Together In Education
March 2017
Lancaster Drive Public School and Parent Council
Email: lancd@limestone.on.ca
Website: http://lancaster.limestone.on.ca
Location: 1020 Lancaster Drive, Kingston, ON, K7P 2R7
Phone: 613-634-0470
Twitter: @LancasterPSLDSB
Lancaster Kingston Frontenacs Night - Go Fronts Go!
International Night...sharing elements of us
HOZA and the legacy of Nelson Mandela: Forgiveness
Roots of Empathy: We love watching baby Mackenzie grow and learn : )
"Pistons, Valves and Engines oh my", digging in and getting greasy!
Chess in pajamas?.....Sure!
Message from Your Administrative Team
We are pleased to offer students at Lancaster ongoing opportunities for enrichment, meaningful learning, connections across the curriculum, and exposure to new experiences.
On Thursday March 2nd Lancaster was “Art Attacked”!! Across the school and throughout the entire day Lancaster staff and students dedicated time to learning, exploring and engaging in art. We began the day with a memorable kick-off assembly with guest artists Donna Jackson and Donna Banting and then classes set off to work on some amazing art projects. We welcomed artists from the community, as well as Queen’s Fine Arts and Education Students to help lead some classes in their work for the day. We were thankful for support from a great team of parents who helped in classrooms to make the day run smoothly. Many thanks to our parent council for helping to purchase and gather some of our art supplies for the day. By the end of “Art Attack”, every student will have produced his or her very own work of art that will be displayed at our upcoming Family Formal night on March 23rd. On that evening we will have art, live instrumental music, a family DJ dance, and fine food prepared by the Bayridge SS culinary program. Our parent council is busy planning and organizing details and tickets are still available through your child’s classroom teacher or at the front office.
With Canada 150 on our mind, students in grades 4-8 were brought on a journey into Canada’s far north as we welcomed John Dunn, an Arctic explorer, to share stories and pictures of his breathtaking expeditions. Through his images and narrative, we were able to catch a glimpse of the amazing landscape that he has uncovered as well as capture a sense of the adventure, the challenges and the survival of an explorer. Connections were made to passion, hard work and the simple beauty of our country. For more on John Dunn and open conversation with your child visit www.arcticlight.com
Gary Rasberry, a well-known musician, will be joining primary classes to enagage in song-writing and performing from March 6-10. The theme “Write off the Page” focuses on using music to bring a book to life. This unique experience of being involved in creating and producing music is a unique one and we are eager to hear some of the final products!
Intermediate students welcomed the Queen's "Get Real" group into their classrooms this month. Our students enjoyed the positive leadership of enthusiastic facilitators who ran workshops aimed to educate students on changing homophobic attitudes, unlearning homophobic language, and creating a safe space for all. Lancaster students embraced the opportunity to have honest conversations about challenges that peers could be facing and decided to take a positive stance towards creating an inclusive school for everyone.
On March 7th award winning author and storyteller Rukhsana Khan is coming to share her story "Big Red Lollipop" with our primary students. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Rukhsana’s stories have universal themes about being new to Canada, about fitting in at any cost, being an ‘outsider’, dealing with sibling rivalry, having to overcome racism and other forms of exclusion and social cruelty aka ‘bullying’. She also writes sensitively about the plight of refugee children and their challenges and struggles for resiliency in times of war and fear. See more on her website. http://www.rukhsanakhan.com/
While the school is bustling with events, our Basketball teams have found their own hustle and bustle on the court. Both our girls and boys basketball teams worked very hard this year to develop their skills and come together as unified forces on the court. The seasons have wrapped up but the memories remain and we are certain to see some talents continue out on the court this spring.
This fall and winter, we have been working with Mother Teresa Catholic School, board-level Facility Services staff from LDSB and ALCDSB and a third party traffic consultant to look at the traffic and parking situation at the two school sites. We are looking at ways to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and improve student safety particularly at drop-off and pick-up times. We look forward to working with families and our school communities as we work towards positive solutions together.
Kindergarten registration – Kindergarten registration is open for children who will be 4 by December 31, 2007. Please share out in the community to register soon as this helps give us accurate numbers to work with in the fall as we create classes.
For more pictures of these events, or to get updates on school happenings, follow us on Twitter @LancasterPS_LDSB or on the Remind app using the class code: @lancasterd
Have a wonderful March Break filled with family time and new and familiar adventures!
Your administrative team,
Lani Fox, Principal & Sara Wellwood, Vice-Principal
Building STEM Challenge in Kindergarten
We connected art to math during Art Attack!
ART ATTACK: A day of sharing art together : )
Letter from your Parent Council Co-Chairs
Spring is just around the corner and we are just getting warmed up with Parent Council events this year. Now that we have International Night and Building Connections ‘under our belt’ we are gearing up to host our exciting Lancaster Family Formal Night! Please see all the details below…
UPDATES:
International Night – Another great success!!! (even with a snow day hiccup…) Our 2nd International Night event came to life once again as families got involved and creatively shared the culture, food and traditions of a country they were passionate about. Thank you! We had a full house with 14 countries represented by 24 families and so many from our Lancaster community travelling the world with their passports! The combination of colourful displays, delicious food and community performers (Kings DON Taiko Drumming Group, Bangladesh Fashion Show, Rob Roy Dancing Group and Pipe Band) always make for a memorable family experience. Special thanks to Allison Slate, our event coordinator, who kept us organized and made it all happen (twice :) !)
Building Connections, Family Fun Night was well attended. This event was tailored to some of our students with sensory sensitivities and their families and structured so that they could attend and participate with ease. Families mingled and made new connections over a pizza dinner and then students were off to a ‘Bricks 4 Kidz’ activity while parents were offered educational mini workshops. Thank you to our facilitators Sara Wellwood (VP/SST - Account Basics Session), Lisa Delaney (parent & OT Compass Solutions – Google Extensions Session), Joseph Hamilton (LDSB Assistive Technology Resource Teacher – Google Keeps Session) and our student facilitators, Noah Chin, Zachary Vandermeer and Noah Bourgeois (iPad as Educational Tools Session). All of our mini workshops were very informative and supported our goal of including parents as partners in education. Thank you to our event volunteers – Beth Tregunno, Jennifer McKee, Tina LeBlanc, Allison Slate and Emma Gerrard.
Art Attack – This event began with a super fun kick-off assembly, which inspired creativity and made way for a full day of art enrichment for all students. Some classes were led by local artist Qingbo Cen, some by Queen’s University fine arts students and others by our artistic teachers. Parent council would like to thank our hard working teachers, staff and administrative team for hosting the event and our parent volunteers: Kim Fraser, Stephanie Doucet, Heather Trainor, Olivia Ablaza, Prabhjot Walia, Kory Slovitt, Kate Shoust, Beth Tregunno, Ekta Sehgal, Valerie Mitchell, Jennifer McKee, Serena Milling, Laura Houle, Jana Stegelmann, Ange Bartlett and Erin Brown for helping to make this day so successful. All students will have a piece of art to share. At family formal night, each classroom will become an “art exhibit” as you would find at an art gallery. Get ready to see our school’s amazing talent and creativity!!!
EVENTS:
Fundraising Family Formal Night – Thursday March 23, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Buy your tickets now!!! This event is quickly approaching so purchasing your tickets as soon as possible will help council members in planning the event. Donations are starting to roll in for the silent auction, student art is ready for show, menu plans are in the works for Bayridge Culinary School and the photo booth and DJ are ready to rock and roll! Please contact Vinay if you would like to help out in any way. Looking forward to a wonderful evening and being together as a community!
Event Coordinator: Vinay Singh (vishwas101@yahoo.com)
Announcements
• Family Formal Night – Thursday March 23rd – 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
• Next Parent Council Meeting – Tuesday March 7th at 6 p.m. – Please join us!
• April Parent Council Meeting – Tuesday April 4th at 6 p.m. – All welcome!
Should you require further information, or have something to share, we are always available at lancd_council@limestone.on.ca
Donna Banting and Corrie Allingham
LDPS Parent Council Co-Chairs
MARCH EVENTS:
March 1 – Arctic Explorer, John Dunn presenting to gr. 4-8
March 2 – Lancaster’s ART ATTACK
March 3 – PA Day
March 6-10 Gary Raspberry in to work with Primary Classes
March 7 – Author, visits grades K-3
March 7 – Parent Council Meeting at 6:00 pm
March 9 – Junior Classes Swimming at Queen’s
March 13-17 MARCH BREAK
March 23 – Family Formal Night
March 28 – Grade 5s to Gould Lake
March 31 – Lancaster hosts LDSB Eastern Regional Chess Tournament
April 4 - Parent Council Meeting at 6:00 pm
April 29 – Save the Date - Free - Speak Up for Ability Parent Forum - 9 am-3pm (flyer below)
May 20 – Lancaster’s 25th Anniversary Picnic 11:00-3:00 (Save the Date!)
Early Literacy
Kindergarten Registration
In the Limestone District School Board we are committed to your child's development from Kindergarten to graduation. Together, we can help your child realize his/her dreams.
In Limestone Kindergarten classrooms, children are involved in many activities designed to help young learners explore, discover and grow.
The Limestone Board is unique in offering both English and French Immersion programs in both Junior and Senior Kindergarten.
Children may start school in September if they turn age four (Junior Kindergarten) or age five (Senior Kindergarten) by December 31 of that year. Those students who are already enrolled in Junior Kindergarten do not need to register again. We welcome Junior and Senior Kindergarten students to our schools year-round, but we encourage parents and guardians to pre-register children in February for the upcoming school year. Please contact your local school to register your child for Kindergarten in September.
You may print and complete the Kindergarten registration form from the LDSB website or get one at the school during office hours. When you register please bring along the following items:
- Proof of your child's age (birth certificate, baptismal certificate or passport)
- Proof of address (driver's licence of parent/guardian, household bills, federal government forms)
- Proof of immunization (child's immunization record - visit KFL&A Public Health for more information)
- Your child's Ontario Health Card (optional)
2016-2017 Parent Council Executive
Parent Council Balance
The Parent Council account balance
as of February 28, 2017 was
$6,150.26
Submitted by Jennifer McKee, Treasurer
Thank You
to everyone who made purchases at the school book fair in January! We sold enough materials to get 80% of total sales back in books for the school library and classrooms. An extra big thank you to all of the volunteers who helped with the fair!
An Invitation from UP Bayridge
What’s UP with the Parents of Bayridge?
We are proud to introduce UP, United Parents of Bayridge. We are a group of parents
working with the school and local community organizations to support our families with
exceptional children. (i.e. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Autism, Mental Health
issues, Learning Disabilities, etc.) We are parents who wish to share information with
families in need. Our goal is to bridge the gap for families and services available in our
community. Please join us on this learning journey.
We are excited to host our Community Speaker Information Nights in this upcoming
year. Each night we will invite a Community Organization to share their programs and
expertise with our families.
The presentations will be held in our Learning Commons at Bayridge Public
School. Childcare will be provided upon request. Please email request to
Upcoming Calendar 2017
Wed, March 1, 2017 at 6pm: “Addictions & Mental Health Services - KFLA” – We will
review the organization and services provided
Wed, April 5, 2017 at 6pm: “Pathways Children & Youth” - We will discuss Pathways
Autism Services Overview, Diagnostic Information and Tax/Funding info related to
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Together we can only go UP!
Parent Council is on Remind!
Do you use Remind to keep up-to-date with classroom and school news? Well, you can now join Parent Council on Remind as well. There are several ways you can join us.
In the Remind app, join us at: @ldps-pc
Take out your phone and text @ldps-pc to this number: 613-699-6185
E-mail ldps-pc@mail.remind.com
On the web, go to: https://www.remind.com/join/ldps-pc
Help Wanted!
Parent volunteers are essential to maintaining a rich learning environment. If you can help in any way, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator,
Laurie Gedke-Kerr at:
laurie.gedckekerr@queensu.ca
Inclusive Education
Supporting Student Success and Building Connections
Autism Ontario is offering a conference on Friday, May 19 called Supporting Student Success: A Conference for Parents and Educators. This full-day event will take place at the Calvary Community Church in Belleville, and the cost for parents is just $10 – lunch included! The morning will feature a keynote address from child psychotherapist Hannah Sun-Reid, who will speak about Harnessing the Power of Co-Regulation to Build Resiliency in Children. In the afternoon there are four workshops on offer of which participants can choose two. They are entitled Promoting Classroom Inclusion; OT Sensory Needs, Tips and Tricks; Anxiety Aid Kits; and Successful Communication. For more information go to: https://aoesesupportingsuccess.eventbrite.ca
On February 23, Lancaster Drive P.S. hosted its own event on supporting student success for exceptional learners, called Building Connections. Specially invited families gathered after school for a pizza dinner, followed by a Bricks for Kids workshop for the children and a series of classroom technology workshops for parents. This evening was geared towards children who might find larger, noisier school events challenging, providing them with an opportunity to socialize and have fun at a school event geared to their needs. For parents such as myself, we were given an introduction to some of the technology currently being used in the classroom to support student success, better enabling us to in turn help our children at home using the same platforms. This was a wonderful event that hopefully will become an annual occasion at Lancaster!
~ Emma Garrard, Inclusive Education Coordinator
"I've always believed that
when you educate a girl,
you empower a nation"
~ Queen Rania of Jordan
Useful Links
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People for Education
To sign up for their bi-weekly newsletter:
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LDSB Family Lending Library
limestone.on.ca/lending_library
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Limestone Link
www.limestone.on.ca/
Limestone_Link/
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Council Calendar
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School Calendar