Remembrance.
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
At 12:45 pm in the
Selkirk Montessori School
Gym
Please be seated by 12:35.
Thank you.
Make the Minutes Count (cont’d)
The most frequent argument for homework is
that students must develop strong work habits.
Both Finland and Montessori would argue that
if that can’t be done in a school day, why
would we assume it should be done through
homework? We know that when we create an
environment that fosters strong work habits
and builds understanding then high engagement and strong achievement will follow.
Finally, this may all be complimented by unfinished business (when time management was
not what it should have been) or special projects that require some extra time out of
school (preparing for a debate or presentation)
or collecting materials for an exhibit.
Page 3
Our kids today are busy. So please, help foster
a joy of reading and consistently support your
child in the little things that do come home. But
mostly let’s trust that they learn best when they
are joyful and highly interested. Let’s leave
space and minutes for sparks to ignite and
passions to grow.
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Outdoor Education Gallery — Sea Stars at Gowland Tod Park
)
Thanks to
Elizabeth, Eli,
Margie and
Danielle for
taking the Sea
Stars on an
outdoor
adventure in
October.
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S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
“Banning cartwheels: What’s the point of recess with no fun?”
free time. “I was like, what the heck?!”
Following umbrellas, hard balls and
patches of ice, yet another hazard has
presented itself on the playground of
an elementary school in midtown Toronto. The cartwheel, not generally
considered a thing of peril, has been
banned, together with the entire family
of activities it belongs to, commonly
known as gymnastics. The powers that
be have determined that these risky
contortions of young bodies and outright defiance of the laws of gravity
have no place on the school playground.
According to a teacher at the school,
enthusiasm for gymnastics has been
spreading beyond its classic cohort of
Grade 5 and 6 girls in recent weeks, as
the pre-teen pros have been assisting
younger students in attempting cartwheels, handstands and bridges on a
grassy patch of the playground. It’s not
clear which manoeuvre prompted the
prohibition; the girls say that reports of
attempted backflips are vastly exaggerated and that the teachers simply
lack the vocabulary to properly describe their back bends, bridges and
limbers.
“Nobody has ever hurt themselves,”
says one of the prime offenders, a
Grade 5 student who rock-climbs in her
Page 5
I was too, and not because my children
(who, as boys, are more drawn to speed,
balls, and combat) are directly impacted,
but because I as a girl loved gymnastics
– less the official practice in gyms than
the freelance opportunities presented by
hills, trees and the plain old ground. Girlhood to me is unthinkable without these
physical challenges, which could be practised any time and anywhere, and
formed the glue of many of my girlhood
friendships.
So what’s the problem? According to the
principal, responding to perplexed parents’ inquiries, “the staff are not comfortable with the level of risk.” And to be
fair, it’s not an outright ban. The policy,
broadcast through the school during
morning announcements, merely insists
that a “trained spotter” be present. But
with no “trained spotters” manifesting on
the playground, the children must content themselves with boring old bipedalism.
Risk is a big word in parenting theses
days; in fact, we may be the most paranoid generation of parents in history. But
as study after study demonstrates how
our excessively risk-averse parenting is
creating children who are less resilient,
less able to overcome challenge, less agile, more fat, more insecure and more
inclined to bully or be bullied, one would
hope that we would support, if not insist
on, a school allowing our children to put
themselves upside-down if they want to.
(cont’d on next page)
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Banning cartwheels: What’s the point of recess with no fun? (cont’d)
What’s the alternative? What would a
risk-free recess look like? I see girls
huddled around iPhones watching videos of their favourite boy bands,
friending and unfriending each other
to death and figuring out ways to
jump the fence to do the things they
want – surely cartwheels are the
lesser evil.
We did not request the end of shenanigans or the removal of the signpost. After all, it holds up the 30 km/h speed
limit sign, which is the only token of civility in front of the school during morning drop-off, as parent-driven cars and
SUVs battle for parking spots, execute
three-point turns on curbs and eject
their children in the middle of the street.
My five-year-old son, still in kindergarten and not yet swimming in the
ocean of the main playground, was
reflecting on the problem when he
asked “Mummy, is walking dangerous?” I had to remind him of the sign
post that he walked into recently,
while going past his kindergarten
playground and marvelling at the shenanigans going on therein.
It’s time to give some serious thought to
which risks are real and which ones are
imagined and what role we, as adults,
play in creating, if not inventing, them.
Reprinted from the Globe and Mail
Naomi Buck is a Toronto-based writer.
Welcome to our Selkirk Montessori School Community!
Congratulations
to new parents
Glenys George
and Reuben Copley on the birth
of their son,
Taliesin. He was
born on September 20th at
6:52 am and
weighed 8 lbs
and 10 ounces.
Page 6
Best wishes to
even newer parents Lia and
Cameron Reid on
the birth of
their son Benson Bruce He
was born October 27 at
9:20am an
weighed 6lbs 14
oz.
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Selkirk Parent Group (SPG) Update
There’s a lot going on at the Selkirk Parent
Group these days.
First a big round of applause to our full set
of Classroom Reps! May I introduce:

Hummingbird Room AM: Kate McKenzie

Hummingbird Room PM: Sarah Scorey
and Katherine Hellner

Chickadee Room AM: Carla Green

Chickadee Room PM:Liza Shibata and
Christine Taber

Marmot Room: Paula Weir

Otter Room: Sarah Van Toorn

Raccoon Room: Meaghan McKay

Orca Room: Barb Carr-Harris

Owl Room: Katherine Hellner

Sea Star Room: Danica Gleave

Cormorant Room: Kylee Weber and
Genne Seto

Kingfisher Room: Silvia Mangue
A thousand thanks to these parents who are
able and willing to step up to the job and
help build our school community.
A top notch Parent Ed night has been arranged for later this month.
Dr Magali Brulot is a local psychologist with
extensive experience in the field of childhood
anxiety. She is an animated, engaging
speaker who generously shares practical tips
and insights that will help guide your work
with children, be they your own kids or others.
She will coming on Wednesday, November
25 at 6:30 . Join us for this free, SPG sponsored event. Please watch for updates on exact location and child care.
Page 7
On a personal note I will add that I found her
presentation a few years ago to be deeply inspiring and only wish both my husband and I
had been in the room together to hear what
she had to say.
December is only a
month away, and as has
been the tradition for the
past few years, the
school will be supporting
the most vulnerable people in our city with the
provision of Angel Gifts
and collecting of socks
and shoes in our big
“Sacks of Socks” campaign. For Angel Gifts,
each classroom will be assigned the task of
raising $40 which will then go to the purchase
of a gift for a client of Our Place.
Recognizing that homeless people have nowhere to dry their feet and often spend days in
cold, wet footwear, we will collect as many
pairs of gently used or new adult socks and
shoes to pass along to Rock Bay Landing and
the Coolaid Community Health Centre. Your
generosity is so appreciated.
And last but not least, an update from the
Fundraising Front!
The Entertainment Books sale is now complete.
A gentle reminder that if you have any unpaid
for books lurking at home, please send payment or send the book back to school.
Watch for Purdy’s chocolate sales coming up for
the holiday season, as well as Level Ground
coffee and dried fruit treats. We will be doing
Art Cards again in the new year. Thrifty cards
are active again you can use last years, or
watch for a new one in your family file soon.
The next SPG meeting will be Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30. We hope to see you there.
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Linda’s Corner—Health & Safety
They’re back! The bugs
and viruses seem to arrive
at this time of the year, after everyone returns in
January and also in the
spring!
Here at the school, we have ramped up the
cleaning of door handles and asked that the
teachers remind the students that good hand
washing is important. We ask that you follow
through with this at home. Remember if your
child is sick, please keep them at home so that
they can get healthy quicker and not spread
the germs.
In October, strep throat surfaced. The Ministry
of Health guideline that Selkirk Montessori
School follows is:
school to have on hand. The Allerject website
states that they have stopped production of the
Allerject until the product can be corrected.
They also answer some questions on this site;
www.allerject.ca If you personally know of
anyone who uses this product, please help
spread the word.
Please come and see me or give me a call at
250-384-3414 if you have any questions. I will
also be directly in touch with the parents of students where the Allerject is involved. Thank
you.
Linda
Health and Safety Manager
We are looking for some volunteers to do some sewing of
ice pack covers. There are
one or two that have seen
their day, so it’s time for an
update. We welcome anyone
who might be interested in
helping with this within the
school - this also includes any
of our neighbours who might
have some free time and
would like to help! Call me
“Children with a streptococcal infection
should not return to the child care centre or
school until they have completed 24 hours of
antibiotic treatment and only when they feel
well enough to take part in regular activities.”
(Information above has been taken from the
Sneezes and Diseases Fact Sheets from the
Vancouver Island Health Authority.)
Allerject Products
As many of you might have heard there has
been a recall on the Allerject products. Some
of the products may not contain the full dosage, so it might not work effectively. Your
pharmacist should have been in touch with
you if this affects you. The school is asking all
of those parents that have students that use the
Allerject to please have the pharmacist replace
the product and return an Epi-pen for the
Page 8
at 250-384-3414.
We will also need one or two volunteers who
would like to help with emergency preparedness
grocery shopping. The food is replenished every
year. The food we are looking for is in the commercial size.
If you are able to help with either of these two
volunteer opportunities please contact me directly.
Thank you for your time. Linda Dombrowski
S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Syrian Family Being Sponsored!
The Lloyd-Murray family (George and
Charlie Murray) at our school has
joined a small constituency group that
is sponsoring a Syrian Family with
young children who are currently in a
refugee camp. This is a private sponsorship through the Intercultural Association of Victoria and some local Victoria residents.
Sponsoring this family will not only involve fundraising, but will require volunteers to help with job seeking, accommodation, furniture, resume writing, transportation etc.
The family has been displaced from
Syria and is currently living in Turkey
with potentially approved entry into
Canada. It is a mother, father and three
Members of the Leadership Class are
children, two boys ages 5 and 3 and a
attending a meeting on Monday Nogirl age 1. The mother is pregnant. The
vember 2nd at 7:30 pm at Penny
family is in a good health and has limLloyd's house to find out more inforited English.
mation about the family who is comIf you are interested in helping with
ing to Canada.
this fundraising effort or with any asAll donations over $25 will receive a
pect of the Syrian sponsorship, please
tax receipt from the Intercultural Asso- contact Penny Lloyd
ciation.
at penelopel@shaw.ca
We Scare Hunger!
Leadership students are collecting nonperishable food items for the Mustard Seed Food
Bank from now till Friday, November 6th.
Please bring your donation to the foyer!
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S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
WE Day 2015—Kingfisher Class
On October 21st 2015, the grade 8 leadership students got
the opportunity to go to Vancouver and participate in WE
Day. WE Day is a celebration of adolescence making a
change in their local and global communities. Craig and
Marc Kielburger were the co-founders of WE Day. They
are also the co-founders of Me to We. Me to We is an
innovative social enterprise that provides products that
make an impact, empowering people to change the world
with their everyday consumer choices.
WE Day brings together many world-renowned inspirational speakers and performers to celebrate their contributions to make a difference. This past year, 200,000 students
attended WE Day and left inspired to make a change in the word. There were many motivating speakers
at WE Day. Henry Winkler was especially encouraging because he had no script, unlike the others, and
showed everyone that we can go far in life, even if we are only in the bottom academic level in the country.
After WE Day, we all left encouraged and inspired to create change in the world,
Two wise men once said, “We are powerful. We are the movement. We can change the world.” Craig
and Marc Kielburger
Written by Olivia and Marcus
Grade 8
Hummingbird Party—Reported by Ethan John Gunning
On October 22 in the morning and afternoon the Hummingbirds had parties, dances and everybody sang the
continents song. One child said, “Mommy, I’m tired.”
at the start of the morning party. Then the child was
happy!! For gluten free food: cupcakes, popcorn,
grapes, rice crackers, rice crispy squares, goldfish, rice
cakes, Ritz crackers, brownies , apples and for drinks:
apple juice and coffee for the parents.
Kids can have fun and parents can see how their child
is adapting to school. The teachers Amabel, Lia, Angie, Judith and Katie did most of the work and the Owl
class decorated the room.
Book Fair 2015
Books are a hot item for
all ages in our school.
Thanks for making the fair
such a success.
Thanks for
organizing
Arlene
Ewert!
Kudos to all our
book fair volunteers.
Sales from the fair
go toward enriching
our school and classroom libraries.
Message from the Bear’s Den
Thanks to YOU and a dedicated team of parent and leadership volunteers, the Scholastic Book Fair was a tremendous
success. Special thanks to volunteers: Karma, Leticia, Cara,
David, Ron, Marcus, Ah Shar, Alex, Kane, and Sue for helping out with multiple shifts. The school was electric with the
excitement of Books, Books, Books!
We achieved our goal of over $7000 in sales! Every book and
boutique item sold benefits our school. We received $840 of
Book Fair books for library and classroom library use. Additional Scholastic store credits
received will provide much appreciated items such as: materials for cultural arts and reading
programs, arts and crafts materials for Casa and preschoolkindergarten classes, and reference materials, novel study books,
models of the human body, and microscopes for the upper grades.
Classroom teachers were thrilled with your generous donations to
class Wish Baskets. New books are always welcomed, well-loved
and appreciated. Thank you!
Congratulations to Scholastic Book Fair Raffle Winners!
The grand prize of $25 worth of books for his home library and
$25 worth of books for his classroom library was won by Jack
in the Raccoon Class. Poster winners included: Solomon, Krista,
Hannah, Lewis, Carson, Shreya, Isabella, Rowan, and Mikey.
I owe everything I am and everything I will ever be to books.
Gary Paulsen (Canadian author)
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S E L KI R K M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L E - NE W S L E T T E R
Cross Country 2015
2970 Jutland Road
Victoria, BC V8T 5K2
250-384-3414 (tel)
250-384-3420 (fax)
office@selkirkmontessori.ca
We can make a difference.
www.selkirkmontessori.ca
Thanks to Angela Sullivan for coaching the 3-5 Cross Country club
this year and to Tara Black for working with the 6-8 club. The students participated in a number events, with lots of enthusiastic parent
and community support!
Dates — and other things — to Remember
November 10—
Remembrance Day
Assembly
November 11—
Remembrance Day (no
school)
November 21—Parent/Teacher Conferences (No school for children)
December 14—Winter Concert
(Grades 1-4)
December 16—Winter Concert
(Grades 5-8)
Page 13
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Remember to stop BEFORE the sidewalk as
you drive north on Jackladder Lane. Foot
traffic coming from the left is not visible
and we have had reports of close calls at the
stop sign. Thank you for keeping our families and neighbours safe!