May Newsletter 2015 - St Andrew Junior School

Fax: 902-863-2273
http://sajs.srsb.ca
Principal: Kirk Johnstone E-mail: kirk.johnstone@srsb.ca
Vice-Principals: Rachel Currie E-mail: rachel.currie@srsb.ca
Chris Lumsden E-mail: chris.lumsden@srsb.ca
Guidance : Marie Kennedy E-mail: marie.kennedy@srsb.ca
Charles MacDonald E-mail: charles.macdonald@srsb.ca
Phone: 902-863-3046
NEW AT SAJS
MORNING ROUTINE
The last week of April saw the roll out of a new morning
routine for students. As of May 4 the following will be in
effect.
MORNING ROUTINE:
Students who arrived at school early will remain in the Foyer
until 8 AM.
At 8 AM students will go to their pod areas. They are to
remain in their own pod area/classroom for the full morning
routine.
They will use this time to remove outerwear and organize
their lockers and materials for the day.
At 8:15 AM students can go to their classrooms.
Grab and Go breakfast will be provided to each pod area.
ADDRESSING GENDER PRIVACY
CONCERNS
In keeping with Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development Guidelines for Supporting
Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students, SAJS
has dedicated a single-use washroom for use by any
student, staff or visitor who desires increased privacy,
regardless of the reason. It is located on the first floor, near
the Grade 6 Pod.
UP AND COMING
Wed., May 6 - Grade 6 students from H.M. MacDonald
and St. Andrews Consolidated will visit SAJS for a tour.
Fri., May 8 – Toonie Toss for Children’s Wish
Wed., May 13 – Grade 8 students from SAJS will visit Dr.
EXPECTATIONS:
John Hugh Gillis joining some of our special students who
have made several visits already.
Upon arrival students are expected to go directly to their
pod area after 8 AM. Students are to remain in their
pod/Classroom until homeroom. They are not to visit other
pods.
Thurs., May 14 - MULTI-TALENT SHOW AT SAJS – for
the Playground for Everyone 6:30 pm; students from
Antigonish area schools, Art Auction & concession
stand. $5 adults; $2 students.
Students are expected to use this time to organize their
lockers and get materials prepared for their day.
Tues., May 19 – A parent session on “Apps in Action at
To alleviate congestion students should go in to their
classrooms when permitted so other students can access
their lockers.
Students are expected to keep their pod area clean. If they
access the breakfast program they are responsible to
recycle and ensure garbage makes it to the appropriate bin.
Students are to use washrooms on their floor only. This is
not an area to congregate and socialize.
Devices (phones/ipods/ipads) are to be used for educational
purposes as directed by teachers. Devices are not to be
used in the pod areas and can only be used in the classroom
with teacher’s permission.
SAJS” will be held on Wednesday, May 19 from 6 – 8 pm.
Students who access service from Mrs. Bance will be
demonstrating how they are using their iPads in the
classroom to facilitate their learning.
Thurs., May 21 - MADD presentation to Gr. 8’s
Fri., May 29 - Regional Special Olympics will take place at
ST. FX University with six of our students
participating. It will be an exciting day of
competition in track and field, swimming or
Masters Triathlon. Last year 170 athletes
from 5 counties were hosted. Come out and
cheer these young people on!
EDUCATION WEEK
In keeping with this year’s theme for Education Week “Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors” - SAJS held an
open house on Wednesday, April 22. Our Art students
made huge Welcome banners for the foyer and our Jazz
Band played for the enjoyment of everyone in the area.
Also various support organizations and services had displays
set up in the foyer as well – Public Health; Schools Plus;
RCMP; Addiction Services, SRSB Specialist Services and the
Nova Scotia International Student Program. Parents were
welcome to observe classes and displays of projects and
student work.
The Grade 5’s had their Heritage Fair
projects on display as well as samples of Art projects they
did throughout the year. Grade 7’s had Heritage Fair
projects on display as well. Also on display were Grade 8
propaganda and caricature posters relating to Cold War and
Grade 7 ones relating to Confederation. As well, they had a
little video playing in the back of our class, showing one of
our Grade 8 groups doing their debate, and while parents
were visiting, our Student Teacher (Dylan Swan) was
working with Grade 8's who were acting out infomercials to
practice persuasion techniques.
Teachers were most
appreciative of the many visitors to their classrooms and
students were proud to show off their great work.
Thank you to all family and friends who dropped by and
took advantage of our Open House.
MAKING MUSIC
Our school bands took part in the New Glasgow Music
Festival for our fifth time. The bands all placed, the Jazz
band and Intermediate band received
silver and the Beginner band received
a bronze. Unlike other competitions,
st
nd
rd
there is no 1 , 2 , 3 place. Each
band that participates in the festival is
graded based on their ability to meet
set criteria by the adjudicator so multiple band can receive
the same grade.
The closer the band gets to a perfect performance at that
musical grade level, the higher their score. The Beginner
band who received bronze did an excellent job staying
together as an ensemble, playing out and the melody of the
song was always audible. The Intermediate and Jazz bands
who received silver did all of those and also was very
dynamic, used proper articulation and were together as an
ensemble. In fact this year silver was the highest grade
awarded in the 3 divisions that our bands participated in so
they very well indeed. Our beginner band has 53 students,
Intermediate 58 and the Jazz band is capped at 16 as it
should be a smaller group.
Intermediate band is going to Halifax in May for a clinic with
Joe Cormier who is a retired band director in the HRSB.
Since his retirement, he has been a guest conductor with
the Nova Scotia Junior Wind Ensemble provincial band,
worked as a noted clinician for junior high and high school,
and is a Halifax brass band director.
Congratulations to all our musicians!! Also we would like to
say a big thank you to all the volunteers who helped out
with instrument transport and acted as chaperones on our
various trips.
MINI GAELIC LESSON
An toil leat...?
(uhn dull let)
Do you like?
'S toil leam .....(gu mòr.) (stull luhm..... go
mohr)
I like .......(very much.)
Cha toil leam....idir. (ha tull luhm....each-er)
I don't
like ....(at all.)
____________________________________________
ceòl na fìdhle
dannsa
(kyawl nuh fee-lah)
(down-sah)
naidheachdan
fiddle music
dancing
(nay-uchk-ahn)
news
SPORTS AT SAJS
Our junior boys just won the regional banner
for table tennis in Truro on April 28. They are
going to provincials this Saturday! Good luck
boys.
Our Badminton team also did very well. Stephanie Wallace,
Kinnon Wallace, Matthew Fraser, Seth Pushie, Callum Ross,
Sarica Mohandes, Carly MacDonald and Emma Jewkes came
rd
3
in team at the NSSAF provincial
championships in Yarmouth. Sarica and Kinnon
rd
placed 3 in individuals; Emma and Stephanie
st
placed 1 in individuals. Carly MacDonald won
the junior girls’ singles title and was recognized by the
Casket and DeCoste Electrical as their Athlete of the Week.
Thank you to their coach, Bob Rogers, for his time with the
team. Well done to you all.
For meetings, practices, games students should listen to the
announcements or check the lobby TV.
HERITAGE FAIR
SAJS held another very successful Heritage Fair in April.
Students from Grades 5 and 7 completed projects. Top
projects were displayed and judged on Monday, April 27.
This year we will be sending 14 students on to the SRSB
regional fair. With their projects, they are:
5
Lydia Shaw-Peters
Great Granddad
7
Graham MacDonald
"It's Not Just Plaid"
5
Hilus Keay
What's in a Name?
7
5
Emma Smith
The Scotia Highland Dancers
Abby McKenna
Highland Dancing
5
Skye MacGillivray
Pop Goes Around the world
5
Megan Smith
A Gown … Passed Down
7
7
Sara Sullivan
Sightings: Shag Harbour
Blaire MacDonald
Cloverdale Creamery
7
Sophia Finnigan
The Murderer Who Escaped
7
Michael Tellum
Pier 21
7
Jada Desmond
A Dying Breed
5
Emma Cameron
Arsenault Monuments
5
Lily Easterly
Sewing through the Ages
Congratulations and best of luck to you at the next level!
Thank you to all our judges for their time and attention to
our students’ work.
SCIENCE FAIR
At the Awards Ceremony on April 8 held
at the SERAC auditorium, the following
SAJS students won awards at the SRSB
regional science fair as follows:
Bekkers, Peter - Innovation & Information: Junior Bronze
Bloomfield, Annie - Health: Junior Silver
Cameron, Malcolm - Health: Junior Bronze
Hudson, Kali - Health: Junior Bronze
Jenkins, Gabrielle - Discovery: Junior Bronze
Kennedy, Alex - Innovation & Information: Junior Bronze
Lumsden, Monica - Innovation & Information: Junior Gold
Lumsden, Monica - NSCC Award: Business Department Prize
NSCC Award
Silver, Sam - Innovation & Information: Junior Silver
Silver, Sam - NSCC Award: Trades and Technology Prize
NSCC Award
Stanley-Blackwell, Ruthie - Innovation & Information: Junior
Silver
One other student won Jr. Gold in the Discovery section.
We are proud of the hard work and attention needed for
these projects and their presentation. Well done!
NSCC VISITS – LOOKING TO THE
FUTURE FOR OUR STUDENTS!
In April Grade 8 students from SAJS had the opportunity to
explore the NSCC Strait Area and Pictou Campus sites as
part of their technology classes. The object of these visits
was
to
improve
student
understanding
of
learning/employment opportunities in the realm of skilled
trades and technology. NSCC offered our students a broad
examination of career-based choices in skilled trades,
including trades such as carpentry, mechanical, electronics,
nursing, marine trades and social services. We'd very much
like to extend our thanks to representatives at both the
NSCC Strait and Pictou schools for taking the time to share
information about their programs and Work It! for funding
support of the trip.
Congratulations to all the participants in the BEA Regional
nd
Spelling Bee. Marcel Desmond, Gr. 7 placed 3rd, 2 place
st
went to Ashton MacRae, Gr. 6, and our 1 place winner was
Kayla Jordan, Gr. 7. Keep up the good work.
EARTH WEEK AT SAJS
The Green Team led Earth Week activities at SAJS. On
Monday they made presentations to
each grade on Earth Week and our
themed days. Tuesday was Lights Out
Day to use no or half the lighting to save
energy. Wednesday was Earth Day so it
was an Eat Local day with local apples
available at the breakfast program and in the office
throughout the day. Students who brought a reusable cup
were treated to Tim Horton’s hot chocolate. Thursday was
Litterless Lunch Day to cut down on waste and on Friday
the Irish came out to wear green. Small changes can make
big differences in relation to conserving energy and
protecting our natural resources.
The Green Team sponsored a drawing contest on the Earth
rd
nd
Week theme. In 3 place was Lily Easterly’s entry; 2
place went to Sydney Augustine-Bower; and the winner
was Annie Bloomfield who received a pizza party for 8-6.
Drawings are posted on the Green Team bulletin board
outside the cafeteria and display some of our amazing
artistic talents.
NOVA SCOTIA RECYCLES CONTEST
Furthering their environmental interests SAJS students
participated in the 2014-15 Nova Scotia
Recycles Contest. This year over 5,500 entries
were received from across the province. Abby
McKenna in 5-3 was runner-up in Region 2 Gr.
466 category for her artwork entry on the theme ‘Put
Waste in its Place’ and received a filled backpack and a
cheque for $250 was sent to the school on her behalf to be
used on a green initiative. Claire MacMullin, Gabrielle
Jenkins, Monica Lumsden and Stephanie Wallace
submitted the winning video for Region 2 in the Gr 7/9
category receiving backpacks and $75 each with a cheque
for $300 to the school for a green or environmental
project. Congratulations to all these students for their
stellar work.
CCT – ODD JOB SQUAD
The CCT class was acknowledged for all their hard work in
the school. Class members take care of recycling, delivery
of notices, memos, calendars, etc.; look after special cleanup projects and any odd jobs for various teachers and
groups. Their reward was a pizza party which we hope they
enjoyed. Their efforts around the school do not go
unnoticed and are much appreciated.
********************
SchoolsPlus is a comprehensive and collaborative
interagency approach to educating and providing
service to the whole child and family with the
school as the centre of service. The focus of
SchoolsPlus is to support students and families by
helping them in attaining timely and effective
services which meet their identified needs.
We hope many families were able to get out and
enjoy the SAJS open house for Education Week on
April 22, and came by to visit the SchoolsPlus
room in the Students Services area. “Well Done”
to the band members who provided an
entertaining welcome in the foyer!
Dirt Divas and Dirt Dudes, County Recreation’s
mountain biking programs, will be starting up
again in May. There are still a few spots left in
both programs. Any students interested or looking
for more information can see Tara in the
SchoolsPlus room, or check out the Recreation
section in the County Quarterly.
We are running an afterschool program on
Tuesdays and Thursdays in the SchoolsPlus room
from 2:30-4:00pm.
Come on by for more
information.
Marguerite MacGillivray – SchoolsPlus Facilitator
Tara Hassin - SchoolsPlus Community Outreach
Worker
COMMUNITY NEWS
Kids Have Stress Too!
This is a 3 week program for
parents of children 3-9 years of age. The program is
designed to help parents better understand stress,
recognize it and get the skills to provide their children with
th
ways to manage it. Starting Tuesday, May 12 , 2015, 6:30
to 8:30 pm. Sponsored by Kids First Resource.
Call 902-863-3848 for any inquiries or to register.
AFTER SCHOOL ART: Interested in art after
school classes for your artist child? A May pilot program
will be held with registration on May 2, 2015 at the
People’s Place Library from 12:00 – 2:00 pm. Classes
available Monday to Friday beginning May 19 (10 per class)
and will be held at Antigonish Education Centre and St.
Andrew Junior School from 2:45 – 4:45 pm. $40 per child for
4 sessions. For more information e-mail:
artafterschoolantigonish@gmail.com
Scotia Highland Dancers and Friends presents:
Scottish Youth Ceilidh - Saturday, May 9th, 2015
6:30 PM St. Andrews Consolidated School
HWY 316, St. Andrews.
May is Gaelic Awareness Month
To celebrate Nova Scotia Gaels, Gaelic Affairs
is extending an invite to you to gather to
launch Gaelic Awareness Month 2015
Wednesday, April 29th, 11:45 am
Legislative Assembly
1740 Granville St., Halifax.
Raising of the Flag of the Gaels with Minister
of Gaelic Affairs, Randy Delorey. Brief
presentations on projects that pertain to the
development of the language and culture of
Gaels in Nova Scotia.
Nuallan (Gaelic College performance pipe
band) will perform. All are welcomed!
Refreshments will be provided.