April 2015 - Edmison Heights Public School

Edmison Heights P.S.
1111 Royal Drive
Peterborough, Ontario K9H 6P9
705-745-0722
Principal:
Glen Payne (glen_payne@kprdsb.ca)
School Council: Karen Stoyles (kdstoyles@hotmail.com)
Superintendent: Steve Girardi (steve_girardi@kprdsb.ca)
Trustees:
Rose Kitney (rose_kitney@kprdsb.ca)
Wayne Bonner (wayne_bonner@kprdsb.ca)
School Website: http://edmisonheights.kprdsb.ca
April 2015
Well we sure hope that you had a wonderful and relaxing
March Break and are ready for a very busy 3 months of
school. We look forward to the warm weather and all of the
activities both in and out of the classroom. We would like to
thank you once again for all the support that you provide to
the students and to our school. Your support makes a
difference in helping the students at EHPS achieve their full
potential!
Character Education
Each month throughout the year, we will continue to focus on
a Character Trait. We have discussions, model and use a
variety of methods to encourage our students to develop all
the skills necessary to be successful in and out of the
classroom. Please encourage discussions with your children
regarding Responsibility this month.
In school, we will promote this with students by talking about
finishing what they start even when it is difficult, to not give
up when faced with challenges or obstacles, and to complete
all assignments to the best of their ability.
Congratulations to…
Thank you to parent Christine Zomer for organizing The
Junior Winter Activity Day on Wednesday, March 4. Students
in grades 4 to 6 had a choice of Skiing/Snowboarding at
Brimacombe Ski Club in Orono or a fun day at Trent
University. A special thank you to our parents who
accompanied the students that day.
Thank you to Mrs. Prins and her team of
parent and community volunteers for
running a Knitting Club every Tuesday and
Thursday since October at afternoon recess.
The club has wrapped up for this school year
and students in grades 2 to 6 learned to knit
and made blankets for our furry friends at the Lakefield
Animal Welfare Society (LAWS). In addition, thank you to
everyone who donated canned food, old towels, kitty litter,
newspaper, etc. for LAWS during the 2nd week of March.
Cops for Cancer
The Pedal for Hope team from
the
Peterborough
Lakefield
Community Police Service, the
Ontario Provincial Police and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
will be visiting Edmison Heights
once again this spring. Students
who wish to participate in this
event can pick up a permission
form and pledge envelope from the office.
On Monday April 27, the Pedal for Hope team will be at
Edmison Heights at 11:30 am, where some students will be
shaving their heads or donating their pony tails to support
pediatric cancer research.
School Council Update
Edmison Heights School Council is pleased and proud to be
bringing back Breakdancing Jimmy! All students in the school
will have the opportunity to learn some new moves and have
some fun completely free of charge! Watch your agendas for
more information.
The final round of Hot Lunch order forms has gone home with
students. If you have missed this order form and would like
to take part in pizza and/or East Side Mario’s lunches, please
contact the program organizers through the school office.
Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed hot lunches
throughout the school year. You have helped make this
program a very successful fundraiser!
New National Sports cards will be sent home soon. These
cards are valid until the summer and Edmison Heights
benefits each time you shop and show your card.
The next School Council meeting will be held on May 4, 2015
at 6:30 pm in the Edmison Heights library.
Breakfast Program
Student Absences and Calling In
Spring is here, well according to
the calendar at least. As we
continue offering nutritious
snacks in the classrooms 5 days
per week, we are excited that
local farmers will be preparing
crops for future nutrition days. Along with promoting healthy
eating and nutrition for all of our students, we also will be
using the nutrition program to highlight and educate students
about local food production. We encourage you to purchase
local fruits, vegetable and dairy products when possible and
share with your children the value in supporting local
farmers.
Thank you to all the parents/guardians who call in to the
school when your child/children are ill, out for appointments
or will be arriving late. This enables the attendance to be
completed quickly and we know that all our students are safe.
Students arriving late must sign in at the office.
Tax season is also upon us and we would like to remind you
that donations made through http://www.pcchu.ca/ffk/ are
eligible for a tax receipt. If a donation of time is more feasible
for you, we are continuing to be in need of volunteers. Please
contact us for more information.
Happy Spring,
Janet Dawson
Sheila Bourgeois
indianriveracres@gmail.com
sjbourgeois@gmail.com
Parking Lots
Our school like many others has a very busy parking lot. We
would ask that everyone work together to utilize our space as
best we can. If you happen to be picking up your child(ren) or
dropping them off, please be mindful and considerate of
other traffic movement in and out of the parking lot. The
school parking lot tends to be a very busy area! Thank you
for your help.
Please note that the answering machine is on 24/7 for your
convenience and you can call in at 705-749-1598 and leave a
message anytime.
Kindergarten Registration
Just a reminder that registration for all children who are
eligible to attend either Junior or Senior Kindergarten for
September 2015 will continue to take place this month.
Accurate enrollment projections are key to getting funding
from the Ministry of Education and to the Board’s budget
process.
If you have a child, or know of anyone who has a child who
will be attending Junior Kindergarten this fall or Senior
Kindergarten (and is not attending school now), please come
into the school or contact us at 705-745-0722 to register.
The following information will assist you with the registration
process: Junior Kindergarten students must be 4 as of
December 31, 2015. Senior Kindergarten students must be 5
as of December 31, 2015. Verification of age must be
provided by birth certificate or equivalent. Complete
immunization information must also be brought in to register.
In addition, a proof of address is required.
Departure
Class Placements
As we get closer to the end of the school year, I know many
people start to think of where their child will be in the
following year. Requests for particular teachers will not be
gathered because it is very difficult to honor such requests,
and we as a staff spend a lot of time creating classes that will
best meet the needs of all students and the school as a whole
for the following year.
If you have a special request in regard to needs that you feel
would support your child, I would ask that you send me a
note in writing to the office or directly to my email
(glen_payne@kprdsb.ca) by May 29, 2015. We will gather
these requests and do our best to honor them.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not
hesitate to give me a call. Thank you for your support and
cooperation!
G. Payne
Students leaving early must sign out
through the office with a note in the
agenda. If a student is a bus student,
we expect that most days, that
student will be arriving and leaving on
the bus. If there is any change to a
student departure habit for any given
day, a note must be written in the
student agenda.
When picking up students at the end of the day, we ask that
you please wait outside, at the back of the school for your
child(ren). Please set a meeting spot for you and your
children i.e. school playground, bench, baseball diamond, etc.
We are trying to keep the school hallways free for the safe
dismissal of all our students.
Transportation Requests
MAY
STSCO, the company that looks after the busing for the school
board, has updated their method of gathering information for
transportation requests. If your child/children currently
receive busing due to childcare arrangements or for out of
boundary, you need to fill out an online request for the
2015/2016 school year. This request can be found on the
main page of their website www.stsco.ca.
Breakdancing – Junior
May 1
Parents Council Meeting
May 4
Car-Free School Day
May 6
Pizza Lunch
May 6
To fill out the request, you will require your child’s OEN
(Ontario Education Number), which is the nine digit number
found on your child’s report card, and their date of birth.
Breakdancing – Junior
May 8
East Side Mario’s Lunch
May 13
Breakdancing – Junior
May 15
Victoria Day – School closed
May 18
Pizza Lunch
May 20
Breakdancing – Primary
May 22
Popcorn Day
May 22
Breakdancing – Primary
May 25
East Side Mario’s Lunch
May 27
Breakdancing – Primary
May 29
Important Dates
Car-Free School Day
April 1
East Side Mario’s Lunch
April 1
Good Friday - School closed
April 3
Easter Monday – School closed
April 6
Pizza Lunch
April 8
East Side Mario’s Lunch
April 15
Pizza Lunch
April 22
Pedal for Hope
April 27
East Side Mario’s Lunch
April 29
6:30 pm
When students are at work doing math tasks at school, it can look very different than
you may remember from your days in the classroom. One key difference is that there is
a lot more talk. And not it’s not just any talk-its math talk! There are two important
reasons for this change:
1) Researchers and teachers now know that students learn and become better at
math when they talk with others and explain their thinking or when they convince
someone that their solution to a problem makes sense.
2) The skills of working with others and the skills of communication will be needed
by students as they progress through school and beyond into the world of work.
As parents, you can help your child develop these important skills just by asking a few
simple questions each day. For example, if you say to your child, “Tell me why you
think that”, you are helping your child to become better at explaining his or her
reasoning. This skill is useful not just for math, but for many areas of daily life.
You can encourage math talk when your child is involved in homework as well. Have
your child explain what he or she has done to complete a task or problem. If your child
has done something in a different way than you would have done it, be patient. Try not
to jump in. Watch. Listen. Ask your child to show you again or ask, “Do you think that
will work every time?”.
Try using some of the questions or prompts on this handy reference card along with
some of the activity suggestions below to help your child develop both better
communication skills and a deeper understanding of mathematics. And remember to
have fun!
Activities to Try:
Investigation
Questions and Sentence Starters for Math:
 Tell me why you think that.
 I think that you are saying…
(Try to summarize what your child has
said, but have him or her listen to be
sure your thinking is right).
 What do you think will happen?
 Do you think that will happen every
time?
 Can you repeat what you just said?
 Can you repeat what I just said?
 Can you add to what you just said (or
what I just said)?
 Do you agree (or disagree with me)?
Why?
 Take your time to think, I’ll wait (count
silently for at least 5-7 seconds before
prompting or asking anything else).
 Does this remind you of anything else?
 Can you show me again how you did
that?
 Tell me what you are ‘seeing’ in your
mind.
 What strategy did you use?
Go to:
http://educ.queensu.ca/sites/webpublish.queen
su.ca.educwww/files/files/Community/COC/CY
BTTIM%20-%20Curriculum%20Integration.pdf
Try the investigation on page 3, “Our Body
Rules!” to see what kind of square each of your
family members are. Remember to talk first
and try and predict what you will find out before
you actually measure each other.
Game
Go to:
http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/G
uide_Geometry_Spatial_Sense_456.pdf
On page 116 of this resource, you will find
instructions for how to play ‘Check Mate’
(Game boards are found on pages 115 and
116). Play this game with your child. Ask your
child if they are ‘seeing’ the game board in their
mind (visualizing) to help them or what strategy
they are using to find your rectangles.
Further Information
If you would like to know more about math talk
in the classroom, go to:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy
/inspire/research/bruce.pdf
If you would like to read more about how to
help your child succeed in math, go to:
http://oame.on.ca/mathies/activitiesTogether.ht
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