Agincourt Road Public School Newsletter

Agincourt Road Public School Newsletter April 2009 Volume 49, Issue 8 Agincourt Road Public School 1250 Agincourt Road Ottawa, ON K2C 2J2 (613) 225-2750 www.agincourtps.ocdsb.ca Principal’s News Mark your calendars!               JK/SK Trip to Experimental Farm April 28 & 29 Family Movie Night May 1 Education Week May 4 to May 8 Open House 12:25 to 1:45PM May 5 Open House 8:50 to 9:50AM May 6 Australian Teachers Visit May 8 Offbeat 12:30 to 1:30PM May 11 School Council Meeting 7:00 PM May 12 Scientists in Schools May 13 Victoria Day: NO SCHOOL May 19 Peregrine Falcon Foundation Visit May 20 Talent Show (Time to be announced) May 21 Dance workshops for Grades 1 to 3 May 28 & 29 Staff Appreciation Luncheon May 29 The visit from the Ministry of Education went very well. Officials were impressed with our Balanced Literacy and Numeracy initiatives. Thank you to those parents who were kind enough to come out and speak to the officials. We will know in May if we have won the “Schools on the Move” Award. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Regardless, it was an honour to have been considered. This past week, teachers met in small groups to discuss ways to better teach inferring. Inferring is a strategy used before, during, and after reading. Predicting is a part of inferring. When students infer they read between the lines to form an opinion. Inferences need to be based on references in the text and then mixed with the students’ own background knowledge. Teachers will devote the next six weeks to teach inferring. Parents can help by asking questions that are not specifically stated, but require children to think beyond the obvious. Shirley Brackenbury Principal The staffing process is under way and already we are thinking about September. Our projected numbers are remaining similar to this year however, when rounding our enrolment numbers it ends up that we are losing a Senior EFI Kindergarten class. There will be a few split grades on both the English and French sides. We will present this information at Council on May 12, 7:00 p.m for those parents who are interested in learning more. We are looking forward to seeing you at our Open House during Education Week. Elizabeth Doering Vice-Principal All parents are welcome to come at any time to our Open Houses during Education Week (see events calendar). If there are special events planned such as a play or performance, you will receive a special invitation by your child's classroom teacher. Hope to see you then. Page 2 of 4 April 2009 EQAO Between May 25 and June 5 all our Grade 3 students will participate in the provincial E.Q.A.O. testing. Parents of Grade 3 students are asked to ensure that special appointments are not scheduled during this period of time and that children arrive at school on time. Please mark your calendar. More information will be coming your way in the near future. Class lists for the 2009-2010 school year Staff will in the first week of June be sitting down together to begin planning next year’s classes. It is important to remind you of some of the key elements of this process. While the number of options may not be great, we do put a great deal of thought into this process in order to create classes that will best respond to group and individual needs. Factors such as academic needs, ratio of boys to girls, and social groupings play an important part in classroom creation. Consideration is given to instructional level, learning styles, and teaching styles, grouping students who learn and play well together, and separating those who do not. We try to avoid having the same children together or with the same teacher year after year. We expect our students to grow socially and academically. At Agincourt Road PS., students are grouped according to a variety of academic criteria, and classes are made up to respond to a variety of learning needs. Each class, whether a “split” or a “straight” grade will have different instructional groups so the needs of individual learners can be considered. Every class has students of widely differing ability and achievement, and programs must be flexible and varied in order to meet diverse learning needs. Parents who feel that there are important factors to be taken into consideration for their child’s placement, should send a note to the principal, Mrs. Brackenbury, by May 12, 2009. ARE YOU MOVING? In order to help the school office plan for the next school year, it would be helpful to know if any of our students are moving. If you are planning to move, even though the decision may not be final yet, please advise the office by calling (613)225-2750. Thank you for your cooperation in this planning process. Campbell’s Labels for Education We have about 8,000 labels sorted and counted. Thank you for all the contributions so far, but this is an ongoing effort, so please keep them coming. These labels will be redeemed for something useful for Agincourt. Every label helps. All Campbell's products are eligible along with Goldfish crackers, Pace Salsa, V8, Habitant and Prego. For more information, call Soupy at (613) 274-7042 or visit http://www.labelsforeducation.ca/ english/eligible.asp Grade 1-3 Primary Ecokids helped Agincourt celebrate Earth Week April 20-24th Agincourt students and staff cleaned up Agincourt's school grounds April 20-24th. On Thursday, the Ecokids set out as a club, to clean up the schoolyard, at their noon-hour meeting. Friday was our Earth Day spirit day. Students wore blue Agincourt students and staff cleaned up Agincourt's school grounds April 20-24th. On Thursday, the Ecokids set out as a club, to clean up the schoolyard, at their noon-hour meeting. Friday was our Earth Day spirit day. Students wore blue for the oceans, brown for the soil and green for the trees, or they wore Environmental T-shirts, to help celebrate Earth week! Thanks from the Ecokids team and Mme Anne/Mme Beatty April 2009 Page 3 of 4 Used Book Sale The Agincourt Book Blowout held on April 1-2 was a huge success. We collected almost 12,000 books/items this year! We had a great turnout and made over $3200.00 for the school. Thank you to all the parents for sending in your book donations and for supporting the sale and to the many volunteers who helped. We couldn't have done it without you all. Congratulations to the winning classes: JK - Ms. Leslie (Room 126) SK - Mme. Leblanc-Ruby (Room 151) Grade 1 - Mme. Tindale (Room 108) Grade 2 - Mme. Charlebois (Room 164) Grade 3 - Mme. Rhéaume (Room 209) Grades 4 and 5 - Mr. Symington (Room 208) [Grades 4 and 5 classes were combined into one group) Family BBQ: Friday, June 5, 5 to 8PM We will be holding our Family BBQ rain or shine. Grillmaster will provide the food. More details will follow in the next newsletter. Your child’s safety is our number one concern. If your child is going to be absent or late, please call our Safe Arrival Line 613-225-2754 Jump Rope for Heart For the 16th year Agincourt Road School participated in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Primary/Junior classes jumped on April 16 and Kindergarten classes jumped on April 17. They were both great days! Students were able to skip inside and outside as the warm sun was shining on Thursday for the Juniors in the afternoon. We were truly blessed with over 50 volunteers helping to prepare the envelopes, count and roll money, write receipts, work at the refreshment station, turn ropes and encourage and skip with the students. A big THANK YOU goes out to all the parents and grandparents. Thanks also to the Loblaws at College Square for the gift certificate to purchase the apples and oranges for the refreshments and Tim Horton's on Merivale Road for coffee and Timbits brought in for volunteers. Money continues to pour in and our grand total will be announced in the next newsletter. OCDSB Speaker Series Presents: Reading with the Principal: No Girls Allowed! We will be starting a Boys' Book Club for Grades 4 and 5 students next week. Ten boys and the principal will be reading "Three Cups of Tea (Youth version)". Don't Miss This Exciting Opportunity to Hear Leading Expert Barry MacDonald Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Albert Street Education Centre 440 Albert Street Auditorium, 2nd floor Admission: Free More info at http://ocdsb.ca/pc_pi_parental_ involvement_spkr-series.asp Page 4 of 4 April 2009 Yaki On Wednesday April 15th the Kindergarten children and some of the older classes at Agincourt had the good fortune to be entertained by children’s singer Yaki. Yaki performed many songs, all accompanied on his guitar. He writes all his own music. The songs were warm and funny, with some educational themes. Who could forget such delights as “Big Banana Feet” and “Kindergarten”. He encouraged the audience to sing along, which they did with great delight. His two concerts were very much enjoyed by students and teachers alike. Agincourt Road Public School 1250 Agincourt Road Ottawa, ON K2C 2J2 Phone: (613) 225-2750 Fax: (613) 225-5804 Safe Arrival Line: (613) 225-2754 School Daycare: (613) 224-0735 Superintendent: Peter Gamwell (613) 596-8211 x. 8381 Trustee: Pam Fitzgerald (613) 731-4976 Money spent in April Thanks to the parents and your fundraising efforts, we were able to purchase the following in April: $600 $40 $160 $340 $80 $750 $600 $1500 French leveled Science books Pioneer Lady Visit (Grade 3) Books to Inferring (French) Two buses (Grade 5) Two Big Books Dance Workshops (Grades 1 to 3) Offbeat (Glebe Performance) Cross Country/Track & Field Shirts We’re on the Web! www.agincourtps.ocdsb.ca Unpredictable weather Please listen to the weather forecast and dress appropriately for outside recess. We do send the students out in periods of light rain. Dressing in layers is a good idea at this time of the year. If the weather forecast calls for showers, an umbrella or waterproof jacket will be handy. Also ensure that your child wears waterproof footwear as the school yard is wet and muddy in April. On sunny days, remember to SLIP, SLAP, SLOP… SLIP on a long-sleeved shirt, SLAP on a hat that covers your neck, SLOP on sunscreen. The UV index is rising.