March 2015 - SD68 School District

1025 Morningside Drive, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6C3
Telephone: 250-758-5711 Fax: 250-751-1873
Website: http://schoolsweb.sd68.bc.ca/hammondbay/Pages/default.aspx
School Year: 2014-2015
Issue #7 – March 2015
Principal’s Message
As Term 2 draws to a close, I would
like to take this opportunity to
congratulate our students on the
progress made in their learning. It
was a pleasure to read and sign
everyone’s Report Card. I would
encourage our students to strive to continue the
excellent progress made to date, in Term 3.
We have had some staffing changes this past month.
We would like to say goodbye to Mme. Kelly, who
left us at the end of February to start her maternity
leave; and to Mr. Johnson, who was replacing Mr.
Chappell for the past month in Band. We would like
to welcome Ms. Lehtovaara who will be completing
the year with us as our Band teacher.
We have had some beautiful art being displayed
around the school from different classes over the past
few months. It is always wonderful to see the
exceptional pieces the students have created, and all
should be very proud of their accomplishments. Well
done! Here are just a few that are displayed at the
moment:
Principal: Christine Bohm
Vice-Principal: Sharyn Andruski-Collins
Secretaries: Susan Clark
Laureen Petley-Jones
Thank you to all the parents and community
members who came out to the Bedtime
Shenanigans event, which we held an evening
last week for 3-4 year olds. Lindsay Ross, a
Strong Start facilitator in our school district, led
the children through a series of activities, which
included a craft, story time, and movement
through literacy. If you have any questions
about this event, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
A big thank you to Constable Wilson, for
volunteering his time, to offer our Grade 5
students the DARE program. Our students have
completed 10 weeks of instruction about the
facts of drugs and alcohol, and the importance of
making good choices. Please join us for the
DARE Graduation on Tuesday, March 31st at 9
am in Mme. Char’s classroom. This event is for
all Grade 5 students and their parents.
Our Concours d’art oratoire event continues
again this year, with presentations on March 18th
and 19th. For groups and times, please the
“Concours” item further along is this newsletter.
Congratulations to all students who presented
their speeches, whether it be in the gym or in
their class. It takes much courage to stand before
your peers and speak. Well done everyone!
The Grade 3’s are completing the Swim to
Survive program this week. It has been a
pleasure to watch your children in the pool,
practicing all their learning these past few weeks.
Please take the time and ask your child about
what they learned. They love to share their pool
stories.
The Foundation Skills Assessment 2014-15 were
completed by Grade 4 and 7 students. They have
been all marked and returned to the school, and
will be coming home with your child on March
31st. If you have any questions about how to
read the results of the FSA for your child, please
do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy
to go through them with you.
The Satisfaction Survey for this school year is
coming to a close on April 1st. Students, staff
and parents were invited to take part in the online
survey. Passwords for parents/guardians are still
available at the office.
Hammond Bay hosted the NDSS counselors to
go through the course selection process with our
Grade 7 students on March 5th. Course selection
is complete at all the district’s secondary
schools. If your Grade 7 student has not yet
completed a course selection for next year,
please contact the high school they will be
attending to make an appointment with the
counselor.
The Your Voice 2015 campaign put on by
School District trustees to hear parent and
community input into the existing facilities plan
is now complete. Thank you to all who
participated. Final presentations to the School
Ecole Hammond Bay – Newsletter
Board of Trustees regarding the current facilities
plan will be Thursday, March 19th at the Shaw
Auditorium, starting at 6:30pm. Hammond Bay
PAC Chair, Mrs. Therriault, will be making a
presentation. For more information, please
contact either Mrs. Therriault at the PAC email
address (available on our school website) or
myself.
As we all look forward to a rest from all our hard
work, the staff and I would like to wish everyone a
safe, restful and relaxing Spring Break.
Christine Bohm
Page 2
Annual Anti-Bullying Day (Pink Shirt Day).
Students also participated in the Pink Post-It
campaign, sponsored by Woodgrove Mall, which
encouraged students to write positive messages
to others. We have three boards in the school
which contain all the positive and uplifting our
students wrote to one another. Each class also
created a “Tree of Friendship”, which when all
assembled, formed our “Forest of Friendships”.
After being displayed in our foyer, the trees were
separated and transitioned to various locations
around the school to continue to reinforce the
important messages students are learning.
Mrs. A’s Corner
Performing Artists will be at Ecole Hammond
Bay April 9 and April 27. Dufflebag Theatre is
returning to create an interactive version of Snow
White. Luv2Groove is a dance workshop that
involves all of our classes. Thank you for funds
from our Parent Advisory Council and
ARTSTARTS.
Parents who are interested in Fine Arts are
invited to read further about the new Fine Arts
Curriculum. Arts Integration, as defined by The
Kennedy Centre, uses the principles of
constructivism- actively built, experiential,
evolving, collaborative, problem-solving and
reflective activities. In our main hall, you will
see a mural of Ecole Hammond Bay created
using these principles. Students in C2, Connect
and Create, completed seven sessions around
developing friendships at school, and working
together. The medium used was visual art.
Projects from these sessions are integrated to
create this mural.
Two new lunch hour activities are now
underway. Lunch recess Drama activities are
held in the gym for interested students from
Grades 2, 3, and 4. Student leaders are preparing
the sessions and are doing a super job! Drama
Club will be held in the gym every Tuesday.
On Thursdays, Mrs. Therriault will be working
with the Young Writers’ Club. This group of
students are interested in writing. Activities will
engage students in various types of writing
including editing skills. We are grateful to have
a professional writer working with our students.
This group is for students in Grades 3,4,5,6 and
7. The Writers’ Club meets in Mrs. A’s portable.
Thank you, students, for all your work in music
classes! Have a wonderful spring break!
Erase Bullying Resource
The Ministry of Education in conjunction with
School Districts across the province have
developed and implemented an online student
and parent resource about and to report bullying
incidents. Please visit www.erasebullying.ca for
more information.
Anti-Bullying Day
A big thank you to our school counselor, Ms.
Den Ouden, and parent, Mr. Heald, for their
presentations to students in celebration of the
Report Cards
The second report cards were issued on March
18th. Please take this opportunity to speak with
your student(s) about their learning. If you wish
to meet with the teacher about your child’s
progress, please contact them directly or leave a
message with the office.
Please note: Report Cards have been distributed
to students without the envelope if the original
envelope was not returned back to the school
after Term 1.
Spell-a-thon
The Yearly Spell-A-Thon will be starting soon.
The big test will take place
during the week of April
20th.
Following the test,
students will be asked to
collect their pledges and
return them to the school.
Spelling sheets and pledge forms will be sent
home during the week of April 7th. Students will
have three weeks to study their words and collect
their pledges.
Various prizes will be awarded to students in
recognition for their participation. Thank you to
Jennifer Therriault for organizing this event for
us. This is an important PAC fundraising event
and we would like to thank all families for their
support.
Assemblies
We will not be having a Grade Assembly for the
month of March due to the Concours d’art
oratoire. Please join us again in April when the
classes of Mme. Anneli/Mme. Knight and M.
Mercier will be performing.
Ecole Hammond Bay – Newsletter
Track and Field
Grade 3 to 7 students will be
invited to participate in our
School Track and Field Meet
on April 20th at the Rotary
Bowl. We will need many
parents to help us at the Track
Meet.
Please contact the
office if you can help out at the Rotary Bowl.
Following our school meet, students who have
classified will then continue their training in
preparation for our Zone Meet on May 27th and the
District Meet will be on June 4th.
Run Program at Neck Point
We will start our spring running program at
Neck Point on March 31st. Classes will be
invited to participate two or three times a week.
This is great conditioning in preparation for our
Track and Field season. Permission slips were
sent home already.
Student Council Activities:
Student Council members are positively certain
that being positive makes a difference! They
were actively involved in writing positive Post-It
Notes that are displayed in the school hallways
as part of Woodgrove Centre’s Anti-Bullying
Day events. The students also sponsored Green
Day on March 17th with 97% participation!
Bravo! Each division had a Green Prize Winner
and Mme. Kathleen’s Kindergarten class was the
Grand Prize Ice Cream Treat Winner! Stay
tuned for more events this Spring!
Concours d’Art Oratoire
This French Speaking celebration will take place at
two different levels. Students from Grade 6 and 7
will be asked to prepare a speech on the subject of
their choice and to present it to their classes, with the
three best speeches from each grade level being
presented at a special school assembly on
Wednesday, March 18th for Grades 6 and 7
from1:15-2:40 pm.
Speeches from Grades 6 and 7 will be adjudicated
and the District School winners will present their
speeches at Ecole Quarterway on April 7th. The
Grade 6 and 7 district winners will go on to
Vancouver to represent the District.
Grade 4 and 5 class representatives (3 per grade) will
be invited to present their speeches to the school on
March 19th at 9:00-10:00 am in our Gym.
Younger students may be asked to prepare a speech
as part of a class project but they will not present it at
a general school assembly.
Thank you to M. Lussier for organizing the event for
our school this year.
Page 3
Library News
March in and browse through our many
collections in both French and English. As
family members, you can select books,
magazines and resources to carry away for casual
reading during Spring break!
Students at all grade levels are encouraged to
‘graze’ the library during the book exchange
period. On display are fiction and non-fiction
books, inviting the inquisitive mind and
connecting the reader to books of interest and of
different genres. The library is usually open
before and after school, except Thursday.
Students have chosen a wide variety of books for
projects and reports during the past few weeks.
As they access online resources as well,
information is shared about cyber safety and
‘netiquette’. Reading in our time involves
seeking and making meaning in multiple
formats.
BookFest is coming to town and hopefully
author visits! Lots of school requests and limited
blocks. Always on the lookout for French
speaking authors.
A wish for the library: flip it to create a multimedia hub that is learner and learning focused.
Happy Reading,
Tammy Trickett, Library Assistant
Robert Lussier, Teacher-Librarian
Homework Club
Every Monday and Thursday at
lunch recess in the Library,
students have an opportunity
to catch up or get ahead in
their classroom work. Mme.
Char and Mme Jacqueline supervise their work.
Lost and Found
Just a reminder for students and
parents to please check the Lost
and Found Box for any missing
items. It is full and all unclaimed
clothing will be removed for donation prior to
the end of the month.
When Children Should Stay Home
From School
During this time of year there are a number of
colds and flus around.
These can spread
Ecole Hammond Bay – Newsletter
amongst others quite easily. For the health of the
staff, students, and volunteers in the school, we
ask that you take into consideration the
following information. If your child has any of
the following symptoms they should be kept
home from school.
Fever - Keep your children home if they have a
fever. Wait until children are fever-free before
letting them return to school.
Diarrhea/Vomiting - Keep children home if
they’ve vomited twice or more in the last 24
hours. They can return to school after symptoms
clear up or your doctor says they’re no longer
contagious.
Severe cough and cold symptoms should keep
kids home from school. A serious cough could
be a sign of contagious conditions like whooping
cough, viral bronchitis, or croup.
Pinkeye - is contagious, and children should stay
home from school for the first 24 hours after
treatment begins.
Page 4
Please arrange for your own transportation –
if you need help, let us know!
***Please
email
Mme
Char
at
char.johnson@sd68.bc.ca if you have any
questions or concerns.***
Nanaimo Breakers – Minor
Fastpitch Softball Association
REGISTRATION: Oliver Woods
March 19 6pm – 8 pm
Drop off or sign up at Oliver Woods March 14,
21, 28 10:30 – 12:30.
Pioneer Park – March 30 – 6pm to 8pm
Come try out for the Batting Cage – Ages 5-18.
ONLINE REGISTRATION at
nanaimobreakers.com – REGISTER BY
MARCH 30 to avoid late fees.
For more information –
nanaimobreakersregistrar@gmail.com
Upcoming School Events Mar/April
Mar 18
Mar 19
Mar 23-27
Mar 31
Apr 2
Apr 9
Apr 20
Apr 22
Apr 23
Apr 27
Apr 28
Apr 29
Concours Gr 6/7 at 1:15 pm
Gr3 Swim to Survive at Pool 1112:30
Concours Gr 4 & 5 at 9 am
Spring Dance at 1:15-2:15 pm
Spring Break
Neck Point Runs begin
DARE Grad Gr5 at 9:00 am
Immunization for Gr. 6 – 9:00 am
Dufflebag Theatre 10:20
Track & Field – School
Earth Day
Swim to Survive at Pool 11-12:30
Luv 2 Groove Dance Day – 9:00
School Wide Assembly – 1:15 pm
Author visit
Nanaimo White Rapids 3rd Annual
Splash and Dash Invitational!
An exciting event is taking place at Beban Pool
on Friday April 10th, from 3-5pm and our
school has been invited! Schools also attending
include Seaview, Rock City, Pauline Haarer,
Mountain View, Departure Bay, Aspengrove,
Hammond Bay, Fairview, Quarterway, &
Cilaire!
The Event: Splash and Dash (Swim and Run)
What it is: A short swim at Beban Pool,
followed by a run around the soccer fields.
Tykes (Gr. 3 & 4)
50m swim/1km run
Peewees (Gr. 5 & 6)
50m swim/1km run
Bantams (Gr. 7)
100m swim/1.5km run
Who can participate: Anyone in grades 3- 7.
Don’t feel comfortable in the pool? Kick boards
and pool noodles are ok!
What you need to do: Bring in your
registration form and $5 entry fee to (Mme
CHAR) by Friday March 20th.
2014-2015 School Calendar
Mar 20
Mar 30
April 3
April 6
May 4
May 18
June 24
June 25
June 26
Last day of classes before Spring
Vacation
Schools re-open after Spring
Vacation
Good Friday – schools are closed
Easter Monday – schools are
closed
Non Instructional Day
Victoria Day – schools are closed
Last day of school for students
Non-Instructional Day
Administrative Day - Schools
close