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Members with Portfolio
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Class Rep Coordinators
Communication Coordinators
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COUNCIL WEBSITE
| | Check out our Council website for up to date info on school events, news, calendars, fundraising, forms, parent resources and much much more! www.castorvalley.ca |
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CLASS REPS
| Thanks to everyone who volunteered to be a class rep this year! A complete list of class reps and their emails can be found on our Council website here.
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NUT FREE SCHOOL!
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Due to the large number of students that have nut allergies, Castor Valley continues to be a nut free school. We ask families not to include nut items in snacks - this is for the safety of our anaphylactic children. Should you be unsure as to the contents of a food item, please do not send it. If you'd like more information on the government of Ontario's anaphylaxis policy, please click here and you can read about our new request regarding soy-based *nut* butters here.
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NEW NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES
| The Ontario Ministry of Education's new School Food and Beverage Policy came into effect on September 1st, 2011. For information on this new policy, please visit www.ontario.ca/healthyschools and for a great resource for nutritious lunches and snacks, visit www.eatrightontario.ca.
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POP TABS
| We are collecting pop tabs again this year. The tabs are recycled for cash and the proceeds sent to Ontario March of Dimes to provide a wheel chair for someone in need. Please send your tabs in with your child. There is a collection can in each homeroom class. To date, Mme LaCharity's class has collected the most, followed by Ms. Reeb's class and Mme Beaupré's class. Keep collecting!
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Welcome!
This newsletter is chock-full of events, reminders, goings-on, celebrations and notices about CVES and CVES Council - enjoy!
THANKS! |
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JOIN HANDS FOR BULLYING AWARENESS & PREVENTION WEEK!
| Ontario has designated this week (November 18th - 24th) as Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week to help promote safe schools and a positive learning environment. To help raise awareness in our school this week, and as a pledge from our school community to help stop bullying, School Council has handed out *hand-prints* for our students to decorate. Some teachers may be doing this as a class activity, or they may send it home as homework. Students (and parents!) can sign their name to the hand as their pledge and then colour or decorate the hand and cut it out.
There is a collection box in the office for completed hand-prints, and on Friday (Nov 23rd) we will be  putting them up all around the school. The more hands the better, so please feel free to download the template and decorate as many as you'd like at home! You can download the hand-print templates here: Hand-English Hand- French
Links to additional resources on Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week are found here.
And for additional resources on Bullying Awareness and Prevention, please go to our dedicated page on the Council website. |
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| The Director's webpage/blog on labour relations is being updated daily. The Director states:
The district has now received the 'No Board Report' for the Elementary Teachers and Elementary Occasional Teachers bargaining units. Both of these bargaining units will be in a legal strike position on November 30, 2012. It is important to remember that a legal strike position does not mean a full withdrawal of service. We will be working with these bargaining units to better understand what action may be taken. We will provide more information as it becomes available."
She has also updated her FAQs.
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INCLUSIVE, SAFE & CARING SCHOOLS COMMITTEE - NEW!
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The CVESC Inclusive, Safe & Caring School Committee has already met twice to brainstorm and develop ideas and initiatives, and has drafted a mission statement to help focus their efforts. Their mission is to, in cooperation with the school, generate ideas, make recommendations, and facilitate programs, events, and activities that create a safe and welcoming learning environment for all students.
Besides spearheading this week's Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week *joining hands* initiative, other initiatives the Committee is pursuing include:
- After-School Extra-Curricular Programs
- Playground & Lunch Supervision
- Education Week theme of Inclusiveness
- Allergy education & awareness
- PRO Grant Sessions (potentially on Mental Health and Being the Best you Can)
- End-of-Day Student Pick-Up Policy
- Lockdown Procedure
- IPRC & IEP process and resources
- Healthy Snacks and Lunches
If you have any suggestions for the ISCS Committee or are interested in helping with any of our initiatives, please contact Jen Danby McDonald.
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TERRY FOX RESULTS
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 CVES raised $717.07 for the Terry Fox Foundation on the National School Day Run held on September 27th! Thank you to our CVES community for participating in this wonderful opportunity to support cancer research and to commemorate an amazing Canadian, Terry Fox.
As a special thank you to our school, The Terry Fox Foundation presented a five year anniversarybanner to M. Lalonde and some students on October 18th. Over the past five years, CVES has raised over $4000 for cancer research!
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CHRISTMAS SHOPPING DAY
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It is that time of year again for our school's special holiday tradition...
Christmas Shopping Day!
On Tuesday, December 18th, and for only a toonie, JK to grade 6 students will be able to shop for their family members - picking from new or gently used items donated by our school families!
For more information on the event, how and when to donate, and how to volunteer for the event, please read our flyer.
More info on what the Grade 7 & 8 students will be doing this day is coming . |
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PICK UP PROCEDURES
| The new dismissal process is working quite well. The office is happy to have greatly cut down on end of day confusion caused by students not hearing the end of day pick up announcements. However, in order for the new system to work effectively, parents need to write a note to their homeroom teacher (for all JK to grade 8 students), letting them know that their child will be picked up either early or at the end of the day (instead of taking the bus home). You also need to specify WHO is picking them up.
Teachers are taking the lead on reminding children about being picked up before they are dismissed and are communicating with office, as needed. If you do not write a note, then neither the teacher nor the office has any idea your child is being picked up. If you pick up your child last minute and so did not write a note, then you should be informing the office - either by a phone call in advance or by popping into the office at pick up, to let the staff know. Your child should also be learning that no one should be picking him/her up without a note being written in their agenda and that they should be checking in with office staff if Mom or Dad (or anyone else) is there at pick up unexpectedly.
Students being picked up will be dismissed with their classmates to the yard and will walk around to the front of the school where they will meet their parents. Parents do not need to sign out their child if they are being picked up at 3:45 pm. If you need to pick up your child early you must still come to the office to sign them out and we will contact the classroom directly to have your child meet you at the office.
Parents are also being discouraged from waiting in their cars for their children. With so many cars parked along the road, it is unsafe for kids to be walking through the parking lot and crossing the street on their own.
If you have any questions about the end of day dismissal process, please ask!
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ENVIRONMENT TEAM
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A Huge Thank-You to our *Fall Clean-up and Play* Families! 
On Saturday October 13th, we had nine families come on out for a Fall Clean-up and Play Day. We had a bunch of adult gardening wizards in the flowerbeds and a bunch of children playing on the school grounds. A special thank-you to Mr. Jeff Adams and Tamara Mazerall who went above and beyond in helping out. Thank you also to Bruce and Penelope, who weeded the front flower bed with extraordinary expertise. And thanks so, so much to Marg and Doug Clunie, who donated mulch and time to preserve all of the work.
 Did you know we have a pond on our school yard?! We were able to clean up around it somewhat but it's still overgrown and we are hoping there is a CVES parent out there who knows a little something about helping it
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flourish! It's a living, viable little ecosystem, however no one on the Environment Team knows how to support it, so if you are able to help out (probably in the spring!), please email Shannon  Oaks, our Environment Team Coordinator.
You can also contact Shannon if you would like to "adopt" a planter for spring/fall cleanups and the occasional weeding. No experience needed!
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JUMP ROPE FOR HEART
| Once again the AMAZING Castor Valley School has won the Gold Outstanding Achievement Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation for raising over $23,000 during last Spring's Jump Rope for Heart event! Thank you to all students, their parents and the community for your continued support!
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PARENT SUPPORTED LITERACY PROGRAM - volunteers still needed
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We need YOU! We had 13 parent/grandparent volunteers reading for our Literacy Program last year and this year we don't even have half that! We won't be able to run an effective Literacy Program this year unless we get more volunteers, which means our students won't have access to the incredible help this program provides. Last year we had about 45 children who benefited from the program.
If you are able to come into the school periodically to read with the children, please contact Heather Wyche by email or phone (613) 821-4518. It can be as often as 2 or 3 times a week, or as seldom as once a month. We need volunteers to read in English and in French. |
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VOLLEYBALL-A-THON
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 Mark your calendars! Friday, November 23rd will be the night of the school's very popular volleyball-a-thon. Play will start at 4pm and will be divided into one hour blocks until 8pm. Please keep an eye open for the form that will be coming home and return your form to M. Lalonde as soon as possible. Students from grades 4 to 8 along with their families and friends are invited to participate.
SPORTS EQUIPMENT DRAW
We will be having a sports equipment draw after the volleyball-a-thon and you do not need to be present to win. Students in all classes will be receiving ballots if they wish to enter the draw (they went home in backpacks last week). All proceeds will be going to help purchase phys. ed. equipment. |
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CVESC AD HOC FUNDS REPORT
| On October 18th, members of CVES Council and our Principal met to go over requests from parents, teachers and staff for CVES Council funds. We had a variety of submissions this year, and the committee brought their recommendations to the November Council meeting and all were approved. You can see the list of approved recommendations here.
We will be accepting Ad Hoc Funds requests throughout the year, so if you are a teacher, parent or staff member with an idea for which you need money, please print our request form and submit it to Council via the office.
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OCDSB SURVEY RESULTS
| Remember that OCDSB student survey you or your child filled out 18 months ago? Well, the results are finally in! The survey response rate was 47% on the JK-6 survey and 66.7% on the 7-12 survey. The survey data will hopefully help the Board better understand their student population. Read more about the survey, it's purpose and the results here.
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FALL ( & ONGOING ) FUNDRAISERS
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- Thanks for all your MacMillan orders - they are being processed and all that cookie dough will be delivered to the school on December 4th! Your items will be available for pick up after 3:15 and must be picked up by 6:30 at the latest. If you will not be able to make the pick-up, please contact Susanna Penning IN ADVANCE, and she will try to make alternate arrangements.
- If you had the chance to shop at the Samko & Miko Toy Sale last week, please don't forget to either bring in your receipts to the office or send them via backpack to your child's teacher - THANKS!
- We continue to offer on-line discounts through our website on QSP magazines - they make great Christmas presents! When you order your QSP magazines, please make sure you use our code: 10727.
- Need labels? Don't forget you can order Mabel's Labels directly through school council. You can also click on the Mabel's Labels widget on our website (in the right column). We automatically receive a portion of your purchase. Thanks!
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SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR RESULTS
| A message from our Librarian:
THANK YOU so very much to all the supporters and volunteers of the Scholastic Book Sale. We had over $5300 in sales which will mean approximately $3700 in book credits for our library!
The winner of our $25 in books was Brooklyn in 5A. This also means that her teacher Mme Jackson receives $25 in books for her classroom. Congratulations to our winners.
Again, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! |
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PRESENTATIONS & EVENTS
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*Supporting your Child with Math*
Dr. Marian Small
November 26th @ 7:00 pm
Sir Robert Borden High School, 131 Greenbank Road
This free information session will focus on how and why some approaches to mathematics teaching have changed in the last few years and some have not. It will compare what's happening with math in Ontario education to what is happening elsewhere. It will also help parents and caregivers understand how they can best support their children's learning of math by providing approaches and activities they can use with their children at home at various grade levels.
Dr. Marian Small is the former Dean of Education at the University of New Brunswick. She has been a professor of mathematics education for many years and is a regular speaker on K-12 mathematics throughout Canada and the US. She now lives in Ottawa.
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The next meeting of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ottawa-Carleton (LDAO-C) will be held on Thursday, December 6th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
The meeting is held at 160 Percy Street inside the McNabb Park Public School beside the McNabb Community Centre
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Alternative Education Discussion Series
Thursday, November 29th @ 7pm
The Lady Evelyn Alternative School Council is hosting a discussion series focusing on Alternative Education with sessions in November, January and April. Find out what "alternative education" means, what the principles underlying the OCDSB's alternative program are, what is involved in alternative assessment, and much more! Childcare and refreshments will be provided at each session. For more information please view the flyer or email councilchairs@ladyevelyn.ca.
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PARENT VOLUNTEERS!
| Thanks to all of you who filled out our volunteer survey and who offered their time to volunteer. Upcoming events include MacMillan's pick up day (December 4th) and Christmas Shopping Day (December 18th). Just a heads up that our volunteer coordinator may be in touch with you to see if you can help out at either of these events! If you didn't fill out the survey but would still like to help out, please reply to this email.
THANKS AGAIN - we rely on, and greatly appreciate, your support!
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SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN for STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT 2012-2013 (SIPSA)
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The school's main focus for this year is on improving oral communication in both English and French. We want students to be able to use precise vocabulary to communicate critical thinking and engage in thought provoking discussions to demonstrate thefull extent of their understanding and knowledge. We believe that by providing effective feedback, initially by the teacher, and giving students the time to implement this feedback, student achievement in this area will greatly improve.
Tips for Parents: What is Effective Feedback?
Effective Feedback always starts with a goal or target; something the student is trying to pursue or achieve. It is also connected to a set of criteria for good work that students use to gauge their progress toward the goal. Effective feedback is timely, descriptive of the work the student has produced, positive, clear and specific and differentiated.
For more details on Effective Feedback, please visit the school's website where you will also find our School Improvement Plan for Student Achievement and the Qualitative Rubric that teachers will be using to evaluate student progress on the SIPSA.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child's teacher or your principal.
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LOST & FOUND
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Thank you so much to our parent volunteers Tara and Maria for going through and displaying the hundreds of items in the lost and found bin. The unclaimed items have been donated to Hawthorne Public School where they will be put to good use!
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TEACHER & STAFF PICTURES!
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Lastly, if you haven't noticed - there is a bright and colourful board in our foyer with pictures of all CVES teachers and staff - all taken by Mme Holmes. Check it out!!
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We hope you found this newsletter helpful and relevant :)
Sincerely, Communication Coordinators
Castor Valley Elementary School Council |
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