Monday Memo
Week of January 13th, 2020
In case you missed it.....
School Spirit
Wall Walk Strategy
Feeling buddies
Important Dates
Monday, January 13th - Day 2
- 6:30pm - School Council Meeting
Tuesday, January 14th - Day 3
- am - Jenn out at an appointment
- end of day - deadline for Recess Guardian applications to Jenn
Wednesday, January 15th - Day 4
- NATIONAL HAT DAY
- 9am - Jenn in a parent meeting with Joe Hadzi
- 10:40 - 11:20am - Jenn meeting with some Grade 6 boys about their proposed arts initiative
Thursday, January 16th - Day 5
Friday, January 17th - Day 1
- 9am - 12:10pm - Jenn in the gym for Recess Guardian training: GYM WILL BE UNAVAILABLE UNTIL 12:10pm.
- 9am - 10:40am - vision screening for Year 2 Kindergartens
Some important information for this week....
Support Staff Schedule Tweaks
Monday marks the beginning of the new Support Staff Schedule, as well as Supervision Schedule. Thank you to all of our support staff team who provided input before, and after seeing the new schedule. We all expect there may be some bumps with students as they get used to being supported by some new adults for small parts of their day. Remember, our goal is to continue to build strategies and independence in our children, and this is our great next step.
Recess Guardians
Last Wednesday I met with over 30 students who are interested in taking on the Recess Guardian leadership opportunity at Kawartha Heights. They are now in the midst of completing an application and the team will be selected by Wednesday. I apologize to those classes who have the gym on Friday morning - we will be in for training from 9am - 12:10pm and the gym will be unavailable. After the training is complete, teams will be set up for the main and kindergarten yards (much like lunch monitors, etc.) and extra peer support on the yard will begin.
January 2020 Staff Challenge
Remember the January staff challenge - if you are participating, make sure you get your calendar in to me by the end of the month..... even if you only have a few squares crossed off. Prizes will be awarded - challenge yourself!
Supply cupboard
A big thank you to Cheryl who compiled a "must have" list for our supply cupboard. Sherry has kindly put the order in and the cupboard will be restocked in the next week or so. Please be aware that this order needs to keep us going for the rest of the year, so - please only take what you need. We have only restocked the essentials at this time, as our paper and photocopying is still extremely high and Sherry and I are needing to watch the budget closely.
Code of Conduct and Bully Prevention and Intervention Plan
Attached to this message, I'm posting the draft plans once again for your reference. Please let me know if you have any input! I'll be asking School Council for their input at our meeting on Monday.
Recess Club
Moving into this coming week, there will be some select students from the morning Recess Club that will be offered the chance to stay inside in the afternoon with supervision from Mrs. McCabe. These students have been carefully selected as they experience such anxiety outside that the benefit of fresh air just isn't there. Parents have been informed and only these select students should be in attendance.
CYW Placement Students
A big KH welcome to Madi Saurer and Brogan Sparkes who are both CYW Placement students from Fleming. They are both in their final placement, and Kelly and I have let them know they'll be working hard when they are with us from Tuesdays - Fridays until the end of April! We have developed set schedules for both of them to ensure they have some coaching time, as well as independent learning time while with us. For those who will be working directly with one or both of them, I'll be emailing you directly. It's wonderful to have these extra hands and they both seem like amazing people. They'll fit well into our team :)
Front doors
Thanks to those of you who let me know of the concern regarding parents entering the school between 8:45am - 9:00am. In fairness, John and I were not aware that a lock was put on the side gate (by the library) over the holidays, so they didn't have a way to get into the back yard. Starting Monday, we will be locking the front doors at 8:45am, as staff are all in the building by that time. This way Sherry can better monitor the entrance and have parents go outside to the backyard instead of through the building.
Hula Hoops
As per staff request, an additional 24 hula hoops have been purchased for the gym equipment cupboard. They are a bit larger than the other sizes we have, but we are now well stocked!
ColorCycle Marker Program
Starting next week, we'll have a container available in the office for any old Crayola markers that no longer work. This is a great program offered by Crayola, where schools can collect old markers and ship them back to the company, free of charge. They then repurpose the markers - helping the planet one little step at a time. Please encourage students to bring in old markers from home too!
Math School Improvement Plan
School Improvement Plan
This week is already the last week for Data Management for Grades 2 - 6 and the start of Number Sense for Kindergarten and Grade 1. Due to the work-to-rule restrictions with Phase 3, I will hold off on posting any further Excellent Math Adventures until everything is resolved.
Please ensure that you continue to embed Number Sense learning in your daily lessons, with a continued focus on our School Improvement Plan areas of open ended (low floor/high ceiling) questions.
Just a reminder from the last Scope and Sequence email:
Math to Notice and Name For, and With Grade 2-6 students during this cluster....
- The probability that an event will occur can be placed along a continuum from impossible to certain (0 to 1)
- Probability can be described using language (unlikely, likely, certain)
- Probability can be described using numbers (ratio, fractions, percentages)
- In probability experiments one can never be sure what will happen next – chance has no memory
- The more experiments you conduct the closer the experimental nears the theoretical
Kawartha Heights Cougar Challenge
This week, you'll notice a new look to our front hallway display case. In order to try to engage parents in math at home, this poster will be a place to post 3 math questions every few weeks (kindergarten, primary and junior levels). Families will be encouraged to complete the math questions at home - and then send their responses to the office to be entered for a math family prize. Keep your eyes open for the changes to come in the front hall!
Just one more thing.....
Jennifer Sampson
Email: jennifer_sampson@kprdsb.ca
Website: https://kawarthaheights.kprdsb.ca/
Location: 11 Kawartha Heights Boulevard, Peterborough, ON, Canada
Phone: 705-742-7521
Twitter: @KawarthaHPS