St. Anthony this Week

Monday, September 29

voting starts today for our Aviva Community Fund Campaign.  The project with the most votes will receive $100,000.00.  We will use this money to dig up the asphalt and redo our yard!  Here is the link:  https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19604

cross country training begins tomorrow in preparation for the meet on Oct.7th

Shayna Tate our mural artist is in to start work with the students on our mural in the main hall

The milk order deadline is today

Squirmies program at 11:35 from Sept 29 to Nov 24

Tuesday, September 30

Please vote for us today! https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19604

mural work continues with Shayna Tate

Wednesday, October 1

Please vote for us today! https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19604

St. Anthony

Rosary visits start today!

Every 1st Wednesday of the month, beginning October 1st

 

mural work continues with Shayna Tate

Parent newsletter comes out – paper and web site

Thursday, October 2

Please vote for us today! https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19604

School Photo Day

mural work continues with Shayna Tate

Friday, October 3

Please vote for us today! https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf19604

mural work continues with Shayna Tate

 

Teacher Notes for the week of September 29th – October 3rd

Grade 1 Ms. Myers’ class:  This week in Grade One….The grade ones will bring home their “Word Wizard Bags” containing some of the high frequency words we will be working on. Every week the children will bring home 5 new words to add to their bags! Look for a class newsletter and homework calendar coming home on Wednesday, October 1st in your child’s agenda.

We will focus on a book titled “Six Big Apples”. Our lessons and tasks will include sequencing (first, next, then, last, finally), rhyming words, and retelling the story from memory.  The Retelling Journal arrives home for the first time on Friday. Be sure to sit with your child and listen to him/her retell the story, “Six Big Apples”.  Then write the retelling in the journal. Return the Retelling Journal to school on Monday, October 6.

M. Girard: Snippets of the FSL program; week of September 29th

Gr.2/3 Localisation de communautés agricoles, minières et forestières sur la carte de l’Ontario.

Gr.4/5 Associer les grandes communautés urbaines Canadiennes à leurs provinces respectives.

Gr.5/6 Distinguer trois types de gouvernement ; démocratie, monarchie et dictature.

Gr.4 Immersion Expression, intonation et pronunciation de 4 poèmes (J’aime la récréation, Un petit bonhomme, Devant ma fenêtre et Michaud).

Grade 2-3 Ms Manzoli’s Class:  This week the 2/3 class continue to work on their daily five stations, we have also begun the form of recount writing. In math this week we will consolidate rounding numbers and place value. Practicing these concepts at home is encouraged.  

Homework will begin this week.

Don’t be afraid to rethink food rewards!

Resist the temptation to recognize children with candy or sweet treats this Halloween! Rewarding children with food can lead to health problems (like dental caries and poor nutrition) and can begin to tie food to mood and self-worth. Instead,why not focus on these low or no cost, non-food rewards:

Stickers, pencils, notepads or bookmarks; balls, skipping ropes or sidewalk chalk; special class or individual privileges, such as an extra recess, dancing in class, making deliveries to the office, or getting extra art or reading time.

For more healthful tips and ideas, download this factsheet or visit Nutrition Tools for Schools!

 

Andrew Harvey consulting the St. Anthony Green Team on Friday

Introducing Evergreen

We believe we can solve even the most pressing urban environmental issues by bringing diverse people together, inspiring them with possibilities and engaging them in identifying solutions and taking action. The need has never been more urgent.

To help create greener, more sustainable cities, we focus on four key areas:

Greenspace, Children, Food and CityWorks

from Evergreen  website:  http://www.evergreen.ca/

St. Anthony School will be partnering with Evergreen this year.  As you can see by the statement from their website, they focus on creating a greener, more sustainable city.  They place a high value on collaboration and innovation, this is why Andrew’s first visit to our school involved meeting our Green Team to get their ideas on what they want to see happen in their yard.

Here are some of the things they want to do:

• I want to play soccer
• I want to slide
• I want to roll on the grass
• I want to sit in the shade
• I want to talk to a friend on the grass
• I want to climb
• I want to swing
• I want to climb on a rope

They also mentioned some of the things they want changed:

• there are dips and cracks in the pavement that make us fall
• kids fall on the rocks on the pavement and hurt themselves
• branches from some of the trees are falling on us
• our play structure is too small
• the soccer area is too small

This is just the beginning of the consultation.  Andrew and Ann Coffey, an environmentalist who worked on the first greening project will be visiting all classes to talk to kids in their classes on what they want to see in their yard.

 

Part of their work will include consulting students on an outdoor mural.  This mural will be painted this spring with the help of Nicole Belanger, a great local muralist.  Nicole has a great gift for getting all students involved in the painting of murals, this is just part of what will be planned with the help of Evergreen this year.

Based on the information that Andrew and Ann collect, they will make a plan for our yard.  We will then start looking for funding partners to help us buy the new trees, plants and structures that will make up our new yard.

One idea that people were very excited about was the idea that we should start to remove some more of the pavement in the yard.  Years ago, during the first greening project, pavement was removed to allow for the planting of the trees that make up the center of our yard.

There is a group called Depave Paradise, and it would be really great if we could start a depaving project at St. Anthony.  We are hoping that this will be a part of the overall plan that Andrew and Ann will develop for us.

Andrew will be helping us to make contact with groups like Depave Paradise to see what is involved in a depaving project.  One thing – it would call for lots of volunteers, so we hope there are lots of parents out there who would like to help us with this big project!

Finally, we would like to apply for an Aviva Grant.  Aviva funds local projects in a variety of areas including health, sport and active living, it also supports projects focusing on the environment and sustainability.

This is a great opportunity to bring together staff, parents, students and the local community.  The grant process opens in two days and we will look into starting the year-long process of applying for project funding.  The Aviva process looks really interesting and it is certainly worth a try!

Much more to come!

 

Related articles

• ‘Depave Paradise’ pilot project launched to stop cities flooding
• Depave: Returning Parking Lots To Paradise
• DePave Paradise

Thanks to all the parents who were able to come out last night.  We had a great turnout and it was great meeting so many of you!  This is a great, welcoming community and I feel truly blessed to be part of St. Anthony’s.  Here is my opening address to the parent community.

 

Parent Address:  Program Night

Our spiritual theme for the 2014-2016 school years “Restore one another in a spirit of gentleness” comes from the book of Galatians and encourages our community by reflecting on restoration, forgiveness and resilience.

 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:1-9)

 

A Blessing on the Journey

 

 

Thank-you all for coming tonight.  It is great to see so many people here to start off another school year.  My name is Paul McGuire, and I am the new principal of St. Anthony School.  I am thrilled to be here and I look forward to meeting all of you and working with your sons and daughters in the years to come.

The main point of tonight’s meeting is to meet your son or daughter’s teacher, so I will be brief in my comments.

We are trying a new way to communicate this year through the community blog – there are handouts here that explain how to subscribe to the blog.  We are also making good use of our web site and Facebook Page so you should always be able to keep up with events at our school.

We will restart the paper newsletter in October – if you do not need a paper copy, please let us know.  The newsletter will also be available on the blog and web site.

We are starting  number of new programs for students at St. Anthony:

Squirmies – a lunchtime arts and crafts program

Gamepack – a lunchtime sports program

The handout for these programs have already gone out.  It is our pledge to make these programs available to all students who want to take part.  If the price for these programs are too high, simply send in the form and we will make sure your son or daughter gets to take part.

Table Tennis – this will start in October.  The program will take place in the gym once a week.  There is no charge until Christmas.  After Christmas there will be a $5.00 charge per lesson, but again we are happy to support the costs of this program. (now we need to locate some tables!)

Fun 2 Run – this is a fitness program that will be starting soon.  The aim of this program is to help the junior students get fit and keep fit through running.

There are more programs coming and we will advertise them through the newsletter and the blog.

Finally, I would like to let you know that the primary students now all have Raz Kids accounts.  We really would like to see them reading at home at night.  Information about how to log in to the program went home today.  Please talk to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

We are also working towards a system that will allow students to bring in tablets, laptops and other devices that can be used in the classroom.  We will let you know more once we are ready to implement this practice.

Finally, we have lots of programs going on now after school.  If there is any change to your child’s pick-up arrangements after school, please let us know – we need to make sure we keep track of every one of your children.

 

Forgot to mention this last night – we have raised $200.00 so far for the Terry Fox Foundation!  Only another $100.00 to reach our goals

St. Anthony this Week

Tuesday, September 16 is Program Night!

6:00 – 7:30 PM in the Gym

We will start with introductions of all staff.  This will be followed by a short address by the principal, Paul McGuire.  Members of the School Council will then speak.  After that you will have the chance to visit your son or daughter’s class with your own personal guide!

Starting in October we will be putting out a paper newsletter as has been past practice.  If you do not need a paper copy, please let us know.

 

Thursday, September 18th

Girls soccer at McMaster Catholic School – the first sporting event of the year!

Friday, September 19th

Andrew Harvey of Evergreen Canada will be meeting with our Green Team to start planning a new greening project for our school!